[dasgeh]

This sounds really familiar from when I started riding seriously, training for my first tri (years ago…). For me it was a combination of newness and bad fit/wrong equipment. The numbness especially sounds like a fit/equipment issue.

When I got fit at cyclelife, they not only adjusted my bike, but suggested insoles for my shoes, which made a TON of difference for long rides.

[dasgeh]

This sounds like a place where markings on the pavement would be more appropriate to slow people down.

To be fair, there are places where signs are put in the middle of the street to slow down motorists, but the signs are put in places where, by design, cars shouldn’t be driving (on the double yellow line, on barriers). On MUPs, there’s not the same prohibition of moving (riding, running, skating) on the middle of the trail. Plus, these bollards are often placed all the way across the trail, in places where it’s perfectly appropriate for trail users to expect to be. Add to that the fact that some users of the trail need more space to turn (recumbent, bikes with trailers), and it seems particularly silly to set up these bollards in this way.

[dasgeh]

This morning I saw a gaggle of firetrucks in the TR Island parking lot around 10:15am. There seemed to be some bubbley stuff coming out of the sewer(?) into the Potomac there. Anyone know what’s up? I worry for our furry friends – I should have stopped and asked…

[dasgeh]

Please let us know if you find anything.

[dasgeh]

By the way, it looks like you have a neighbor on this thread.

Oh, and I second the recommendation to get good fenders for the commute. Even if you decide that you’re really into racing, and want to get a super slick road bike or tri bike or whatever, you don’t want to have to choose between the Bus/Metro and, um, damp pants in crappy weather.

[dasgeh]

Welcome! And it looks like you have a neighbor on this thread.

[dasgeh]

@KLizotte 18694 wrote:

I would love to hang my bikes from the ceiling but I don’t have any joists due to crappy poured concrete construction (it is quiet though).

When we lived in Manhattan (with 3 bikes!), we had one of those tension bars that hung two bikes. It was great. No drilling required.

[dasgeh]

Welcome!

Bike commuting is awesome. I hope you try it and love it as much as I do.

Some things to consider: As you figure out your gear-situation, have you thought about using CaBi? Depending on your bus options, there are lots of CaBi stations in Pentagon City. And the membership is useful and not really expensive ($75/year) — I commute to DC on my own bike, but take CaBi around town, e.g. to get lunch. You could grab a CaBi in Pentagon City and take the trail along Washington Blvd/27 to the Memorial Bridge, which will put you behind the Lincoln. Then you can ride up the Mall (Independence or Constitution) and basically get to 3 & C NW entirely on trails.

That route will basically take you from the Pentagon bus station into DC. I can’t speak from experience on getting around the Pentagon, but this thread should help you out there. Also, googlemaps has bike directions, which can help. If you don’t have an exact address, you can always approximate it (e.g. “Pentagon Metro”) then move the end points manually.

Once you start riding from home, I imagine you’ll end up getting to Four Mile Run, taking that to the Mount Vernon Trail, and that to the 14th Street Bridge. That will be a beautiful ride.

As far as gear, it depends on lots and lots of things. Personally, I love dutch style (think CaBi) for comfort, but aluminum road bike for going fast. I switch between a Felt ZW35 (from CycleLife – also used for tris), a Biria Citibike (from Bicycle Pro Shop, also used to tote around our kid) and an electric bike. Others love steel for durability, but my commute has hills, so I don’t like the weight. Your commute sounds like it’ll be a lot flatter, so maybe steel is the better choice. The real key is fit, so be sure to do test rides.

Hope this helps!

G

[dasgeh]

Looks awesome. We couldn’t get down there, between the distance and other Saturday commitments.

The video looks like the type of show-and-tell we’ve talked about for the Clarendon Cup. Any chance we can make that happen? Seems like the first question is space. Are any of the side streets available? Who do we ask? (I’m hoping the BikeArlington folks will know…)

[dasgeh]

Once, again, I will plead with MCL1981 to have respect with people who disagree with you. rcannon100 makes a good point, that complete makes sense in light of your entire post, but is most relevant to the line he* quoted. He didn’t attack you personally or even mention you aside from the quote. And he makes a valid and interesting point.

I also don’t think there was anything in Mantadiver’s original post to indicate that he was being argumentative or disrepectful of the cops. The fact that she came away with a warning leads me to believe that the exchange was cordial. And she also makes a good point — buses violate far more laws than cyclists and they’re far more dangerous to others. I would hope that the NPP targets buses for enforcement at some point…

*Totally assuming gender here – sorry if I guessed wrong.

[dasgeh]

@acorn 18534 wrote:

I will let other members respond to your main questions- I will just address the Arlington Cemetery portion since I ride through all the time. Although you can ride a bike through Arlington Cemetery (and it is a great ride), you can only enter on a bike through the Fort Myer entrance, not the Memorial Bridge entrance. Fort Myer is nice to ride in, you just have to check in with the guards and show ID. (And wear a helmet- it is required on base.)

Just to be clear, you can only ride on 1 road in the cemetery, and only down hill. It would be a lovely loop to ride Mall-Memorial Bridge-trail between ANC (Arlington National Cemetery) and 110-Marshall Drive-Fort Myer (all need photo IDs and helmets)-McNair Rd-past the chapel and into the cemetery, -Meigs Dr-Sherman Dr-ANC gate. Depending on what else you want to see in ANC, you could lock bikes at the gate and walk back to the visitors center, flame, etc. But you couldn’t tour around ANC on bikes (and please don’t try — if you get caught and they get mad, they could kick bikes out of ANC entirely, and for some of us, it’s our daily commute).

It’s on the wmata page, but you can also take bikes on buses, though only 2 at a time (not sure how it works with kids’ bikes). Depending on your route, that could be helpful.

Good luck, and welcome.

[dasgeh]

I was biking from Courthouse to Clarendon yesterday evening, dutifully waiting at a light (maybe at Wayne?). Car traffic cleared in the opposing direction. A FLOOD of pedestrians jaywalked on red. I think 2 stayed back waiting for green. There happened to be no cars in my direction (I know, odd). I dutifully stayed put at the stop line. When my direction finally turned green, 3 peds jumped out into the street to jay walk right in front of me. I only didn’t hit them because I didn’t take off as soon as the light turned green.

There are bad apples in all groups, and we’d all be better off if (1) the rules were well calibrated to maximize efficiency for everyone and (2) everyone obeyed the rules.

I (and many others, apparently) have little faith that the rules are calibrated with peds and cyclists in mind, so I cut people slack for not obeying every rule relentlessly. But if we could work on #1, that’d be great.

As to what to say to offending cyclists, it might be better to apologize to witnessing peds – something along the lines of “sorry, she’s a jerk; all cyclists aren’t like that” — which will ring true when you’re modeling good behavior.

[dasgeh]

It would be awesome if Charlotte put some of those up before the DNC…

Walking times would be helpful on some of the Arlington wayfinding signs, if it’s not too late. I see tourists around the cemetery and Iwa Jima who are confused about how long it’s going to take them to get back to Rosslyn…

[dasgeh]

The top speed on my ebike is far less than the top speed on my road bike (the ebike is much heavier with wider tires, and the motor is way underpowered). The breaks are great. Safety-wise, I don’t see how you can say it’s any less safe than any other bike.

Importantly, my ebike lets me bike to work when I wouldn’t be able to ride a regular bike.

[dasgeh]

We’re planning on coming – 1 adult on Cabi (assuming we can get one at 10th & Washington) and an adult + kid on an ebike + bike seat. Should be fun.

[Author]

Posts