[Dirt]

I always speak up. It is hard to know what to say. If someone doesn’t call their pass, I wish them a good ride. Perhaps they’ll start communicating. If they do something really rude or scary, I’ll happily suggest that they be safe. “Ride safely!”. It is hard to keep it positive, but that is important. If delivered in a negative way or sarcastically, your message does the exact opposite of its intent. You make it easier for the person to blow off riding safely and those who suggest that they do so.

[Dirt]

@rcannon100 100961 wrote:

Pete’s rides are excellent!

Thanks! I lead rides at Bikenetic in Falls Church. They are Sunday morning rides and change each week. Some are training rides, some are just fun or touristy rides. They are announced on our Facebook page. We also lead Tuesday night mountain bike rides at Wakefield (Audrey Moore Rec Center) in Fairfax.

Most shops lead rides during the season. There aren’t too many shops that lead through the winter. Basically I’d start by contacting your favorite local shop and see what they do. Broaden your search until you find the rides that you want.

[Dirt]

Many local shops lead training rides and fitness rides.

[Dirt]

2015 Goals
Make the DC area a little bit better place to ride a bike
and
Top $10,000 made for charity between my two charity rides. We made $8500 this year which was amazing!

Thanks so much for all of you that helped make 2014 so great!

Dirt

[Dirt]

@Steve O 100237 wrote:

Rode with Dirt for a couple miles along the Custis and W&OD this eve. Impressively, he was lugging a large bike box out to KC.

There is light, by the way.

[Dirt]

Burp.

[Dirt]

Hobo doing what he does best.

Hobo and another trail cat.

[Dirt]

I won’t be able to take part next week. I’m working both evenings.

If you haven’t volunteered with BikeArlington before, this is a GREAT way to help out! It is fun and makes a HUGE difference to the community.

Thanks Tim and Erin for making this happen.

Pete

[Dirt]

I was riding to work in Falls Church on Sunday at about 11:30am when they flew over. Unmistakable sound.

[Dirt]

A few more ideas.

If the grinding is truly intermittent, then it might be possible to have the hub rebuilt. Cleaning out the bearings and puting in fresh grease might give it another year or so of decent service. It will at least make it quieter, if not smoother and make it an acceptable beater wheel to use for Freezing saddles.

An inexpensive replacement wheel — No name hub, DT Spokes, Alex rim — goes for $48. That is for a quick release, cassette hub and a silver rim. Threaded hubs for freewheels are similarly priced. Other options exist for reasonably-priced, new wheels. There are other options for reasonably priced wheels that go up to about $80. There are wheels designed for “more robust” riders (as Assos calls them) that have more spokes and a little more durable rims. These are nothing special, but they work pretty well for us. Cost to move your cassette, tire and tube over runs about $20. It makes sense to replace the rim strip. That’s another $5. That puts total out of pocket for a new rear wheel starting at about $72 + tax. If you’re a WABA member, it would be 10% off that.

Generally we do between 2 and 5 of these kinds of wheel replacements per week. Of the 4 people who wrench at the shop, I’m the most likely to open up a hub to see if I can rescue it. I would much rather not create waste. Some hubs can’t be saved! Some people are not willing to put up with a hub that doesn’t run 100% smooth for the sake of reducing waste. I’m pretty realistic about what I can and cannot save.

Bikenetic is a donation center for Bikes For The World. Your old wheel would be donated to them, where it would go to serve someone who didn’t mind it grinding a bit or was willing to fix it themselves. During the main cycling season, our customers donate between 2 and 10 bikes per week, dozens of tires and tubes that still have some life in them with the help of some creative patching and many other things that go to the third world to hopefully make life a little better.

[Dirt]

I don’t know the specifics of those hubs, but if they use cup and cone bearings, they are easily serviced. We charge about $40 for a full hub service. If they have cartridge bearings, we can replace those. Sometimes cartridge bearings can be cleaned and re-greased so that they work well. Sometimes the bearings need to be replaced.

I do this kind of thing every week. I’d much rather service a hub than replace the wheel. Often times, the cost of an inexpensive, machine-built wheel is lower than the cost of rebuilding a wheel. The disposable nature of that bothers me… except that we send wheels that have been replaced to Bikes for the World and they most often go to people in need in the Third World. It is some consolation.

We’re not the only shop that does this kind of work, obviously… most good bike shops will do this kind of work.

If you can’t find a shop close to you to do this kind of work, stop by Bikenetic in Falls Church. We’re happy to work with them.

Thanks!

Pete

[Dirt]

Smooth, steady riding works best. Ride in a way that avoids the need to accelerate, decelerate or turn quickly or abruptly.

As for a rear brake, my favorite snow/ice bikes are my fixie mountain bike and my fixie cross bike. Leg braking works much better than using a brake lever. I know most people aren’t going to have a fixie with clearance for fatter tires.

Not all studded tires are equal. Tread pattern moves and turns you in snow. Studs move and turn in ice. Tires exist that give you both.

[Dirt]

My guess is that Arlington Police are having a learning curve with this whole endeavor. I noticed this a few days ago and photogged it yesterday.

I hope things keep improving and are positive as they patrol this spot. It can be a very good thing.

[Dirt]

Not too many people have an office with a view like mine.

[Dirt]

The Man in Black…. wearing white…. after Labor Day….. I’m confused!

First ride for the Langster in a while. Damn good to see you on 2 wheels again, sir. That lawn chair you were riding for a while just plain sucked.

[Author]

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