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My friend Joe has a sticker on the back of his bike, “Follow me to certain death”. I completely support that mentality.

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The hill is quite sinister. That’s why I love it. Even stopping on the steep section isn’t easy if you’ve got roadie shoes on.

[Dirt]

For those of us that ride in both Arlington and the District every day, that’s a perfect way to team up. Cool news, Tim.

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Detour7890

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I left about the time you posted this and didn’t see it. They put up the barriers just as I rode up. I rode around on Lee Hwy. Wasn’t a big deal.

They didn’t have the detour marked when I went through… just the trail blocked and a detour sign directing us off the Custis.

Sorry to disappoint you, Mr. Womble, sir. I didn’t detour around it via National Harbor.

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I had the leaf blower hooked up to the front before I tore the bike down. It wasn’t perfect, but it cleared the leaves out from in front of me. Wanted to test that as a means to clear the “S of certain death” behind Lyon Village. Not sure security would let me in the building with that contraption.

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@Senor Womblehead: I’m almost done with the snow-plow for my dummy. It should work well on mulch and leaf piles. I’ll loan it to you if this problem persists.

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@skreaminquadz 1114 wrote:

I’m intrigued by this Kill Bill route – I should try it out.

Tim and I talked about giving it a go in November when things mellow out for him. If you want company, I might be able to be induced to ride it before that.

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@Tim Kelley 1113 wrote:

Yeah, 1300 ft seems a bit on the low side….can you verify this with some GPS unit readings?

MapMyRide’s elevation amounts and profiles are not accurate. If I recall correctly the loop ends up being around 4800 feet of climbing. I’ll see if I can dig up a GPS plot of a similar ride.

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@Tim: You wimp.

Totally kidding. Definitely take a raincheck. November will be perfect. I could use a few more days of recovery from my MoCo oddyssey from last weekend.

Good luck with both the newborn and the Ironman.

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Here’s a few screen shots of where these lovelies are. I love the interwebs.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrogringo/sets/72157625204127690/

Talk to you soon.

Pete

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I would be remiss without mentioning my other faves. Pollard and 26th streets. Pollard is so awesome because you come around a corner on a slight up-hill and you’re faced with this wall of blacktop in front of you. If you haven’t ridden it before, it can be a surprise. The other hills on the list you see them a bit before you have to pedal up them.

26th street isn’t that steep, it is just long. It just keeps going.

So those 5 are my top 3 favorite hills in Arlington.

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Here’s the map of Kill Bill http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/va/falls-church/774128363920277604

@Tim: My fave is Monroe Street. Second fave is a tie between 24th Street/Upton St. N and 41st Street.

Monroe Street is located of Lorcom Lane. As you’re driving West on Lorcom, turn left on Monroe. (Between mile 21 and 22 of Kill Bill)
24th/Upton is located off Lorcom Lane. If you’re driving West on Lorcom, turn right onto Taylor, turn left onto 24th Street N, then turn left onto Upton. ( Just after mile 23of Kill Bill) That combination hurts.
41st street you know. That’s the little lane that comes up from Chain Bridge as an alternative to Glebe Rd. (Between miles 18 and 19 of Kill Bill)

That may be because I always seem to catch Monroe street toward the end of a ride and it is something that I add in to help my self esteem (help eliminate that is).

@Womblehead — I’ve got that on my to do list.

@Tim: Have a road bike? I’ve got a weekend where I can ride both Saturday and Sunday. I’m pretty beat from last weekend, but I would enjoy sampling some of Arlington’s finest with you. We could do a Bike Arlington tour of the leg breakers.

Lemme know.

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I’m also a mobile distributor of Bike Arlington Reflective Bands. I haven’t done much the last 2 weeks, but I’ve been giving out quite a few when I encounter invisible people.

If you hear someone coming by on a bike that sounds like Santa’s sleigh, it is probably me. Feel free to ask.

@Tim: I’ll contact you about volunteering on light distribution.

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First: I’ll preface this by saying that my status as an American is questionable. I don’t own any guns. I don’t have a huge SUV. I’ve never sued anyone. I’ve never watched a single reality TV show. My sense of entitlement is almost non-existent. I’m expecting the deportation proceedings to start any day. I just hope they send me to Canada. (Totally joking about all of that stuff… It is all true, but the tone is meant to be humorous.)

Bike sizing is complicated. There are some basic things that you can figure out by talking to people, but a lot comes down to test riding and getting a feel for a bike. I’m 2″ taller and a little longer in the leg than you and I ride an XL in the Gary Fisher 29ers. That’s the most simple measurement. You get on the bike, adjust the saddle height, then get a feel for how comfy it is… how far you have to reach to get the bars… how much bend is in your back. Those are all subjective.

Personally, I’m an old roadie and I like my handlebars low and wide. My first move would be to lower the stem as far down as it can go… usually even turning it upside-down to get the bars at least 4″ lower than the saddle. Most humans don’t like that.

A good shop will be able to help you find the right size. I’d suggest that you ride a Large and an XL and get a feel for both. A good shop will actually allow you to ride the bike on a test ride in the manner that you’d actually use the bike. Many have demo days at local trails so that you can take the bike out on the trails and really get the feel for it. That often happens in the spring, rather than the fall. All shops will let you test ride.

I hope that is a good start.

PEte

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