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@lordofthemark 107354 wrote:

OTOH I have certainly begun to notice all the other winter riders, and there are a LOT more than 138 folks riding in the winter in the metro area.

I Agree. I was in the city (us suburban folk who get to work in the suburbs as well avoid it normally) for the car show and while walking around noticed there were many cyclists still out. It was good to see the infrastructure getting use. Seeing people biking makes it socially acceptable and seeing that you don’t die when you ride a bike when its below 45 shows its possible to do it throughout the year here. Out in the wilderness of Fairfax/Vienna I will occasionally see a soul or two near the Vienna metro but the fair-weather Freds have deserted me on Lee Highway/Mosaic District. I hope that my existence encourages others. When better weather hits the pedestrian/cycling traffic around the area can actually be decent. Without the protected lanes and even just some fancy paint the numbers seem to drop out here hard. If it isn’t on the W&O, it can be kinda dicey. I hope to make it to the VDOT forum tonight on the upgrading of 66 though I think I read here that they have no intention of honoring the FX County bike/trail plan.

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@peterw_diy 107325 wrote:

Mar 20 – Dec 31: bike for everyday errands.

Jan 1-Mar 19: bike for errands every day.

There is something slightly tragic that we are so easily able to claim greatness simply by cycling through the winter here. As usual the Dutch put us in our place. Mind you it hadn’t snowed there in two years.

I think the true hope is that one day, BAFS won’t exist. It will simply be normal behavior. Also cycling infrastructure.

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@Tim Kelley 107291 wrote:

But who will be left to flag every single segment on their ride then?

http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?6393-Strava-segments-on-multi-use-paths&p=72845#post72845

I like this Tim Kelley guy.

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@Rockford10 107269 wrote:

… is looking like it will involve wet feet. Everything else is dry but the wool socks, shoes and shoe covers. Sigh.

Given the expected wind, your socks should be dry about 10 minutes into your ride home.

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@hozn 106928 wrote:

I think the Snob’s term might be a slightly better metaphor: http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2009/04/individualism-innovation-or-absurity.html

I am firmly in the pro filth prophylactic camp. Fenders are teh bleh.

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Side fun fact – The rock wall isn’t a Dick’s things. It was a “we purchased Galyan’s and they had rock walls thing”. Dick’s has killed the rockwalls in all the previous Galyan’s stores I’ve seen. No insight into the reason.

I loved that wall. Climbed it all the time as a kid.

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@dplasters 106341 wrote:

Rain or Snow? Which will you bring us this evening…….

Ah, yes. How could I forget – Option C ice pellets the whole way home out in Falls Church/Fairfax/Vienna.

Everything is melting when it hits. Except your face. It bounces off of that.

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@mstone 106371 wrote:

It would actually be really easy–you just reduce 50 at that crossing from a one mile long interstate highway to the kind of road it is on either side of that spot, and you’d have plenty of ROW for trails on both sides.

That is quite possibly the most telling example in the area of misguided highway funding.

You still have to deal with traffic merging on/off from a combination of Gallows, Fairview Park and 495 though. I can’t imagine the intersection with Gallows ever being changed to a typical intersection and I can’t imagine they would ever cut off the ramp access that fairviewpark / 50 have to 495. My imagination is a 1.5 mile long sky bridge solution.

*Edit – Or it will be the Disneyworld solution (aka see thread in road and trails on worst bike lane in Maryland).

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I wonder where/how far 34.B can really take you. 50 going west after Gallows is entirely unbikeable save for some access roads that have you jumping back and forth across the road a couple times and even then I don’t think you can string together a bikeable path to Fairfax Circle where 50 and 29 meet. I’d love to be able to just cruise down 50 and then glide over 14 lanes of highway traffic to work, but I don’t see that happening any time soon.

I work in fairview park. Lee Highway is the better solution in my opinion. Lower speed limits, more lights, lane widths already so wide you can add a bike lane with just some paint movement.

But I’m very intrigued to see what they imagine they can design.

-Also, rebuilding/designing Cedar Lane going over 66 would be a god send. That road could be a great N/S option other than Gallows.

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Rain or Snow? Which will you bring us this evening…….

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@TwoWheelsDC 106089 wrote:

Kickback hub!

All the cool kids rock a sturmey archer kickback s2.

I am a cool kid

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@Crickey7 105841 wrote:

Wind is really picking up out of the West. Glad I have no bridges to cross tonight.

Some genuinely dangerous wind gusts out in Fairfax for me. Stay safe out there everyone. Keep that front wheel under control and mind the bar mitts/moose mitts/pogies aka wind catchers right now.

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One thing I am not arguing with myself about is Gore Windstopper. This material is like magic. Somehow, I can wear the same jacket when its 10 degrees and also when its 45 degrees. Its like magic. The only difference is under armour coldgear underneath vs a simple workout shirt underneath.

Does there exist, a better material than Windstopper? I submit that there is not!

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@americancyclo 105692 wrote:

have to admit, I felt faster and shaved 8 minutes off my commute time by wearing lycra instead of snowboard pants, leather sneakers instead of hiking boots, checking the tire pressure and oiling my drivetrain. I bet you can guess which ones helped the most.

It was the tailwind, right?

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I’m behind on every trend… but I comfort myself in knowing that I never paid full retail to be behind on the trend. As they laugh at my faux hipster ways. How can you be a hipster working as a government contracted statistician???? I work for the man, man.

The existential crisis is real.

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