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@Judd 151050 wrote:

That log jump is pretty impressive. I hopped a curb this year. . Did you measure the log or was it a guesstimate?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Because I knew my buds would think I was exaggerating
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bikecentric/29351024515

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2016 Highlights:

• Bikepacked at the GW National Forest on some ridiculously hard trails and froze my butt off at night
• Gave in and finally got a full suspension bike, rediscovering comfort and speed on rocky trails, after primarily mountain biking rigid singlespeed for the last 15 years.
• Got over a 37″ log
• Beat some of my faster buddies at the Single Speed USA race in stupid hot conditions
• Won the Fat Bike category at Wakefield @ Wednesday race series (nevermind that there were hardly any – or no – competitors in some of them )
• Got up a tight switchback at Wakefield, inspiring others to try, but not sure anyone else has been successful

2017 Goals:

• More bikepacking
• Be able to bounce on my front wheel only, like this
• Do the C&O in a day (my only attempt, 11 years ago on a fixie Karate Monkey)
• Try more stupid/silly stuff on the bike and not get (too) hurt

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@Judd 151003 wrote:

I’m probably going to have to arrive by car. Bleh. Training in Frederick that day and I won’t have time to get home and bike there. Still trying to figure out how I can get my 30 miles a day that week without the bike commute.

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Park 15 miles south of Frederick, ride to your training, then back.

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@anomad 150855 wrote:

I’m easy to spot. I have a red blinking light on the back of my bike that I use when its dark. 😎

Well, hello and welcome!

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@anomad 150853 wrote:

A fellow commuter on the way home today who told me about this forum after we rode past the power plant, so I signed up. Just saying hi and happy holidays and I hope everyone got to leave work early today!

I moved here in May and have enjoyed the bike infrastructure. Having moved here from a tiny western town, I was shocked at the sheer volume of people riding on the Mount Vernon Trail! While it can be a little annoying when its super busy, this winter has been great.

See you on the way. Don’t be afraid to say hello or good morning out there.

Without a picture or a name, it’ll be difficult to know who to say hi to. However, if you post a picture of your credit card beside your face and send me a message with your CVC code, I will gladly say hi aboard my weirdly-new titanium commuter bike every time we pass each other!

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@drevil 150808 wrote:

Thanks C & K. I was not specific at all, but I intended to ride there from College Park and wondered about riding conditions right around the Mormon Temple. Anyways, wife nixed my idea for a 25-mile round trip night ride, so we’ll probably park at the Chevy Chase City Bikes and ride the two miles to the Temple, roll down to Bethesda, and wrap back up at the shop for a much shorter jaunt

We rode 2 miles to the Festival of Lights at the Mormon Temple, starting at the City Bikes. For the most part, it’s safe for anyone that’s comfortable riding roads; most of it is on paths closed to cars. As you get closer and climb up to the temple, there’s a path that you can ride so you don’t have to worry about being squashed by cars that are paying more attention to the lights.

This is the first time I’ve checked out the Mormon Temple lights, and it is spectacular. We learned that they use at least 650,000 bulbs and start setting up in August. They’re turned on for the month of December, and finished being taken down in April.

Festival of Lights @ DC Mormon Temple by ricky d, on Flickr

Festival of Lights @ DC Mormon Temple by ricky d, on Flickr

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@Crickey7 150790 wrote:

You can get almost all the way to the Mormon Temple through Rock Creek Park. The off-street trail isn’t continuous, so you’d have to be comfortable riding on two lane roads in the dark, but these are not especially dangerous ones. It has mostly good sight lines and drivers who are used to seeing riders, even after dark. Heck, back in the Critical Mass days, they used to go that route on occasion.

@KLizotte 150803 wrote:

Won’t the zoo cut through be closed after hours? Which means you will have to be comfortable going through the tunnel which has a very narrow sidewalk.

Thanks C & K. I was not specific at all, but I intended to ride there from College Park and wondered about riding conditions right around the Mormon Temple. Anyways, wife nixed my idea for a 25-mile round trip night ride, so we’ll probably park at the Chevy Chase City Bikes and ride the two miles to the Temple, roll down to Bethesda, and wrap back up at the shop for a much shorter jaunt

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@LeprosyStudyGroup 150797 wrote:

Yeah that’s my dream bike. I’ll never ever be able to afford it. Is there a shop around here that does Jones bikes? It’d be fun to ride one. I didn’t think there was. I noticed the fork was on your ski-cycle too. Super jelly.

The Bicycle Escape in Frederick, MD. They’ve been a Jones dealer for at least the last 8 years when 3 friends and I bought ours from there

Outlaw Jones by ricky d, on Flickr

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[ATTACH=CONFIG]12985[/ATTACH]

I know, I know that every locking method is defeatable, but I always try to get some part of the frame in the lock. Doing just the tire allows someone to get away with the frame undamaged. If they’re taking my bike, at least it’ll be broken-er (and dangerous for them to ride )

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Has anyone checked out the lights at the Mormon Temple? Wife wanted to go tonight, and I wanted to bike up to it, but I have no idea how dangerous it would be to ride around there in the dark. Anyone have any advice or tips for that area?

We also wanted to check out the Polynesian theme tonight. Are we allowed to bring our bikes to that area, or lock it up close by?

Thanks!

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Found some “art” on my exploratory ride for very local singletrack this morning.

Mud Art by ricky d, on Flickr

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@lordofthemark 150577 wrote:

It’s an auto style compressor, not a floor pump. I don’t know where they got it, or how they decided to install it. They only asked me about bike room needs a couple of times at most, and I think my main focus was on it being fob accessible (the old bike room was and is opened by keys kept only at the front desk, so not accessible at hours when the concierge is not in). I didn’t expect the tools and the pump the put in. And I am not about to complain about it.

If you want to be nice guy, you can spend <$10 to buy this press-on presta valve adapter, which you can zip tie close to the end of the hose. When you want to use it, you can just press on the adapter onto your Presta valve tube, then use the Schraeder valve compressor pump. It's nice and quick because you don't have to screw it onto either, and it's always handy because it'll be zip tied onto the pump. [ATTACH=CONFIG]12969[/ATTACH] It’s available from QBP, so any shop can order it, or you can get it directly here: http://www.aebike.com/SKS-Pump-Adaptor-with-Chain-Schrader-to-Presta_p_21402.html

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@creadinger 150421 wrote:

If I’m wrong about the newcomers, great. Generalizations? Whatevs. We humans evolved to generalize and prejudge things in the environment to quickly assess – will it kill me and/or can I eat it. It’s in our DNA.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]12957[/ATTACH]

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Bummed. I’ll be in San Francisco, so I’m going to miss my first HH of my first BAFS. Put me on a team with a lot of high-mileage riders because I will be bringing the average down

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@hellocharlie 150342 wrote:

You’re right, there are indeed signs. I noticed one riding a section last night (quite small though!) Judging by my track, I joined at odd sections, so no wonder I missed them.

Thanks for the suggestions. Heading to McLean then NW today.

Out of interest, what’s the deal with the trails in the scrub that run parallel to the C&O starting at Chain Bridge (maybe a little before) and head north. Great fun to ride, but every single root and rock has been marked up with luminous orange paint. For runners? I’ve haven’t seen any signage.

Well, the best resource I’ve used for finding legal singletrack is https://www.mtbproject.com . It’ll show you maps, reviews, profiles, pictures taken by riders, and even downloadable GPS maps (which you can use on your phone to follow, even if you don’t get cell signal).

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