[DSalovesh]

DDOT has hinted about using a different style next time, ones that are better anchored into the pavement and more flexible.

The goal – mine anyway – is to pester DDOT, CFA, and whoever else is a part of this, that the cycletrack isn’t complete until motor vehicle traffic is effectively blocked from driving across or in it. If they’re going to spend the money to make this – but moreover, if they’re going to tell all our residents and guests and the rest of the world that we have this network of beautiful bike paths connecting everything, maybe they’ll need to do more than paint some lines and install some token pole markers.

[DSalovesh]

I’m still scratching my head about this one.

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[DSalovesh]

I start with low expectations when it comes to clearing the trails. It was overdue a decade ago, but the combination of winters that have either been too mild for much snow or so snowy that nothing was moving it has left it a lower priority for everyone.

If we have a winter like 2000, 2001, where we get a few 2″-6″ storms and it stays fairly cold for a few weeks around them, the trails become 1″-3″ of rutted, hard, refrozen tundra that can only be cleared by chipping – cold sunny days make it wet and dangerously slippery, especially after additional small snowfalls and flurries, and then it refreezes every evening. (A lot of us bought or made studded tires those winters and after, and have had little or no use for them since.)

This would be bad enough for everyday commuters who choose to bike, but now that we have a broad, cross-jurisdictional bikesharing system as part of the overall public transit program the failure to plan for year-round most-conditions operation starts to border on incompetence.

(In addition, after folks raised this issue during the Arlington DES online chat yesterday about snow removal, the moderators started omitting any other questions about bicycle accommodations. I asked about clearing on-road bike areas, and followed up on twitter about bikeshare. So not only is it a missing part of the snow plan, it’s also not an approved topic of discussion.)

[DSalovesh]

One unique concern we’ll hear about Pa Ave is the need to plan around evacuation and protection of the Supreme Court, the Capitol, and the White House.

Hard, continuous barriers seem incompatible with that.

But the CFA is populated with some of the best architects and city planners in the nation, and DDOT’s engineers are without peers anywhere, so I’m sure that if they can get past saying “we can’t” and start looking toward “how can we?” this problem will be overcome.

[DSalovesh]

@mstone 37789 wrote:

The repaving is paid for out of the Federal inauguration budget, not by the city. I think this is reasonable, the same way I might spruce up the house before a big party.

Actually it’s the District that pays, and they seek reimbursement for it and other local inaugural burdens from the (joint congressional) inaugural committee. The CFA also advises congress, so were they to disapprove of the outcome of the work it’s possible that the reimbursement could be delayed or denied.

[DSalovesh]

@KLizotte 37746 wrote:

Yikes! Glad to hear you are largely ok. That is so scary. Take the cabbie to the cleaners.

I know there was a WABA or BicycleSpace initiative recently to get U-turns outlawed. The law was revised accordingly but we obviously need physical barriers to protect cyclists. Anybody know if the initiative also included a petition (with signatures) to put up barriers? I’m under the impression that some sort of “arts” commission controls what goes on PA Ave and would have to approve bollards being installed.

Long story shortened: the recent “change” was really a confirmation that bike lanes count as travel lanes (so U-turns are prohibited across them) and it was done by mayoral order after WABA, The Assembly (“The DC Civic Cycling Assembly”, a community-driven activism group organized by BicycleSpace and others) and a bunch of just folks raised awareness of the problem.

And the US Council of Fine Arts makes “recommendations” about the appearance of federal spaces, which somehow includes Pennsylvania Avenue. It’s up to each project area to take those and act appropriately – for the Pa Ave cycletracks they recommended no posts, but DDOT defied them a little to put posts at the intersections. After the coronation parade (whatever) DDOT has an opportunity to do the right thing and create effectively separated bike lanes – or they may kowtow to a bunch of esteemed old theorists who never ride bikes and don’t even live here.

[DSalovesh]

Donning my “bicycle industry professional” hat for a moment, a bike crashed by a car should be a total write off.

The simplest reason is that the cab driver ruined a perfectly good bike that you bought as a whole package, and that’s what they need to replace. The salvage value – what a shop would give you to strip those parts for the opportunity to re-sell them as used – is nil. Even if there are parts that you personally wouldn’t trash, the economic value (and what insurance should deduct from the compensation they’ll pay you) is zero.

[DSalovesh]

Dunno about famous, but notorious maybe.

And the other day my boss popped his head in my office as I was changing shoes (the only bike-specific clothing I wear most days) and told me that rolled up pants legs are not allowed.

Been here four years now and I couldn’t tell if he was kidding or not, but ever since I’ve paused on the stairway up from the garage to roll down my pants legs.

[DSalovesh]

Ibuprofen is also known to cause shortness of breath, to the degree that it’s sometimes considered to be a form of reactive asthma. (This is true for most NSAIDs too.)

Even when the effect is sub-acute (meaning not normally noticeable) it’s been shown to reduce blood oxygen levels, and I find it almost always affects my more intense riding and running.

Then again, the chronic knee pain I’m dealing with ALSO affects my intense exercise, and even some of my lower intensity activity. Damned if you do…

[DSalovesh]

Once upon a time there was an engineer, drove a locomotive both far and near…

[DSalovesh]

There are no (well, few) laws about what colors cars can be painted, but tons of requirements around retroreflective markers and effective lighting.

[DSalovesh]

I’m still looking for the official text, probably won’t see it until Friday, but if it says “across bike lanes” then no, it would not be illegal to make a U-turn that does not actually cross. (Which could only be done by a bike since other vehicles are restricted from using them and few other vehicles could physically make the turn without crossing.)

[DSalovesh]

@vvill 36247 wrote:

So basically: unhooking the derailleur cable makes it more likely for the chain to slip because the derailleur can move laterally on it’s own? Not trying to be difficult, I’m just trying to understand the mechanics that could lead to the bad outcome.

(No worries – you’re nowhere near difficult…)

The mechanics are that while the derailer is hooked to a shifter and operating normally it isn’t as steady as you may think. It moves a lot, and in all three axes. But it’s balanced, so when it moves away it also moves back pretty quickly, and it’s meant to be adjusted if it doesn’t snap right back in place. If the derailer hangs there with no particular connections it will still want to move as it can but it has no balance and no adjustment.

But the bad outcome isn’t all that bad either. It won’t jam, it’s very unlikely to leave you unable to pedal on, and even in the worst cases it won’t break any parts that are expensive or critical.

I’d have no comment at all if you hadn’t asked, and since you did I’m tossing in my opinion that the $20 version (trim chain and add a tensioner) is the reasonable step up from just avoiding the shifter.

[DSalovesh]

Yeah, the chain would engage another gear, mostly, unless it falls between. And it could be close enough to “in” gear that it wouldn’t seem wrong except it would not be as solidly engaged so it’s more likely to slip when you put extra pressure on it. With the chain shortened it’ll stay bottomed out on the cog teeth.

It would be fine to relink it anywhere that works, yes. I really like using tool-free links (have a couple in my porta-tool bag), but they’re not necessary.

The biggest difference between what you have and what you’re describing is that now you can shift if you want/need to, but you’re disabling that system. Most likely nothing much will happen because of it, but shortening the chain and/or replacing the derailer with a tensioner drops the bad outcome chances below any concern at all.

[DSalovesh]

E is okay except at 4th where barricades from ongoing construction occupy half the eastbound bike lane.

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