[eminva]

I had my bike stolen from the racks by the Ballston Metro station in 2008. It had been there all day. When I returned, there were broken locks (both cable and U-locks) all over the ground so I think someone came with a truck and cleared everything out. Great big daylight heist.

My bike was a recent model low end Trek hybrid. They left behind the carcasses of bikes that had probably been there for months. I guess they took everything else.

That said, I’ve never heard about other people having problems there so it may have been a one time thing. However, if I needed to park in that neighborhood, I’d probably find a public parking garage and find some place to lock up. No greater security, but it would put it out of sight a little better.

Liz

[eminva]

@dcv 79288 wrote:

Warm enough to to work my phone and still daylight on commute home. Lovely ride home with eminva.

That turned out pretty well! I thought I had my head turned. I didn’t know how far back that guy behind us was.

Nice evening and nice ride with dcv.

Liz

[eminva]

***Reminder***

Thanks to the big thaw, trails are clearing up and ready for action. Just a couple of more weeks to rack up those entries. Just post your entries here at the end of the competition. May the best (Maryland loving) team and individual win!

Liz

[eminva]

My friend who lives near the Sandburg St/W&OD crossing just sent me a message that a huge plow went through there on the trail this afternoon! Can anyone confirm? I will try to check it out in the a.m. If I have time.

Liz

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[eminva]

I think this would be a fascinating topic for a Washington Post article. Who will contact Ashley Halsey?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[eminva]

@Phatboing 78496 wrote:

Is this the area they plan to cover?

(have they talked about when they’ll be getting in touch with cyclists?)

I think that is the right area, give or take a few blocks. Certainly it gets at the bulk of it.

I don’t know the timing. I just passed all of your contact info on to them — I had been waiting for a few folks to get back to me with contact info. I will see them for coffee (in Vienna) again on 3/14 so I will ask!

Thanks again.

Liz

[eminva]

@OneEighth 78585 wrote:

Hose down/clean up with WD-40.
Lube with 3-in-1.
Run a rag between the rollers to clean each link when WD-40 doesn’t cut it.

As a WDFC shareholder, I thank you.

Have you heard about WD-40 BIKE?

Liz

[eminva]

At the risk of making myself COTD (Curmudgeon of the Day), I think sometimes we are so used to complaining we miss the rare opportunity staring us in the face.

I know Tysons is presently the opposite of bike friendly. But I believe the Tysons Partnership is sincere in its desire to turn the tide as development proceeds over the coming years. They have to because they have no choice — the level of density will not support continued 100% reliance on automobile transport. If you have suggestions for how they can improve the bike situation in Tysons (not parts of Fairfax County outside of their bailiwick), or want to be involved, please shoot me a private message and I will pass your contact info on to them.

Keep in mind they have resources that we do not. When they complain to the county about snow berms shoved in front of paths, the county will listen to them in a way they will not listen to us because their members are the economic engine that drives Fairfax. So use them to get what you want.

Thanks. (And thanks to those who have already responded).

Liz

[eminva]

@Fast Friendly Guy 78073 wrote:

When am I going to learn that roads with names like “Ridge” “Summit”, “Overlook” “Crest” or any name with the word ”Mount” are going to involve climbs?!

You are right about that. At the end of my Capital Bikeshare illustration, I found myself in a neighborhood called “Spy Hill” — some Civil War connection, I assume. But the name sure fit.

@vvill 78091 wrote:

I took one wrong turn and had to make a slight adaptation for it (once I realized where I actually was) to avoid overlapping, but it worked out okay in the end. You can tell the hind claws don’t look as originally planned.

. . .

All in all, it was much more fun than any sort of recovery ride I would’ve been doing, and having ridden maybe 60-80% of the roads below (and knowing a lot of them very well from my commutes) it was easier than I expected.

Very good, vvill! This is why everyone should try this — to figure out how you recover from a mistake after a lot of painstaking work. I don’t think it is ever as bad as you expect but you never know until you upload. I am impressed you only made one. On my CaBi illustration, I stayed on Four Mile Run way too long which gives the rear wheel a “tail” at about 4 o’clock. But it worked out okay because it just looks like part of the chainstay/chain structure (and I couldn’t ride through a ball field as planned to complete the chainstay due to mud/ice/snow).

It is also fun to explore roads and neighborhoods you might be less familiar with. There are a lot of dog walkers in Arlington. And they probably all think I’m nuts.

Liz

[eminva]

Some additional points: I did it in one ride and did not pause anywhere.

Took Fast Friendly Guy’s advice and affixed four pages of cue sheets to my arms with rubber bands

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4830[/ATTACH]

Sorry about the trespassing. #Sorrynotsorry

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4831[/ATTACH]

Ridewithgps.com totally glossed over this

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4829[/ATTACH]

Don’t worry Tim, I’ll come back and resod all my overland routes

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4832[/ATTACH]

Liz

[eminva]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4828[/ATTACH]

Click here for Strava

Distance of illustration: 17.6 miles
Ride to Starting Point: 2.8 miles (for a total of 20.4)
Elapsed Time: 2:35:50
Moving Time: 2:04:32
Average Speed: 8.5 mph

I’ll put some pictures below. Suffice it to say, not an easy 17 and a half miles!

Liz

[eminva]

@jabberwocky 78013 wrote:

K, fair enough. Wish Tysons had showed me some love when I rode there.

Yep — better late than never. And they are under no illusions about how far they are from becoming bike friendly, but they seem quite genuine.

@TwoWheelsDC 78018 wrote:

Oh yeah, there’s a turn lane, but don’t think they put it there for cyclists!

http://goo.gl/maps/CKWia

I think that is for the next street down (way off in the distance you can see a car coming out of the street; forget its name). I think the arrow is premature because the street is quite a ways off at that point. I have seen motorists looking a bit confused by that but haven’t seen anyone actually turn in. But cyclists can and do use it to get to the W&OD from southbound Gallows.

I’m assuming the vehicle coming out of the trail is an official vehicle. Those Google cameras really do pick up a slice of life.

Liz

[eminva]

@jabberwocky 78006 wrote:

Are they interested in past commuters? I did the Reston to Tysons commute from 2006 to 2010, but lost that job and don’t ride there anymore.

I think they are looking to get sort of an esprit de corps going for the hearty folks who bike through Tysons. Secondary purpose would be to assemble an informal group of people who can be a resource to help new commuters get going and to give them feedback as they make plans to make Tysons more bike friendly. You could help with the last item, but the rest probably doesn’t apply.

They seemed receptive to my suggestion that they start a Friday Coffee Club out that way. They have the advantage of a budget so those cyclists might not have to pay for their own java like rest of us. ELITE!

Liz

[eminva]

The connector trail between Tapawingo Road and the condos by the Vienna Metro Station was still a bit icy/slushy in long stretches this morning. Tackled just fine on my studded mountain bike tires. HOWEVER, the giant snow berm blocking the entrance to the trail on the Tapawingo end was not surmountable. I walked the bike past that.

Liz

[eminva]

@consularrider 77892 wrote:

So how was the turn out?

Sorry, missed seeing your message until now.

It was a nice turnout — about half a dozen WABA Bike Ambassadors and me. They were very friendly and most of the conversation was about how to handle tricky urban/suburban riding situations, interactions with other road users, ideas for outreach, etc.

Thanks for opening the invitation, Pete. Great work, WABA Ambassadors!

Liz

[Author]

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