[eminva]

@Megabeth 30857 wrote:

The Mister and I will be out there in a super-secret counting location first thing tomorrow. In fact, it’s so super-secret, I forgot where we signed up to be. I hope he knows…

It should be found on one of the attachments to an email you received very recently (I should have noted that my foray to the Custis and Ballston Connector tomorrow will be on behalf of Arlington County).

It was a beautiful night to count cyclists, and nice to meet Guy Continental! (who I neglected to photograph for the One Eighth Sighting thread). For those of you who are curious, I counted 356 cyclists riding through the W&OD/Gallows intersection during my two hour shift.

Hope to see more of you in the morning.

Liz

[eminva]

@consularrider 30782 wrote:

I got the email, but won’t go to Facebook so they are out of luck since I am not a Chase customer.

Yeah, I think that crowdsourcing the grant making process is a dubious proposition at best. However, I’m willing to help any organizations I support to jump through the hoops if that is how the game is played, and I passed it along in the hopes that there are some Facebook users or Chase customers here.

Liz

[eminva]

@jnva 30639 wrote:

This is why I prefer going down the middle of L street. This happened to me this morning – double whammy Maryland driver and a BMW!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF8qLbIwBPY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Yep, that’s pretty much SOP on L street and your solution of taking the middle lane is correct.

Liz

[eminva]

Congratulations! Great race.

Just don’t be tempted by any shortcuts; we wouldn’t want you to become as infamous as Rosie Ruiz.

Liz

[eminva]

@Dirt 30569 wrote:

I usually adjust my route to some smaller streets that may not be blocked.

I have been experimenting with this approach lately. My direct commute route in the morning usually moves quite well the whole way so it is not an issue. In the afternoon, however, the direct route takes me through Georgetown on M Street. I’ve used several options over the years but my preferred route at the moment is 17th Street south to G Street, west on G Street to Virginia Avenue and then TR Bridge. I only discovered this route because construction was blocking my normal route out of the alley behind our building, and the detour put me out on Connecticut. Like all other westbound routes it has its downsides, but it is a lot better than M Street.

The OP is arriving in the morning after the rush hour parking restrictions have been lifted so finding an alternative that moves may be a challenge.

Liz

[eminva]

@DismalScientist 30555 wrote:

I find taking the TR bridge and cutting over to L at New Hampshire less stressful than riding eastbound through Georgetown. I don’t have to race from a standing start up from Rock Creek to make a left on L.

Where is your sense of danger and excitement? :p

Liz

[eminva]

Thanks, Dirt and Dismal. I will experiment with both options. I use Key Boulevard in the evenings when I want to get away from the mad crush of the Custis, so I will have to try the a.m. I did go through the foot path once coming up the hill.

Thanks again.

Liz

[eminva]

Thanks, Ann and Mark for raising this issue. I rode down Clarendon Boulevard today and especially between Court House and Rosslyn it was pretty bad due to multiple construction project. I guess it can’t be helped with all the major work being done, but it would be nice if the county could see to it that the construction crews put things right at the end of their projects. I was happy to be on the mountain bike this morning.

Liz

[eminva]

@KelOnWheels 30526 wrote:

I was planning on taking the Confident City Cycling class again but I was a little too Confident in thinking it would be in the same location as last time and didn’t actually check that before heading out, so I didn’t get there in time.

I was in that class! We started out at the WABA headquarters. I guess they were in a hurry so we quickly went off to the playground on 18th Street. I stayed for the full day marathon session so I can take the LCI course at the end of the month. We were in the middle of our outdoor evaluation when the storm hit. I was having visions of the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy is looking out her window during the tornado and sees Mrs. Gulch (sp?) going by on her bike. I was so cold and wet I called my husband to come get me rather than ride the 16 miles home. So kudos to you for making it through that.

Liz

[eminva]

@consularrider 30532 wrote:

Does anyone know if the Marine Corps Marathon uses bike marshals?

I think the Marine Corps Marathon uses the best kind of volunteers you can get; those who can be compelled to do so in service to their country.

Liz

[eminva]

What time are you going through, and which blocks? I am on L Street between Pennsylvania and Connecticut Avenue at about 9 a.m. Parking is not permitted at that hour, so doorings generally are not an issue (although sometimes a car pulls over to the curb to let out a passenger). Also, at that hour, traffic moves reasonably well such that I don’t feel it is necessary to lane split. I usually take the lane and go with the flow of traffic, which rarely exceeds my top pace (so I’m not holding anyone up).

My big pet peeve on L Street is that cars back up for parking garage entrances on both sides of the street. For the block between 19th and 18th, both the right and middle lanes often have backups for two parking garage entrances adjacent to each other. For that reason, I change lanes often in anticipation of avoiding these backups. I don’t want to get between the turning car and parking garage entrance.

All that said, if traffic were truly gridlocked on that street or any other, I don’t have a problem with lane splitting.

Liz

[eminva]

@consularrider 30202 wrote:

Liz: Swapping pedals is so easy

In theory you are correct, however, it didn’t work out that way for me! I just attempted to remove the Look Keo pedals from my bike so I could put on flat pedals for my Confident City Cycling class tomorrow. I could not get the right one off for the life of me. I consulted a wide variety of web resources to make sure I was turning the correct way. No go.

So I’ll be the one taking the Confident City Cycling class on my kid’s mountain bike (the only bike around here with flat pedals . . . )

Thanks. Guess I will sheepishly head to the bike shop to get these things changed when boot weather rolls around.

Liz

[eminva]

Ibex

Icebreaker

These are the two I have tried and liked. Make sure you look on Sierra Trading Post before paying full retail.

Liz

[eminva]

Thanks for that, jabberwocky. I had surgery a couple of years back and have had to relearn a bunch of stuff I used to be able to do. I can’t remember when or how I originally learned how to do a bunny hop, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t think it through all that carefully. Now it’s been a more deliberate process (I’ve worked my way up to bunny hopping the expansion joint on Pennsylvania Avenue where it crosses Rock Creek Parkway). I’ll study this and practice some more. But I doubt I’ll ever get to jumping up on knee walls.

Liz

[eminva]

@RESTONTODC 30354 wrote:

I passed eminva on her shinny White/Red Cannondale yesterday afternoon. The frame is very reflective.

I always to keep my bike clean but I can’t keep it up. Someday, I’m going pull in the Carwash on route 7 under WOD in Falls church and ask them to hand wash my bike.

Ha ha! I just gave it the full spa treatment this weekend. Now how long will it last before it is a muddy mess again? I narrowly missed the rain this morning. We’ll see how long my luck lasts.

Good seeing you yesterday.

Liz

[Author]

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