[eminva]

My husband and I gave up our second car three years ago. For us, it was the realization that we only put 3000 miles on our second car in the preceding year. It was a nine-year-old Subaru, though, so it was fully depreciated in our minds. I might feel differently if it were a newer car.

We rent cars from Enterprise when we need to both be driving at once. It is not a frequent occurence and they have good weekend rates, so we are still well ahead of where we would be if we’d bought another car to replace the one we got rid of.

Then, as now, I was/am a bicycle and/or metro commuter so I never need the car for work.

We live in Vienna, and are in easy walking or biking distance of shopping and other amenities. We are 1.7 miles from the metro station.

Good luck.

Liz

[eminva]

Tell me something: Why are some of these segments on net downhills? I thought the “King of the Mountain” was the guy who got up the mountain the fastest?

Liz

[eminva]

@acc 22604 wrote:

4. Next year when Liz and I pull out of Vienna on our way to Tour De Fat, I hope more people will come along in costume for the fun/spectacle/hilarity of it.

I promise you Ann, if this comes to pass I will wear a ridiculous costume both directions.

Liz

[eminva]

@rcannon100 22545 wrote:

Balance? I biked 1 mile this weekend, and that was testing my retrofit dog/kid trailer (it failed). Work (or is it life?) won the balance and tilted the seesaw. Cool weather means I’z got doors to paint!! Like many stated above, our house is a feature cover house on Modern Garage Sale Magazine but that has more to do with our other lifestyle choice: rescue dogs.

“If the women dont find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.” – Red Green

Yes, today was the first day I didn’t get on the bike since the National Bike Challenge started. It was a busy week at our house and we all needed a rest. Sometimes the need for rest makes itself known.

Liz

[eminva]

Invite him to the next Bike Arlington Happy Hour! (And your hypothetical friend, too).

Liz

[eminva]

Thanks dbb, a picture speaks a thousand words. Just bad in every conceivable way. What were they thinking? Guess they weren’t thinking. In that last photo, what is the point of the bollard all the way to the right? It is almost in the grass.

But hey, it’s not like anyone ever uses the MVT or anything.

Liz

[eminva]

Kel, I can’t remember how tall you are, but for the last three years I have been riding a 54 cm road bike (non-WSD). I am 5’5 1/2″, 30-ish” inseam. From my fitting, I found out that is way too big of a frame for me. I am now on a 51 cm WSD and much happier. It really affects how the bike handles.

I agree that the selection is more limited in WSD frames, especially for touring and cross bikes, but I think I would make fit the paramount consideration. Make sure you specify that you want a bike that can run a rack and fenders (if you want that). That could get most of what you want even if you have a plain vanilla road bike.

I agree about the steel frames. Miss my Jamis Eclipse.

Liz

[eminva]

@Riley Casey 22437 wrote:

I dunno, its hard to beat this http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12530140 for just plain machismo. All in all though I have actually found toy store bells to be a good choice. Heresy I know but there it is.

OMG, does Dirt know about this?!

Liz

[eminva]

Fabulous photos, everyone. One of these years, I have to figure out how to see it in person.

Liz

[eminva]

I know it’s bad when I look over my shoulder before passing a pedestrian or slower cyclist, move to the left, and discover I am simultaneously being passed by someone who wasn’t even in my peripheral vision yet when I looked over my shoulder moments earlier. It’s not a daily occurrence by any means, but it does happen often enough.

In fairness, I do think most regular commuters and leisure cyclists maintain a safe speed on the trails, but a few should probably do a little better job of taking trail crowd levels into consideration. There is a time and place for everything.

Liz

[eminva]

@rcannon100 22348 wrote:

So that’s a good (and unadvertised) point. This is a beer event. One would only need a wristband if one were drinking, right?

That is correct. You are welcome to attend (and the WABA website advertises this as a family friendly event, though I have my reservations), but to purchase tokens or drink beer you would need to show your ID and get a wristband.

Liz

[eminva]

I think we need more data points, such as age, gender, weight class, etc. A. Because I love all the cool charts that you all generate and this would expand the possibilities; and B. I have a few theories I would like to test out . . . .

Liz

[eminva]

@rcannon100 22303 wrote:

Yup. Operative word “actual.” We have a standard fake DOB that we all use. Same with SSN and everything else. If dinks are going to ask for information they dont need, they are going to get information they cant use.

I would advise that if you choose to attend, you bring your legitimate ID with you because I and some other people you know will be checking IDs and affixing wristbands. We have been instructed to ask for ID from everyone. Enjoy the event responsibly! (Yes, I had four hours of training last night on serving alcohol).

Liz

[eminva]

@Dirt 22151 wrote:

I have something that helps with that. One neighbor is the self-appointed home-owner’s association. He’ll actually go and measure how tall the grass is in your yard and call the county when it gets above the county mandated maximum height. He’s not the help though. The help is the neighbor 2-doors down who is worse about keeping his lawn good than I am. We’re good buds and he sends me a text message when he gets the county notice to cut his lawn. That gives me a 5-7 day warning that I need to cut my lawn or face the wrath of Fairfax County.

Oh my gosh, we don’t have any neighbors like that (at least not that I am aware of)! We’ve never gotten a warning from the county so I guess not. Like many in Vienna, our front yard is much smaller than our back yard, so sometimes we just mow the front and let the back go for a couple of days. The neighbors on either side are the only ones to see the back yard and they are remarkably forebearing.

Liz

[eminva]

One thing not mentioned so far — I take it a lot of you are younger than my husband and me — is the “sandwich generation” phenomenon. For the last couple of years, elder care has been like a second job for my husband. For a while the thing that got sacrificed was cycling and physical activity, but he’s deliberately tried to work that back in. As some of you mentioned, it helps so much with how you feel mentally and physically. Unfortunately, it is the first thing to go for a lot of people when they get under a time crunch.

My husband observes that I am more tired when I get home on the days I commute by bike. I do get home slightly later — although that is also a function of lingering at the office a bit longer when I don’t have to worry about catching a bus at the end of a subway ride. He and my son are both very supportive nonetheless.

Glad I’m not the only one sacrificing an immaculate yard and house.

Liz

[Author]

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