[eminva]

@DismalScientist 20625 wrote:

a new Nashbar touring bike with brifters (oh the sacrilege).

Shock!

@DismalScientist 20625 wrote:

rcannon’s bike is an excellent example of the confusion involving types of bicycles. Looking at the specs, I would not call it a hybrid at all, but rather a cross bike with flat bars.

Cannondale has some interesting things in its lineup. My husband has a Quick CX and I’m never sure how to describe that one.

Liz

[eminva]

@Arlingtonrider 20565 wrote:

My ride is already pretty wonderful, but today it was so good I thought I was dreaming. Virtually every single one of the 15 or so cyclists who passed me rang a bell or called their pass – all the way from Shirlington to my office in DC. That has never happened before. All the fair weather and beginner cyclists must be at home or in their cars.

Same here. I also appreciated the lighter auto traffic. I guess a lot of our fellow Washington worker bees got an early start on the long weekend.

Liz

[eminva]

Hello —

I read all the comments in this thread and very much appreciate everyone’s input. To go along with my new bike, I am thinking of upgrading from Cyclemeter on my iPhone ($5 app) to a dedicated device (Garmin, probably a 500).

My question is, do you all ever have any doubts about its accuracy? I find the mileage on Cyclemeter can be off by an unacceptable margin of error (for example, this morning it exaggerated my 14 mile commute to 15.8 miles). I repeatedly go through all the trouble shooting steps recommended online, but that gets tiresome when it is an every-couple-of-days process.

I just want to make sure my problems are limited to my particular device/app and not inherent in GPS based navigation itself (before spending all that money).

Thanks!

Liz

[eminva]

@Dirt 20568 wrote:

I’d love an hors catégorie climb with 27 or more switchbacks on both climb and descent in the middle of Hains Point.

Pete, you should be living in Rio de Janeiro.

Liz

[eminva]

You should have no trouble navigating the Custis and W&OD — not sure which bridge you plan to take, but the Custis begins with the sidewalk right next to the Marriott Key Bridge up the first of many lovely hills. Stay on the trail and you will run into the W&OD (where you turn right).

Hopefully the directions are having you turn left at Gallows and then right on Prosperity just after the Dunn Loring Metro. Prosperity is an interesting one — typical suburban busy street with no bike infrastructure and poor road crossings from a bike or pedestrian viewpoint. There are wide sidewalks on either side for the first portion of the route, which you can bike on if you prefer because you won’t see a whole lot of pedestrians. South of Route 50, it is just one lane in either direction, no sidewalks and very hilly with fast auto traffic. Not sure what your usual riding style is, but if you are okay with that, great. Just wanted to make sure you were forewarned.

And you do know the Cross County Trail is dirt or gravel in places, right?

Have a great ride!

Liz

[eminva]

@chris_s 20477 wrote:

The westbound Fairfax Dr bike lane will no longer inopportunely disappear on you – it will continue across Glebe to Wakefield St and the Marymount Parking Lot curb cut will go away. Also no more slip lane for the cars turning from Westbound Fairfax Dr to Northbound Glebe so they’ll have to slow down quite a bit more than they do now.

Like! Like! Like!

@chris_s 20477 wrote:

The trail portion west of Wakefield may eventually get some love but sadly the funding for it in the proposed CIP is for FY2021…
.

Wow, I’m not sure those paving bricks or whatever they are called are going to hold up for another nine years. They are pretty choppy already. I saw a man in a motorized scooter trying to negotiate that mess and I can’t imagine how it meets ADA as it is now.

Liz

[eminva]

@jabberwocky 20448 wrote:

I don’t intend on shooting anyone, I just have a working hypothesis that motorists would find me more noticeable and worthy of respect if I had an evil black rifle over my back. :p

Maybe not anyone, meaning people, but could you be so kind as to consider thinning the bambi herd on the W&OD a bit?

Liz

[eminva]

In a salute to acc, I anthropomorphized my bike and gave it a name. Mine took on a female identity and is named Candy Cane. In retrospect, I should have known, because frankly, that sounds like a stripper’s name. Today Clovis gave me confirmation that Candy Cane is too much bike for me. I had gotten so used to the abuse she dished out that I didn’t even realize it.:eek:

The list is long: The frame is too big — the advertised size is 54 cm, but he measured and it is 55 cm. I should be on a 51 cm WSD frame. The handlebars are too wide. The stem is too long. The crank arms are too long. The seat is too far back. My cleats are mispositioned. Wrong shoes. At the same time, I have gotten older and less flexible and strong. He seemed astonished that I rode 7200 miles on this bike.

I guess I have to adopt the attitude that GuyC articulated — Life is too short for a bad fit — but my wallet is going to be in a sad state. I will miss people telling me “nice bike!” whenever they take a look at it. I plan to keep it in the collection — it will soon fit my son. And what middle school boy wouldn’t want to cavort with a girl like Candy Cane.

Thanks for the advice.

Liz

[eminva]

Mark, I am impressed too, although that may not be the kind of anecdote that endears you to your female friends who happen to be pregnant (and possibly some of those who once were).

Although not nearly so bad as the total stranger on the metro platform who sagely intoned that my pregnancy must be a high risk one given how old I appeared to be (this was over 11 years ago).

Liz

[eminva]

I guess the bike subsidy, paltry though it may be, was meant to be a first step to gradually better benefits as time goes by. At the rate they are going, it should be really useful . . . about the time I retire.

Liz

[eminva]

@consularrider 20354 wrote:

I would never drive to my current office, except maybe as part of my wife’s carpool. For me the comparison is with public transit, Metro. The few times I have taken Metro in the past five years, I average about 40 minutes one way taking into account walking to EFC from my house, waiting for the train, the actual transit time, and the short walk from the Rosslyn station to my office. I can do the same commute in about 25- 30 minutes (including changing clothes) on my bicycle. Of course, for the past three years I’ve rarely taken the direct route and average better that 240 minutes each day on the bike.

One thing that astonishes people when they ask about my bike commute is the time it takes — they always respond, “why, that’s about how long it would take on metro or by car!” I’m quick to tell them it takes longer to go home (the uphill slog). I think of the time spent showering and changing as something of a wash, because I would have to do that every day anyway. But it is a good way to sneak in exercise if you have a full schedule of work and family obligations. So I justify the slight extra time on that basis. The husband and kid are very accomodating, although if I ramped it up to 240 minutes per day, that might be a different story. . .

Like vvill, I can’t justify it based on any money savings, because I manage to spend a ton on bike stuff. Compared to driving it is probably still cheaper, but not metro. Again, you can’t put a price on health though.

Liz

[eminva]

@KelOnWheels 20349 wrote:

Hmm, maybe I should start a “This is what I think I want in a bike, now tell me what to look at” thread

Had this forum existed four years ago and had I known about it, I would have asked that very question. I think you will get a better and more honest answer from the folks here than from LBS sales staff, unfortunately.

Liz

[eminva]

@dasgeh 20335 wrote:

I’m pregnant (with #2). Yay!

Congratulations! Best wishes.

Liz

[eminva]

Well, there is a downside to carrying around all the tools I do — people expect you to have some know-how to go with them. I stopped to help a man with a flat tire last night. He didn’t have a pump, so I offered mine. We pumped up the tire and it seemed to hold air. He had just had an accident which resulted in the flat, so I thought maybe he got a pinch flat either moving from one paved surface to another or as his bike slid out from under him. However, I was afraid to make a diagnosis because I really didn’t know. If the tube was damaged, I didn’t really help him. However, he was going directly to the bike shop so hopefully he had enough air to get there.

I don’t think of myself as very mechanically inclined, but as I talk to cyclists on the trails, I realize there are some, particularly new or returning cyclists, with less of a knowledge base than me. I guess I need to step up my game so I can offer some real assistance out there.

So, if you are the guy who wiped out near the junction of the W&OD and Custis, hope you got back to the bike shop okay, and if not, sorry.

Liz

[eminva]

@DismalScientist 20277 wrote:

BTW, have the folks at LBSs ever heard of touring bikes?

Not really. When I started bike shopping four years ago, I went into each bike shop with a written list of what I was looking for in a bike, but it really boiled down to an all-weather commuter for a 28-mile round trip. I did NOT specify what type of bike I was looking for. I thought I would end up with a touring bike or a cross bike, but I was shown anything and everything but. I am happy with the road bike, but sometimes it seems like there might have been a better tool for the task.

Liz

[Author]

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