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I’m on my back deck teleworking in Del Ray Alexandria. It went from sunny and breezy to dark gray and windy within the last 15 min. I’m moving our patio furniture into the garage in a minute here.It doesn’t look terrible yet but its looking like it’ll be a fun evening…

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@AFHokie 113959 wrote:

I don’t think that switchback was built with bikes in mind. It should’ve been, but it looks like its only designed/built for for handicap access.

Agreed. Even going slow with CX tires and disc brakes I have to be really cautious on it so I stay upright, which is why I get so amused by people FLYING up and down it and then crashing. You can tell it wasn’t designed for bikes just by looking at it–so you’d assume it should be treated with caution.

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The switchbacks at Potomac Ave/MVT strike again! Every morning this week I’ve watched someone fall on them. First day I was going down, and 2 people started going up, FAST. On one of the straight segments one of them knocked into me since he couldn’t control himself/stay to the right side of the trail after a turn, and I tipped over in veerryyyy slow motion. Luckily I caught myself before I completely fell (yay guardrails). He fell down a few yards away. I was ticked so outside of confirming he was alive, I ignored his misery.

The next day a guy on a mountain bike/hybrid thought he’d power through the switchbacks going up. He powered so fast he went right over the trail and fell into the grass during one of the turns (luckily, on the one turn that doesn’t have a metal rail). I looked back and saw him sheepishly smiling as he pulled himself and his bike off the ground.

And the last 2 mornings I have I watched someone going down it bike right into the guardrails during the turns and knock themselves over.

People need to SLOW down on the switchbacks, or learn to carry their bikes up and down the stairs. Otherwise, I’m getting a camera and making tons of internet-money when I post their fails.

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@Steve O 113881 wrote:

There was a bit of a discussion on this a little while back, starting with this post:
http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?6843-My-Evening-Commute&p=100352#post100352

Thank you–this is helpful. So it looks like I will just suffer. I was thinking while riding last night that painting reflective stripes along the sides and center of the trail could help, which it seems others have brought up. All of the reflective signs (which I usually don’t even notice) JUMPED out at me, so clearly reflective stuff works well.

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Last night my evening commute involved biking from DC to Revolution Cycles in Clarendon for “Ladies Night” followed by biking home the 9 miles home to Alexandria at 9:00 at night since the event went late. By far the latest at night I have ever been on my bike. On a positive note, my cygolight is BRIGHT, and was all I needed on even the darkest segments of the MVT. I also took someone’s advice from last year here and used a helmet mount for my light–I really liked that method.

Question for people on nighttime biking–I found the glare of oncoming car headlights to be a little blinding at points. I was wearing my sunglasses, just switched out to the clear lenses. Is there any type of glasses that help with this? My google search came back ambiguous. It looks like they may make prescription anti-glare lenses, but what what about non prescription ones? If not, I may just be stuck getting prescription sports glasses, which is not ideal for my budget. I usually prefer wearing contacts when I’m biking.

Also, if any women were considering going to any of the future Revolution Cycles ladies nights–it was totally worth it based on the swag bag alone–a bike bag, bike socks, tire levers, bike pins, and some sunscreen and a few other cool things from Bike Arlington. My friend also won a $120 bike saddle, so I was jealous. The wine, cheese, chocolate, and incredibly useful discussion about women specific bikes, chamois, chamois cream (including a –clothed–demonstration of how to apply it), and other topics was also really helpful.

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LAME.

I noticed my 3:20 hr ride this weekend popped up as a $3 credit, but my daily 1:20 commutes don’t since they’re 40 min each way. I’ll have to try “strava doping” to see if it their system really does catch it…(wtf is strava doping? giving strava illegal steroids?)

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Glasses keep the rain out of your eyes. They can also be a bit blinding when they’re wet, but that the price you pay. Water in your eyes can sting, and if you wear contacts, cause them to get all messed up. I’ve learned to wear them, but look “over” them if they get too spotty. And careful about wiping them off mid commute. You might just spread the water around on them, making them even harder to see out of.

Clear glasses are really useful. I have a pair that allows me to switch out between clear lenses and tinted lenses depending on the weather. Between rain, wind, rocks, and stray bees, I need to wear glasses on my commute.

And just get wet. It’s kinda fun. You’ll feel accomplished when you get home drenched, but alive

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Can you safely filter right? I have 2 similar turns on my commute, and usually on a red light I can cut to the right and pass them, and then wait at the intersection for the crosswalk signal to change so I can cross ahead of the cars moving.

This is only safe is you know how long is left on the light though–in my commute I can usually see the lights from far back, or due to light timing, I roll up to it just as it’s turning red so I know I have time. I never do this if I’m unsure about timing, or if a car has blocked my ability to filter right.

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@Vicegrip 113594 wrote:

are rides less than an hour ? My rides were showing up without points too. I found that they round to the half hour it one hour is a minimum. My commute is 30 min one way so I am now logging oth ways as a round trip with a long lunch break.

Hm, good point. They are all 35-40 min (my commute each way). Maybe I should also just “pause” for my work day to see if that helps!

I have a 3 hr 20 min ride as well, but it got logged less than 24 hrs ago so I’m waiting to see if that hits. If it doesn’t, it’s a MMR->strava issue. If it does hit, its the “less than an hour” issue.

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Yay! I moved to Alexandria and now can incorporate this into my commute–I was really jealous last year seeing all the photos everyone shared.

I may even bike over on my telework day just for the coffee and bagels…

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So an update–it doesn’t look like rides recorded on MMR and transferred to strava via fitness syncer are counting. I rode a bunch last week and this weekend, and my account credits are still 0 (competitive cyclist is seeing the rides though based on my profile). Strava is getting all the GPS, elevation, speed and other data, so this is kinda weird.

So I may switch to strava for recording all my workouts. I like MMR more only because friends are on it, but I like credits to buy stuff even more…And strava always says I’m faster than MMR…so there’s that

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@CaseyKane50 113500 wrote:

Yesterday afternoon while riding on the Holmes Run Trail, I ran into six Alexandria City Police officers enjoying an afternoon ride.

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Since their lights were flashing, I pulled off the trail to let them pass. I sent a message to the Chief asking him why his police officers were on the trail.

I see officers on their motorcycles on the MVT and 4MRT/W&OD all the time, especially on the weekends. I figure it’s normal? At least they usually call their passes.

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@Vicegrip 113331 wrote:

Has this been mentioned yet? CC will credit you a buck an hour for riding up to $40 a month. you can carry one month over to the next so it looks like you could build up $80 to spend. There has to be a catch somewhere or this is the free jersey or tires every other month club for many of us.

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/strava?INT_ID=IB16422&avad=55963_d8708556

I wonder if they’ll accept the rides I record with Map my Ride, but use fitness syncer to sync to strava (it works better that way–it carries the mapping and segment info over, whereas Strava to MMR only gives you total time and distance). I guess I’ll find out shortly. They have a few jerseys I need in my life that are around $40 in their sale section.

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Today is the 1 year anniversary of my first morning bike commute! Funny thing is…the weather is IDENTICAL. Foggy, rainy, and dreary. And even though I’ve moved twice in the last year, the route was nearly identical since I ended up living 2 blocks from where my first commute started last year. So that was fun

I’d comment on how I’m way faster and stuff since last year, but I’m pretty much identical when on an upright bike .

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@bentbike33 113217 wrote:

I agree with this route, mostly. I take the lane on E. Basin Drive and 15th (a.k.a Raoul Wallenberg PL), and on Independence all the way to 7th. But be prepared to sprint down Independence if you keep the lane. A more leisurely option recommended by Venerated Senior Member dbb is go an additional block north to Jefferson Dr. on the edge of the Mall before heading east.

I work by L’Enfant. Jefferson has the added benefit of having wayyy less stop lights and almost no traffic in the AM, so you can race (yourself, a squirrel, or whatever else you find)! It’s totally worth going the extra block north for this.

When I lived in Rosslyn I would take Memorial bridge in the AM, go around the reflecting pool and the Washington Monument, to Jefferson Ave to 7th. It was by far the prettiest ride EVER. On the way home though this route is tough due to tourists, so I took Madison or Independence, to 15th, to E. basin, to 14th st bridge to the MVT/Custis. It’s longer, but much safer.

As far as bike racks go–check to see if your building has bike parking in the garage. My current one does, so I use that. I’m moving buildings soon, and am stuck parking outside then. The security officers recommended just parking it as close to the door as possible so they can see anyone messing with the bikes, or parking across the street at a building that has above ground, but covered parking. Make sure to use a u lock with the added cable for securing your front wheel.

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