[Emm]

@jrenaut 92233 wrote:

Maybe it’s just their accountants who are [expletive deleted].

As a budget person…yea. Pretty much. We play that game all the time too, but since we’re HHS it’s “OMG IF YOU MAKE US REPORT ONE MORE THING WE HAVE TO TAKE FTEs OUT OF THE FIELD TO DO THE REPORT AND THEN BABIES WILL GET SICK AND DIE!!!!”.

I’m not saying babies wont die if I have to do one more stupid accounting report, but it isn’t quite as clear of a cause and effect as we sometimes make it sound .

[Emm]

I keep a very small one on me in either my backpack or pannier bag when I commute. During weekend rides, it goes in my jersey pockets. It’s small and really lightweight–maybe the size of 2 decks of cards? I got it in either the travel or sports section of target.

In the kit there are:
1. bandaids
2. rubbing alcohol, and another type of cleaning pad for injuries
3. medical tape and gauze
4. bee sting relief pad
5. fever reducer.

Very small quantities of each item. One bad spill would take up everything probably. So far I’ve used it once, and that was when a I saw a kid take a spill and he clearly needed a few band aids. I wish I had it on my last year when I fell-the gauze would have come in handy for preventing sweat from dripping into a nasty case of road rash I got from the MVT

[Emm]

I was biking on the trail a few weekends ago and a girl had a battery operated wireless speaker inside her seat post water bottle cage. The speaker looked kinda like this one, although the one I linked to is not the exact one she was using.

I think it was the best of both worlds: she could rock out during her ride, but she could also hear everything around her–she heard me approaching from pretty far back, and I wasn’t being especially loud.

[Emm]

@eminva 92100 wrote:

Where are you going to put the seats then? Don’t you have to turn them in in Pittsburgh with the vehicle?

There is a point to be made about the car’s seats–a few weeks ago I set my bike’s front wheel on the floor of my car (the rest of my bike was on a roof rack), and it rested lightly against a leather seat. This left a permanent mark on the leather where the quick release lever touched it. The leather on that spot is ruined, and it was only touching it for a 5 mile trip.

It sucks for my car, but would be way worse if it was a rental. They charge you a TON for those types of fixes.

[Emm]

There’s some decent Mexican places in Del Ray. Or just do what I do and grab your dinner at the Dairy Godmother

Wish I saw this yesterday–I would have cut out of work and shown up. Now that I’m full time in Del Ray I need to meet more cyclists in my neighborhood so I know who I’m seeing on the trails! Maybe we can do a evening “ice cream club” at the Dairy Godmother some night…

[Emm]

@dasgeh 91638 wrote:

I’m not sure. From the FB comments, someone said they have jerseys from this company says she buys the same size here as she does for her casual (non-work) shirts.

Thanks! I ordered a small so lets hope it works (and I joined the FB group since I kept forgetting to join…). I hope they come out with matching shorts too

[Emm]

So…are these sized kinda big? I was looking at the size charts, and I wear a small or medium in gore jerseys, which looks like it equates to about an extra small here.

[Emm]

As payback for my mildly snarky response yesterday to drivers waving bikers through intersections, last night when stopped at a 4 way stop in Del Ray waiting for my turn to proceed straight through, a driver at the stop sign going perpendicular to my direction honked at me repeatedly to tell me to go through the intersection, even though it was his turn.

Problem? There was a group of pedestrians crossing in the crosswalk across the street from me, blocking my route on the road and bike path. I just pointed at them and shrugged. He kept honking and waving me through until the pedestrians cleared and I went. I spent the last 5 min of my ride trying to analyze what on earth he was thinking…

[Emm]

@cyclingfool 91440 wrote:

In cases like this morning, I try so hard to give benefit of the doubt that they’re trying to communicate that they see me and let me know they’re not going to run me over, but even if I generously assume half of them are worthy of the benefit of the doubt, that means the other 50% assume they get to direct me in traffic (b/c they’re in a car presumably?)…

As a driver, I do this sometimes if it’s a busy intersection. It’s so the biker knows I am aware of them and not about to turn and hit them. I think I started this after almost being hit twice by drivers turning left at a light in Del Ray while I was going straight through the intersection. My goal is to be polite and signal “hey, I see you and am not about to do something crazy like hit you, so proceed at a comfortable speed without staring at my oncoming SUV wondering what I’m about to do”.

If this really is something that pisses cyclists off though, I’ll just let them bike slowly through the intersections while praying I don’t slam into them . All other drivers should continue waving though. I like knowing they see me at intersections and wont hit me.

[Emm]

My commute just increased to 62 miles/week from 44 miles since I moved from Rosslyn, Arlington to Del Ray, Alexandria. I only commute 4 days a week since I telework on the 5th day, so my current round trip is about 15.5 miles. It’ll increase again by a little bit in a month when we move into the new rental house in Del Ray since that’s a few blocks further from the MVT.

I also do another 10-40 miles on the weekends depending on how much time I have.

[Emm]

@laughter95 91242 wrote:

Thanks for your post. I’ll meet with Pete and Clovis. I’ll look for the Cannondale Synapse 105… certainly all the praise for the carbon version of this must be an indication that the alloy version could be nice as well. A commuter that could also be used for fun/freedom in the area would be greatly appreciated. Any thoughts on the Ultegra ($2,170) vs the 105 ($1,570)? I’ll have to test drive both of them. Just curious of your insight on them. Pretty big price jump between components…

http://www.chainreactionhub.com/road/980-our-guide-to-shimanos-road-groupsets-from-tiagra-to-dura-ace

The above link was what a friend sent me when I was trying to figure out components for my road bike. The bike you listed looks a bit like my road bike–aluminum with a carbon fork. I found 105 to be perfect for a bike of this make–ultegra just seemed like too much money and not enough value for my personal needs (aka it was nicer than what I needed on my road bike which is being used for long weekend rides and commuting on nice days).

The previous owner of my road bike also switched out most of the tiagra components to 105s since he felt tiagra was a ripoff for a bike that cost above $1,000. Don’t ask me why though because I honestly don’t know…

[Emm]

Some of the trek hybrids are pretty good. Their FX series is well within your price range, can have racks/panniers attached easily, and is more of a “road hybrid” than many of the other hybrids. I’d check out multiple brands and types of bikes though–I’ve had good luck with Trek, but many of the other recommended are great brands too.

I also found switching to SPD pedals made a big improvement on my commute. I would recommend first getting your bike, getting used to it, and then switching out the pedals for clipless. The bike shop gave me that recommendation when I switched to a road bike–I ended up putting the shimano Click-r pedals on my hybrid, getting used to them for a few weeks, and then moving to the road bike which already had SPD pedals. Having to learn breaking, gearing, posture, AND clipping in and out of pedals at the same time can lead to falling over, which is a really bad idea in traffic….

[Emm]

@Arlingtonrider 91019 wrote:

I don’t like the additional weight of waterproof biking backpacks and panniers, so I’ve opted to just put my things in plastic bags inside my pannier or backpack. I often carry a couple of extra kitchen trash bags in case of afternoon storms, and have also found that by cutting slits on the top and sides, I can make a very effective and comfortable last minute rain vest.

Ohh good idea. Just added a trash bag and a kitchen bag to my backpack.

[Emm]

@cyclingfool 90958 wrote:

@Emm: To wit, just saw this on REI’s website and thought of this thread. Melikes orange, so it really grabbed my attention,might not yours, but the price is good:

http://www.rei.com/product/860902/vaude-messenger-45-bike-backpack-2011-closeout

If it werent orange, I’d have gone for it. For the moment I have a lightweight northface pack which is doing well. The only downside is its not at all waterproof…I’ll be keeping an eye out for a waterproof pack for a decent price.

I may send that link to the fiancee though who loves orange .

[Emm]

@Harry Meatmotor 90896 wrote:

=
Depending on where you’re riding to, and if it’s a regular destination, definitely scope out parking garages. Many have racks within eye sight of the attendants. Some even have racks that are fenced in and require a key (from the garage operators) and a deposit for use. I regularly keep one U-lock on the rack at work, and one on the rack at home.

There’s a few parking garages in SW DC somewhat close to the national mall that are free to park bikes in, have attendants close to the bikes, and cameras everywhere. No fenced in areas, but the cameras are actively monitored…so much so that one time when I was struggling to unlock my ulock an attendant came out to see if I was stealing my bike. If you’re in SW DC, I can give you the locations.

[Author]

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