[Emm]

@Tim Kelley 88179 wrote:

I’d recommend that you use it on your right leg since the pant strap’s main use is to keep your paints out of the chain and away from the chain ring.

I have yet to wear loose pants while riding my bike so haven’t thought of this yet. I will have this issue in the winter though, so good to know.

[Emm]

@PotomacCyclist 88042 wrote:

Not BikeArlington reflective ankle straps.

At bike to work day I somehow only had 1 bike arlington ankle strap put into my bag… I’m not sure if I should pick which ankle I like the most and use it on that leg, or find some other use for it…

[Emm]

@bobco85 88104 wrote:

I get this situation a lot when people ask me about bikes.

Other person: Do I really need fenders?
Me: Yes. Otherwise you will end up with a line up your back due to the spray off your tires when riding in wet conditions. You can tell who doesn’t have fenders by the line of dirt/grime up their back and on the bottom of their backpacks!

My back rack catches about 3/4 of the spray, so I haven’t installed fenders yet. I need to though since I ride in the rain and the part that does get muddy ends up being my hair.

I’m also almost at the point where my bike accessories cost more than the bike itself…$550 vs $300, and it’s going to break even if I end up installing the clipless pedals I’ve been looking at, along with fenders and possibly purchasing a spare set of tires that’ll do better on MTB trails. *sigh*. This is probably why on the road bike my fiancee gave me I have been instructed that I am not allowed to install ANYTHING outside of a rear light. I apparently have accessory issues

[Emm]

@SilverSpring 88048 wrote:

And Emm,

I had to carefully remove our cat from inside the tube (I’ve no idea how she got there, but don’t tell my Bride). I was certainly more ginger (ha, cat pun!) putting the third tube on and the slow pumping may have served me well…no more problems today. Hey, by any chance are you a PMF?

Not a PMF. I magically got hired right out of grad school a few years ago through the normal hiring process (aka USAJOBS). The HHS office that hired me said it was the ONLY 9-13 job opening that year that wasn’t blocked, so of course they hired like 10 people off of it . If you need PMF friends though, about everyone else I know is a PMF, and I’m also very familiar with the program.

[Emm]

Interesting conversation…

My hybrid (trek verve 2, the one with front shocks) is a great utility bike. Good for commuting to and from work with a back rack and loaded panniers, carrying groceries, riding on some less-intense mountain bike trails with friends, etc.. What is sucks at is long rides on pavement. At around the 20-30 mile mark it’s no longer comfortable. The upright position actually begins to hurt my back and my hands. Plus, the bike doesn’t go fast, so a 30 mile ride can take me 2+ hours. This limits the number of friends who’ll go with me–my fiancee likes to ride fast on his cervelo so we cant ride together, and my hybrid owning friends won’t ride more than 5-10 miles at a time. So I ride alone, and that can be a bit boring.

Since I’ve developed the unanticipated interest in doing longer rides, I’m getting a road bike. Hopefully it’ll be set up around July 4 if I’m lucky… But the hybrid will still be my commuting bike for days I’m bringing my laptop or other supplies into work, and also my bike for going to mountain bike trails, touring the city, etc.

I think alot of it just depends on your interests, and interests evolve over time.

[Emm]

@SilverSpring 87940 wrote:

I’ve got a Topeak Joe Blow which has been a great floor pump for the past five years or so. Tonight, I followed the gauge reading as I was replacing a tube and managed to blow out two (2! More than 1! Arghh!) tubes. I didn’t think I was overinflating them, and the tire felt right, but I got one telltale bang and one insidious hiss. Assuming it wasn’t just tube problems, and assuming it was a gauge error, is there a fix for this?

The same thing happened to me on Friday, except only to one tube. The inside seam of the tube blew out after I installed it–a good inch was torn. I installed my only other spare tube, and was ridiculously careful about not snagging it on the rim during installation, or pinching it (not easy, as I have fingernails and cats that like to help fix bikes). Luckily, this did the trick (note: I also checked the rim AGAIN during this process, and it was fine). When I went to get more spare tubes, the hudson trail staff member agreed with the other posters here and said a pinched tube, or it could have been just a bad tube with a weak seam. He didn’t think over-inflation–It would have required WAY more pressure to burst the tube than I was likely to have done. Just be verryyy sloowww and veryyy carefull when you install the next tube and see if it helps.

To check your pump, you can buy a spare pump, and see how the gauge compares to yours, or borrow a friend’s pump. If it’s the same reading, just return the new pump. If it is the gauge, then you have a new pump so problem solved I checked my pressure using my mini-pump which also has a gauge since I also thought that was the issue. Since it came out the same as my floor pump, I figured I was just pinching the tube or something similar.

[Emm]

@PotomacCyclist 87767 wrote:

On a different (non-bike) note, I saw a TV program about some teenager who nearly died from an unexplained cause. Doctors discovered that he had swallowed a small metal wire accidentally. His father had used a wire brush to clean the backyard grill, but didn’t wipe it down afterward with a paper towel. Then one of the wires became embedded in a burger or hotdog, which the son ate. He began experiencing symptoms a day or two later, before becoming seriously ill. Fortunately he survived. The father threw out the wire brush and said he would never use one again to clean the grill.

OMG thats probably where the wire was from! I use a brush like that on my grill, and store my bike back there next to the grill. Ill use the shop vac on the porch this weekend and get a new grill brush.

I also don’t wipe the grill down after using the brush, eep…

[Emm]

Found the offender, without even using the bathtub (although i still used the tub to confirm it was the only leak since I’m sick of changing my tubes…).

1mm piece of wire that was thinner than a strand of hair. It was sticking right out of the tube when I pulled it out. Explains why the leak was so slow…the hole was tiny.

Now to patch the old holes on my tire and put my bike back together.

[Emm]

@hozn 87726 wrote:

You can also use tube patches on the inside of your tires where those cuts come all the way through. I do that to repair tires that I run tubeless (when the holes are too big for sealant or the small tire plugs).

Good idea–I’ll do that tonight. I have a few tube patches I can stick on the inside of my tire thanks to the kit Bike Arlington gave out at bike to work day

[Emm]

I’m now dealing with a slow leak to. My hybrid tires are recommended to be filled to 60-80 PSI, and I generally fill them towards the top of that range since I only ride them on pavement. They usually drop about 5 PSI in 24 hrs, and have since the bike was brand new. My back one started dropping by 10-15 PSI per day about 2 days ago. 2 old cuts ~1mm in length on the tire are visible (although appear clean–aka nothing new is sitting in them), and a tiny new cut that doesn’t appear to go all the way though (or have anything in it) is visible.

Tonight when I get home I’ll replace the tube and hopefully find whatever is causing the leak. Hopefully that solves it

I’m prone to flats, but only on my back wheel, and they never occur in the same spot. I’m starting to wonder if I should switch to a thorn resistant tube for the back tire. Switching tubes out every 6 weeks is getting annoying.

[Emm]

@acl 87644 wrote:

It’s Elle. I’m reasonably sure getting out of bed in the morning requires 3 professional stylists and a $150 article of some type of clothing or other.

Agreed, you don’t pick up that magazine (or really any women’s fashion magazine) and expect a practical, low cost advice. That’s why when I began biking into work I asked friends, people at the bike shop and random people I pulled up next to on my bike what they recommended and used. That worked ALOT better.

[Emm]

My coworkers and I just finished the federal bike to work challenge, and they all wanted to keep tracking their rides. So now a bunch of them are joining the National Bike Challenge.

For any HHS-ers out there, we started a workplace so we could find each other: https://nationalbikechallenge.org/workplace/6743. I’m guessing it’ll be mostly be ONCers since we’re tech geeks who like this kind of thing, but all other HHSers are welcome to join.

[Emm]

Makeup wise–my dermatologist recommended this tinted sunscreen: http://www.skinceuticals.com/_us/_en/category/physical-fusion-uv-defense-spf-50.htm. It works amazing, especially if you’re pale and burn easy like me. I put it on before I go to work, and when I get home 9-10 hours later, its still perfect, and I’m not sunburned! I wear a light powder over it to which helps control shine later in the day. No need for foundation.

For eyes–I put this on at 8 am, and my eye makeup is still perfect after my ride home at 7pm. http://tartecosmetics.com/tarte-item-clean-slate-360-creaseless-12-hour-smoothing-eye-primer.

I can’t help with hair. Mine is miserable–lots of it, bit thin strands so it’s impossible to style–so even without adding a helmet it’s flat and boring.

Can’t say I ever look “amazing” like she does, but I at least look acceptable while at the office I also can’t bike in using my work clothing–there are hills on my ride and I sweat. I see alot of people do it though and I’m jealous. Maybe if I had a cute bike like she has and no hills on my ride I’d try it 😎

[Emm]

@Mikey 87592 wrote:

I was waiting to hear tires screech, and fenders bend as cars were veering at the last minute to avoid the bedroom set. Crazy.

Pretty sure tying a mattress to the top of your car is illegal* in Virginia for this exact reason…

*Not sure the exact law, but I’ve had multiple friends get ticketed or cited for doing this. Something about not being allowed to transport a mattress or any large item in a non secure way, which VA police use as a blanket rule for not being allowed to just strap a mattress or dresser to the top of your car.

[Emm]

Try Velocity bikes in Del Ray Alexandria if you want some advice–it’s likely free or just a $10 donation. If you don’t want to bike the whole way there on the Mount Vernon Trail, metro with your bike to Braddock and bike from there. Or if you need help, I am probably biking right by there from Rosslyn on Saturday morning (leaving at 9 or 10 am) so would happily go with you and show you the way–it’s only ~8 miles from Rosslyn.

You might just want to call ahead of time and see if the person working there would be able to help. Usually they can, but I’ve dealt with a few people there who couldn’t answer my questions.

Otherwise, my hybrid was sized at Revolution Cycles in Clarendon, and it fits me. They might charge you and sometimes give attitude, but my bike is sized correct at least

[Author]

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