[Geoff]

@sethpo 80877 wrote:

What percent of max effort do folks normally commute at?

The Custis makes up about half my commute. I don’t push hard in the morning, but in the evening I try to push hard on all the hills. I don’t push on the flats because the Custis is too narrow and curvy, with too much traffic, to be a safe place to speed.

If you find yourself playing leapfrog with someone – pass him on the flats, get passed on a hill, etc., it just might be me.

[Geoff]

I agree with americancyclo, check the rim tape. I had a similar maddening episode a year back. The leaks were coming on the part of the tube next to the rim tape and to my eyes the tape looked fine, but a mechanic who happened to look at the rim (I hadn’t even told him about the flats, forget why he was looking at it) said the tape had stretched too far into the recess for the spoke and would cause problems. Also, a friend with a series of flats learned that his vinyl type rim tape was probably chafing the tube at the edges. His solution was to switch to cloth tape.

[Geoff]

@scorchedearth 80529 wrote:

Mount Weather is a hell of a climb. It was certainly a test of my mettle this past November but I made it and am stronger for having done the ride. The country roads around the area are gorgeous and you see some impressive estates along the way.

That’s a pretty good endorsement! I’ll have to ride out there this summer.

[Geoff]

@Terpfan 80487 wrote:

Where did your signs of spring go?

The Cosmic Bobcats scared away the signs of spring. I will hold a grudge for a long time.

*Sigh*

[Geoff]

@hozn 80190 wrote:

… That has enabled me to just build them the way I want them.

There is also the theory that you aren’t a real Jedi until you have built your own lightsaber.

[Geoff]

@americancyclo 79858 wrote:

Speaking of the bottom of Virginia Lane, I assume that since I am going downhill and there is no stop sign, I can make a left on to the trail without stopping. True, right?

I never stop there myself, but always make a point of watching my speed and other traffic (cars, bikes, peds) very carefully. Coming down that hill you can gather a lot of momentum, and might not be able to stop if something unexpected happens.

[Geoff]

@dbb 79785 wrote:

…he thinks they have a hill in Florida.

Before moving to the DC area I’d had the pleasure of biking in the Rockies, the Appalachians, the Ozarks, and in San Francisco. It took me a couple years to figure out where Capitol Hill is. I mean, I knew where the Capitol is, but where was the hill?

[Geoff]

@lordofthemark 79697 wrote:

1. …Gallows to RTC…

4. When someone calls a pass with a number (“two bikes passing!) and a third person is right behind them (drafting?) shouldn’t he also call the pass – it can be confusing.

6. It seems like runners get up earlier in the morning than cyclists (lots more runners when I set out, almost all cyclists on the way back). Cause we make our own breeze (and can take the midday heat better?) Cause runners want to run the same time every day, and cyclists don’t care? Or was this an anomaly?

Racking my brain here… what is RTC?
(Never mind… RTC = Reston Town Center)

I never hear a pass with a number; most people passing me don’t call the pass at all! Which seems like a problem, but whatcha gonna do…

Don’t know why the runners get up earlier, but yesterday it wasn’t because of the heat. Yesterday wasn’t cold, but still a ways from being hot.

Extending the topic a bit, yesterday afternoon, coming down the hill on Virginia Lane near where the W&OD crosses Shreve, I saw a fellow with a bloody arm adjusting his handlebars. There was an SUV stopped nearby, with the driver looking around for… something. I didn’t ask what happened, nosy questions probably wouldn’t have been appreciated. Careful everybody, I see too many accidents on the W&OD.

[Geoff]

Long ago, maybe 1974. I was still living in Michigan, and some college friends and I were riding the Belle Isle Marathon. Belle Isle is in the Detroit River and has a 5 mile perimeter road. The idea was to see how many times you could go around the island in 24 hours, sleeping and eating optional. The typical goal was 40 laps (200 miles). Some people would do close to 400 miles.

Being young and stupid I hadn’t done anything to prepare for it and had no sense of pacing. So Saturday morning the adrenaline took over and I’m threading my way through the crowded course as fast as I could.

Fast forward to Sunday morning. I’m beat. The road was nearly empty. There was no wind and no hills, but even so I could barely turn the pedals over in my bottom gear. Then I turn around and some benighted soul must have been even more tired than I, because slow as I was moving, this guy was trying to draft off me!

BTW I got my 200 miles.

[Geoff]

@dasgeh 79452 wrote:

I HATE that downhill because it just means I have to go that much more uphill to get to the top of the climb.

Don’t you know, hills are God’s way of making sure we get a good workout?

[Geoff]

OK everyone, important safety tip on the Trollheim: wear a hardhat, not a bike helmet!

[Geoff]

@JimF22003 79088 wrote:

If you want a tour guide for a ride let me know.

Thanks, I may take you up on that.

[Geoff]

@JimF22003 79067 wrote:

I’d be happy to provide more advice, especially if you give an idea of starting point, length of ride, what you want o see etc.

I’m starting near EFC. From my driveway to EFC to Purcellville and back is 85 miles. This summer I’m doing a 150 mile one day ride, so in part I’m looking for training rides for that.

I like riding in rural areas. There isn’t anything in particular I want to see, other than green. Water is good. Pretty much anything I haven’t seen before is good. I come across comments about how the C&O towpath gets boring. Ah, I can’t relate. But that reminds me: my wife and I rode Georgetown to White’s Ferry on the C&O, to Leesburg, to home (W&OD). Oh yeah, then we had to go back to Georgetown for the car. That was a good ride.

I don’t like mixing with traffic on narrow curving roads with no shoulders. That’s the main reason I haven’t gone beyond Purcellville before. I rode the Back Roads Century last year, which isn’t too far from Purcellville, and those roads were fine.

A couple people have mentioned Mt. Weather. Is that for the view, or to enjoy a hard climb? Climbs are good but maybe not in the middle of a really long ride.

[Geoff]

For the last two summers, about to be a third, I have used a washcloth and bar of soap in the restroom. No complaints from coworkers. Actually I worry more about complaints about my riding duds on hangers near my desk, but no complaints there either.

[Geoff]

@dasgeh 78592 wrote:

As someone who … rides slowly enough to never have gone down on the Trollheim …

Speed isn’t necessarily the issue on the Trollheim. While it was a factor in my first fall, my second fall was when I was being very cautious and slow, having learned to respect the trolls. After picking myself up, I was amazed to find that, just standing there holding the bike by seat and handlebars, the bike’s wheels were still sliding out from under it. It was that slippery. Algae? So now, under some conditions, I treat those planks like glare ice.

I should also say that the entire walkway was not as slippery as that one patch. Other riders were rolling by without problems.

I wonder: whatever made this patch so slippery, would it effect any other surface or material used there?

[Author]

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