[Geoff]

@lordofthemark 100215 wrote:

Its naive to think that the ALL POWERFUL BIKE LOBBY (TM) which is capable of both depriving King Street homeowners of their sacred property rights to public parking spaces, and of begriming Manhattan, couldn’t get a minor project like Pike Rail passed.

On the other hand, Courtland Milloy single-handedly blocked us from getting an elevator on 15th street, or whatever that was.

[Geoff]

I’m another one who, not living in Arlington, has not paid attention to this issue. Why is it that “Sharon Bulova and Penny Gross are absolutely furious with us”? Did the bike community oppose the street cars, promise support and not come through, doom the effort by asking for too much…?

[Geoff]

It’s a privilege to ride a bike on a day like this.

[Geoff]

I will celebrate any good news about American manufacturing, especially in my native state. And Detroit can use all the good news it can get. I would love to see a real Detroit Renaissance.

[Geoff]

@Dickie 99922 wrote:

From 6:15am – Two trees down across the troll bridge on the MVT

The troll bridge – you mean the board walk near Teddy Roosevelt Island? I didn’t see any downed trees there at about 7:10. Is it possible they were already cleared away? Nah, more likely I’m blind.

[Geoff]

@jabberwocky 99714 wrote:

I use the drop bar moose mitts, and they work on the flats, hoods and drops. More open in the back than some, which I suppose could make them less warm, but I’ve used them down into the single digits coupled with normal full finger carpenter gloves and been ok.

Is this what you use?
http://www.trails-edge.com/product/trails-edge-moose-mitts-drop-bar-1142.htm

[Geoff]

I just got a set of these:
http://barmitts.com/new/road-mitt_lg.jpg

They are made of the same material as a wetsuit. They are well made, look good, go on the handlebars easily, and are probably quite warm. I may never use them.
The problem is that they pretty much require you to stay on the hoods, and I just don’t feel I can brake forcefully enough that way when going down the bumpy Custis hills. I think you can take your hands outside the mitts and squeeze the brakes from drops, but I’m not comfortable squeezing handlebar and brake levers through all that neoprene.

[Geoff]

@skins_brew 99359 wrote:

We are not talking about what Zimmerman did before the physical confrontation. We are talking about a tragic situation where someone was able to use a CCW while in the middle of a struggle.

A tragic struggle that likely would never have happened if there had not been a CCW.

[Geoff]

@skins_brew 99343 wrote:

Zimmerman.

The guy is a jackass but the fact of the matter is that he was able to draw his firearm and eliminate the threat while getting physically assaulted.

Of course, if he hadn’t been armed, he might not have been so bold as to stalk Martin in the first place and there wouldn’t have been an incident.

[Geoff]

@Orestes Munn 99322 wrote:

I’m not much of a multi-use trail rider, but drafting on the one’s I’ve seen looks like a remarkably bad idea.

Depends on the trail. Custis and Mount Vernon, no way, but W&OD has some long, straight, well paved sections. If traffic is light, drafting will be as safe as you could wish.

[Geoff]

He said drafting is worth 5-6 mph. I had no idea it was so much.

[Geoff]

@dplasters 99208 wrote:

I’ve never ridden in DC so I don’t know the details, was just going with

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6989[/ATTACH]

I had assumed the boundaries were inclusive to it, not exclusive to it.

My understanding is that the sidewalk on the south side of Constitution is National Park Service jurisdiction and that bikes are allowed. I and many other people ride there all the time. Riding on Constitution itself would make me very nervous.

Having said that, there are usually lots of pedestrians, and they move pretty randomly. Any rider needs to be cautious and considerate.

[Geoff]

Very quiet this morning, no surprise. The Rosslyn Monolith only showed 17 riders had gone by before me, just before 7:00.

Usually I take the MVT and Memorial Bridge, then going along either Constitution or the Reflecting Pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Riding next to the Potomac and the Reflecting Pool is the best part of my ride, but today, because of the road closings, I used the Teddy Roosevelt Bridge and then took Virginia Ave. to F St. It worked pretty well. F St. is not marked for bikes but it is in good condition and today at least had little traffic. I’ll have to try it again on a regular work day.

[Geoff]

@cyclingfool 99166 wrote:

You may have already checked with him, but Sheldon always has some info. The article is outdated, but then again, so are your cranks. Good luck.

http://sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/cotterless.html

I thought I checked Sheldon Brown but somehow I overlooked that article. The key thing is that it sounds like there isn’t as much variation in cranks / extractors as I thought. The last time I needed a crank extractor, it was a Stronglight crank, and since Stronglight needs a specific tool, I got the idea that every crank needs a specific tool. But if that’s not the case, great.

[Geoff]

Argh. The last thing I want is for the pedestrian ahead of me to try to “get out of my way”, because he is most likely going to jump in front of me and get us both hurt. Please just be predictable, preferably staying to the right, and I’ll pass in a safe manner.

The worst is coming up behind a group, calling my pass, and they scatter every which-way.

[Author]

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