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@Steve O 137940 wrote:

Just be aware that the Boomer-ang-ster will stoop low to win.

@Boomer2U 137877 wrote:

If you must engage SteveO on his fruitless pursuit, please suggest to him, gently, as he is unstable at times, that perhaps he should reflect inward as to why he lost this pointless prize, rather than to continue lashing outward, and blaming others.

Tsk, you two. Cøffee is civilized.

A certain amount of nefarious dealings, bribery (especially bribery), trickery, thievery, and chicanery is permitted in this contest of course. After all, our beloved grand brew-bah Brünø literally had the prize beans thrown at his head. It’s over, sit down and enjoy a nice pour-over together. Have a cookie.

But seriously. I’ve made notes, drawn maps, conspired and colluded with accordioneur (no rules against occasional pulling together as a coffeneuring team, I assume), plans are already in the works. This cøffee contest may be my primary motivation for participating in silly FS games next year.

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It wasn’t one photo, but rather a person (and I’ve already blanked on who it was – Subby?) who won. For the prize, Subby created a very cool collage with a selfie in the middle surrounded by winter biking photos. Well done 😎

So glad to see one of my Instagram shots was among the honorable mentions! It’s the green helmet and ankle band cuddled up with a latte and eggnog cookie. Awaiting the impending doom of Snowzilla, I had ridden down to Northside Social and found a cozy spot upstairs to watch the first snowflakes fall. Ah, BAFS memories.

Subby, what did you use to make the collage? I’ve got a collection of pictures of Vaya next to each of the Arlington Visual Arts Bike Tour sites, which might be fun to make more permanent.

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consularrider, because we all KNOW you’re watching wistfully from another hemisphere, here are the prizes I accepted on your behalf last night. The part I couldn’t bring home was wheels&wings’ hilarious and truly delightful presentation; read the above and do the voices.

The London Bridge prize, to those who are oddly proud of how many times they hit the dirt/ice. The pillow is the cutest thing ever. Sorry the certificate got a little rumpled in my overly stuffed messenger bag.
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Prize for the first 10 people to do 5 HP laps, aka kwarkentien’s “Merry Band of Idiots” who celebrated New Years Eve riding in circles. Congratulations (?)
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My award was the Not Bad for a First-Timer paper plate. I made it myself!! accordioneur (another first-timer who still blames me for twisting his arm to join) logged more days than me, but I tallied more miles than him (longer commute), and we both agreed we’ve gotta up our game next year to have any credibility in this ridiculous competition. Such an oxymoron. We also have some serious and ludicrous plans to knock Boomer2U and runner-up Steve O (poor Steve O!) off their hotly contested pedestal for Brünø’s Big Bad Coffee Challenge. Game on.
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Gratitude to all who made the games and final happy hour so much fun!

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We took our bikes on the DC Streetcar this weekend. After a Saturday evening tour of the cherry blossoms, we (myself, Peter and his daughter) rode up behind Union Station and caught the next streetcar at H & 3rd NE. Not jam packed but not empty either, comfortable room for our bikes without being in the way, plenty of people getting on and off.

We rode to 13th St and locked up our bikes while we had pizzas and a Port City beer at Red Rocks, then reversed the trip. Sure, probably could’ve ridden that far, but we didn’t want to tire out a 10-year-old and it was fun for everyone. That stretch of H Street was full of life and felt pretty safe.

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There is progress at the East Falls Church bike & ride facility – finally!

After sitting dormant since December, there were cement trucks lined up this morning and they were pouring the foundation.

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I’m not even going to speculate on their excuses for the delays. Just nice to see something happening. Y’know, now that the weather is nice enough not to care.

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Another connector further east is at Telegraph Road. There’s a bike/ped path starting across from the Hoffman Center on Eisenhower, which drops you off at the corner of Huntington Ave and Telegraph Rd.

After that, you’ve got options to take Franconia Rd or cut through the quieter neighborhood streets.

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Geez, and it’s only March – congrats on two big goals!

MARC’s bike cars are totally swank. All of the weekend Penn line trains have them now, which makes planning easy. I really hope more people take advantage of them.

Seats right across from the bike racks.
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Drink holders, even. And cheeky instructions.
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Luggage racks for your bags, too.
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Also of note, if you ride all the way to Penn Station in Baltimore, it’s a short walk to the Light Rail, which also takes bikes. You can take Light Rail all the way to Hunt Valley and get on the Torrey C Brown Rail Trail (aka NCR Trail), which is beautiful and crowd-free.

I’ve got a weekend tour planned to ride that to York PA and continue on to Harrisburg, then come back to DC on Amtrak. (Amtrak still doesn’t have roll-on service, but we have bikes with couplers and baggage-regulation cases, which requires more logistical planning but opens up possibilities.) Combining trains and bikes leads to all kinds of fun.

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@AFHokie 137274 wrote:

I’d like to try and turn the ride into a loop and follow the Baltimore & Annapolis Trail to Annapolis, then returning to DC from there.

Totally possible. Here’s the ECG recommended route for getting from Baltimore to Annapolis, and back to DC.

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It uses the BWI loop and B&A trail, plus others (green=trail, blue=road). I’ve ridden a good chunk of it, and most of it is great. Unpleasantness ensues in some of the road sections heading west out of Annapolis and into Davidsonville, with limited shoulders in some areas. Be intrepid, and don’t try it on a busy weekend, otherwise it will be fine.

Interactive ECG planning map here.

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Aw, now I’m a bit wistful. I moved to Arlington from Pasadena, MD and used to ride the BWI loop all the time. The Baltimore & Annapolis trail is the gem of Anne Arundel County, and the loop is like the candy part of a lollipop.

The B&A trail doesn’t actually quite reach either city, but both are fairly accessible. The East Coast Greenway route through Maryland, when it goes where you want to go, is good to consult for recommended roads and trails. I could ride from my house to Baltimore Inner Harbor, on separated bike paths and decent bike lanes, and it avoided the sketchiest neighborhoods. I didn’t look through to compare what you did, just putting it here for future reference.

This was taken from spot you mentioned, where you can watch airplanes and light rail trains from the hill. (Mole pies are from Feed Zone Portables.)
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This was a rest stop on the first annual Lifeline 100 century, organized by the local advocacy group BikeAAA. Great ride, well organized, highly recommended. Buncha folks did it last year.
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I hope to be there, and to meet a few more of the excellent Team 19!

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@KayakCyndi 136760 wrote:

The Straggler is a pretty bike. That shiny, sparkling purple color is just about the shade of the early blooming cherry trees in the neighborhood. Dkel must also have a thing for clean chains as his was grit free too. Maybe it has something to do with the long fenders he is running. I think the front one almost hits ground! Again this bike had a fairly upright position which shortened the ETT enough for me to be able to actually reach the bars. His bell is a thing of beauty.

I approve of dkel’s great taste in fenders

That is one very cool bike. Did it feel a little like the Vaya’s (or maybe hard to tell standing up)?

I love this thread, it’s like window shopping.

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@Raymo853 136587 wrote:

I have also been considering riding to the Waterfront Metro, leaving the bike there and then metro-ing the rest of the way.

That was gonna be my input. That route does look pretty awful to ride. Does it have to be all or nothing, or are there transit or multimodal alternatives (say bike to a Green Line station and metro to work)? Find someplace for coffee before you hop on a train, suddenly your day looks better.

Commuting as competition? To us regular folk, that doesn’t even compute. Who cares.

When I used to live in the hinterlands, I bought a cheap but highly gas-efficient little hybrid car to get me over the guilt when driving was the most reasonable (or only) option. If driving gets you home faster, you’d buy more time for a ride in the evening. I’d test it though, in case that’s a false hope or just an equal PITA.

Willpower is kind of a myth.

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WABA is holding a community meeting TONIGHT about this site. They said (verbatim):

You probably agree that removing a protected bike lane for more than two years is a bad idea. Unfortunately, this is exactly what District officials have permitted on L St NW to allow construction at the site of the former Washington Post Building. The sidewalk will be completely closed too.

Unfortunately, because this permit has already been granted, opportunities for public input are limited. However, the developer and contractor on the project are hosting a community meeting on to discuss the traffic plan for the project. This is a chance for you to explain to why the L Street protected bike lane is important to you, and why closing it for two years is not an acceptable option.

MEETING:
Thursday 10 March 2016 7:00-9:00 PM
Loews Madison Hotel
1177 15th St NW, Washington, District of Columbia 20005
RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/797411497069380/

Demolition of the old WaPo building is indeed underway. I often ride the L Street cycletrack as far as 16th St, which I did yesterday and saw the construction crew. Today I walked over to see what it looks like beyond 16th. This is L Street:

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They have put up signs indicating bikes can still go through, but pedestrians have to cross the street. However, further up the block there appeared to be a dump truck and crew in the cycletrack. They might let you by, but you may be better off in the traffic lane.

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@lordofthemark 136489 wrote:

They were not calling their passes either, at least not on 4MRT where I caught up to them.

Trail etiquette wasn’t in their vocabulary.

According to our Strava tracks, I should’ve let you catch up and had good company up the 4MRT. Go team!

@DismalScientist 136490 wrote:

One of them tried to race me up the WOD. He lost badly.

Because I stopped to swap lenses, I had the glee of stomping them twice. The second time, they got the glare of disdain.

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@komorebi 136474 wrote:

I normally love my commute, but tonight’s was one of the most aggravating commutes I’ve had in a long time.

It was that kind of evening.

Thought I was going to be the filling in a bus sandwich several times next to Farragut Square.

Rode through the new bike chute on Madison Place, only to get turned around by guards at Penn Ave. They’re so efficient at blocking cyclists at Lafayette Square, why can’t they do it earlier before we get to the bottom of a dead end? I’m baffled by the vagaries of White House security.

More madness getting down 15th to the top of the cycle track, swarms of vehicles and pedestrians at the security perimeter required me to Flintstone through a lot of it.

Took a relaxed lap around Haines Point just to shed the stress, after a full foot-down stop at Buckeye and Ohio (Bikes Must Stop signs) to let the cop car go first. Sure, I got dusted by several fast bike teams, but they were exceedingly polite about it.

More crazy Ivan passes on the MVT than I’ve ever experienced. WTF with the risk takers?

Encountered a cluster of older kids on bmx bikes appraoaching the MVT-4MRT transition. Weaving around and doing wheelies on a crowded trail, there was no way to safely pass them and several cyclists got stuck amidst their shenanigans. I finally got ahead, then had to stop at dusk and swap my sunglasses for clear lenses, so I had to get around them again later.

The rest of my cruise home was tame, just lots and lots of ninjas to avoid.

I can’t wait for cherry blossom season. Really.

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