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@Dickie 130007 wrote:

Great to see you and thanks for stopping, made my day…. and made me miss the gang even more. Can’t wait to get back on the bike in the new year.

I was bummed to realize I’d ridden the 4MRT that same day and not lucked out on a Dickie sighting. We are awaiting pictures, hmmm….?

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@Tania 129682 wrote:

I thought the mention of moose mitts was a joke?

It was a joke. dasgeh was trying to make a point about arbitrary rules, and that was my (perhaps unsuccessful) attempt to add support.

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@dasgeh 129675 wrote:

Seriously. This kind of talk about “athletic competition” and “fairness” is very un-freezing saddles.

Mmm hmm. The more rules imposed, the more the needle shifts to the serious end of the spectrum. I really wanted to believe the marketing emphasizing the opposite.

If SolarBikeGuy only signed up to troll or sabotage the games, it will become evident; otherwise, give him the benefit of the doubt and let him play. Disperse those with e-assists, moose mitts, or other random perceived “advantages” among the teams and move on.

Attempts at exclusion are arbitrary, and unpredictability is fun. Having an ELF in the mix might just make FS sillier than ever.

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@Vicegrip 129404 wrote:

In fact the letter “C” would be bumped off on day one. All it does is mess things up by acting like two other existing letters.

My last name is Cicotello (sick-o-tell-o), some kind of Ellis Island mangling of the Italian name Ciccotello (chick-o-tell-o). We’ve been misspelling and mispronouncing our own name for about two generations now, and members of my family disagree on what’s correct.

You think Kelly/Kelley is bad?

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@consularrider 129335 wrote:

Wasn’t FFG was it, it’s his style.

No, he’s been sporting Mickey Mouse ears at coffee this week, just got back from Disney. It was a turkey before that, and he says the Santa hat will be coming out soon.

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Someone passed me outbound on the Custis trail the other day, with a full-size Christmas wreath on his back. Complete with lights, assume LEDs powered by a battery pack.

Kinda like putting a wreath on the grille of a Jeep or something, only much better. Made me smile!

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Vaya overlooking the rain garden

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Interpretive signs

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Tire pump and tool rack

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Fresh pavement

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Picnic tables

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Cargo bike

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Learner’s Loop

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Ribbon cutting

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Good crowd on a cold morning

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Santa’s helper

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@lordofthemark 129045 wrote:

Clearly I have entered a warp in space time.

You and DismalScientist were both using your prior geographic knowledge to figure out where you (and the sign) are.

My interpretation of the sign was without any such assumptions. As though I was lost or had dropped in from the sky, and was expecting the sign to tell me something useful about where I am and where I’m going. Isn’t that what signs are for?

Nothing indicates that “Rosslyn” is a route, instead of a place label; a small “To” between the bike symbol and “Rosslyn” would fix that. As mentioned, the other flaw is that Courthouse has a Metro station.

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@Steve O 129028 wrote:

Quick focus group question everyone: Without reading the blog, what does this sign mean? That is, if you were riding along and saw it, what would it tell you?

a) I’m in Rosslyn.
b) GMU is thataway.
c) Clarendon is 0.4 miles ahead, and there’s a Metro station there.
d) Courthouse is 1.2 miles ahead.

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@ginacico 127077 wrote:

​I have long believed that what local bike advocacy groups are lacking is hard data. If we’re to make any headway with the legal/policy side of our arguments, we should have real numbers that illustrate what we all suspect and can’t prove — that the penalties for conflicts between vehicles and cyclists are usually paltry and lame, and do nothing to change driver awareness and behavior.

After Tom Palermo’s death last year, I proposed to WABA that they should have a case tracker database that follows up on every crash/incident reported to them. Statistics on the final outcomes — court convictions and sentences, civil suits, whether or not someone’s driver’s license was revoked or restricted — ​​​could be tallied over time, and the rollup would likely paint an indisputable picture.

Although I think the WABA leadership was 100% with me philosophically, I was told my proposal would require legal research and staff time — ballpark $20k/year — that they just couldn’t afford at the time. Grants and other funding possibilities are minimal. What they’re left with is their Crash Tracker database that mostly collects anecdotal evidence.

(Quoting myself…. that must fail somekinda forum etiquette :confused:)

Here to report good news on this topic!

I got to speak with Greg Billing (new Executive Director for WABA) tonight about this very subject. He hears and agrees that, in the effort to pursue better legislation protecting cyclists, more data is needed. You can’t ask for better laws without proving that the existing ones don’t work.

As part of their strategy for 2016, WABA has put the legal angles of advocacy as a high priority. They are busy funding and creating a new position for a legal researcher. It’s not a lawyer, but someone who can research what ultimately resulted from all those anecdotes submitted to Crash Tracker.

He said that sadly, because of contributory negligence laws (which are hopefully about to change in DC, then they can work on MD and VA), many incidents don’t even become cases because lawyers know they won’t get anywhere in court.

So they want to build a database of which cases actually went to court (and which did not), the outcomes of cases that were heard, and which incidents were settled in civil suits. Revocation of drivers licenses is another thing we talked about, both rolling our eyes.

The event I attended this evening was at REI Rockville, with speakers from Adventure Cycling Association and WABA, and reps there from several other organizations. Greg will talk more about their worthy goals and strategy for 2016 at the WABA Holiday Party on Thursday, December 17th from 6:00-10:00pm at Johnny Pistolas, 2333 18th St NW,Washington, DC, 20009 (Adams Morgan). Peter and I are going, and hope to see a lot of you there.

BTW I was surprised by the number of WABA members he stated, it seemed really low (5000-something? maybe I heard that wrong) for such a well established organization. If you have opinions on stuff like this, please join!

[ginacico]

@peterw_diy 128897 wrote:

Campy deserves credit here for supporting triples well. Even the Veloce brifters you can get from the UK for under $100 shift triple FDs. None of that Shimano craziness of different shifter SKUs and supply/demand driving availability down and prices up for the triple shifters.

Concur, this was a fairly easy project. My shifters will work, basically I just needed the triple crank itself, two derailleurs, and a longer spindle. I could’ve gotten away with a “triplizer” chainring set, but went with Campy components to keep the original aesthetics of the bike. With a little guidance to stick within the time period (early-2000s era Campagnolo), stuff wasn’t hard to find.

Ain’t no retro like khaki wearing, friction shifting DismalScientist, but it’ll be cool.

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Thank you to GovernorSilver and Raymo853 for the gear calculators.

The result was a no-brainer, I’ll be switching my Campy double for a triple because the range is much greater. I figure since I’ve already ridden the bike for 15 years, I want to do this once and keep it forever.

Spent yesterday getting advice on component compatibility from Campy techies on Bike Forums, then went shopping on eBay. After all the parts come in, I’ll let my LBS do the build and tune-up so it all works correctly.

See what you started, bluerider?

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@elbows 128858 wrote:

How terrible is Bladensburg Rd from the Arboretum to Maryland?

Pretty sucky, if I recall, but it’s a short distance and doable. Google Maps shows a more bike-friendly route taking West Virginia to 18th to Rhode Island.

Another way to get up there would be via the Rock Creek trail / Beach Drive to Silver Spring, then down the Sligo Creek Trail. It does require navigating some roads through Silver Spring.

[ginacico]

@Raymo853 128694 wrote:

They are freaking dirt cheap since nobody can stand the fashion shame of using triples anymore.

I’m embarking on a project to swap a Campy racing double for a triple, on my 2001 Univega. Judging by the cost of parts to do that conversion, Campagnolo is unfortunately still the exception to that rule. :rolleyes:

If anyone has a gear-inch spreadsheet they’d like to share, I’d appreciate it. Cuz math is fun, and would help justify or disprove this effort. Thanks!

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