[GovernorSilver]

@LeprosyStudyGroup 142428 wrote:

Just say “No. Belt drive.”

That should be short enough to be understandable, and cool enough for any case. Belt drives are the way of the future and you may still qualify as an early adopter. Pull down those Ray Bans and smile at em.

Edit: uptowns don’t have a belt drive do they? Oops. Thought all breezers did. Facepalm.

Lol, no worries. The Uptown 8 has IGH and chaincase. The belt drive model also has IGH but no electric motor.

Maybe next time I’ll say “Why yes, and here’s my electric motor!” and just point at my legs.

[GovernorSilver]

I think this is the 3rd week in a row somebody asked me if my Breezer is an electric bike.

Road bike guy at National Mall: “Is that an electric?”

Me: “It’s all manual. My first bike – I’m new to cycling!”.

Road bike guy: “So it’s an electric”.

Me: [laughs and shakes head, riding quietly a bit, then…] “Hey look, we’ve got a peloton ahead of us! Too bad I’m too slow to draft!”

I lost count of how many bikes were in the “peloton”. Definitely more than 5. Plus somebody on an electric scooter. And also the pedicab who decided to “join” the “peloton”. We collectively hogged both lanes of Jefferson until pedicab guy moved behind me.

So much headwind that by the time I caught sight of Braddock on Potomac Ave. Trail, I just stopped pedaling and coasted all the way to the street.

I later checked out the Breezer website. Sure enough, they do make an electric model – the Greenway. It looks pretty different though compared to my Uptown 8 – a lot more black, including the saddle. It also has a rear derailleur.

[GovernorSilver]

That reminds me to pick up a 2nd moisture-wicking cycling cap, for my upcoming stint as an everyday bike commuter instead of just 2x a week – thanks to SafeTrack. REI has a couple on sale for $11:

https://www.rei.com/c/cycling-headwear?r=category%3Acycling%7Ccycling-clothing%7Ccycling-clothing-accessories%7Ccycling-headwear%3Bfeatures%3AMoisture%20wicking&ir=category%3Acycling-clothing-accessories&page=1

I got an ArtCrank cap last year on closeout from REI. It does a decent job wicking sweat for most of my 1-hr commute ride, although towards the end, a little sweat gets on my face as the cap saturates. The visor is great for both sun glare and keeping rain from falling on the wrong side of my glasses. If I position the cap right, under my helmet, I can flip the visor too when I don’t need it – if I don’t the helmet makes the visor go back down, lol.

[GovernorSilver]

Looks like Smithsonian is setting up for the annual Folklife Festival on the National Mall, but no road closures yet. I guess I’ll see this evening if they start blocking off roads. I recall last year it was just the block between 3rd and 4th St. but cyclists had no trouble riding through.

Beautiful, gnat-free morning.

[GovernorSilver]

@Terpfan 142274 wrote:

I just missed the dousing. I was sitting at the light at Ft. Hunt and where Belle View becomes Beacon Hill Rd when a huge nasty strike of lightning struck. Seeing that motivated me a little more and I probably shaved my 2-3 minutes off the next 2 mile portion. As I walked into my shed with bike, the heavens unleashed. So I barely got wet, but close.

My goal was to be done with the DC portion of my commute before the thunderstorm hit – so I accomplished that at least. Last time I was caught in DC during a deluge (last week actually) the N. Capitol-Louisiana Ave portion of the ride was such a mess – backed up vehicular traffic, street flooding, etc.

I think if I hadn’t taken the extra time to look for the extra bike rack at Whole Foods – the one near the entrance to the underground parking lot (and there’s only one :p) – I might have made it home before getting doused. Curiosity didn’t kill this cat, but it got him wet. 10 min. of dousing vs. 50 min. does make a difference though!

[GovernorSilver]

If it ever became legal for cyclist to throw tennis balls at vehicles, SUVs would be a frequent target of mine.

[GovernorSilver]

First ride with lots of headwind. Nice little dousing at the end.

Quads are telling me its time to raise the saddle again.

[GovernorSilver]

I have the luxury of parking in a secured bike room at work – separate from the parking garage. I still lock up though. Social engineering techniques or simply following somebody into the room can be done by a determined enough person.

Theft is one of the reason I hesitate to buy another nice bike, despite N+1 encouragement from well-meaning friends – specifically in the direction of an endurance racing road bike. If I get a “pure” road bike it’ll be something I pick up at a co-op sale or put together from spare parts for fun – something that doesn’t quite scream “steal me!!” like a carbon bike.

Still, I’d try the double U-lock + cable method, if I had a less secure setup for my commuting bike, before giving up bike commuting altogether

[GovernorSilver]

I need to start timing the beg light at the Washington St. crosswalk, coming off the Rt 1-Washington St. connector bridge. I think I did wait the full 2 min. for the light to not change before crossing, but I should make sure next time.

Hit in the face by a cloud of gnats as I hit the MVT, coming off of Union St. Otherwise, a good ride.

[GovernorSilver]

This is what I got for the Uptown 8 – “Performance Tacky” tape.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XKDS8OY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I guess Fizik was/is in the middle of a name change for several tape products at the time I ordered it. The name changes are causing some problems for the good folks at Proteus who are trying to order a replacement for the Fizik tape that I tore up on the Renegade when I wiped out.

[GovernorSilver]

@hozn 142121 wrote:

Check out the Fizik microtouch tape. They have a metallic blue in 3mm and that stuff lasts forever and does a great job staying clean. (Unlike Lizzard Skins or Arundel.) A little less grippy than Cinelli cork or Deda tape when wet, but it works fine.

(Thanks to Harry Meatmotor for putting me onto that; I see no reason to ever use anything else again.)

Another new convert to Fizik tape here. I had Lizard Skins on my Uptown 8, but they were disappointingly slippery when wet. Replaced them with Fizik Tacky Touch and still gave me a nice grip in the middle of last Tuesday’s heavy downpour.

I believe my Renegade came stock with some variant of Fizik’s Microtouch. That also proved itself in the downpour coming home from the forum happy hour.

[GovernorSilver]

I hope they start taking orders again soon.

[GovernorSilver]

I’m glad my job doesn’t require me to wear dress shoes.

[GovernorSilver]

So far I have ridden on a trail with forum members Boomer, Powerful Pete, and worktheweb. They’re all responsible riders as far as I can tell.

[GovernorSilver]

@Amalitza 142007 wrote:

I used to own those sandals. I bought them specifically for the purpose of riding in warm weather rain, and avoiding soggy socks. They were in the rear rack trunk bag on my hybrid when said hybrid was stolen. The thief was not kind enough to leave bag or contents. They fit me pretty poorly, though, and had much flexier soles than I prefer for longer rides, so I probably wouldn’t have been wearing them this morning anyway.

My Pearl Izumi socks dry pretty fast. After I change out of my sweaty commuting attire to office attire, the socks are usually the first to dry.

I do have the option of just wearing the Adidas water shoes barefoot. I guess I’ve been wearing socks in them out of habit.

I remember when your bike got stolen. Sorry you were never able to recover it.

[Author]

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