[GovernorSilver]

@sjclaeys 118949 wrote:

I am the cyclist that I am.

Popeye the Sailor Man?

[GovernorSilver]

@Amalitza 118911 wrote:

Stupid.

(for having bought a house at the top of a hill)

I live on a hill too. The end of my ride is always a workout.

At the time I bought my house, I didn’t even know how to ride a bike – so naturally bike-friendliness of the neighborhood and such were not considerations for me at all.

As for my personal cyclist type: Beginner.

[GovernorSilver]

@Tim Kelley 118807 wrote:

Like this? http://www.protectedintersection.com/

Protected intersections and protected bike lanes should go hand in hand. You are encouraged you to let your elected officials to know how you feel.

This looks cool. I’ll ask each of the candidates on the ballot for my county and precinct for the Nov. 2015 elections what he/she plans to do about improving the bike infrastructure in my neighborhood. Every time I cross the Beltway from my side of Alexandria in Fairfax to the City of Alexandria side, I’m reminded of how much better the infrastructure is there, and I also get the vibe that motorists are more used to seeing cyclists riding about.

[GovernorSilver]

I’m happy with my Saris Bones 2-bike trunk rack. Bought on sale at Spokes Etc.

I did buy my bike before I bought the Bones. I brought the bike home by taking off the front wheel, but it was a bit of work – had to unbolt the wheel, disconnect the brakes, disconnect the wires between the dyno hub and lights.

[GovernorSilver]

I’m happy with my Saris Bones 2-bike trunk rack. Bought on sale at Spokes Etc.

[GovernorSilver]

@PotomacCyclist 118693 wrote:

Well, my post wasn’t intended to be a confrontational attack. I thought she was joking about the Lycra, based on her earlier post.

I didn’t think it was confrontational.

But I did think it was entertaining – in a light-hearted way, mind you – hence my longing for a popcorn-eating smiley. My fashion sense isn’t that great so it’s entertaining to see what others think.

[GovernorSilver]

@PotomacCyclist 118682 wrote:

Argument lost

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8940[/ATTACH]

[Note: This is not me. Nor do I know any of these people. I do know that they are rockin’ the Lycra.]

This forum needs a popcorn-eating smiley

[GovernorSilver]

@PotomacCyclist 118679 wrote:

What about parked cars? Is there a lot of demand for parking at this station? I doubt that people are driving to this station and leaving their cars parked all day, mostly because there is no parking garage there. Based on the Google Maps Street View, there appear to be about 60 car parking spaces, but some of them have already been fenced off.

Has there been an outcry from certain driver groups? I wouldn’t think so, because the station has never been built to provide large amounts of parking for all-day parkers.

The majority of cars I see there are taxis. The few private cars I’ve seen appear to be there just to pick up people, like a regular Kiss and Ride.

There is a fair amount of on-street parking, albeit with meters, near the station, as well as a parking garage or two. I know there’s one on Diagonal with the entrance/exit right by the pedestrian crosswalk, but I forgot where the next closest one might be.

[GovernorSilver]

I’ve gotten off at this station during evening rush hour on several occasions. The pedestrian walkway between the metro station and Diagonal Rd. does indeed cross several car/bus lanes, but the majority of motorists seem to behave responsibly there. I have yet to see any reckless driving in that lot. The stream of pedestrians along that walkway to Diagonal can get pretty thick though, so I think motorists don’t have much choice but to be slow and wait out the stream.

I do like the idea of separating the bus and car lanes.

You do indeed have to cross Diagonal to get to the CaBi station. Moving the CaBi station closer to the Metro station entrance might seem more convenient but where it is right now, you could immediately hop onto Diagonal on your CaBi bike instead of having to get your bike through pedestrians, cars, and buses to get to the road, unless they thought up of a clever place to which the CaBi station would be relocated that I didn’t think of.

Semi-random thought: King St. is busy during evening rush hour, but it’s only 1 lane each direction, and there are “trolley” buses and other buses that stop frequently. The combination of the frequently stopping buses and the traffic lights slow down the traffic enough that I suspect King St. might actually be the safer ride all the way to the waterfront than Prince St. (marked as a “bike path” by Google Maps), which is one direction only and two-lanes – lots of commuting drivers, especially from the offices on Eisenhower, use it as a shortcut during rush hour to get to Rt. 1.

[GovernorSilver]

@Tim Kelley 118628 wrote:

ArlNow picked it up in the morning notes: http://www.arlnow.com/2015/06/22/morning-notes-1209/#disqus_thread

Too bad. It’s a flawed article, as has been well covered in this mostly civil thread. I don’t even have a drop-bar bike or wear the racing gear, but I agree the divisiveness is just wrong.

Hopefully a better article will emerge in the near future.

[GovernorSilver]

@mstone 118615 wrote:

And some people will get annoyed about the bell ringing. At some point you can’t win, and just need to do what makes the most sense.

Sometimes the clicking of my brake handles is enough to alert pedestrians ahead that I’m coming. Since I’m still new to this biking thing I’ve only come across one blissfully unaware pedestrian who was wandering across both lanes of the mixed-used trail. For her, I went to the bell. I wasn’t sure if she would have understood English properly if I said “On your left!”.

It could be my preference to use the bell comes from my own preference as a pedestrian to be alerted by bell instead of by yelling. But I’ve accepted that despite my best efforts, somebody somewhere will be annoyed by something I do, so it’s better to just behave in a safe manner – treating pedestrian the same way I’d treat the dogs I encounter on trails, pass slowly and carefully and just take it for granted they could make unpredictable movements.

[GovernorSilver]

Just discovered another route option, which I don’t recall was mentioned before – this might be better coming home than going to work, plus when you get back to Huntington, you’ll be able to make a right turn to go home instead of having to change to the left lane. Well, unless your home is on the north side of Huntington Ave…

MVT (S. Royal St.) <-> Wilkes <-> Jamieson <-> (your choice of road/sidewalk) <-> Eisenhower overpass

Wilkes is great because it’s not a continuous road for motorists. A car cannot be driven all the way from S. Royal St. to Rt. 1 because there’s a park that interrupts the road, yet has a sidewalk you can use to ride straight through the park. Stroke of genius by whoever wanted to give us a bike friendly way to cross Rt. 1 in Old Town. The one thing to be aware of is that the crosswalk on Rt. 1 will be on your left if you are heading west – that is where the button is too.

Pulling onto Jamieson might be a bit tricky because there can be a stream of cars coming from Eisenhower – they’re all headed to either Duke or Prince by way of Jamieson. From what I recall though it’s not as continuous a stream as Duke is during rush hour – because of the traffic light at Jamieson and Holland you’ll get a break in the car traffic sooner or later to jump onto Jamieson.

[GovernorSilver]

I tried an electric bike for the first time today. It was quite an experience to feel that motor kick in and make a climb so effortless. I didn’t even bother to check what gear the bike was set to. Really neat to be able to pedal when you want, then hit a button for a boost.

I suspect affordable e-bikes will someday have a greater impact on attracting more people to cycling than non-electric cruiser bikes.

[GovernorSilver]

I found another way to get from MVT back to Huntington that I really like, while riding to and from the Saturday farmer’s market. Check this out:

https://goo.gl/maps/b01Ua

I’m guessing S. Royal St. has a lot less traffic than the “other half” of the MVT in Old Town, S. Union St. where at this time of year there’s a steady stream of tourists and other pedestrians crossing at King St. and a bunch of cars too.

Wilkes St. seems to be bike friendly. You just have to switch to one of the pedestrian walkways when you get to Columbus St, so you can press the button to trigger the traffic light. Note that when you get to Rt. 1, the crosswalk and the button to trigger the traffic light is on the left side. After you cross Rt. 1, you’ll see bike route signs that are easy to follow, although the route will take you through an apartment parking lot.

Jamieson Ave is where you may find the first of Google Maps’ mistakes. It says you can bike straight through the John Carlyle St. traffic oval – I didn’t really see a way to go straight through safely – I simply went around the oval.

The other potential Google Map bug is the recommendation of Stovall St. to get to the Eisenhower overpass. I think it’s safer to take Andrews Ln from Jameison to Eisenhower, or take Mandeville Ln + Swamp Fox Rd. Of course once you’re over the overpass you’re on Huntington Ave and you can make a right turn into the Metro station, or onto Blair if you don’t mind the climb.

I think I’m settled on the Wilkes-Jamieson-etc. route to get back to Huntington from MVT. It’s not that much out of the way, and it avoids me having to take a left turn from Huntington Ave to get back into my neighborhood.

[GovernorSilver]

@dplasters 118541 wrote:

There is a real issue of using public infrastructure that is meant as a means of transportation as your personal training ground. Feeling like you’re entitled to a good workout, other users, be they motorized, or human powered be damned is something I have witnessed. This isn’t an appropriate way of addressing that issue. The article says if I use curvy bars and have brake hoods I’m a jerk. Solid.

I’m dismissive and I don’t even own bib shorts.

Ironically, the most annoying/scary encounters I’ve had as a pedestrian with cyclists, were with cyclists dressed in non-cyclist gear. I got the feeling that their behavior would have been just as reckless/aggressive regardless of whether they had helmets on.

[Author]

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