Harry Meatmotor
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Harry Meatmotor
Participant@ShawnoftheDread 83855 wrote:
Imagine what I could have done if I hadn’t quit using fitness syncer.
fitness syncer = digital EPO
Participantare spouse-approved pending purchases fair game, too?
Participant@kcb203 83420 wrote:
Every morning when I commute on the Custis, I see the same guy out for his morning walk at 8:15 or so from Courthouse to Ballston and back. He’s probably in his 60s with a short beard, wears a Hawaiian or plaid short-sleeve shirt in the summer and a leather jacket in the winter. He walks with his head cocked to one side with his eyes facing down. I don’t think I’ve ever not seen him. I can set my clock based on where I see him. If I’m on time, I see him at the top of the switchbacks behind the Italian Store. I knew I was running very late today because he was almost to Ballston when I saw him.
I like to hope most of us have our regular timekeepers. Though most of them retreat from the cold, seeing the “regulars” come out from hibernation in the spring is kinda like seeing old friends, albeit friends i know nothing of other than their punctuality. My regulars:
Skinny smoker guy that crosses the 14th St. bridge headed to VA at 5:45-5:50am, who occasionally sets up shop in the grass under a tree near the chicane at the south end of the Gravelly Point parking lot in the afternoons.
Jogger dude I pass oncoming near the north end of Reagan Nat’l – always gives a firm thumbs up.
Any more?
Participant@Greenbelt 83267 wrote:
Well, I guess there’s no good way to get from the 1st street cycletrack to the PA Ave cycletrack.
I tried the E street bike lane to 6th street — meh. Crowded, slow, lots of taxis in bike lane, tricky left at 6th.
I tried left on Mass and right on Louisiana — that just flat sucks. Lots of potential for getting left hooked, difficult to make the exposed left on 1st street to cross constitution and get on the PA at the start, difficult to merge on to constitution and then get left to the center track once you get to PA ave.
What we really need is a continuation of the cycletrack down east (Capitol) side of Louisiana, all the way to Constitution. Then you could easily get from Union Station to Capitol, cross Constitution at 1st street to get to the House side and join PA Ave by the reflecting pool.
Tomorrow I think I’ll just poach the sidewalk.
I wouldn’t bother trying to noodle through the peds at the top of 1st St. NE – merging into the left most traffic lane is the safeset route i’ve found through there. I’ve been taking: E St., L @ North Cap, R @ Louisiana, R @ Constitution, L @ 3rd St, R @ Madison for almost 4 years now and I’ve never had any major close calls. I’ve noticed that all the (more respectful of cyclists) bus traffic down Louisiana tends to favor the left lane, and if you can grab the left lane on Louisiana when you make the right off North Cap, it’s reasonably safe. Just watch for cabbies stopping to pick up the high dollar fares at Charlie Palmer’s… that and the two big pot holes at New Jersey Ave and C St.
Participant@creadinger 83185 wrote:
On Friday, the Cat 6ers were out in force. I was tired, but feeling ok enough to keep up at least. So in the Waterfront area, I “raced” with a guy heading toward the 14th St. bridge. He passed me again going up the hill to the bridge and led all the way down to the 4MR turnoff. It was a win-win situation. He got to “win” the commute and I got a draft for a few miles of my commute. I’m usually not a drafter, but in the spirit of Cat 6 racing I feel like in this instance it was warranted.
I’ll probably catch some sh*t for this one, but as someone that commutes that also rides recreationally on faster tempo group rides, and feels confident holding a wheel at 23+ mph, I wouldn’t call this Cat 6-ing. it ain’t racing, it’s just how riding with two people that want to go about the same speed (and do the work toegether) works. I know if I’m cookin’ it and I hear someone catch my wheel, I’m gonna take a look back to see how “Pro” they’re lookin’ before I feel safe just letting ’em hang on, or if I think they’ll understand how to safely pass and take a pull. If i don’t trust whoever’s on my wheel, first i’ll just lower the tempo and let them pass, second I’ll just coast down to 15 mph and wave them around. But if i look back and whoever caught my wheel is fully festooned in a YJA, has 14 headlights duct-taped to their creaky hybrid’s handlebar and appears to be on a hell-bent mission to “show that cat 6-er d-bag a thing-er-two”, I’m gonna do my best to drop you. I don’t want you anywhere near me cause i don’t trust your bike handling skills. and i know through experience that letting you pass me only means i’m gonna be right back on your wheel in 6 seconds cause you can’t hold your vengence-tempo.
likewise, if i catch someone’s wheel, I’m going to ease up, survey the situation, and try to ascertain whether my fellow faster-than-average rider minds me on his/her wheel, verbally or by the “Pro”-ness metric. call me a d-bag, but in my experience this is safer than getting all bent out of shape about drafting, or thinking that drafting=Cat 6-ing it. At the end of the day, there’s two major rules of the road: your front wheel is your responsibility, and ride predictably (that means proper group-ride hand signals).
ParticipantI’ve been a pretty big fan of the specialized pumps of late (the AirTools) mostly because every part is replaceable and specialized seems to be doing a good job of stocking the parts. and, they seem to survive living in a busy (retail) shop environment. I’ll also second the Lezynes out of sheer industrial design lustworthyness.
ParticipantParticipantas of 5:35am there was a tree down blocking half of the exit (heading eastbound) of the tunnel under the rail road tracks of the crystal city connector.
ParticipantI’ve come to find that a cycling cap is possibly the third most necessary piece of clothing, behind a good pair of bibs and a decent jersey. For dealing with rain and oncoming headlight glare (hello MVT at the chain link fencing near the north end of Reagan Nat’l!!!) a good cap can’t be beat!
Participantyou: Castelli wool base layer
me: decidedly NOT thanking mother nature this afternoon.
4:30pm was pure, unadulterated Belgium.
Participant@krazygl00 82421 wrote:
I use the Park Tool PRS-20 Team Race Stand. For compactness while folded down it is pretty tough to beat. Looking at the Feedback Sports site this would be similar to their Sprint Work Stand.
I second the Park race stand – very Euro-PRO. Perhaps even ELITE. One trick with the QR fork mount is to close the QR handle and then use your right hip to keep the QR handle from spinning while tightening the skewer nut. Though, I agree, it is a bit fiddly. Another CON is that the stand is generally not front-fender-friendly. I also use a maganetic small parts tray and stick it to the QR “sled” and it works great for keeping things at hand while working.
Participant@Guus 82208 wrote:
I understand bollards are not popular, and I totally get why, but these entrances to the bike-lane seem a little too wide: makes it very tempting for cars to drive on them, “just until the next block”.
It seems like some physical improvements such as a bollard or a narrow entrance would make sense there, no?
it’s still kinda hard to tell, but it looks like they’re adding bollards starting a couple blocks south of there (down by the “secret” entrance to Union Station). 5-10 bollards had been installed as of yesterday afternoon, that weren’t there in the morning.
Participantmay I submit the three hills (two of which being fly-overs) on the MVT between the GW Parkway entrance ramp trail crossing at the south side of Reagan National and the chain link fences at the north side of Reagan, be known as The Three Bears.
(so it’s not just me and my wife that call them that)
Participantin like flynn, but no fancy-pants GPS-ey computer-box stuff. will need to remeber to manually enter rides. is that kinda like a technology-based rule number 5?
Participantyou: Castelli wool base layer
me: thanking mother nature
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