[jabberwocky]

Yeah, I’m not entirely happy about the paving of the CCT, but I do understand it (major cycle-friendly routes north to south through that part of Fairfax are few and far between, so that corridor does serve an important need for all cyclists). And for the most part, what was paved wasn’t a serious loss singletrack wise.

Lake Fairfax is a different beast. Connecting it to the W&OD via paving doesn’t really serve a major commuting/utility need. I guess the argument is “its easier to ride a bike into the park”, but I don’t see the point (since probably 99% of the people riding bikes at lake fairfax are MTBers in the first place, so its not like they need or want a paved connection to the W&OD). And connecting into the park doesn’t get you anywhere useful (you can exit onto Hunters Mill or Baron Cameron, neither of which are remotely bike friendly).

[jabberwocky]

That used to be part of my daily commute and I’d see cars make that turn on a semi regular basis. There was one guy who seemed to use it as a shortcut over to Church when traffic on Maple got too heavy for his liking.

My other complaint was that drivers often didn’t notice/deliberately ignored that light. First time I was ever hit by a car was crossing there when someone sitting in traffic didn’t notice the light had changed and gunned it through a red light as I was riding across.

[jabberwocky]

@Rockford10 160453 wrote:

Oh hey! I would really recommend the backside of the mall. Gallows to Tysons, right on Old Gallows Road and cross Rt. 7 on the funny bridge with low walls. Once you get over Rt. 7, you veer right again to be on Tysons One. Once you get to Fashion Blvd. (yo!), you have a bike path kind of thing on the right. It’s nice. Just keep bearing right. You take that around the mall until you get to the new apartment buildings and turn right onto Westpark Drive, which takes you over 123. Once over 123, you turn right onto Westpark Drive (again!) and past the Silverline Center. Right on Jones Branch and you are there.

There are some stressful parts, but its OK.

I usually avoid Gallows from the WOD and take Branch Ave., Echols, Wolf Trap, Lord Fairfax, but that would add additional miles. I would not loop around Spring Hill or Gallows/International. I do not like Woodford. Linky.

Thanks! Woodford is part of my old commute when I worked at the 7/123 intersection. I never thought it was bad but I was pretty used to it, and it definitely isn’t great either.

I wonder if it would make sense (from the west) to cross Gallows and take Sandburg, cut through Railroad street park to Arden to Oak and back out to Gallows. I know Gallows has a bike lane but I also know its narrow and traffic is fast and heavy. I think she will be fine with a little additional miles to have a more enjoyable commute.

Good to know the mall route is doable! Appreciate the strava link, thats very helpful.

[jabberwocky]

My process is, once a car in the near lane stops, I slowly proceed but stop short of the second lane and just make myself visible, and don’t cross the second lane until traffic has clearly stopped there too. Sometimes people aren’t paying attention to the car in the right lane stopping but do notice once they see someone is in the crosswalk looking at them. I’ve never had that not result in one of the next few cars stopping as well.

That intersection does suck. Its like wiehle; wide, high speed traffic and traffic usually isn’t paying much attention to the trail or crosswalk. And at heavier traffic times of day it can be hard to get a break to safely get across.

I do think this dude is rather misguided. If someone stops and a cyclist/pedestrian enters the crosswalk, they now have right of way. The fact that someone in the next lane over is going too fast to stop/paying too little attention to see whats going on isn’t the fault of the pedestrian, nor is it the fault of the person who stopped to let them cross.

[jabberwocky]

@EasyRider 159639 wrote:

I would get any unit that uses sealed cartridge bearings. If it gets gritty, you just drop new ones in. No worrying about regular servicing. My experience with the thicker marine grease and basic unsealed 1″ headsets is that if it is too thick the bearings actually don’t roll around inside the retainer rings. The whole retainer ring and balls slides as a unit inside the cups and things wear quickly, so you get indexing in no time.

The one on my road bike has 11k+ miles on it (with plenty of bad weather since I commute on that bike) and its still ok. Underneath the headset gets black streaks over time from grease running out when it rains (its a white frame, so easily noticeable). Maybe once a season I pop the bearings out and throw them in the ultrasonic and then pack them with fresh grease. No issues with indexing thus far.

If it wasn’t a weird size I would just toss a CK on there though. The ~$150 is worth not having to bother.

I do find that most cartridge headsets use weird bearing sizes that aren’t always cheap to get. Replacement bearings for mine are almost the same cost as just replacing the headset. Though the headset is far from expensive to begin with.

[jabberwocky]

A lot of cheap stock headsets are totally unsealed. It doesn’t surprise me at all. Rain runs right through the headset on my road bike. All I can do to give it a decent service interval is use a heavy marine grease that takes a long time to wash out.

[jabberwocky]

@TwoWheelsDC 159594 wrote:

Slightly OT, but what’s the performance advantage of upgrading the headset? Honest question…I can’t say I’ve ever really noticed anything about my headsets’ performance. Am I missing something? Aesthetic reasons I totally get, however…

In terms of actual performance, pretty much just durability. Nicer ones are better sealed and go longer without maintenance and last longer overall. I have several CK headsets and honestly can’t remember ever having to service one.

Headsets are just a press cup and a pair of ball bearings. So you’re paying for pretty press cups and higher quality bearings.

How worth it they are (from a performance perspective) depends on how much that quality matters.

[jabberwocky]

I’ve always been somewhat perplexed by the liberal drinking culture that surrounds much of cycling. I mean, I get a bike is a hell of a lot less dangerous than a car, but that doesn’t change the fact that operating a vehicle at bike-attainable speeds is best done in full control of your faculties. But at races, events, organized rides, etc. alcohol consumption is often celebrated.

Maybe just my perspective as a non-drinker. But its weird to me.

[jabberwocky]

An ex of mine had wrist issues and rode a trike for those reasons (no pressure on wrists). I rode her trike, a catrike pocket, to work a few times. Its a load of fun, especially downhill. Kind of like a little pedal powered go kart. If they were cheaper and easier to store I may have one. They aren’t as fast as an upright bike but railing a downhill sweeping corner on one is a special kind of fun.

I’ll second Liz, Mt Airy and Bikes@Vienna are the two I know of in the area that have trikes in stock. I’m pretty sure Mt Airy doesn’t rent, but Bikes@Vienna might. Call and find out. Bikes@Vienna is just down the street from the W&OD so you can test ride there. Mt Airy had a simple road loop near the shop for test rides.

You may also try bentrider online (a large recumbent forum). Lots of trike riders there.

If nobody rents, you can at least test ride and take measurements at both shops and figure out storage that way. I used to hang my exes trike from the ceiling by its rear wheel (against a wall). I found that to be the most space efficient, but lifting it into place was tough (even light trikes are rather heavy).

[jabberwocky]

@drevil 153955 wrote:

As for hopping, I’m ok. You should see jabberwocky for real skillz. Thanks though!

Hah! I think you have me totally beat these days, good sir. I’m pretty sure I remember what my mountain bike looks like, but actually operating it is a different matter altogether. :p

[jabberwocky]

Small animals are pretty squishy. You’d be surprised how easy they are to roll over, even at speed.

I’m not suggesting you try to, but I’m definitely of the mind that I don’t make huge efforts to swerve and slam brakes on when they jump out. Moderate brakes, hold my line, hope they dodge.

Unless its a kitty. I will crash to avoid a kitty.

[jabberwocky]

A while back I had a streak of flats that I flat out couldn’t determine the source of. After much hair pulling, I figured out that all of the tubes had valves that leaked slightly at high pressures. Weirdest behavior, no leaks on the stand or overnight, but while riding they would slowly lose pressure. I think I had bought 3-4 tubes at once and all of them did the same thing.

[jabberwocky]

My impression was that EasyRider has most of the parts already, and mostly wants to pickup a frame and fork to hang those parts off of.

Ironically, the suspension fork might be more of a pain than the frame. 26er forks are getting thinner on the ground from what I’ve seen, and most of what you find at lower prices are so junky/blown up that you’re almost better off with a rigid fork instead.

[jabberwocky]

In that price range, your options will be limited to whatever shows up for sale. But honestly, there isn’t a massive amount of difference in modern hardtails IMO, especially at the low-midrange pricepoint. And your use case doesn’t sound particularly demanding. I’d just snag something cheap thats about your size and build it up.

One option is nashbars alloy frame (26er: http://www.nashbar.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10053_10052_585891_-1___204685 , though note that they have a 29er for the same price). Watch for coupons and sales (which happen frequently). I’ve seen nashbars alloy frames going for 80-100 shipped at times. Not fancy but serviceable.

[jabberwocky]

@Vicegrip 151298 wrote:

Get to work and notice my Edge 1000 flopping around on the mount. 😮 Seems I busted one of the mounting ears. Grrr now I have to see if Garmin will sell me an entire back.

If not (or its too much cost/hassle), theres always this:
http://www.dogearsgps.com/

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