[JeffC]

Thanks, I forgot about them but it is a perfect idea and they are reasonably close to me.

[JeffC]

I’ve tried several brands of wrinkle free dress shirts. The Brooks Brothers ones are not cheap (think you can get 3 for $175 or so) but they last a long time, are wrinkle free, and look good, so you get what you pay for. Nordstrom has some of their private label ones that work well too. I can get away with khakis and those go fine in a bag inside a pannier, just like my dress shirts.

[JeffC]

@DaveK 58938 wrote:

This isn’t strictly true anymore – hybrids with a “clean fuel” tag issued after 2011 (don’t recall exact month/date) aren’t exempt from the HOV restrictions on 395 or 66. Those from earlier years are grandfathered in.

Ok, did not realize that, still a nice benefit to be grandfathered in. Yes I do think it is more benefical to carpool in a 7 year old Accord than alone in a Prius, emissions burnt are probably the same and all other things being equal, carpooling would take another car off the road but somehow Prius = Pious while carpooling = low class.

How many of the wealthiest 10 counties in the US are in the DC area? This area is incredibly wealthy compared to just about any other in the country.

[JeffC]

Two reasons I hate the Prius car, not the drivers, but the cars.

First, frequently you cannot hear them from behind you which is very dangerous as a bike rider, assuming you don’t have your earbuds blasting music.

Second, at least in VA, we reward smug wealthy people that can afford a new Prius the right to drive on HOV lanes alone. HOV lanes should be about rewarding people to car pool not rewarding wealthy people who can afford a new car. Moreover, on the freeway, the Prius is engaging the gas engine so burning about the same amount of fuel as other compact cars. Even though I obviously ride my bike to work many days, while riding on the Custis and when I do take the Orange Line, I see plenty of selfish Prius drivers alone and afraid to car pool doing nothing more for the environment than a solitary driver in a compact Ford or Honda would.

Now mind you, I cannot really blame the Prius drivers for taking advantage of the HOV perk, I’d do the same in their shoes. It still irks me that they are so rewarded.

[JeffC]

Custis is a MUP, not a bike trail, but we can hope can’t we?

I have no problems in the morning. In the afternoon in spring, forget it. I started getting to work so I could leave earlier or if it still looks crowded evening being on it an hour earlier, once up the hill in Rosslyn I take an alternate route.

I don’t mind slowing down on the trail as long as it is not to a walking pace, otherwise the more one does this, you might as well walk to work. After years of biking on our MUPS, I am an expert at judging speed and distance. I know when to speed up or coast to make my pass or faciliate another’s pass, so that me, a pedestrian, and an oncoming biker are hopefully not all lined up at the same time, that’s what I try to avoid.

What brings me to a walking pace is people walking two abreast, especially at bad curves. I even see people walking abreast, as if conversing, that are both wearing headphones. If walking/running two abreast or in the middle of the trail were somehow magically stopped, most of my problems would go away.

[JeffC]

I wiped out this week on a wooden bridge in Falls Church near the end of our street. Not only was it wet from recent rains but the trees hanging over it had dropped some fruit like berries on the bridge. I was going just a few mph but fell fast and hard. Gloves saved my hands for sure. Unfortunately, all my weight fell on my left upper arm leaving two massive bruises with only a small bruise on my upper rear thigh. My body took all the brunt of it leaving my bike unscathed. I was wearing street clothes and just biked home from the Metro that day. Unfortunatley, my dress shirt and khakis got deep stains I could not get out so I had to ditch $100 worth of clothing. I hate crashes, even the slightest one gives terrible bruises and ruins clothes, much better to get to your destination a bit slower.

[JeffC]

@4st7lbs 54002 wrote:

Just making the paths wider would make things that much safer for all involved.

If the Custis, W&OD and Mt. Vernton had something like the section of this article under “Bikeways that use independent rights of way,” we might be able to call ourselves civilized.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segregated_cycle_facilities

Until then, it is a chaotic glorified sidewalk. That this passes as outstanding infrastructure in the USA but would be lacking elsewhere says a lot about how low our expectations are.

[JeffC]

If only we had first world infrastructure, the path would be wider and clearly divided. We can always dream.

[JeffC]

Two things this morning. First, around 7:15 AM the big Custis trail downhill section in Rosslyn. Guy with super bright light on his bike, of course he needs it at this time in the middle of summer. Not only does he pass me without calling, then he also drives on the road for a stretch against the One Way direction and finally goes through two red lights. He appeared to be an entitled Baby Boomer riding a tricked out commuting bike. I half expected him to pass somebody on the right in the TR Island parking lot but he did not, one good piece of behavior.

Second, National Park Service truck had to be parked in the worst spot for DC bound commuters. So for those coming off the 14th St Bridge, most of us in the morning take the sidewalk around the Tidal Basin until the stop light at Maine and 15th Street by the paddle boat rentals. Maine is being paved and there are two small islands in the road to cross. The first island is in the middle of Maine, the other is an on ramp to westbound Maine. The NPS truck was parked in the westbound Maine on ramp to set up some signs. I had no problem getting off my bike and walking over the curb but an impatient guy tried to roll over the curb on his road bike and flipped butt over tip and landed pretty hard. Stupid place to park and stupid maneuver by the biker.

[JeffC]

I’ve found that women in the aero bars/road bike kit are much better about announcing passes and being polite than men decked out the same way. One of these days there will be an accident involving one of these bike racing clubs. I hope that club has some serious liability insurance.

[JeffC]

@4st7lbs 53313 wrote:

I’m almost at the point where I won’t ride the MVT trail at all on the weekends unless it’s before 9am or after 9pm. Yesterday I had not one, not two, not three, but 10 different idiots almost crash into because they were either oblivious to the bell/world or that hadn’t bothered to adjust their seats at all to accommodate their height and were teetering on disaster. One in particular heard the bell and me say “passing on your left, excuse me” (she actually turned her head and saw me) and decided to turn directly into me right as I got beside her. Fortunately we were on a flat part so it wasn’t a total wreck but that was just dumb luck.

You could not pay me to ride the MVT on the weekend, unless it is 100F so nobody is out there. I did that once because I had to, otherwise forget it.

[JeffC]

@DismalScientist 53102 wrote:

It’s the fire station shared by Arlington and Falls Church and it sits right on the county line one or two blocks south of the WOD on the west side.

Westmoreland is in Arlington, Gresham is in Falls Church. You can tell in Street View because Arlington has white street signs while Falls Church has green ones.

If this does not show how messed up No Va street names are nothing will. For one, there is of course also a Westmoreland Street in Fairfax County as well as the aforementioned one in Arlington. The prize for the lamest street name ever has to be West Westmoreland Road in Falls Church City about 2 miles away from the one in Arlington. Yet another Westmoreland with the awkward West before Westmoreland, extraordinarily lengthy name to write, duplicates two existing neighboring jurisdictions and the road itself is a cul de sac that picks up on the other side of a creek, plus at that location when you look at Lee Highway the sign says that on one side of the road in Fairfax County and on the Falls Church City side, it says Washington Street. More evidence that Falls Church City planners are sad excuses for human beings. How do newcomers pick up on this?

[JeffC]

Hmm, I’m not sure exactly who was living there. I thought it was a guy I frequently saw on the bench on the other side of the path, likely Hispanic, late 40s maybe, pony tail. He never showed me much attention but I noticed several times he would leer at women and make gestures at them after they passed and had their backs to him.

[JeffC]

This is definitely Falls Church City, it is not Fairfax Country or Arlington County. There is a part of Fairfax County called Falls Church and then an independent city, Falls Church City (FCC). FCC is a separate jurisdiction on Virginia tax returns and trips people up continuously. I know, I live in FCC.

The City moves slow although I have heard of Wendy before in connection with bike/ped issues. There is a master plan to have some sort of pedestrian, biking, drivability feasability plan to improve things, biking improvements are probably lowest priority though. I’m not waiting for anything to be done soon though on biking. Arlington County and Fairfax County have done way more than FCC which has done next to nothing as far as bike infrastructure is concerned, no bike lanes and an antiquated bike route–took my daughter to ride on the route through a stretch of a park that was so badly rutted with tree roots that she got bucked off her bike by the huge roots. Since this is private land, I would go back to the business owner directly to install a rack although they may be miffed by the huge fee increase FCC has proposed for the storm water fund. Alternatively, you might find out who the landlord is and go to them since this is something the landlord should do for all the businesses in that particular location (think there is a party store, health food store, some fast food place, etc.) would benefit from it.

[JeffC]

I have a 7 speed Shimano Nexus and love it, shifts easily even when stopped. I do find that it seems a bit less efficient than my other bike with a derailleur.

[Author]

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