[JimF22003]

I did not know that trees needed to be cleaned. Good work. Roll on!

[JimF22003]

Story posted:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/bike-car-crash-revives-anger-over-arlingtons-intersection-of-doom/2014/05/11/275b3c6e-d6cb-11e3-8a78-8fe50322a72c_story.html

[JimF22003]

I had the pleasure of driving north from Richmond on I95 this afternoon. Among other things I saw:

– a woman going slower than other traffic in the left-hand land looking straight down and texting while cars went whizzing past her. I honked and did the “eyes-up-here” gesture. She just rolled her eyes and looked back down at her phone.
– a crash in the left-hand lane that had traffic backed up for miles
– in the middle of all that backed up traffic, which was barely moving, somebody managed to rear-end another car in the middle lane. Hmm, wonder what the driver was doing to pass the time…?

[JimF22003]

Nice! The head has sort of a sphinx-like quality…

[JimF22003]

@TwoWheelsDC 84883 wrote:

Cap2Cap with Consularrider:

I saw yas! That was me in the 50+ jersey going the other way. Beautiful ride. Not too hot, not too windy, no rain.

I got a new PR for a 100 mile ride @ 5 hrs, 20 minutes. (Like a ton of other people I had to ride on down the road a)nd back to make it come out to 100 instead of 98.3 or whatever.) About half of the ride was in a large group of faster riders, so that takes the glow off it it a little bit, but the way back was ALL me

p.s. traffic on the way back home SUUUUUUUUCKED!

[JimF22003]

I also have some Speedplay pedals I don’t plan to use again and could use a good home. Probably will need to get new cleats/platforms though. I think I tossed them when I switch to Looks. They were pretty beat up.

[JimF22003]

@bikesnick 84390 wrote:

No. Doors closed, hard top, front wheel off, front passenger seat pushed forward.

Diamond in the back. Sunroof top. Diggin’ the scene…

Oops. That’s a different song

[JimF22003]

Mine is going pretty strong at 11 years. The locks are munged up so I can only enter the car on the passenger side. They want $450 to fix…

In case anyone wasn’t aware, the model has been discontinued though. Kind of a shame.

[JimF22003]

I’ll be doing the 100-ish ride starting at Williamsburg. Based on prevailing wind patterns (and my actual past experience with this ride) there’s a good chance of a sweet tailwind all the way back from Richmond

I’m an early-bird, so I’m just going to drive down on the morning of. I have plenty of room in my Honda Element if anybody needs a ride.

[JimF22003]

I’m gonna guess Thoroughfare Gap Rd off of 55 near Haymarket.

[JimF22003]

@hozn 83220 wrote:

Buy the RLT9!

That one is pretty, and is actually the kind of thing I was thinking about. I didn’t know about the ability to use 29er or 700c wheels. Interesting.

[JimF22003]

@Greenbelt 83176 wrote:

Don’t you just need a triple front chainring (granny gear)?

http://www.bianchiusa.com/bikes/road/steel/volpe/

I think you may be right. I haven’t used a triple on a road bike for ten years, but I have one one the Cannondale Mountain Bike. The front shifting is a little hinky, but it definitely gets me the range I need.

[JimF22003]

I only call a pass where the trail is fairly narrow (i.e. most of Custis, much of the MVT) or when I’m passing folks who are walking two or more abreast. It’s kind of silly to do it on a nice wide section of the W&OD trail…

[JimF22003]

A lot of the new bikes I’m seeing for sale tend to come with an 11/30 cassette and what I think is called a “mid-compact” crank with 46/36 teeth. I’m wondering if a 36/30 low gear would cut it? I imagine I could put a 34 on the inner ring, since that’s what works on regular compact 50/34 setup.

I may have to see if I can wrangle a bike to try for a couple of hours to see how it works. Maybe I can get away with a little bit more of the He-Man gearing.

[JimF22003]

Thanks for the advice. I think I could go to a 28 on the back without changing anything else, but I don’t think that would buy me too much. Truthfully I’m looking for an excuse to buy a new bike, but I’m just not sure how much of this kind of riding I’ll actually do. I’m mainly a road person, and will probably always be one.

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