[kcb203]

One other thing, and I probably shouldn’t admit it on this board, but I think that at heart, I’m more of a runner than a cyclist. When training for triathlons, I look forward to the hard runs more than the hard bike rides. But I’ve been dealing with knee and foot injuries for a year now and have had to cut way back on the running. What I’m missing most are frequent trail runs with my dogs. (Since I hurt my knee, one of my dogs has gained three pounds.)

I love cycling, particularly someplace new or beautiful, but I don’t get huge amounts of joy riding from the TR Bridge to Chinatown on DC days or doing the 22 dangerous trail crossings on the W&OD between my house and the Reston office. Somewhere in the back of my mind is the fear that if I bike commute for the next 20 years, I’m bound to get whacked by a car at least once.

But I can’t wait to bike up Mt. Washington. 7.6 miles at 12%.

[kcb203]

Had a great ride in today. Yesterday, I drove and left clothes for the week in my locker, so today I only had to bring wallet, phone and keys. I tucked in in my jersey pocket, put the race wheels on the tri bike, and beat my previous commuting PR by 4 minutes. That’s one way to keep the same ol’ 14 miles interesting. I’ll have to ride my cross bike or mountain bike some days and ride on the gravel trail that parallels the W&OD from Vienna to Reston. Another way to change it up a bit.

To answer another question, I’ve got mixed reasons for bike commuting. I enjoy saving a few bucks, but am well-enough situated that it’s not a big deal one way or another. Going to DC, it’s faster. I do like to get exercise every day (usually 13 out of 14 over two weeks), and being on my bike kills two birds. I do generally feel better once I’m on my bike. I think getting stuff ready the night before will be the key to keeping me doing this. I think I’ll try to shoot for four days a week, allowing me to bail once a week due to weather, out-of-the-office meetings, etc.

[kcb203]

Thanks for all the advice. A little more detail. In addition to biking, I also swim 3x a week, lift weights once a week, and run a couple times a week. The days I’m least eager to ride in are those where I already swam or lifted in the morning. Today, for example, I went to the gym at 6, and when I got ready to leave home at 7:30, my legs were tired already. I get plenty of sleep–in bed by 10 every night.

Perhaps I do think of my commute as Cat6 racing. Not so much on the days into DC, where I JRA due to the inherent slowness of the Custis and my 15 blocks on city streets (except for hammering the uphills on the way home). But on the days to Reston, I do think of it as my bike training most days, so unless I’m ready to go hard, I feel like I’m wasting energy that should be saved for a real training session. (I’m riding up Mt. Washington this summer and really need to get bike fitness like I’ve never had before.)

Logistically, the bike commute works for me. On the 3-4 days a week I’m in Reston, I’ve got a gym with towel service and a permanent locker to store toiletries, shoes, belt, pants, etc. In DC, I have to bring everything every day, but it all fits into my backpack.

It’s not an issue of my waking time. I’m up naturally between 5:30 and 6 without an alarm. I usually don’t leave for work until 7:50 on the DC days and 7:40 on the Reston days to be showered at my desk at 9. Four days out of five during the week, I’m doing another workout before even heading out the door. When I’m late, it’s not for oversleeping but just spending too much time at the pool or gym.

[kcb203]

I brought a bike to Hawaii for a triathlon a few years ago. When checking the bike in after the race, the U.S. Airways agent tried to charge me both a $70 oversize fee and a $200 bike fee. I told him that he could charge me one or the other, but not both. He didn’t charge either one!

[kcb203]

@mstone 87966 wrote:

Next time, you may be able to limp along a bit better if you have a spoke wrench and adjust the adjacent spokes a bit. (Loosen the ones going to the other side, tighten the ones going to the same side as the broken one.) Depends on how many spokes you had to start with.

I thought about it, but it’s a 24 spoke wheel and I didn’t want to totally taco it. Ahh, the perils of commuting on a carbon racing bike. I figure it saves me 2 minutes x 150 days per year = 300 minutes or five hours. I just hope I didn’t damage the frame with the rubbing. I’ll have to take a closer look.

[kcb203]

I broke a spoke this morning four miles from home and 10.5 from work. After removing it, removing the rear brake cable to open the brakes as wide as possible, I realized I could ride with considerable rubbing of tire on chainstay. I was happy to save the cost of a taxi or the delay and inconvenience of asking my wife for a ride. So I rode on, and by the time I got to work, realized that I’d ruined a brand new $50 Continental 4000s tire by rubbing it on the chainstay approximately 8,058 times. Would have been cheaper to call a cab.

[kcb203]

@Rootchopper 87351 wrote:

Given the rise in the level of the Potomac River over the next ten years, they’d be wise to open up a water park instead.

The 50 meter swimming pool at Hains Point will get even bigger when it merges with the Potomac.

[kcb203]

I almost crashed nearby last night before this. I was going westbound just after the overpass for the Glebe exit ramp when an idiot cyclist going east decided to pass a jogger on the blind curve there. Idiots.

[kcb203]

@acl 87007 wrote:

It’s not the expense. It’s knowing who to call who is going to be open/on call and is probably not going to axe murder you when you break down somewhere not in the vicinity of your local repair shop or at 1am when your local repair shop is closed. A smartphone serves at least a portion of that function these days, (it doesn’t really guarantee no axe murdering, but can look up “tow service” based on current location, as long as you can get a web connection), but still not everyone has a smart phone and not every location has good wireless data connections.

I don’t have it, but do I have a smart phone. And just accept the risk of being axe murdered.

If I ever do need AAA on the side of the road, can I sign up online through my smart phone and immediately use the services? That seems cheaper than paying for years and years without using their emergency services.

Edit:

I just answered my own question. If you sign up immediately, you pay a $25 surcharge for immediate service and you can’t get long-range towing within 7 days of signing up. Still seems cheaper to wait and see if you need it. Regardless, I won’t support AAA.

[kcb203]

That ride loses 6000′ of elevation. Mt. Rogers in Virginia is 5,729′, but I don’t see a nice gradual road to sea level.

[kcb203]

I woke up with a sore throat for the second day in a row, and I’ve got to get to Costco soon anyway to buy big bags of dog food. All that, plus the rain, made me decide to drive from Falls Church to Chinatown and run to Costco at lunch. Urrrgh. 52 minutes to drive versus my regular 39 minutes on the bike.

[kcb203]

@baiskeli 86479 wrote:

They’ve done that de facto with jaywalking. But I’m sure this cop stops and castigates ever jaywalker or pedestrian walking against lights that he sees (sarcasm).

A couple years ago, I saw an Arlington cop threaten a jaywalking pedestrian with jail time for no reason. I saw the entire episode, and the cop was just nutso.

[kcb203]

@baiskeli 86527 wrote:

Ah, so the blinking part.

It seems to me that the code says Walk means Walk, and Don’t Walk means don’t start, and whether they are blinking or counting down doesn’t change that. The blinking, like the countdown, alerts you to how urgent it is that you complete the cross. I don’t think there’s ambiguity – when you see a hand, it’s a hand. But that’s just me looking at the text. What do you mean by “places?” Other states? Are there states where courts or the law says a hand can still mean proceed into the intersection if there’s blinking or something? That would be really strange.

Just up the hill where there are green/yellow/red lights for bikes on the Custis trail along with Walk/Don’t Walk signs, the light remains green for the cyclist all the way through the flashing don’t walk, and only turns yellow and then red after the pedestrian light is steady red “Don’t Walk.” I never enter the Intersection of Doom on a flashing red, but I understand the confusion given that just 100 yards away, the signals clearly tell bikes they can enter until the don’t walk becomes solid red. I understand why they think that would apply, if not everywhere, at least at the next light on the path.

[kcb203]

Me: Riding east on Pennsylania Avenue approaching 17th, in the lane second from the left preparing to go straight across and past the bollards in front of the White House.
You: A the passenger in a black SUV (probably with Maryland plates) in the second lane from the right, changing lanes directly into me without warning or signal, planning to turn left.
Me: “Watch it,” shouted loudly to get the driver’s attention and prevent him from driving into me.
You: “Oh, why don’t you just shut the f*#@ up.”

[kcb203]

I almost got hit by a bike there last fall. I was going east, waiting for a break in traffic. The evening sun was directly behind me. A cyclist coming the other way went across and went into the left side of the trail where I was waiting. He didn’t see me at all and missed me by 1/2 inch.

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