[LhasaCM]

Here’s my contribution to the thread.

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It’s a 2016 Breezer Beltway 8+ with a Burley Piccolo trailercycle. This is what I use for my daily commute and any other riding I do, save the occasional CaBi ride. (The bike-looking shadow in the upper right is my wife’s Linus Dutchi hanging up on the wall.) If I’m not responsible for transporting my daughter that day (or at least until some time after returning home), then I just unhitch the trailercycle and it’s like a whole new bike. Most days, I only have to pick up my daughter (taking her uphill – yay!), so only half of my commute is #kidical, plus any weekend rides I can convince family to join me on.

Modifications to the store-bought configuration:

• For extra cargo capacity: Added a front rack to my bike, rear rack to the Piccolo, and swapped the rear rack on my bike with the Burley one to accomodate the Piccolo.
• To accommodate the front rack, as a short-term kludge, added an L-bracket for mounting the dynamo-powered light. Longer term, I’ll need to get a longer wire so I can put the light at the front of the rack.
• Swapped the stem for a slightly shorter one (my hands were very happy when I figured that out)
• Swapped in Crank Brothers 5050 pedals for my bike, moving the Breezer pedals to the Piccolo
• Added a seat back/belt to the Piccolo to ensure that when my daughter gets tired of holding on/balancing, she can’t easily fall off.
• Added more (USB rechargable) lights! (Light/camera on the front, two rear lights on the Piccolo, including a Tern Vizy light that has a nice halo effect, and a rear light on the Breezer when the fender clip holding the wiring in place snapped and then cut the cable to the dynamo-powered one)
• Added handlebar mounted rear view mirrors (one for each of us)
• Got a frame lock/chain combination for the Piccolo (to make it easier to lock up with my bike when necessary)
• Swapped out the stock handlebars on the Piccolo for the cruiser-style ones to improve the reach (i.e., make it easier for my daughter to hold on) and added a rear fender.
• Oi bells (could be called “Meh”)
• Streamers!!!

[LhasaCM]

@vvill 155044 wrote:

I think this brief interpretation is a little misleading if you don’t look too closely at the boost system. It just means the score was boosted more as a proportion of the riders’ original score – which means their riding habits have them doing a higher share of their miles on days where there’s less rides recorded overall. It doesn’t mean others rode less miles on those days. A 27% boost on 700 pts is a lot less extra points than a 24% boost on 2000 pts.

Yep. For a middle of the pack case study: looking at the leaderboards, Chris A and I (Chris M) each have 45 days and around 400 miles (he’s at 402, I’m at 400). So in normal scoring, we’re really close to each other. However, because of when I racked up my miles vs. when he did (more of my 400 miles were on days that fewer people rode period), I’m getting a 18.7% boost (as of now), whereas he’s “only” getting a 9.1% boost. That’s why you see such wide disparities in “bonus” points on this scoreboard, even among the folks who have gotten out there every day thus far – it’s not whether you rode when others didn’t, it’s how much (relative to what you normally ride) you rode when others didn’t ride at all. But, because of how aggressive the multiplier is, in reality – it’s the equivalent of me getting all of my points on a day where 193 people logged a ride, and his on a day where it was 196 people.

As I mentioned earlier, this scoreboard also is very sensitive to large swings within the day. When I looked at it earlier (around 4PM), my “boost” was around 25%. It’s dropped more than 6 percentage points in the last few hours, just because more folks have logged their rides and the bonus points I’m getting on my 5 mile commute today has plummeted, which has had a huge effect on the overall math.

If nothing else, it’s an interesting thought exercise and good distraction from other things I should be doing.

[LhasaCM]

@jrenaut 155021 wrote:

Sort it by bump % – then the riders at the top are the ones who got the biggest bump from Steve O’s system, meaning they rode more on days when everyone else rode less.

Since the leaderboard is updated in “real” time, you also need to look at this later in the day; too early in the day, the biggest bumps go to the folks that log the earliest rides (so therefore, get a huge bonus on today’s mileage – like the extreme example of a one mile sleaze ride being worth 1,500 points if that’s the only ride of the day). This impact will be less pronounced the further into the winter we get.

[LhasaCM]

Warning about Rhode Island Ave on Sundays: between (roughly) 2nd and 9th NW, the left lane is converted into Church parking, so it can be a bit challenging to navigate. One variation on drevil’s route to avoid that complication would be Rhode Island to the MBT then down to the mall, or even waiting until 1st NW to bail south.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

[LhasaCM]

I’m definitely intrigued. My attendance is dependent upon whether or not I’ll have a 5 year old to entertain that day. (If I do, then the whole ride wouldn’t be feasible due to my being slower than leisurely with her, and her extreme lack of patience.)

[LhasaCM]

@Harry Meatmotor 153396 wrote:

Free ride all the way home!

Once you get around the downed tree reported between 395 and Gravelly Point…

https://twitter.com/Karnakdave/status/823595734494826496

[LhasaCM]

@Bob James 153038 wrote:

My garmin 800 and 1000 continue recording a ride after I plug them into usb charger. Maybe Garmin figured out on later models this would kind of be an important feature.

Or it just became not worth their while to block native support. Older units (such as the 500) can be used while being charged with a slight modification to a USB cable (adding a resistor, I believe). You can buy modified cables and power packs online if you are so inclined.

[LhasaCM]

@BobCochran 153009 wrote:

I wonder if its possible to carry a small solar panel on rides and recharge on the go. Adafruit.com has devices that can recharge other devices, but you need to be an electronics junkie willing to experiment to get everything dialed in nicely. Just suggesting a possibility here. (Yes — I’m very much an electronics junkie.)

Thanks a ton

Bob

You can, or you an do the same thing with small USB battery packs (some of which are solar powered so bonus). Or, if you have a dynamo hub to power lights, you can steal some energy from that to charge a device on the go. The issue with everything is the weight that adds (not too big of a deal, depending on capacity and other competing priorities) and, more of a hassle, how to run your cables/place everything/etc.

Not that I’ve ever been on a long enough ride for that to be an issue, but…

[LhasaCM]

@CPTJohnC 152574 wrote:

So — I work in the green zone, immediately adjacent to the red zone (3d and Independence, SW). My son goes to school in NE, well outside the exclusion area. He has school on Thursday, and it’s my day to drive. We can get there by going around the beltway, but… then I need to bike to the office. Anyone have any good ideas on getting from 14th and S. Dakota NE to 3d and Independence SW, given that 1) I won’t be able to cross the mall at all (so I need to go around the back side of the capitol) and 2) I’m assuming the area around Union Station/ the end of the MBT/1st NE PBL will be closed, too.

I’m also assuming that I’ll be able to bike in the green zone, but getting there will be challenging, given my office location.

It looks as though this might be an option, though I still need to figure out the end:

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/St.+Anselm’s+Abbey+School,+South+Dakota+Avenue+Northeast,+Washington,+DC/330+Independence+Ave+SW,+Washington,+DC+20024,+USA/@38.9041881,-77.0453294,16z/am=t/data=!3m1!4b1!4m15!4m14!1m5!1m1!1s0x89b7c7bf0bef6b59:0x3e638bfc94b882d7!2m2!1d-76.9841423!2d38.9473332!1m5!1m1!1s0x89b7b7816fedbdd5:0x3645155d11d3d4d7!2m2!1d-77.0164582!2d38.8868478!3e1!5i2

Any observations from the smarter-than-me people here?

You’re correct that Thursday, the area around Union Station/the end of the MBT/1st NE will be closed (there’s an event at Union Station that afternoon/evening). Since you’d have to swing east around that start point anyway (to get around the red zone), that’s probably not much of an additional obstacle. One alternative to get from the MBT to east/south of the Capitol would be to use 3rd street (may be congested) or 4th street (one-way southbound with a bike lane for parts of it) NE/SE to get from M St NE (off the MBT) down to SE.

Looking at the map (http://inauguration.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/inauguration/publication/attachments/Press-Release-Vehicle-Restrictions.pdf), Independence is in the red zone, so you may be forced to swing around much further south (e.g., I St) to get to your office.

[LhasaCM]

@cvcalhoun 152392 wrote:

I’m really liking Casual Six. Umm, I mean, as a team name. Really.

I think we have a winner…

[LhasaCM]

In attempt to help out our ailing team captain, I’ve created a Team 6 group at https://www.strava.com/clubs/251032

[LhasaCM]

OK – based on Sunyata’s post on the team assignment post (about it having been more than 36 hours and folks need to hunt down their team members), I went ahead and created a Strava club for us to get grouped appropriately. Hopefully I’m not acting out of turn…

https://www.strava.com/clubs/251032

Sign up! (Please )

[LhasaCM]

I do like that their tag-along child policy is more sensible this year (free), which made it easier for me to commit to this year. I considered it last year, but ultimately having to pay a separate registration for a reluctant 4 year old, coupled with my level of biking regularity (was easily talked out of riding home), just made it not worth it. Since I didn’t do last year’s, it’s all new to me (it looks like it’s last year’s course with Hains Point and a few other trail parts added in) so slightly above “meh.”

[LhasaCM]

@Brett L. 152199 wrote:

Bikenurse, during the second part of that vacation, if you can only scare up a single bike, I think it would be best to let Greenbelt have it. There’s no need to go out of your way to get a few extra points :p

I disagree. I think it would be the fair and chivalrous thing for Greenbelt to defer to bikenurse. Such a noble act would be a sign of great strength and courage, so desperately needed in these times. Think of the children.

[LhasaCM]

@jrenaut 152170 wrote:

Agreed – I like the 10 point bonus as motivation even if it doesn’t do much for the final standings. And no way to know how many miles don’t get ridden if the bonus goes away. I bet a lot of people who will get on the bike for 12 points won’t do it for 2.

Speaking for myself (low mileage newbie) – the 10 point bonus has been motivational for “well, I should at least do a big loop down the street and back to get a mile in…hey, it’s not that bad out now that I’m out here, so I should grab some coffee too…” like I did last Saturday.

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