[MattAune]

@hozn 67300 wrote:

I completely missed that there was now a CAT 5 in cyclocross. It’s nice that the categories are consistent [with road racing] now.

Two years ago (my first race) I did the early AM DCCX race (was just “CAT-4” back then). The next year (second race) I was shamed into entering the 45-minute CAT 3/4 race (the one in Reston, that time) so as not to be a sandbagger. I guess the equivalent of last year’s CAT 3/4 no longer exists now, so the good news is that next year I can be CAT-5 again guilt-free!

There is still a 3/4 race in the afternoon and its still 45 minutes. The first thing in the morning Cat 4 race from last year, is now a first thing in the morning cat 4/5 race. I don’t know of any races that have added a Cat 5 only race, yet.

DCCX is really well run, and has a fantastic venue. Look forward to it every year.

[MattAune]

@Rootchopper 66940 wrote:

Alexandria barely deserves a bronze but a silver is overreaching by half. Go ahead and try to ride from Old Town to Landmark. Direct routes are gawdawful and the Holmes Run Trail is a confusing mess that turns into a whitewater flood zone during moderate rainstorms.

Eisenhower, Seminary, even Braddock is ok on the East side of VA 7/Quaker Ln.

@Rootchopper 66940 wrote:

Or try to ride from Holmes Run Trail to Shirlington. I hope you have life insurance.

I ride Beauregard all the time

@Rootchopper 66940 wrote:

And don’t get me started about the fiasco that commuters dealt with near the Wilson bridge when the Jones Point Park rehab was going on. Truly unsafe detours were put in place that changed on a weekly basis, each one worse that the last. The end result was black bollards at the bottom of a hill. The notion that it was VDOT or Homeland Security or somebody else’s responsibility was no excuse for the city’s inactivity.

The development of Potomac Yard has made minimal effort to accommodate cyclists despite the fact that it is pool-table flat and ideal for everyday cycling. The transition from the US 1 bridge trail over the rail right of way into Potomac Yard looks like it was designed to impede cycling, not encourage it.

I rarely get that far southeast so I cannot comment, but I do believe that Potomac yard will become very bicycle friendly once all the development is done, and CaBi will be at the forefront of that.

@Rootchopper 66940 wrote:

Many of the landed gentry in Old Town are openly opposed to cyclists in their midst but seem perfectly fine with a steady stream of cars and buses clogging up the streets.

This is true of most of America.

@Rootchopper 66940 wrote:

Clearly, a cultural change needs to happen before Alexandria is a bicycling friendly city.

I only wish that Fairfax county were even close to as bicycle friendly as Alexandria

[MattAune]

@JimF22003 66863 wrote:

Tonight I did HunterMill > Lawyers > Fox Mill (eek!) > FFX Cty Parkway. It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t “bronze-worthy”

The few times I’ve gone off the beaten track a bit I’ve gotten into some really hairy high-traffic areas. I’m looking at the map now, and I see where Glade runs. I’ll have to try that one.

Here’s the route I did, if anyone cares to suggest some good variations:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/391478072

I grew up in near Fox Mill Rd. There are ways to cut through the neighborhood.

Soapstone and Glade are also nice routes through the southern end of Reston.

Check out the Strava Heat Map. You will quickly see the neighborhood cut troughs and other off the beaten path routes that the locals ride. http://raceshape.com/heatmap/ Check out the Stuart Mill/Bennet Rd route. You can either get on the ffx co parkway trail or follow the heat map and route through franklin farm/fox mil back into reston.

[MattAune]

@guga31bb 66768 wrote:

Anyone else see the police officers monitoring the Ft Myer / Lee Hwy intersection in Rosslyn this morning? This is the second time I’ve seen them in about a month. Today they were writing a motorist a ticket. If they can manage to make drivers behave at Lynn St / Lee Hwy, I’m all for it!

Yup. There were two motorcycle officers there this morning around 10 til 7. Looked to be just getting set up at that point.

[MattAune]

@dasgeh 66667 wrote:

Lots and lots of racers in the area train up there. I think you can see popular routes on Strava. (We were just up there at Homestead farm — beautiful area. My husband, who is one of those racers, kept pointing at roads where various races and training rides go).

This is true. However there is safety in numbers and while we ride MacArthur, Falls, and River Road pretty regularly we don’t do it solo nor during commuting hours. Persimmon Tree – MacArthur – Goldsboro – Massachusetts works well on weekend mornings but I would guess that Mass Ave would be a nightmare at rush hour.

[MattAune]

@eminva 66291 wrote:

I guess I’ll take the opposing view here — there are probably good security reasons to have the building relatively isolated from other structures. Also, the scale of the thing is so massive, it just wouldn’t look right aesthetically if it were hemmed in like the poor Alamo. It needs space!

Liz

Also where would the host the MCM, Army 10 miler, Rolling Thunder, and the myriad of other things that close my parking lane (not that I use it much).

Actually in my opinion, the Pentagon sprawl seems to be less invasive than the transportation void that is Ft. Myer and Arlington Cemetery.

[MattAune]

@baiskeli 66206 wrote:

If it were a political agenda driving this, they’d shut down the whole trail and the GW Parkway too. (I wish they would.)

It sure seems like a political agenda to me.
http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/02/monuments-and-memorials-remained-open-during-previous-shutdown/

The NPS is clearly pissed at having to furlough their empoyees, and rightfully so, but taking out on the american taxpayer and tourists is going to far IMO.

[MattAune]

@NicDiesel 66194 wrote:

Serious question, because I really want to know – is there something magical about Gravelly Point that makes people do stupid stuff like this?

Because it is the closest parking lot to DC without actually having to drive into DC?

[MattAune]

@Terpfan 66158 wrote:

Ok NPS, I’m here to give you a friendly warning about the Dyke Marsh magical trolls. These trolls consider themselves kinfolk to cyclists. They don’t appreciate you blockading access to the the whopping four parking spaces across from Tulane Drive on the GWP, but tolerate it if their biking pals can fit through. Why? Because it makes their cycling kinfolk have to cross the GWMP extra slow since you didn’t even leave enough room for a bicycle to squeeze through. Not too surprisingly, these trolls made room in your tied-together barriers to allow bikes to pass. Let’s save the trolls the effort and leave more than four inches of space.

I am extremely disappointing at the overly vindictive actions of the NPS. In my months of commuting by bicycle, and training in and around DC/Hains Point I can count on one hand the number of NPS police vehicles I have seen. Yet, once the government “shuts down” I suddenly see NPS vehicles everywhere. They have spent more man hours in one week trying to close every parking lot and trail than they have spent in the last 5 years of leaving them open.

I understand suspending tours, and closing the museums, things that have actual operational costs. Fencing off the Lincoln memorial, barricading Ohio Dr. to vehicular traffic, and closing parking lots is just complete and utter bullshit.

[MattAune]

The Gravelly point ride has a face book group. They are planning on riding on Wednesday night this week. They are a very nice group, as is most everyone in ‘cross, and they are fast.

‘DC & NoVA Cyclocross Practice’ is the title of the group.

[MattAune]

Well since I am going to be riding through there about that time anyway I will definitely stop for a bit. Sounds like fun.

[MattAune]

@NicDiesel 65663 wrote:

If it was yesterday I was in work clothes (dress shirt, sharkskin pants) so that wasn’t me. Besides, I’m usually the guy that vocally calls out the ELITE needledicks that don’t call their passes and do dumb sheeit like passing up the middle. I also look not too dissimilar from this so I’m pretty easy to identify:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3771[/ATTACH]

It definitely was not you. I was fairly certain it wasn’t, anyone who is on this forum knows better than to pass up the middle around 2 joggers running side by side on the right, and a solo jogger in the oncoming lane.

I also pulled a ‘dickie’ yesterday. Some jackhole kept passing walkers without calling, so instead of passing I rode his wheel and yelled out every pass we made at the top of my lungs.

[MattAune]

@NicDiesel 65651 wrote:

You sound like the dude I passed on the MVT airport hill last night. Dude caught up with me at Crystal City and refused to believe he got passed by a dude over 350+lbs. Tri-studz be warned, I’m back to dropping a pound a week – Imma come for your plastic bikes and KOMs in 2014!

You wouldn’t be the guy in a blue jersey that blast past me at 19+ mph at gravely point only to then soft-pedal at 15mph past the airport? I hope not because this guy was making inappropriate passes and not even calling them.

I always wonder why guys will ride above threshold to catch and pass another cyclist, then can’t sustain the effort 30 seconds after they pass.

[MattAune]

@jabberwocky 65256 wrote:

Screwing with stealth wheelsuckers is one of the things I really miss about commuting on the W&OD.

So true. I love to slow down very gradually then when they try to go around me I start to sprint. “oh, I didnt know you were back there, why are you hiding? And please call your passes!”

I know guys who claim they like to spit, or blow snot rockets, but I am not that mean.

[MattAune]

I totally missed this. It does explain the rather low turnout at FCCII this morning though.

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