[matteblack]

@scoot 191397 wrote:

Air quality along the 66 trail will be unbearable in the summer. The soundwall will prevent dissipation of heat, highway noise, and exhaust fumes. When the asphalt road surface chips, vehicles will kick up pebbles at highway speeds, some of which will be flung over the jersey wall. None of those issues affect the WWB, which is paved with concrete rather than asphalt.

I brought this up at one of the design meetings with the specific questions of whether environmental studies had been conducted from trail users points of view specific to both air-quality and noise. Unsurprisingly, the facilitator didn’t answer the question and discussed the features of the trail instead.

I said it then and will say it again, this could have been a great resource to the residents of Fairfax and an opportunity to do it right won’t come again for many decades. However, the way it’s configured, it’s a piece-meal solution that won’t be utilized as well as it could have been. Looking at the zigging and zagging around the different interchanges and the lack of a direct connection to the W&OD is a testament to that.

They can name it whatever they want to, but it’ll still be lipstick on a pig to me.

[matteblack]

So…I’m going to go with a tube issue (twisted or pinched or ???) or an unseated tire. I gave it a closer inspection and nothing seemed amiss, but went ahead and deflated the tube. I then reinflated it (with the floor pump) and took it out for a spin this afternoon. It felt fine the entire ride and even when I hit mid-30s on a few descents (although I didn’t hit the same downhill due to time constraints).

Still scratching my head on this one, but since it’s gone away, I’m going to chalk it up to an inflation/tire bead issue.

Thanks for playing!

[matteblack]

Thanks for the replies, folks; lots of good info!

To provide more info, the tires are new (well, newish…they were replaced in December and have about 950 miles on them) and have plenty of tread on them. (Tires are Continental Grand Prix 4000s II 25 mm w/ 700×23/25 tubes; rims are Mavic Aksium Elite 700×25.)

I’ll take another look before my next ride to ensure the tire’s seated properly, but a quick look-see indicates it’s seated properly.

I don’t think the asphalt has anything to do with it as I’ve gone down that hill numerous times over the years and haven’t had this issue before. (Of course, I might not have traveled this same line so….)

Thanks again…hopefully ensuring it’s seated properly will do the trick. That’s not a good feeling to have when there’s no place to bail out at the bottom (well, no place soft anyway lol).

[matteblack]

Belgium and Portugal…sounds like we should have a field trip across the pond! Nice to “meet” everyone and look forward to doing so in real life. I’m partial to Strava to communicate as I’m on there pretty much every day (and it’s easy on my phone), whereas I find the forum to be antiquated (unless I just haven’t configured my settings to get notifications on new posts).

I’ve sleazed a couple days — and it looks like my .2 mile ride Sunday night counted — but was able to get out in it today. Overall the roads are clear, but a couple neighborhood streets had some chunky (sort of slushy) ice where I had to unclip to keep from kissing the ground, but overall it was a good ride. (Of course, I now need to wash my bike, but that just means it got some use!)

[matteblack]

Howdy, folks, glad to be here. This is my first time doing BAFS. I was turned on to it by a fellow rider I hooked up with on the W&OD one day in September. I’ve been a cyclist all my life (I’m just north of 50), but only seriously since 2011 or so after rediscovering the thrill of speed on my BIL’s roadie. After a few years of sporadic riding, I exceeded my goal of 5000 miles last year (trainer miles count, right?!? lol) and am looking to repeat that threshold this year.

So far this year, I’ve ridden more outside than I did all of Jan/Feb 2018, where I rode every day, but only two were outside. My rides usually start in west-central Fairfax (I’m on the outskirts of Fair Lakes), but will take me all over NoVA. I’m also up for riding whatever/wherever, but would prefer roads/MUPs vs. unpaved paths (and the MVT!!!).

I, too, plan on riding every day and typically exceed 100 miles per week.

— matt

[matteblack]

I’ve got a competing work engagement that night, but will be looking forward to team assignments (and may even hoist one if I don’t get home too late).

–matt w

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