[Mikey]

@ Arlingtonrider, I am trying to send you a PM but your inbox is full.

Go B-team!

[Mikey]

@Dirt 19031 wrote:

B-Team has moved into the top 10.

Yeah, we have! My points finally registered.

Go Killer Bees!

[Mikey]

It’s an older model Adams tandem Trail-a-Bike that has been modified to attach to a burley rack. I bought it used on Craig’s list ( I did none of the modifications, myself — which is why the kids are still attached). The set up is a little long, and heavy, but coming up the ramp to the overpass, my kids were really cranking, I noticed the help. My wife, had no such help.

[Mikey]

@kelinva 18740 wrote:

… I can’t look at their website from work since we block everything with “space” in the URL :p

. . .QUOTE]

guess you don’t work at NASA

[Mikey]

@cephas 18737 wrote:

I don’t know if it’s your preferred ride, but for the directness, I usually take Boundary Channel drive up to 395 and across the 14th St. Bridge. Not the most comfortable, but the shortest.

Have you explored overnight bike parking at the PTC? I’d ride there, but currently I ride PRTC, so can’t take a bike on the bus.

I take the connector road overpass (name?) from the PTC to boundary channel then hang a left and ride along BC to the LBJ grove parking lot. I cross over the bridge to Columbia Island, ride back down through the marina parking lot, under the humpback bridge (western tunnel), loop around the navy/marine memorial turn left onto the MVT, ride across the humpback bridge, and then up and over the 14th street bridge. I can’t wait for them to complete the path along the eastern portion of the marina, it will save me about a half mile of riding.

[Mikey]

@kelinva 18681 wrote:

. . .Also, how the heck do you get out of the Pentagon bus station and across the river on a bike? Google Maps has me mystified.

I ride from the Pentagon Transit Center (bus station) to the Navy Yard in SE washington every day, and back across the bridge to the Pentagon every afternoon. If you are interested I can meet you at the PTC one morning and ride with you across to your office. If you want to use CaBi from the PTC it is about a 15 minute walk to Crystal City to get a bike, but I can show you that too. Just send me a PM if you are interested. I usually arrive at the PTC by 7:30-8:00 and try to get to the PTC in the evening by 5pm to catch the bus home.

-Mike

[Mikey]

I don’t have any info on folding bikes, but you could consider Capital Bikeshare as an option. For a year I rode my bike to the VRE station in Burke Centre VA, took the commuter rail to L’Enfant or Union Station, and then picked up a bike at the station and dropped off near my office. It kept me from having to invest in a folding bike, and to worry about carrying it on and off. May not work for you but thought I would suggest it.

[Mikey]

I’m so excited to be on Dirt’s team! This gets me closer to my life long dream of being part of a Dirt Danger Panda shot.

-Mike

[Mikey]

@dcv 18518 wrote:

I didn’t ride there, snuck out of work and threw my bike in the trunk of my friend’s car. It was a good ride back on a beautiful evening. I’ve seen people chain their bikes to trees at trail entrances.

I wouldn’t want to have the 41 st hill as part of my commute. I’ll stick with the two sisters on the Custis trail at Glebe Rd.

that’s funny I have referred to them plus the 2 preceeding hills as the 4 sisters. sounds like a trend.

[Mikey]

Pretty unlikely. I usually take my spedometer computer with me since it is easily detached. I leave my lights on my bike. I have never taken my seatpost with me. I have even left a fully loaded chariot trailer attached ( I run the bike lock through the frame, but no one messed with the stuff. For the most part, especially in heavily trafficed tourist areas you and your stuff is very safe in DC. That said I do ensure that I lock up my bike frame and front wheel to a solid object (which is easy to do with my u-lock and extralong brided cable). A popular tactic of thieves is to steal a front wheel from a bike that is only locked to the frame, and a frame and backwheel from a bike that is only locked at the front wheel , assemble a new bike and ride off.

[Mikey]

First off, welcome!

June is a very nice month to visit. The areas you are planning to visit are some of the most popular spots for bicycles and there are safe ways to get to each. I would recommend getting yourself a DC bike Map before you come, you can download a pdf at http://ddot.dc.gov/DC/DDOT/On+Your+Street/Bicycles+and+Pedestrians/Bicycles/Bicycle+Maps or send an email request for a printed copy to be sent to you. Pay special attention to the reverse side for the bridge accesses, since each bridge poses its own set of challenges. There are many great places to ride with your kids including: The mall (packed limestone with a lot of pedestrians) has good sight lines and is nice for access to the Smithsonian museums; There is a nice bike/pedestrian path on the river side of Ohio drive (West potomac park) that runs roughly from the Jefferson Memorial to K street in Georgetown; one of my family’s favorite rides is up the Rock Creek Trail from its intersection with the previously mentioned trail near the Watergate, up to the back enterance of the zoo (the zoo is free for pedestrians and bicyclists since there is no admission price only a parking price for cars); No trip to Georgetown is complete without a stroll along the C&O canal (access points from the Rock Creek Trail just north of K street, travel a few miles west for a nice outing; If you get a chance during your visit I would also recommend a trip down the bike lanes on 4th street SW to EYE street and then east on EYE and South on 1st street SE to Nationals Park for a baseball game (tickets run as cheap as $5-$10) and there is a free bike valet at the park, you can also bring in outside food so it is a nice relatively cheap family outing; When you make it over into Virginia to visit Arlington national cemetary, I recommend heading south on the Mount Vernon Trail to Gravely point to watch the planes take off and land (kids and kids-at-heart love to watch the planes a few hundred feet overhead and the MVT offers the best views of the river and monuments along the river).

Riding in the city is fairly safe. With kids I would recommend staying on back streets with marked bike lanes, and take extra care during the evening rush (4-6pm). I am not familiar with the trek lock you talked about but I recommend a U-type lock. I use a U-lock with an extra long braided cable when traveling with my family because I can lock one bike up to a rack or post or whatever, and then use the cable to string through all of the other bikes. June can be very hot and humid so please bring plenty of water bottles and sun screen. Make sure everyone has a good helmet (required for kids under 16, good idea for everyone), Lights are only necessary if you plan on being out after about 7-8pm (fairly light in June in the evenings).Take a lot of pictures we would love to see them.

Have a great trip!

[Mikey]

I slow down, and take the first (westernmost) curb-cut, cross to the right diagonally to the caty-corner curb cut and roll down the sidewalks (counter-clockwise around the basin) to get to the mall.

I do it this way to avoid taking any 90 degree turns on the stone curb cut ramps. They are very slippery when wet, and I have almost wiped out a few times. This method allows for a more shallow angle approach to the opposite curb cut, and usually works unless there is a lot of traffic on the street, or like today construction crews have blocked the first ramp.

[Mikey]

I forgot to mention, my family and I take what we call a “Car-free Vacation” each year around labor day. My wife and I pull two trailers and a bike seat on our two bikes to tow our 3 kids, blankets, pillows, food, clothes, and toys from our house in Fairfax, down to the C&O canal in Georgetown, and then out the canal to lockhouse 6. We spend the night there, spend a day biking around the city, and then bike back to Fairfax the following day. We have done it 2 years in a row and have scheduled the lockhouse again this year for our third annual trip.

Mike Essig

[Mikey]

My name is Mike Essig. My wife and I live out in Fairfax County and I used to commute into the district every day. We are a family of 5 with 3 young kids (aged 6,5,3). 14 months ago I gave up my car to bike commute. At first I would bike to the VRE train station, ride the train downtown and use Capital Bikeshare to get near my office. I did this for a year, and then swapped over to taking my bike on the Metrobus. I ride the bus to the Pentagon and bike in to my office. About once or twice a week I ride my bike the entire way in. Our two cars are a Honda Pilot and a Honda Civic Hybrid. I used to commute with the hybrid, but last year it sat so long in the parking lot of my townhome development that it had cobwebs on it (literally). With the rising gas prices my wife and I have shuffled around our many car seats and she now totes the kids around in the 40mpg civic instead of the 19mpg Pilot. With the nice weather, my wife has been pulling the kids around on her bike with a bike seat and double charriot bike trailer. We went from buying gas twice 3 times a month for the civic and twice a month for the Pilot (~$270/month) to buying gas once a month for each car (~$110). We really thought about giving up the car altogether last fall when the taxes and registrations were due, but we figured it was worth the $250 to have a car available in an emergency. Since then we have saved that much by leaving the SUV in the driveway.

Not sure if this was exactly what you were looking for but it is my story.

Mike Essig
essigmw@gmail.com
202-781-3171 (before 4pm)
571-244-8250 (after 5pm)

[Mikey]

@americancyclo 18416 wrote:

Mad Fox Growlers?

you say “growler”, I think Camelback.

[Author]

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