[mstone]

good times can’t last forever, enjoy the memories ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

or, “put a fork in it”

[mstone]

archive.org comes through with keeping government documents available: https://web.archive.org/web/20230606135706/http://outside.transform66.org/documents/fabb_02-28-19_for_posting_-_3-15-19.pdf
Route on pages 7 & 8 is just a bunch of dotted lines on west ox, post forest, and random hills.

[mstone]

West of 50 is in an unfinished state; there’s supposed to be a path through the woods where the trail ends but it’s not there. I don’t recall whether it was ever funded. (It was not part of the i66 project.) The entire trail under the 50/66 interchange is basically unusable at this point because there’s no safe route to/from the western terminus; only currently feasible approach is to get off the trail at fairfax farms road rather than taking the underpasses and cross 50 on the west ox bridge (which connects to fair lakes pkwy/circle if you want to continue the 66 trail west).

The long term plan is basically what you described, it’ll be a disaster in the fair lakes area just like the ffx county parkway trail. (Running on sidepaths along various roads.) I was going to check the project documents to check my memory of the exact routing, but they all seem to have disappeared…

[mstone]

I, for one, welcome our new AI bot overlords.

[mstone]

I think at this point the new forum software is what it is, and the forum will just slowly die.

[mstone]

It’s “user friendly” in the sense that a bunch of functionality was removed, meaning there are less things to “confuse” a first time user. In terms of actual functionality for frequent users it’s a major regression, bordering on unusable.

[mstone]

and the old spam reports and internal discussions are now public at the bottom of the forum

[mstone]

@arlcxrider 226543 wrote:

Many cycling shoe models have reflective heels, as do shoe covers for the colder rides. The entry-level Sidi MTB shoes I use for commuting have large reflective patches on the heels.

Just stay aware that fabric-based reflective stuff tends to wear out a lot faster than a retroreflector. (I’ve got a lot of clothing items that “used to be” reflective.) The 3M stuff is like magic when it’s new, but the glass microbeads fall off or something over time.

[mstone]

@Starduster 226534 wrote:

I will second the importance of pedal reflectors. I know they are “not cool” and “unfashionable” to some, and it is very difficult to find that feature on high end platform or clipless pedals.

I’ve run Shimano PD-780s for years on my commuter bike: https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/product/component/deorext-t780/PD-T780.html

Those were discontinued a few years back in favor of the PD-T8000, which add pins to the flat side and are probably much better when used with regular shoes in the wet: https://ride.shimano.com/products/pd-t8000

Not cheap, but high build quality and serviceable. (Mine are over 10 years old, going strong; the cost isn’t so bad amortized.) There’s also a version with the “click’r” system which I know nothing about.

I’m fairly skeptical of pedals with lights unless they’ve also got reflectors–reflectors work, they’re always there, and they don’t run out of power.

[mstone]

@Steve O 226523 wrote:

pedals, because it really alerts drivers to the fact that there is a bicycle.

Yes, as a driver the number one thing that tells me there’s a bike ahead are yellow pedal reflections moving up and down. I try really hard to see cyclists, but too many presumably have no idea how invisible they are. Small blinkies or low-wattage taillights are basically useless, they get lost in all the other ambient lights. Combine that with a fashion-forward drive to remove all the “ugly reflectors” and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. (Reflectors will generally be brighter than a small light because they’re powered by the car’s own high-wattage headlights rather than what can get squeezed out of a AAA or coin cell.) Have both a taillight and a rear reflector. Good lights aren’t cheap, but still cheaper than a visit to the hospital. “Testing” lights by looking at your bike in the dark is very different than what’s seen by a driver on the road. Clothing color basically doesn’t matter, neither white nor black can be seen relative to something reflective.

[mstone]

yes, blinking lights are definitely a mixed bag. in theory they’ll make someone notice you, with the assumption that once noticed they’ll avoid you, but a whole lot of emergency vehicles with far more blink than you’ll ever fit on a bike get hit every year so there seems to be a gap between theory and practice. I use blink only on-road during the day, mainly as a battery saver for some increased visibility vs turning them off entirely. I think the germans still ban blinking lights, and IMO they tend to have the best-considered bike lighting regulations.

[mstone]

my biggest must-have is a shaped beam with a sharp cutoff to avoid blinding others. it also makes better use of the available light, with even illumination over a wide area rather than a bright blob up close.

[mstone]

Trial and error. I have a whole hierarchy of layers depending on the temperature. Trust your feelings–the first time I rode in single digits with the same stuff I wore in the 30s, my hands hands started to hurt and then got numb within the first mile. I probably would have gotten frostbite by the end of my 20 mile commute if I hadn’t turned around. (I had trouble moving my fingers when I got back to the garage.) After going to a whole ‘nother level of heavy gauntlet gloves (too hot to wear them at all if the temperatures are above the low 20s) I had no issues the next time. Hands are the worst, as they’re so far from the core and so thin. If your rides span the 30 degree temperature swings we get this time of year you may need to be ready to add/remove/swap layers because that’s a really big range for one set of clothes to cover.

arlcxrider is definitely right about starting out cold–if you’re not a bit cold at first, you’ll be melting by the end. The trick that only comes from experience is predicting the difference between “cold”, “too cold”, and “melting”.

[mstone]

If they’re a company in Frederick, why on earth doesn’t the WMRT have one?

[mstone]

@Starduster 226187 wrote:

Yesterday- the bike repair stand @ W&OD & Columbia pike. The “unbreakable tire pump” was found broken, with a replacement floor pump chained to it. Schraeder valve only. While I was documenting this, another cyclist came up needing air. He ran Presta.

I always keep something like this with all of my bikes: https://www.amazon.com/Bike-Bits-Brass-Presta-Adapter/dp/B07DN2MTKQ

[Author]

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