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@hozn 176747 wrote:

Tomorrow, I’ll take Lawyers all the way into Reston.

It’s amazing that only 24 hours ago we thought the melting would take days, but it’s mostly clear now. I am guessing that you won’t be using Lawyers RD tomorrow, and I hope that you don’t consider using Lawyers RD in the future until they add bike lanes. After reading this study which shows that adding bike lanes reduces injuries by 50%(90% for protected bike lanes), I stopped considering roads without bike lanes unless the speed limit is 25 MPH with light traffic. No bike lanes, no me!

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@lordofthemark 176790 wrote:

If we are going to challenge AV’s and how they operate

In software, you see the term “this software is licensed, not sold”. What this means is turn it from a product that you can do anything with it(such as loaning to a friend, like a book), to a contract with conditions and limits on how it’s used. Likewise, because of liability; I think manufacturers and dealers for the consumer market are going to switch from selling you a car, to a service requiring a contract to absolve them from liability in case of crashes caused by software errors, or defective parts, and require the driver to pay full attention and switch to manual mode to avoid any crash. So basically it would be treated more like driver-assist rental, rather than self-driving car. The driver doesn’t own the car, he/she just has the full right to use it. The car can’t be “sold”, but the driver can transfer the contract to another person that agrees with all conditions. Of course whether manufacturers follow this software model would depend on the outcome of this case and other cases like it.

If testing driver-less cars continues, limiting speed to 20 MPH at night, and training drivers to always look and not trust the technology would help reduce crashes until the technology is perfected.

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@Steve O 176782 wrote:

A human driver paying reasonable attention would have slammed on the brakes in advance of the collision. The resultant reduction in speed may not have prevented the crash but may have been enough to prevent a fatal injury.

Yep, a human driver not only would slam the brakes, but swerve and use the horn at the same time, reducing the severity of the crash. Also, like others suggested, the video may not represent what a human might perceive. Drivers in Arizona who visit the crash site may have a better idea of whether it’s avoidable or not when a driver is paying attention.

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Uncleared trails are probably icy rutted mess in the morning. In the afternoon, it’s easy. Here in the western part of Vienna it’s 27.9 F now. Unfortunately, I can’t easily get to the W&OD.

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@dbb 176656 wrote:

I suppose the follow up question might be, “What is plan B?”

Holding cheap prayers. :p

[n18]

You are hereby authorized to buy one magical item from REI for 20% off between Friday March 23rd and Monday April 9th. I think few weeks later they offer 30% off for their anniversary sale, but I am not sure.

[n18]

This is both good and bad news:

Toys ‘R’ Us Is Prepping to Liquidate Its U.S. Operations:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-08/toys-r-us-said-to-be-prepping-liquidation-of-u-s-operations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toys_%22R%22_Us#Bankruptcy

[n18]

Daylight saving time starts this weekend and this means losing one hour of sleep, and starting one hour earlier. Here are sunrise/sunset times for Friday and Monday:

Friday March 8: Sunrise: 6:28 AM, Sunset: 6:09 PM
Monday March 11: Sunrise: 7:25 AM, Sunset: 7:11 PM[/CODE]
Full list of sunrise/sunset times can be found here(scroll down below the graph):

[url]https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/washington-dc[/url][CODE]Friday March 8: Sunrise: 6:28 AM, Sunset: 6:09 PM
Monday March 11: Sunrise: 7:25 AM, Sunset: 7:11 PM[/CODE]
Full list of sunrise/sunset times can be found here(scroll down below the graph):

https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/washington-dc

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@lordofthemark 175561 wrote:

For now I will be riding with the Royal Seta on the old seat post.

I am guessing this is the seat that you are referring to, which I couldn’t find at Selle Royal web site. It looks like it has decorative stitches, which I don’t recommend. After long rides, I would feel these stitches. Another area to check if you are buying a good saddle is to squeeze the nose area and compare it with other saddles, if it’s hard as rocks, then it’s something I would avoid.

[n18]

I have been using Selle Royal Respiro, both the Moderate men version on my upright hybrid, and the Athletic version(one style, unisex) on my road bike. I don’t use padded shorts, and they are very comfortable for hours. I routinely do 3 to 5 hours on them comfortably. The air channel makes it noticeably cooler(by a little bit) than a saddle with a cutout in the center. REI used to carry both, but stopped carrying the moderate men version. Here is a link to the athletic version at REI. I damaged my saddle by lifting the bike while the panniers were loaded with 20 lbs+ of stuff, and the gel leaked out slowly, so I am buying another one. I tried this similar size seat from Performance Bike, but it was much harder than Respiro, and couldn’t do more than 1 hour without pain, so I returned it.

[n18]

Tree down about 200 Yards SE of W&OD/Hunter Mill Rd intersection as of 11:30 AM, mile marker 15.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]17258[/ATTACH]

[n18]

Pay extra attention to runners on very windy days. Wind throws dust in their eyes and faces, so they turn around without looking and assume no one crazier than they are. When it was in the 25 to 30 MPH sustained wind range more than a year ago, I encountered 2 to 3 runners doing quick U-Turns within minutes of each other, luckily I was slow.

[n18]

The one I saw is riding a black bike, so it’s not the same person.

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@BobCochran 173642 wrote:

My balance tends to be pretty bad; I wobble my bike a fair bit when starting out.

Regarding balance issues, it sounds like you have a narrow handlebar and you might benefit from a wider one, or perhaps a more upright position, or it could be age/joint pain.

[n18]

@peterw_diy 173538 wrote:

From the article: “the Pentagon has encouraged the use of Fitbits among military personnel and in 2013 distributed 2,500 of them as part of a pilot program to battle obesity.”

Brilliant, especially since IIUC Fitbit can only work by sending data to Fitbit servers. (While not easy, at least it appears possible to use Garmin fitness trackers and only collect data locally.)

All Fitbit devices are water resistant; not water proof, unlike Garmin which is usually water proof, so this is another reason to go with Garmin.

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