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Smart Wool pure Merino Wool is all you’ll need for winter riding/outdoor activities. Works for me.

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In a situation like that I usually just slowly crank it up. If that person can keep up then I get home quicker using him/her as my motivation. It’s good clean fun. BUT!!! If this rider is trying to make me crash or just being unsafe, then I’ll back off so I can get home in one piece. After I peel off then he/she has my permission to crash by all means.

@JFF 69208 wrote:

Headed home 6:30ish tonight up the Custis Trail, near Italian Store, I’m making good speed up the hill, passing others and lit up appropriately (yes, averting headlight to oncomers). I spy a flashing handle bar light closing in on me from a ways off. I keep tabs on him and lose sight of him in the interspersed overhead lighting. Cruising through a darker spot, I look again and am stunned to see his face filled up my helmet-mounted mirror. He’s right on my back tire, in the dark, without word or warning. He’s not passing, he’s not a foot or two back, he’s literally drafting me with overlaped tires.

Given I’m moving fast and there is plenty of room to pass, I’m confused at first, thinking maybe he’s afraid to pass in the dark and he came up on me too quickly? So I slow slightly (I’m already on the far right) and he slows too, still right on top of me. So I say, “feel free to pass’ and he says “that’s ok.” At that point, I change my tone and make clear, “pass or pull back, but get off my tire.” I slow more (I’m about to get off the trail at Spout Run) and he — clearly out of breath – huffs/puffs past me muttering something unintelligible that sounded like he was somehow miffed at me for not playing along.

Had I not had a mirror and not been looking hard to see where he went, a slight drift left or quick brake and we’d both of had a rough time of it tumbling to the pavement.

If you are him and reading this – what the hell were you thinking?

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After reading your post, it made me feel good that automobile use is on the decline. My household used to have 2 cars on our driveway but we only have one now. My wife drives, I ride to work. I think my wife will become bike dependent when hell freezes over or when you can climb Mt. Everest in a day. So it’s people like that that will separate “us” from “them”. Hopefully one day here in the DMV area we’ll have more bikes on the streets than cars.

@PotomacCyclist 68187 wrote:

But not nearly as much as they used to. The decline in driving began even before the 2007-2008 recession. Many younger adults no longer see driving as a recreational activity. It’s merely a means of transportation, not really a lifestyle. In the D.C. area and in other major metropolitan centers, neighborhoods near Metro/subway stations have become more popular because local residents don’t need to drive everywhere. Residential properties are starting to promote their proximity to bike paths and CaBi stations as benefits.

“The percentage of 18-years-olds with a driver’s license plunged from 80 percent in 1983 to 61 percent by 2010. According to an analysis by Advisor Perspectives quoted in the piece, even the number of miles driven per person is below the historic peak by almost 9 percent.”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/07/05/young-americans-are-abandoning-car-ownership-and-driving.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/sunday-review/the-end-of-car-culture.html?pagewanted=all&_r=2&

“…driving by young people [16 to 34-yr-olds] decreased 23 percent between 2001 and 2009.”

The weak economy continues to affect younger adults. Many of those younger adults have started moving back to central cities like D.C., instead of the suburbs. Cars are too expensive for many. Or they prefer not having to pay the costs of owning a car if they can get by on a combination of mass transit, cycling and walking. Mobile electronics and social media have also affected the way that younger adults see cars. People stay in regular contact without having to make as many short-distance trips. If they live in D.C. and other cities, it’s not that far to travel to meet up with friends.

CaBi is one of the oldest large bike sharing systems. But the past 12 months or so have really seen bikeshare take off around the country, with new large systems in cities like Boston, NYC and Chicago. I think there are other new systems in San Francisco.

About two-thirds of D.C. households have a car, although in some articles I’ve read, the number is lower than that. I can’t seem to find exact stats right now.

http://www.thedailygreen.com/living-green/blogs/cars-transportation/car-population-460110

Car ownership and use is higher in the suburbs, especially the farther out you go from D.C. But maybe that will change too as Metro expands into Fairfax Co. and CaBi moves into new areas like Rockville, Silver Spring, Bethesda, College Park and maybe Reston and National Harbor in the future.

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Realistically? No. Even a state the same size as Denmark wouldn’t even come close to that level of bike dependency. America loves cars. Period.

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I’ll be there Monday + 2 more folks that’ll help out.

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Light & Motion Urban works for me. I have the 500. Easy on/off the hbars. Compact modular design. I also use it off the bike. Doubles as a flashlight. Fairly priced.

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Good to know that you can still be out there riding. Heal up big guy to ride another day. Cheers!!!

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Terrible indeed. I’m sorry to hear about your son’s senseless accident. I hope he recovers without any issues. Just like what bobco85 suggested…file a report with the local police and hopefully they can take quicker action. Perhaps witnesses might come forward or perhaps a surveillance video of the accident is available. Also it wouldn’t hurt to go back to the same area to just look around. Maybe that Jeep is a regular there. Good luck.

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Thanks for the heads up. I just emailed Pete B. to confirm. C ya later.

@eminva 62983 wrote:

Happy Wednesday!

Pete is out of town, but the show much go on. We will be having the Freshbikes Mosaic Wednesday Night Ride tonight. Gather at the shop 6-6:15 p.m. and we will pull out promptly at 6:30 p.m. We will follow our regular route through Vienna with a pace group available for anyone. This is a no drop ride.

The pre-ride will NOT be held this afternoon. Thank you for your patience.

The weather could not be any more perfect. Hope to see you there!

Liz

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Actually it’s not the cable that settles in. It’s the cable housing that settles in the ferrules. No need to settle the housing if you’re only replacing the cable. The housing’s already set. All you need to do is tweak the adjustment. IF you’re replacing cable’s and housing, cut the housing to desired length, make sure the curves are not too tight but not too long either. Thread the cable and secure it to the derailleur. Here’s where a sturdy stand comes into play. If the cables are NOT internal you can push down on the cables on the down tube by hand while you’re pedaling with the other hand. Give it a nice push for about 10 seconds or so. This action pushes the housing ends into the shifter body and the other ferrules. You might have to push more than twice to get a good seat. One you think it’s in there, tweak the derailleurs. I also do the same when replacing brake cables and housing. Good luck.

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@hozn 62781 wrote:

I have only know that to matter for derailleur/shifter cabling. Brakes just slide through behind the open lever.

Sometimes a sharp pointy tool — like a sharpened spoke is helpful to guide cables around corners leaving the brifter mechanism.

A final recommendation is a 25-foot bag of jagwire ripcord (brake/universal housing). Makes cutting housing too short not a big deal. I typically cut slightly longer than I need and setup the housing with no cables in it first, just to cut down to right length.

Jagwire L3 is what I recommend. $5.00 x 4 feet of housing is usually enough for a build.

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Hey, looks shweet. Congrats!!!

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For a flawless cable pass thru installation L shifter has to be on the smallest chainring setting. R shifter has to be on the smallest cog setting. Also make sure you don’t have a cable head broken into the mechanism.

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It’s unfortunate but some Mavic wheels do crack like that. I saw a set of cracked Ksyrium SL’s black when I was working at the Pro Shop in Gtown. Not sure what the end result was.

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Awesome ride yesterday. Thanks again Pete B. for the leading out the FB train. Awesome time riding along side everybody that showed up last night. See ya next week.

@dcv 61141 wrote:

Lyds and Subby must be headbangers. Thanks Pete for another great ride, good to meet / ride with subby and off2ride.

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