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My tension meter are my fingers and hearing. Here’s the ghetto way that works to verify good tension…tap the each spoke close to the nipple on the truing stand and compare the “ding” sound. They should all sound ALMOST equal.

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The bike serial number is the key to the hidden info. Some bikes will have it stamped on the BB shell. Some are labels. Hopefully that bike goes back to it’s rightful owner.

@krazygl00 35623 wrote:

This happened Friday night (11-09) and I haven’t had the time to post about it until now.

Another cyclist and I found a Marin Hybrid in the ditch right at the bottom of the hill here, right after the W&OD crosses Virginia (that dangerous spot). Actually I found the bike and the second cyclist came along about 30 seconds later. This was 7:30-ish at night, it was completely dark, and we couldn’t find anyone around. We really feared the worst; I half expected to find someone injured in the ditch, or crawling along somewhere, but we couldn’t find anyone. It was mysterious also that the bike was in perfect working order despite the rear tire being a bit under-inflated. It had a lock on it, but it wasn’t locked to anything, it was just lying in the ditch.

We had several ideas about what might have happened but they were all odd. If it was because of an injury, where was the person? It wasn’t mechanical, because the bike seemed to work. If the person left it there intentionally, why didn’t they lock it to something? We thought perhaps it had been stolen then ditched so the thief could come back later, but there are plenty of more hidden spots right there. If it was someone who had gone into the woods to make a pitstop, they didn’t call out to us, and we were there for at least 20 minutes. So, it was kind of mysterious.

In the end, we decided that if someone had left it there because of some kind of problem or emergency, we didn’t want to just leave it there to get stolen, so we called the police non-emergency number. FFX PD actually showed up within 10 minutes (just as we were about to give up) and they took our information, and took the bike for safe-keeping. They couldn’t figure it out either, and said there had been no accident nor other reports from that location.

I posted about it on the CL bikes for sale list:

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/bik/3402463934.html

Hopefully someone will contact me (or FFX PD). The CL ad contains a minimum of description so that anyone claiming the bike will at least have to describe it. Anyone here know anything?

P.S. the other rider was a super nice guy, I told him to get on the forum here.

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Right. In that situation that I saw that morning, I think the vest would not have helped.

@Certifried 34390 wrote:

To he fair, BA seems to give quite a few of those out. It might not (hopefully) have been a forum user.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

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My morning commute was this…….I was waiting for the X-walk to turn green just before Lynn Street and this knuckle head with a Bike Arlington reflective vest just darts out and crosses. Sorry for being so blunt but with all do respect, you are a knuckle head. Whoever you were. I was going to chase you down and preach but then again, I was thinking, “He’s an adult, he should know better” but oh well, this BA Vest wearing rider has no clue. Yup, I was the one with the red and black helmet waiting. Ahh there. I feel better but you’re still a knuckle head.

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Oh yeah…the dreaded “S” bend. Be careful out there folks.

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Saturday PM I was riding back to my car and while bombing downhill after Virginia Ave, I ran over a RAT then another one crossed after that. I went back to check to see if it survived but it was dead. At least I think it was. Then today I saw another dead rat on Custis while riding to DC. What’s up with this rat infestation? Last year it was Deer that was abundant in the trail. Now it’s rats?

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Arlington’s finest should patrol Custis trail once it gets dark. A lot of these runners using the trail don’t have any kind of blinkie or reflective vest on. To make things worse, they’re wearing dark colored clothing. I’d ticket them if I was the law.

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A rear BOLT ON rack will not work on your DUAL SUSPENSION bike. Trust me on that one. The cheap thing you can do is purchase a SEAT POST mounted rack or a Timbuk 2 bag that accommodates a laptop. Buena Suerte.

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Hi K,

Check your fork rake. Perhaps it got bent from your crash. A loose headset will rattle plus play will be present when you brake the front caliper while pushing the bike slightly forward. Check your tires/wheel/spokes for anything that looks abnormal. Good luck. Lemme know if you need more help on your Cdale.

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Thanks for the heads up but I think the iphone is not rugged enough. That app would also kill my battery in no time for sure.

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Pretty easy to spot. One easy test is the “Bounce Test”. Pick up the bike a few inches off the ground then let go. Verify what rattles (fenders and such normally rattles) then isolate from there. Presta nuts normally rattle once they loosen so tighten accordingly. If you have a saddle bag, that will rattle as well. So isolate the normal things to verify the abnormal.

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I use Endura Humvee 3/4 pants.

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They were a sibling duet that became popular in the 70’s. Local radio stations will play Carpenter Christmas songs for sure.

@Dkeg 30665 wrote:

Last Saturday during the CW Century on I was climbing the big climb up to Fort Ricthie. I came up on a women and a man riding the century also. We were at the point just before you turn left and the climb starts to get hard. At that point there is about 2 miles left in this approximately 3 mile climb. As I was passing her I notice she seemed to be struggling. So without thinking I began to sing “We only just begun” by the Carpenters. She gave me a bewildered look, I smiled and pedal pass them both. The Man smiled at me as I looked back. Then I thought to myself “Damn, I becoming Dirt (Pete)”.
I was a little bother that the women did not at least crack a smile. I don’t know if she thought I was being Sadistic, did not find it funny or have a clue what just happened. Well if I do ever see her again I would tell her I was trying to bring a smile to her face. I knew what was coming up and she would need to smile to forget the pain. I was just trying to spread the love just like Dirt would. Or I was just being Sadistic. Either way I thought it was funny.

BTW, does anyone have a clue who the Carpenters are?

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Yes and no. Some people are just hard to please. Some don’t care. I’m in this bike gig full time and I see and hear a lot of stories from riders that come in our shop. Now that the days are getting shorter, people come in and buy lights to BE SEEN not to see. I give them advice on how NOT to use it. I do what I can to help but sometimes all it takes is common sense.

@Dickie 30612 wrote:

A few nights back on a late night commute home I crossed paths with a fellow cyclist on the W&OD trail. As we passed he told me I was “F***ing obnoxious”. My first reaction was confusion, then anger then hurt. I immediately realized what his reasoning was. Although my headlamp was on it’s lowest setting and pointed down (his was not), I had neglected to turn off my 1 watt LED blinker on my backpack strap. Now this light is pretty dim but since I am on and off the trail and on the roads a fair amount on my commute the extra visibility seems important. Obviously my two wheeled friend took offense to my bling. Sadly I lost my composure and yelled something back (hangs head in shame). However, this has been bothering me since and got me thinking (bad mistake). I wondered if this was a forum member as the topic of blinkers on the trail was a hot topic last week. I wondered if our rants occasionally perpetuate a sense of entitlement or too high of an expectation? As an example, I have heard complaints about cyclists not using lights on the trail, or having too many lights, or not the correct color, or angle, or whatever. Are we becoming too finicky and particular? I love being involved with this community, on this forum, and as a whole I feel we provide excellent karma and set great examples (Dirt’s super groovy and laid back approach, Kellonwheels’ adorable ramblings and thoughts, etc, etc). I try to take the approach that if you are on two wheels you immediately earn collateral, but occasionally I wonder if we are still not patient enough with each other on the roads.

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Make it High and Tight just like Prom Night.

@acl 30717 wrote:

Anyone have a solution for making long hair look pretty—or at least presentable for the workday– after getting it all tangled and sweaty bike riding? As I’m starting to lose daylight in the evening, I’m trying to get into the habit of riding at lunchtime instead. Which, sadly, means I have to come back to work when I’m done. I can kind of live with just wiping the sweat (and chain grease, and dead bugs) off my body when I’m done, but what to do about the hair? Maybe some kind of leave-in conditioner would work to comb out the tangles? Or do I just need to wear braids all winter? Any experience or advice to pass along? If you bike to work (or during the workday) and have long hair, what do you do?

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