[oldbikechick]

@dasgeh 56795 wrote:

I saw an NPS worker coming back to the TR parking lot from the troll bridge with clippers and a weed whacker. Ignoring that he was there at 8:30am (seriously?), I was very hopeful that he had cleared some of the mess on the trail on the TR Bridge. No such luck.

It IS getting to be a jungle on that boardwalk. Maybe they’ll clean it up tomorrow – they seem to be doing a lot of prep for the 4th.

[oldbikechick]

I like the Custis – for the same reason mentioned previously, very little stopping required. Also, everything is relative. I like being able to ride on the a trail instead of the road. And for a big portion of the year, or when there’s a little drizzle, it is not very crowded at all. While I’ve witnessed several bone-headed moves over the years, I’ve really only had one close call. It’s not so much the trail that is flawed, it’s those who operate unsafely on it. When there’s a blind corner, folks need to slow down and not pass. Simple enough.

[oldbikechick]

I asked a similar question awhile back and got some good advice:

http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?4785-How-can-I-make-my-commute-more-comfortable

While I haven’t really solved the numbness problem, I have tried a few things. I noticed that I was riding with very tense shoulders. If I consciously try to relax my shoulders, it takes longer for my hands to go numb. Also, a tried recently tipping my seat a bit to the back as I noticed it was actually tipping me forward and most likely putting more pressure on my hands. This did not really solve the problem although at least I’m not sliding forward on the seat anymore. It was also good for some comical moments as I apparently didn’t tighten it enough when I adjusted it, so it decided to come loose mid-ride and tip WAAY back and since it was possible tornado day and raining torrentially, I just rode home that way instead of trying to fix it. I will keep trying small things. Maybe new handlebars next. If you find a good solution – let us know!

[oldbikechick]

@dasgeh 55042 wrote:

You should bring that precious cargo to the Kidical Mass ride on Sunday (Quincy Park –> Rocklands BBQ; meet 10:30am near the playground). Kidicalmassarl.blogspot.com

I saw that on here and that was actually my inspiration to get the seat sorted out, but obviously that’s not happening by Sunday. If we can think of a way to make it work, we’ll be there.

[oldbikechick]

@rcannon100 54424 wrote:

The Federal Bike Challenge is now complete. The voting has been locked. The Grand Stands have been taken down and shipped back to Cleveland.

The linked to spread sheet contains a draft of the results of the Federal Bike Challenge for Washington, D.C. offices.

Okay, lots of clarifications:

First, who is a Washington, D.C. Fed agency. I have no idea. A weakness of this challenge is it lacked geographic info (assuming that we were all in Seattle I suppose). You could not sort teams based on geography and there was all but no geo information on the team page. So, I, er, guessed. If I guessed wrong, let me know. Included someone who is actually a Guam team? I can take them off. Didnt include someone cause I could not figure out your cryptic team name; I can add them.

Scoring. Well this is a bit odd and there is much guidance from the challenge. There twas miles ridden, trips commuted, and percentage of commutes that was by bicycle. So what does that add up to? I created a cumulative score. I ranked all the teams by miles (first to last); I ranked all the teams by trips; I ranked all the times by percentages of commutes by bike – added up those rankings – and the team with the lowest score was got first place. This seemed to work.

Comments?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3051[/ATTACH]

Looks good! I’m not sure I understand the scoring, but I like the results Our humble team of un-elite bureaucrats did better than I thought it would. Thanks for putting this together. I couldn’t find the “official” results anywhere on the website.

[oldbikechick]

Thanks for the great ideas! I wrote to the manufacturer, but didn’t think of writing to the UK distributor, so I’ll try that. And eBay. I hate to get a whole new seat when just one little part is missing. I have rigged something up, but I don’t feel entirely confident especially with the preciousness of the cargo

[oldbikechick]

Thanks everyone for the great recommendations. We ended up going to Bilbo Baggins and it was great! Nice long beer list, nice people, etc. Even a very cute little bike rack to lock up to. I’m now going to need to ride to Alexandria several more times to check out the other recommendations. It was also my first time completing the loop, which was a lovely ride on a nice evening. My brother also enjoyed watching the planes come in at Gravelly point. He was very impressed with our bike path infrastructure around here and the sheer numbers of people using it.

[oldbikechick]

@rcannon100 51013 wrote:

Boy, I dont know…. lots of the author said struck true to me….

I agree with a lot of what is said here. I commute by bike because I love it, but it is also very easy and enjoyable because of the infrastructure. I’m on the bike path almost the entire way and have a shower, private office, etc at work. And I don’t do the kid drop-off. If I had a lot of obstacles, would I still commute by bike? Hard to say. I agree that advocacy organizations and gov’ts in the DC area have done a great job and by putting the infrastructure in place, have enabled a lot of people to commute by bike who otherwise who not. How does this compare to other places?

At my previous job (in Switzerland), there was similar work infrastructure (shower, etc), less biking infrastructure, but a great route on back roads and drivers who were generally very good about sharing the road (due to very good enforcement of cyclist and pedestrian rights). So again, few obstacles made it an easy choice.

Prior to that (in Belgium), I was a student, there was no work infrastructure (where I was interning), little biking infrastructure and terrible drivers, but my bike was my only vehicle and I had no patience of public transportation, so I biked everywhere. I also had no kids or sense of mortality at that time

Long, long ago as an exchange student in the Netherlands, needless to say, biking infrastructure was fantastic and it would have been very difficult NOT to commute by bike. That wasn’t an option, really. Everyone rode their bikes without thinking twice about it.

So, the better the infrastructure (and enforcement of safe driving and sharing of the road), the more biking. It also helps if we live within a reasonable distance of our workplace.

[oldbikechick]

Advice for first-timers: Plan your route and give yourself enough time so it’s not stressful. Pick a route that you feel comfortable with and is most enjoyable (ie. quieter/wider roads, bike paths) even if it’s not the most direct one. Pack your things the night before so you don’t forget essentials. Talk to other commuters in the office to get the low-down on routes and amenities, borrow stuff you forgot, etc.

Benefits of commuting: Exercise, commute, attitude re-adjustment and fresh air/communing with nature, all wrapped up into one, with no extra time added to the day. It’s like you’ve cheated the working parent rat-race gods each and every day.

Finally – just do it! One you start, you won’t regret it.

[oldbikechick]

My employer has secure parking, not sure what kind of bike racks they are, but there are plenty of them. It seems like a small thing, but they also have horizontal bars attached to the wall where you can leave your lock when you ride home so you don’t have to lug it around. There is also an air hose, locker rooms with showers, free day lockers or paid assigned lockers. While it could be cleaner, it’s a great setup, although now that I think about it, a towel service would be nice. I have found that the camp towels from REI work really well though and will dry overnight if I hang them in my locker. I also dream of heated towel racks on those cold winter mornings, but don’t think that will get very far in these sequestration days.

[oldbikechick]

@baiskeli 50388 wrote:

Knee, elbow and wrist pads can make for more confidence, especially after a fall.

But take a close look at the bike. I learned in my kid’s “Lose the Training Wheels” program for kids with disabilities that alot of kid’s bikes are built like “trick” bikes these days, with a bottom bracket that’s too high, making it less stable and harder to get going on the pedals from a stopped position while balancing. A new bike could be in order. Also get the seat height just right. Too low and it’s hard to pedal right (too low is the most common mistake). Too high and it could be harder to get started and feels scary to a new rider.

I will try to take a closer look at the bike, seat height, size, etc. Also may try the REI class. Thanks for all the ideas!

[oldbikechick]

@mstone 50375 wrote:

I’ve always done the ol’ “run along while holding the seat”. As you noted, balance requires a certain speed, and that just takes confidence. If you can reassure them that you’ll be right there to catch them, they can be more willing to try.

Or you can try the even older approach of just giving them a push down a hill, but I think that’s frowned on these days.

I will need to try the run along beside thing. Right now, the pedals are off as we were trying the “learn how to balance” thing, but maybe it’s time to put them back on and try this.

[oldbikechick]

Thanks everyone who took the time to share these great ideas. I think I’m going to need to break down and learn how to use some tools so I can try some of these things. I should have mentioned that Clovis set me up with some fancy new cork grips with bar ends, but unfortunately these were not more comfortable, so it may be the handlebars themselves. I had never seen the butterfly ones before – very intriguing. My arms are pretty straight when I’m sitting on the bike. I’m just using the original tires that came on the trek, and don’t pump them up too hard due to the comfort factor, but maybe I can try some fatter ones. The points about stretching and recovering are also well taken. Especially reading about some of the other commutes on this forum, I have always considered mine pretty short and not worthy of any particular “recovery” routine, but I’ll re-think this and try some more stretching and hydrating. I was also interested to read about the slowness of the hybrid compared to the road bikes. THAT explains why I’m slower than everyone else. I thought it was me So, I may try test-riding some and see if my prejudice against road bikes can be overcome. I don’t know if I have the guts to ride a recumbent bike.

Thanks again and I hope to meet some of you at one of these coffees or happy hours soon. I took the day off today due to the storm.

[oldbikechick]

I also sometimes utilize the “one-way” commute as I have a secure place to store my bike. This was how I eased back into it after maternity leave when I just did not have the energy for the two-way commute, the pumping, etc. every day. Although often when I’ve wimped out for whatever reason (rain, snow, etc) I end up regretting it jammed into the mass of humanity on the metro, or inevitably there will be some sort of delay. I find that my incentives to keep going over the winter (and hot summer) months are: It is a far more enjoyable (and reliable) commute, except in the worst of weather; it’s the only way I get any exercise; I am in such a better frame of mind when I get to work and home. To keep warm – I have been toasty in most weather with a merino base-layer, fleece and windbreaker and if it’s in the teens, I wear my ski jacket. I even wore my ski goggles this year, reaching a new low in biking fashion, but at least my eyes didn’t freeze. My feet have been warm all winter with a combo of thick ski socks, my ventilated “summer” biking shoes and shoe covers. If you don’t have ski gear to re-purpose, you could just skip the coldest days. I invested in a better light this year and haven’t regretted it. Regarding safety, I have chosen a somewhat less than direct route to stay mostly on bike paths and off the street, although I know that’s not an option for everyone. It takes longer but is less stressful and more enjoyable for me.

[oldbikechick]

@GuyContinental 47988 wrote:

Eventually the bearings will wear out and if you are super-duper lucky (and using Speedplays) they’ll seize. In mid stroke. I can attest, that’s less than fun. If you are using common MTB pedals (eg Time or SPD) you have to pull the spindle to grease them (honestly, I wouldn’t bother unless you ride a lot in the rain or are hearing squeaking).
LINK to SPD instructions

Eggbeaters have a plastic slotted cover and a grease attachment (the strange “extra” part in the box that looks like a threaded plastic dial). Speedplays have a Phillips #1 screw. On either, the easiest/cheapest grease tool that I’ve found is a medication syringe with the top trimmed to size. Fill with polylube (or your choice) and push the old nasty grease out the spindle.

Not sure how single-sided road pedals are serviced.

Thanks! I think I am safe since I don’t hear any squeaking yet and I’m pretty sure I have the “common” pedals.

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