[paytonc]

@Certifried 22602 wrote:

Love the sandwich idea, and I get elevation points since I’m on the 3rd floor!

Oh, man. I live in a high-rise, so the possibilities abound!

@Megabeth 22691 wrote:

I totally think that Strava should allow for extra points if you indicate things like, “I was carrying a full load of groceries in my front basket, backpack and a six pack of Fat Tire Ale strapped to my back rack”, or, “I was in heels, a floppy hat and a dress that required me to take my hands off the handlebar when the wind almost made the ride indecent”, or, “I just ate a full bowl of Tofu Panang Curry and still managed to chug home up that hill.”

Or how about “all of the above,” which is how I usually roll?

[paytonc]

Hey, thanks for the link! (The second link is to my blog.)

There’s a bit of a “I’m here, screw you” bravado in the way some people approach streets here, speaking as a recent arrival who’s biked in city traffic on four continents. I was once nearly knocked over while paying my fare on a bus because the driver had to suddenly brake for a jaywalker who just up and stepped out in front of the bus. At least pedestrians are typically easy to dodge; the same can’t be said for perps in cars — I don’t recall ever (nearly) running into this many people who suddenly stop their car in a travel lane for no apparent reason, perhaps to pick up someone or perhaps to chat with someone on the sidewalk or a porch. There are so many times that I wish I had an air horn, but instead it’s just me and my bell.

[paytonc]

Yep! Won’t be reprising that anytime this weekend — not with 100+ heat indices — but I’m glad to help out with the Challenge.

[paytonc]

I’m in on C Team.

Oh, and encourage me further with a Climate Ride sponsorship (even a few bucks) — I’m going to kick in a few hundred miles there!

[paytonc]

@DSalovesh 18134 wrote:

No point to it…

15th south of Constitution is fine to bike in, particularly around the Washington Monument, although it needs some detangling as it gets to the Tidal Basin. (There are some interesting proposals for a new multi-use path between the Monument and the Basin as part of the Trust for the Mall’s design competition for the Sylvan Theater area.) Extending the facility south to the Mall would tie it into the existing paths/sharrows there.

After too many close calls on that stretch of 15th, I usually weasel around and take the Ellipse roads these days. The forthcoming redesign of President’s Park will move the guardhouse further from 15th and apparently reopen E Street to open pedestrian access, and kind of open the Ellipse road for what would be contraflow (northbound) cyclists.

[paytonc]

This route makes a great shortcut around cherry blossom traffic — which does not seem to have abated despite the blossoms’ untimely passing!

If you don’t mind shouldering your bike and want to bypass the long loop around the George Mason Memorial, there’s a set of stairs along the north side of the Mason (14th St) Bridge’s north embankment that connect down to Ohio Drive.

[paytonc]

“Would it make any difference in metro revenues?”

Yes, it would hurt revenues. One bike takes the space of three standing passengers, and even more space for maneuvering. I’ve been on plenty of trains outside rush hour where it is honestly difficult to get a bike through, i.e., so that I’m not blocking the doors that are going to open at the next station.

As the Human Transit article notes, most bike-friendly countries don’t have a culture of bringing bikes on trains — throughout Europe, bikes are typically treated as checked baggage aboard trains. Instead, rail stations in Denmark, Japan, and the Netherlands are surrounded by thousands of cheap “station bikes” that passengers ride to/from the station. Bike sharing can help to consolidate at least a few of these bikes in higher-density areas.

[paytonc]

Boringly, I think a tandem for three is a “triple tandem.” I remember remarking to them at some point “wow, and I thought my turning radius was wide” but I guess they showed me…

The results are up at http://diamondderby.tumblr.com/results, but I’m sure you knew that by now.

Okay, so I completely blanked on how to do a rolling dismount so I ended up having to stop before the hay bales. Still came in 7th thanks to some nice work on the ring toss. Oh, and I finally found a good photo of myself!

[paytonc]

@DaveK 14622 wrote:

My only issue was that the barricade immediately past the crosswalk landing obstructs sight distance when you’re trying to see vehicles coming from DC towards the highway.

Yes, between the curve and the barricade there’s no way to see oncoming traffic without coming to a stop and gingerly sticking your head out. Plus, it seems like I only ever get there just when a phalanx of cars comes barreling around the bend…

On my long, long-term wish list for local trails would be some signs gently directing pedestrians down to the path by the water, leaving a little more room up above for bikes.

[paytonc]

Hey, just to reiterate; I couldn’t get in contact with some people upthread and actually have a better deal available.

I can house *two* people in a guest bedroom and/or a couch at my apartment in a high-rise, full-service building — great for two attendees who are traveling together. It’s in a quiet neighborhood, 0.3km to Metro, supermarket, and bikeshare; 1-2km to Capitol, and 3km to the Bike Summit. I’ll have class each night of the Summit, so I won’t have much free time then.

PLEASE get in touch by private message here, or use this spam-proof form to email me: http://westnorth.com/about/

[paytonc]

I’ve done it for a weekend trip, no problem. There’s a bike parking area within the daily parking garage; there are signs to it from the Mount Vernon Trail. That area is kind of out of sight (elevated a few feet from the parking level) but the garage is patrolled.

A Capital Bikeshare station would be best, though — not only because you wouldn’t have to worry about security, but also because you’d have the choice of biking one way and taking transit/cab/etc. the other way. For now, you can CaBi to Crystal City and walk about 10 minutes over to the terminal.

[paytonc]

Great choice! I guess I’ll see you on the ride, then. I’m also new to charity rides — although not to multi-day tours — and wanted to hear more about fundraising strategies. I know that I’ve usually only sponsored others after an email appeal (not just a Facebook post), so I’ll send an email out over the next week. Any other suggestions?

[paytonc]

The panel on the front was introduced in 2010 for the London scheme’s advertising and in 2011 rolled out to the Bixi systems in Canada. The older Bixis have the front light underneath the basket/rack, which unfortunately means that placing anything in the rack blocks much of the light. The new light array seems brighter, and is out of the way.

The Montreal Gazette also says that the brake system was upgraded this year. I noticed that the grips feel a bit better textured, although maybe that’s because they’re new.

I haven’t heard anything lately about getting legislation to allow advertising on the District-owned stations and bikes; until that happens, advertising won’t happen on CaBi. When that happens, you can look forward to ads on the baskets, the rear wheel skirt guard, the docks’ sides, on the map panels, and maybe on the receipts. The station bases also seem like a reasonable place.

Generally, outdoor advertising is a nice ancillary source of revenue but not going to underwrite the whole thing; posters on Bixi Montreal map panels rented for $1375 per six-month season in 2010 — less than comparable bus shelter posters since they’re not lit at night. At that rate, our 12-month/100 station system would only raise $275K annually, enough to maintain 100-200 bikes (operating costs reference). Title sponsorships in London and Minneapolis have sold for much more (millions of dollars) but then again there’s only one to sell. It would be interesting to see what kind of ads or sponsors they end up with: WMATA’s ads indicate that short-term political advocacy ads are quite valuable here, and CaBi has superb user demographics and downtown street visibility. Unlike bus shelters, almost by definition bikeshare stations are only in “happening” locations.

[paytonc]

@eminva 8321 wrote:

Ooh, this would be great news. Did Amtrak announce this? When? Where?

The Allegheny Trail Alliance has a form letter that you can send to Amtrak to ask them what’s happening:
http://www.atatrail.org/calltoaction.cfm

Until then, I’m going to see about blocking off a week in the autumn for the full Pittsburgh-DC run.

[paytonc]

I’ll be attending (gotta register now) and have a couch free then, too. WABA member living ~1 mile from the Capitol.

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