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@mstone 21897 wrote:

First, remember that every kid is different, and there are no rules. Next, better too small a bike than too big a bike. That said, I personally wouldn’t spend money on a bike less than 16″ (kids grow really fast when they’re small, and I waited until they were big enough). I see some kids riding around on a 12″ or whatever, so I guess that works for some. I started them out on a trike rather than a bike–pedal motion first, balance later. Both our older kids went through a training wheel stage on the 16″ bikes. I tried to keep that as short as possible, but it depends on the kid. One lost the training wheels right about 5 years, the other more like 5.5. They’ll know when they’re ready. Even before he lost the training wheels the second one was doing 5-6 miles, building strength and allowing more interesting trips than a trike or balance bike. Even a 16″ these days should come with a hand brake. Make sure they’re checked out on that before moving off coaster brakes. I just this past weekend moved the oldest from twist shift to thumb shift on her 20″ bike, and I should have done that a long time ago. (A lot of 7/8 year olds don’t have a strong enough grip to use the twist shift properly.) It’s an easy swap, and I’d recommend doing that right off. I’d also recommend avoiding anything with gears until they’ve been on a single speed for a couple of years–develop basic reflexes before adding more distractions. That said, once they’re on a multispeed it’s easier to go further & faster, which is nice. The most important thing is to let them set their pace, and keep it fun. I just got back from a seven or eight mile family ride (cut short by darkening skies) with the 8 year old, the 6 year old, and the 2 year old in the wee-hoo, and we all had a blast.

16″ or bust. Also, I really like the idea of single speeds to start out, coaster brakes can be confusing though.

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@jrenaut 21935 wrote:

1) No.
2) I think most of those commenting are automated bots that scan the internet for anything cycling related and regurgitate stereotypes.

Firstly, robots are our friends.

Secondly, Arlnow is a cesspool.

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I’m all for freedom of idiocy. However, the Arlnow example that you linked to sounds more like a suicide attempt, which I’m not for, since we have bunnies http://www.dailybunny.com/.

Whenever I need moral anchoring, I go straight for Star Trek, a guiding light, expect for Voyager and most of Deep Space Nine. Anyways, “without followers, evil cannot spread.” Vent it out, lead by example, and look at some bunnies.

An old home brewing adage is RDWHAHB – Relax Don’t Worry Have a Homebrew.

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@baiskeli 21631 wrote:

Yeah, that’s the same spot where I had to explain to some noob why passing on the right, without warning, was a really dumb idea, especially when others are passing me on the left while there’s traffic coming from the other direction and I’m going to be moving as far to the right as possible to make room. He didn’t look like John Denver though.

Maybe that was the same guy riding in the middle of trail up Rosslyn hill yesterday…

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@americancyclo 21633 wrote:

I’m more than happy to email/twit/facebake any reps or organization leaders. I usually get intimidated though, because I only really know my personal pain points, and find that others have a better grasp of the situation at large and can better articulate our position to the decision makers in terms that resonate well. That’s why I love point and click advocacy. If any templates could be made, I’d be happy to follow through, both from my personal and .gov emails.

I just can’t spell that well. MORE TEMPLATES PLEASE!

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@GuyContinental 21588 wrote:

That’s why I went with the iGo- the single wheel design is great and highly maneuverable. I also built a single wheel kid-hauler out of a Bob Ibyx + Burley frame + Co-pilot kid carrier + lots of time with a sewing machine and fabrication tools. That one has now passed to the younger one…

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The few times that I rode with a 2-wheel trailer they freaked me out, too wide and too prone to getting discombobulated on curbs and such.

The White House is bad, the underpass under Memorial Bridge is just terrible. It is exactly wide enough to pin an inattentive Georgetown student against the guardrail with a Bob Yak trailer.

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@JeffC 21463 wrote:

It was funny that the WaPo author Ashley Halsey specifically asked for comments on this forum BEFORE he wrote an article. His article appeared a few weeks ago and had little to do with biking but more with the declining interest in cars.

Now Lenny Bernstein wrote his article with no comments from us first, might have been more relevant or interesting if he got some perspective first.

I admit there is a big learning curve, from routes, to shortcuts, to gear, lights, etc. etc. as well as a process where your body acclimates to the additional physical stres.. You also most assuredly do not have to go every day a week. I live in Falls Church and commute to downtown DC (about 11 miles one way) and have managed to do nearly 2000 miles a year for the past five years going a couple days a week. I’m a desk jockey with two young kids in his 40s so if I can do it, most anybody else can.

Desk Jockey Fist Bump

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Some brief statistics on my 100% calling my passes this morning:

-2 bikers terrified that someone was passing
-1 horde of tourists frozen in absolute fear by Lincoln Memorial
-1 dude on Lynn St. who flew out in front of me through Do Not Cross then was PO’d that I passed him on the straightaway
-3 runners who gave me thumbs up or “air high fives” (Polka Dot Running Shorts Guy OWNS)

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A well-written and honest article. However, he should have given it at least a month. Bike to Work Day is an excellent introduction, but we still need more day-to-day ways of motivating people to get on a bike.

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@Rootchopper 21455 wrote:

The only way these two problem areas will get fixed is if someone from the top pushes down on the bureaucrats who are failing to act. Jim Moran should be made aware of the GWMP problem. At BTWD in Rosslyn he talked the talk about extending the MVT to Chain Bridge. I’d much rather see the crossings around the Memorial Bridge fixed properly.

As a commuter who has nearly been killed in Rosslyn this year I am personally endangered by VDOT’s inaction every day I ride to work. VDOT is unresponsive because the top of the food chain is the kooky governor who has other causes on his plate.

As for the Wilson Bridge underpass, the new bollard farm is a travesty. What the hell were these people thinking?

+1 for invoking Kooky Governor! As with any advocacy campaign, we need a solid and current knowledge base to argue from. To that end, I would look to someplace like GMU to conduct an independent traffic analysis of the intersection – possibly for a civil engineering class (they have an excellent program). It is a fascinating confluence of circumstances and certainly an issue that would keep a small group of students occupied for a month or so. http://civil.gmu.edu/

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@rcannon100 21385 wrote:

Seriously, the best way to react is to enjoy your bike ride.

Or in the words of the mighty prophet Dirt, with expectations completely low, dinguses will never ruffle you; when angels ring their heavenly bells, you can rejoice.

Enjoy the ride knowing that great is the reward for the cyclists that calls their passes.

I generally just sprint the whole way to and from work. Thus avoiding any issues with passing since I call 100% of my passes with a throaty baritone. Sometimes I imagine that there is a pack of wolves behind me, other times zombies, I try to mix it up.

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Wheelie dude navigates the TR Island boardwalk LIKE A BOSS.

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@Megabeth 21134 wrote:

Left in between storms. Managed to make it home dry, save for the last 1/2 block when the skies opened up.

Everyone be careful out there!

Ditto – actually hung out in my garage to wait for it to die down right after I put my bike away – crazy stuff. W&OD is probably flooded by now.

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Weather Underground is showing a pretty solid break in things out west over the next half hour or so – not sure about the big splotch south of town though.

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@Certifried 21068 wrote:

thanks! I had done a search for “convert road bike” and didn’t find too much. ^^ perfect links

DaveK – the seat post is carbon The Trek site says it has fender mounts, I just haven’t noticed them. I’ll take a closer look tonight.

Fortunately, I’m not in a suit and tie. Just some dockers and golf-shirt type of shirt, no tie. By the time I have the dockers, shirt, socks, undergarments, belt, shoes, towel for the shower and toiletries… my messenger bag is stuffed! We have a gym in our building, but they don’t have a “lockers only” membership. There’s also a small building locker room where I can shower, but the lockers aren’t overnight. So I have nothing real convenient for storage other than desk drawers. I can’t offend my neighbors with smelly wet clothes lying around but luckily there’s already another topic on that! lol

Those threads are excellent! I also commute on a racing steed and have gone through a lot of tires – Armadillos (not as good as they used to be) – and I really like the Michelin Grand Prix’s they have done me no wrong. When it comes to the bag, comfort is all in the packing and making sure you have a solid chest strap.

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