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I admit to doing some light wheelsucking this morning, but it was largely due to the two herniated discs in my back giving me grief. Now my didn’t “quite bite my tongue story.”

W&OD yesterday ladies running side-by-side with those double-wide baby strollers. Pulled up behind them and said in what I thought was a genuinely nice voice “Could I get by on your left.” Lady in red on the left looked genuinely outraged and muttered something under her breath. I passed and glanced back to see that she didn’t even have a kid in her stroller! WTF? I guess she was just trying to commiserate with her fellow mom runner or something? Perhaps the kid abandoned ship back on the Custis? We’ll never know. But GOD SPEED LOST STROLLER CHILD! We’ll never forget you!

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I’ve never really had any issues riding at night, 20+ miles a day between Falls Church and Downtown, with the exception of panicked joggers and the occasional group of stoned kids wandering along the Custis trail (this has happened at least three times, go smoke in a park like normal people?). Anyways I would recommend the Magicshine 800 as a good-quality and cheap alternative that provides PLENTY of lumens (650 actual). Also I would echo the fact that come mid November rider numbers drop significantly. There were a couple of times where I got off of work late last winter (7ish) and saw maybe one or two people during my commute.

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Straps are cheap to replace – my last one looked like it had been soaking in a spittoon for a year or so. Also, for getting the rank out of the stank, I just throw some generic Oxyclean in the wash. It turns “day-after Labor Day Rehobeth beach dumpster” into “slightly off smelling dog park.”

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Buy some studded tires and keep on rolling – pants might help as well. But seriously, rollers are POWERFULLY boring. I’m never particularly jazzed about rolling along the same stretch of the Potomac, but avoiding failing tourists is way more interesting than watching my cat groom himself while I make a puddle on my living room floor (that was awkward to write). On to the advice:

1. Buy used, these things are marked up big time and people are always looking to get rid of them.
2. Invest in one of those sweat catcher things, a box fan, and the complete DVD collection of MASH.
3. Get rollers, far more invigorating in terms of a workout and they tend to be a little more reliable as well.

Alternately, you could just do some cross-training at the gym and throw in an hour on the exercise bike.

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Once upon a time I loved the Michelin Krylion Carbons, but those days, like gas, have passed. The new Carbons are far too tight on the rims and the sidewall blew out on my front wheel after 500 miles. I switched over to Continental Grand Prix 4000s and they are amazing – not a single flat, easy to put on, and grip like molasses to pancakes (if that is even a saying). That said, the Armadillo Elites might actually be bullet proof.

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Ditto to getting excited about B-30. That 90-degree turn at the underpass is insanely dangerous, especially given the fact that the semi-permanent asphalt patch has narrowed it down to essentially 1.5 lanes. Just the other day I saw a kid on a skateboard almost take out two cyclists coming down the hill, even after they came to a complete stop. Also, some serious thought needs to be given to developing the RT. 50 trail, which is essentially unusable right now.

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I like how they park in the Mason’s parking lot – CONSPIRACY THEORIES ABOUND! Anti-bicycling, the Illuminati, and the RAND Corporation – the pieces are coming together. That or it is an easy beat, whatever.

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I never try to scare anyone, quite the contrary. What I was trying to get at is how people, specifically those who don’t seem to be paying attention to what is going on around them (earphones), tend to get annoyed when you actually announce yourself. On the way home today, rainy as it was, a woman with earphones on actually said “you don’t have to say it so loudly!” As if I should adjust my “on the left” delivery to the current tune playing on her ipod. If I happened to be clairvoyant, I would probably use my powers for something else.

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I’ve got Grand Prix 4000’s on mine, weigh about 170 on a good day, and keep them right around 105-110. Haven’t gotten a flat in a while.

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You were far more humane than I would have been in the same situation. One warning is normal, two for the distracted, and three I just give up and fly by.

On a completely different note, I was keeping a mental tally of the number of bicyclists riding with earphones in while on the way home yesterday (metro center – falls church). Once the count go above thirty I stopped paying attention. Am I being overly critical thinking that biking with earphones on is RIDICULOUSLY unsafe? It is hard enough yelling “on your left” at joggers with their tunes cranked up nonetheless the guy swerving on his beach cruiser after an extended happy hour.

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I love this time of year, the bike trail starts clearing out, mornings are crisp, and I seem to get fewer flats (nothing scientific here but I get far fewer in the winter). The only downside is guessing what clothes you will need the next day.

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Saw them on the W und OD on the way home. Sure they are crazy impractical, not-entirely-trail friendly, and terrifying to ride in a city, but I’ll take seven.

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On the one hand, I like the mild weather. On the other hand, I can pretty much have the trail to myself starting mid-November. I think yesterday was particularly bad due to the early-release-let’s-avoid-Metro earthquake traffic. It seemed like there were a lot of people on the trail and Memorial bridge who might have been suffering personal aftershocks causing them stagger from left to right in a chaotic fashion.

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I’ve eaten it there on two occasions, once was my fault (ice) and the other time was due to a jogger who turned the corner tagged the railing and then turned around suddenly. After the crash she was incredibly apologetic and I told her that maybe she should make Roosevelt Island her “turnaround point.” I think she was a Georgetown student who was training for a 10k or something, increasing her distance each day. Anyways, I slow down to a crawl on that part. A while back there were also some planks coming up but they seem to have that under control.

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Just as a follow-up, I was crossing this morning at around 7:50 – traffic was pretty light. A woman in a minivan came to a complete stop in the right lane with two cars behind her. I waved and began crossing the intersection. The second car behind her, a small Nissan, actually backed up a little changed lanes and tore through in the left lane just narrowly missing my wheel – AMAZING ignorance. I kind of wish drivers wouldn’t stop. I’m willing to wait for a nice 1/4 mile gap. It just strikes me that complete stops = catastrophe.

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