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Something in the water? Or in the air, so to speak. People willing to kill on a whim or for the hell of it. At the risk of extrapolating from one incident, frankly our nation is not well.

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Two parts droopy, one part Thanos, all bad attitude.

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My employer has me coming in Thursdays, West Falls Church to DC. Yesterday I took a motorcycle in and bicycled home on the Custis then switched to local streets in Arlington because the path was too crowded. I was breathing deeply because of the hills and stiff headwind, and was worried about airborne respiration droplets with that many people out recreating.

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Yes! Or the Triumph Tiger 800 XC, drool, drool. The one I have with 100 horses in an antique Honda (’83 Cx650 Turbo) that is a crazy blast. But the daily commuter is a stalwart ’05 Suzuki DL650 V-Strom (60 HP). I’m pining for a ’21 Yamaha Tenere 700, the object of my lusty desire (along with the KTM 790 Adventure) but as a practical fella who is also a cheapskate I refuse to order either one or the other until the Suzuki dies. It flat-out refuses to do so…. most reliable bike ever.
I commute by bicycle only one-way (10 miles) maybe once a week, I should motivate myself to do it more often.
Yes, the Tenere is the one; smaller, lighter, cheaper than the bigger adventure bikes, but all aces in performance. One day, one day…..

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There are simply too many factors to account for; it makes the risk statistics for an individual hard to gauge. I feel much safer blasting in on my 100 horsepower motorcycle than riding a bicycle in the margins amid the sticks and broken glass with distracted drivers whizzing by, and with 35 years and 300,000 miles of motorcycling under my belt I’m probably right. Yet others call ’em “murdercycles” and that riders must have a death wish.
The article points out health benefits, and rightly so, especially for us stateside; we lose nearly 700,000 souls to heart disease EVERY YEAR in this 42% obese country. Given the low number of people who kicketh the bucket bicycling every year, I’d posit that bicycle commuting is safer than driving a car every day, if the daily bicycle run keeps one from being otherwise sedentary.
It’s all a matter of perception and what aspects one wishes to consider. But no question about it, our roads are suited to cars and bicycle safety in not a priority. Too many roads with speeding cars and no shoulders. Sadly in the US our philosophy is that the car is king.

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Yikes! I had to look up what the ulna is… “long bone found in the forearm that stretches from the elbow to the smallest finger”. Hope it’s OK!

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Thanks- I’ll do the Rec Center cut-through.

The most popular off-the -shelf bike mount is made by 2x2cycles. It is similar to the type that mounts on a car roof top. To me it’s a bit expensive and the bike hangs a bit far off the rear of the motorcycle (a “tail of the dog” look), and the bicycle will be slightly off-center, but it is probably the best option. There are many custom homebrew setups out there, fitted to the specific mounts upon a particular type of motorcycle
I’m still doggedly commuting with a weathered ’05 Suzuki V-Strom DL650 that I bought used and have put 50,000 of my own miles on. I’m cheap (thrifty?) I guess. On it I have mounted a Park Tools PRS-7 bicycle shop repair clamp (the bike repair clamp with the vice grip clamp, not the little adjusting knob). I lock the bicycle with a wicked death grip, so obviously no carbon bikes or nice ones. My old ’93 Specialized Crossroads has had a few hundred commuting trips on the MC and hasn’t suffered and damage. The Chome-Moly frame can take the pressure of a secure clamp without being damaged.
In 2014 when I installed it, I tested it- swerved, banged the bike around, nailed the brakes, took it over speed bumps, highway use, with no problems.
I tightened a safety clamp onto the bicycle’s top tube that is an inch paste where I mount it to the vise clamp… to catch the bike should it work its way down during the trip. But that has not happened, I’m just worried that it could. The front wheel can be left on, or removed and secured with parachute cord to reduce height, and a single bungee is wrapped around the vice-grip lock lever arm to make sure no jarring might cause the lever to unlock/lift. I haven’t lost a bike off the motorcycle yet! It would fall clear of the back of the MC and into the street if it did. In terms of compromised handling the MC is still compliant and well-behaved. You can feel it a bit in corners, but not as profoundly as having a passenger.
I should point out that the rear deck that is on my DL650 is not stock. When I bought the bike, the only accessory on it was a passenger back rest (that I never use) made by Jerry Finley (The Suzuki VStrom Stealth® Backrest from Pirates’ Lair at 828.628.7093 EST). The stock rubber deck cover had been replaced with his stout steel one (the thick black piece you see in the photo). I would’nt mount this bike clamp directly to the rear rack without fashioning a stout steel decking plate of some kind to attached to the deck/frame. I used SAE grade 5 bolts to mount the PRS-7 instead of cheesy mild steel ones.
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WOW thanks Josh! I wish I could figure out how to “like” posts on this forum so I could like all these options. Well, maybe not the shuttlebike… I’d love to see it cross Mather Gorge!
I like how the stretches on Towlston and Old Dominion are minimized. Lewinsville gets a little tight with recklessly-driven cars from Holly Leaf to the Spring Hill Rec Center, but I’ll check this whole route out with a motorcycle. So, to recap, in text, the route from Great Falls National Park to McLean, VA is thus:

Old Dominion Drive south, past Falls Run Rd, CCT, and Difficult Run.
R Peacock Station Rd, then Stay left.
R Towlston Road (Long stretch).
L Bellview Road.
R Old Tolson Mill Road.
R Windrock Road.
R Daleview Drive (short stretch).
L Brook Road, pass Sparger Street.
R Portland Place.
L Orlo Drive, pass Brookewood Ct.
R Daviswood Drive (very short stretch).
R Holly Leaf Drive (long stretch).
L Lewinsville Road (take it all the way past the beltway until it becomes Great Falls St.
L Chain bridge Road.
R Westmoreland (in Mclean).

Return trip to Great Falls Park from McLean:
From Lewinsville Rd., keep going past Spring Hill Rec Center.
R Holly Leaf.
L Daviswood (short stretch).
L Orlo.
R Portland Place.
L Brook Road.
R Daleview (short stretch).
L Windrock.
L Old Tolson Mill Rd.
L Bellview.
R Towlston Rd..
L Peackock Station.
L Old Dominion Drive to Great Falls Park

I know the the McLean, Falls Church, and Arlington areas, so I can take it from there.

Looks like a long haul, but good!

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Thanks, I don’t know how I thought there was a side path on the 495 bridge that allowed access to the tow path on the MD side. Sounds like option 2 with with some variations is the best way to go. Disappointing that the roads are so bike-unfriendly, but yes I noticed that everyone is driving lie a maniac on those narrow roads. I’m going to have to learn the Great Falls area a bit better, as I rarely headed that way previously.

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That’s the kind of tire herniation that usually happens to the sidewalls of old dry-rotted tires. Unless it was inflated WAY over capacity, or the tire torn internally by hitting a hard rut, I’d say it’s a defective tire, especially if it was the same brand twice in a row.

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Reminds me of the heroic Bicycle Repairman by Monty Python ! De he stop on a venture after seeing you pushing your disable bike along, or did you flag him down? And if so, how did you know he’d have a chain tool or a link, or a spare chain of the correct gauge? Most commuters are in such a hurry they might not think to stop.

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Some key factors are : 1) how long the commute (or recreational) rides tend to be (miles between charges), and 2) the ratio of assist to pedal power that is needed ordesired by the particular rider. Any combination of more power or range means more weight. That is a factor if the bike must be lifted… say, up stairs or onto a car rack. It also means more expense. Having gone heavy on my first build (1000w, 48VDC hub motor kit and 12ah battery bank on a conventional bicycle) I realized I had more “oomph” than I really needed for hills. Build #2 was a 36v, 500w geared hub motor (again, rear-mounted) and with a more modest battery pack that was mounted toward the front for better weight distribution, on an aluminum bike, for overall lighter weight. Much better. If you are going for a nice factory e-bike test ’em out firsthand, lest you likewise make the e-bike neophite move of overestimating what is needed in terms of assist.

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Yes, I heard about this story some time back; sounds as if it is now coming to a head. Of course, Arizona State has about a thousand impounded scooters that it is likewise holding for ransom. What makes this one particularly unsavory is that the scooters were obviously plucked from public areas and not from complicit landowners as the repo men assert.
The City of Richmond is buddies with a towing company that impounded 300 or so Bird scooters and will auction them in two weeks.

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Huge bummer! I’m hoping that the level of cycling activity that you had will make recovery quicker, both with muscle tone and a robust immune system that will prevent infection complications from the metal bits. You may be good as new and back on a bike before you know it!

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It seems to me that the timing of the lights coincides with the goal of moving car traffic Westward on Lee Highway. Therefore one may cross Lynne and then cross Ft. Myer drive (if moving quickly enough).

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