[PotomacCyclist]

On a different note, it’s similar to the name Mount Midoriyama used on NBC’s American Ninja Warrior program. “Yama” apparently means “mountain” in Japanese so it’s silly for them to say Mount Midoriyama. That means Mount Midori Mountain.

[PotomacCyclist]

@cvcalhoun 130650 wrote:

Hmm, if they don’t allow autos, can it still be an autobahn?

I thought about that myself. But I had similar thoughts as ursus, that another German word wouldn’t make any sense to most Americans (me included).

We have our own mislabeling in transportation too. A big one is the Highway Trust Fund. While that may be the official name of the umbrella structure, it doesn’t accurately account for what actually happens with that fund. (Transit spending makes up a significant amount of annual expenditures but the name doesn’t reflect it, except for a sub-organization name.)

[PotomacCyclist]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10302[/ATTACH]
(Posted on the CaBi Facebook page)

Well, maybe not for me personally. These are the new bike station sections in the CaBi warehouse, ready for deployment. Soon, I hope.

[PotomacCyclist]

Posted on the Capital Bikeshare Facebook page

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1126506007382719&substory_index=0&id=134700293229967

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10299[/ATTACH]

[PotomacCyclist]

I think the suggestion to remove them if the bike will be parked for long periods is sensible. Likewise, for brief stops at a store, it might not be worth the bother.

Maybe some other people are more adept at installing/removing them, because I’ve found it somewhat difficult to put them on my mountain bike (flat bar). It’s hard to get the inner velcro straps lined up properly.

The zip tie idea might work too. I don’t have my Bar Mitts installed yet this “winter” so I don’t remember how that would work. If it’s possible to use zip ties, then that would deter casual thieves. (Professional thieves will likely be able to cut the zip ties. But as someone mentioned, if a pro thief is targeting something, it’s going to be the entire bike, not just the Bar Mitts.)

In any case, I doubt you’ll need the Bar Mitts this week. 75F on Christmas Eve? What? You’re going to have to break out the cooling gear if you ride around that day.

Temperatures are expected to remain above 50F even at night until maybe the morning of Dec. 30 (48F or so).

[PotomacCyclist]

So Amtrak miles don’t count? I’m crushed.

(Actually, I haven’t even signed up, so disregard my posts. But I may be an occasional spectator and look at the leaderboard occasionally. That will be the extent of my participation. I’m just not a cold-weather person. Or a Strava person. Maybe someday before I retire.)

[PotomacCyclist]

@sjclaeys 130000 wrote:

Thought that you were making a clever reference to this:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10266[/ATTACH]

He was referring to the techie Android-iPhone website cyber spats where fans of each system insult the other group. Sometimes Android users refer to iSheep or they call all iPhone users sheep.

http://gizmodo.com/5951243/the-apple-vs-android-fanboy-wars-in-one-gif

But I got the later “Blade Runner,” er, Philip K. Dick reference.

[PotomacCyclist]

2012 Anacostia Tributary Trail System map:

http://www.pgparks.com/Assets/Parks+$!26+Recreation/PDF/Maps/Anacostia+Trail+Map+2012.pdf

and other maps for individual trails, from the menu on the left of this page:

http://www.pgparks.com/Your_Parks/Trails.htm

Some older maps linked on this page: https://www.bikemaryland.org/resources/riding/maps/

TrailLink maps in online format, not PDF (free registration required): http://www.traillink.com/stateactivity/md-bike-trails.aspx

[PotomacCyclist]

I don’t know if I would use the Fairfax map that much, but others would. If Fairfax is still using that cumbersome map from a couple years ago, yes, that can definitely be improved upon. I took a look at the Fairfax map a few times and found it barely usable. I vaguely remember having similar difficulties with the Montgomery County map.

Prince George’s only has older planning maps and single-trail maps.

http://www.pgplanning.org/About-Planning/Our_Divisions/Countywide_Planning/Transportation_Planning/Trail_Planning.htm

This is the only bike map I found on the PGC site. The 2009 planning document includes bike routes (trails, lanes, etc.) in existence at that time, plus planned bike routes. I don’t think this map will be that helpful because it’s so old. But it’s a start.

http://www.pgplanning.org/Assets/Planning/Programs+and+Projects/Transportation+Plans/Bike+Planning/Bikeways+Trails+Map.pdf

Note that they misspelled Amtrak as /Amtrack/. (The WWW existed back then. It would have taken someone a couple seconds to look that up.)

—-

WABA has a link to a MDOT-produced bike map for PGC but the link is dead: http://www.waba.org/resources/maps-and-documents/

[PotomacCyclist]

@jabberwocky 129984 wrote:

How so? His previous videos have been chock full of dangerous stuff. This one has more exposure maybe (riding stuff high in the air), but in terms of “likely to cripple or injure him”, its not the high stuff thats the issue. Its the flips and tricks, because those are where he’s likely to land on his head if he screws up (and for the most part, its the head or neck injuries that kill and cripple people).

I don’t really get the focus on him and comparisons to commuting and such. Yeah, for normal people, the kind of stuff Danny MacAskill gets up to is ridiculously dangerous. Hes freakishly talented and obviously into pushing the limits in dramatic ways. He may pay a high price (ala Martyn Ashton), but its worth noting that most trials riders seem to have long careers, and we have plenty of data in the realm of skateboarding/rollerblading/bmxing that says the vast majority of these guys don’t end up dead or in a wheelchair (and trust me, some of the shit bmxers and skateboarders get up to would probably give Danny pause).

Some of this discussion is like someone watching evel knievel jumping schoolbusses and then start droning on about motorcycle safety. You are missing the point. :p

I didn’t bring up the comparison to commuting. Other people did, while saying that they were tired of complaints about the dangers of commuting. I merely pointed out, in response to those complaints, that the risk level between the bike stunt videos and bike commuting is not even in the same league. Personally, most of my riding the past two years has been on CaBi/bikeshare, where the nationwide risk of death has proven to be zero (over a total number of 25 million trips or more, at this point). Non-cyclists could warn about the supposed dangers of riding bikeshare, but I can readily point out that a car driver is actually far more likely to die on the roads than someone on bikeshare.

I should also clarify that the reason I am commenting about this particular video is precisely because I have followed his other videos. I just think there was more to him than just Russian roulette on a bike. That’s why I don’t really comment on the cliff-riding videos or downhill racers that much, because that’s basically all it is — bike Russian roulette. I’m commenting on this video because I am/was a fan of MacAskill. The other dangerous videos and stunts, I don’t really pay much attention to, other than an occasional glance and I don’t think about it that much. I know all of that is dangerous but I don’t focus on that because that’s all it is. They can do what they want (except for those street racers who speed through crowded public alleys and roads, and endanger pedestrians and other cyclists). So can Danny but I take more of an interest in him because of his previous videos and because he has done much more than just play Russian roulette on a bike. I think it would be a creative loss if MacAskill took himself out of action permanently. To tell you the truth, I really wouldn’t notice if and when the cliff-riding people or the downhill racers crash. I figure it’s inevitable, they know what they are doing, they are adults and they are doing it voluntarily. (If those people are breaking any local laws, well, that’s a matter for local authorities. They can handle it. I don’t spend much time fretting about that side of things either.)

I also compare him to Ashton because Ashton didn’t get injured while making one of his videos. He got injured doing a stunt high in the air for some live event. If he had done the skillful tricks that he did in his videos, he probably wouldn’t have been paralyzed and he could continue to make videos and ride his bike (not counting the more recent video of him placed on a bike by his friends). Likewise, MacAskill will get injured doing his other stunts (and maybe that will catch up to him soon anyway) but he is far less likely to die from those stunts than from falling off a rooftop. As I pointed out already, yes, he is skilled but these guys do fall frequently. We know this from the behind-the-scenes videos. This isn’t just me speculating. He and Red Bull have posted several of these outtakes. It doesn’t matter that he is skilled. He falls, a lot. In the other stunts, he gets injured if he falls. In the rooftop rides, if he falls, he dies. That’s the difference. And from this fan’s perspective, I don’t see much that is impressive skill-wise in that rooftop riding, especially compared to his other rides and stunts.

[PotomacCyclist]

Vornado is no longer planning to build the new 1900 Crystal Drive in place of the existing building. It’s possible that Vornado may have other plans for the empty office building. Perhaps a less-costly renovation, similar to that being planned for the building across the street (1750 Crystal Drive, which will be renamed 1770 Crystal Drive after the renovation).

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/breaking_ground/2015/12/vornado-shelves-what-was-to-be-crystal-citys.html

[PotomacCyclist]

@dkel 129948 wrote:

These arguments against stunt riding remind me a great deal of comments I get at work about bike commuting in general: “it’s too dangerous to ride in the street,” or “it’s too dangerous to ride in the dark,” or “it’s crazy to ride when it’s below freezing.” At some point, I tend to lose patience with these comments, and have to say to the people making them that they don’t have any experience to draw on when coming to these conclusions, and that’s the reason it seems so dangerous to them. The professionals who make extreme videos have talent and experience beyond what any one of us on this forum has; passing judgment on the way they go about assessing risk in their profession seems naive and unfounded. Accidents do happen—to everyone—and it can be tragic when that happens, but risk is these peoples’ stock-in-trade, and they are better equipped to overcome their risk than any of us can understand.

As I pointed out, those are completely different situations. Also, different situations between his earlier videos and the current one.

[PotomacCyclist]

@GovernorSilver 129940 wrote:

By choosing to not compete in downhill bike racing you think you are living a safer lifestyle.

On the other hand, the racers are presumably grown men and women who know what to expect, have already studied the course, they’ve trained, etc.

Whereas as a bike commuter you put a lot of faith in motorists obeying the traffic laws – that they will actually stop at red lights when they are supposed to, not hit you while turning in intersections, etc. You have no control over their behavior.

The other irony I observed just now is that you feel like you should be the “alternative voice” against the “glorification” of trials riding and similar stunts, yet you just admitted it was you who posted those videos to start the other thread a while back. I had nothing to say there because it was a “see what happens when you do bad things boys and girls” kind of a vibe – like you’re lecturing a classroom of children instead adults.

At any rate, now I that I know what kind of reception these videos will get here, from what appears to be a vocal minority of the forum, I will refrain from further sha Iring of such here. No skin off my back, really, but I don’t want to start more back and forth and lecturing and that sort of thing.

I don’t feel like I need to be the “alternative voice.” I’m just posting what I think about this particular video, and how I think it’s much different from his previous videos. And why would you alter your behavior because of what I posted? I haven’t insulted you or threatened you in any way. Plus I have zero control over what people post on this forum. (I do report the smartphone ads from overseas persons as spam. But nothing else.) I’m posting my opinions. Most people here obviously don’t agree with me here and that’s fine. Why would my posts force you to change your behavior? They shouldn’t, especially if you are in the majority here, which you seem to be. (In the old days, my posts on ARLnow and WTOP were in the minority, when most people seemed to feel OK with posting hate messages calling for death to cyclists and pedestrians and telling them to “pay for the roads if they want to share them” and similar nonsense. While there are still a lot of those posts there, there are also more posts about road safety and multimodal transportation. You wouldn’t think that road safety would be so controversial. It still is, but at least there’s more of a balance in those comment sections now. Just explaining this to show that minority/majority status shouldn’t change whether or not you post. However, on some of the ideological websites, there is just too much anger, much of it racially-based, that I don’t bother with those sites most of the time.)

I don’t have much faith at all in motorists obeying the traffic laws, because I see them breaking them every day. I change my behavior as a result. Part of that is avoiding certain hot spots, such as the trail crossings near Memorial Bridge, which I rarely take these days. I also expect every single driver to run a red light or make an aggressive left/right turn without looking for pedestrians or cyclists in other lanes. I expect drivers to pull out of driveways without looking (because I’ve seen this happen dozens of times). That’s why I slow down before those driveways and other appropriate places. Because I don’t trust the drivers. I’ve ridden around for seven years without once getting hit by a car. While there’s always a risk, there is risk in just living. (I also face more close calls while walking around DC and Arlington. Maryland as well.) But you are honestly saying bike commuting is just as dangerous as downhill racing or riding around on rooftops? No. The risk of death is relatively low while bike commuting. For bike commuting on CaBi or bikeshare, that risk has turned out to be zero, nationwide. After 20 million or more total trips, there’s enough data to show that bikeshare riding is a very safe activity. Far safe than driving (and actually safer than riding on faster bikes).

There’s a broad spectrum of risk for any activity. For bikeshare, that risk has turned out to be zero. Even if there is a death in the future, the total risk will still be exceeding small. Bike commuting on a faster bike has a slightly higher risk, but still relatively low. MacAskill’s earlier videos were risky but still presented only a low risk of death. They had much more to do with showcasing his skill and creating an artistic video. But the newest video is much different. Instead of riding on a rail like he did in the railroad station video, he’s now riding high above the streets on the rooftops. There’s a difference. That’s what I’m trying to point out, that he has changed his routine significantly from his earlier videos. That’s why I posted the earlier videos but I’m not a fan of the current one. There’s no irony in that. I am not trying to hide that fact either, since I mentioned this myself. He is doing something significantly different now.

Maybe I’m stuck on this topic because I do think in terms of safety a lot, mostly regarding cars and traffic. (Nowadays, I also use these arguments to point out the hypocrisy of all the people calling on extreme unconstitutional measures to fight terrorism even though car drivers kill hundreds of times more Americans every year than foreign terrorists do. People demand zero tolerance for terrorism deaths but they are perfectly fine engaging in risky traffic behaviors that lead to the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans every year. I’m not connecting this to the bike video, by the way. I’m just explaining why overall safety and any sort of bike-related safety is at the front of my mind a lot.)

[PotomacCyclist]

@scoot 129950 wrote:

Here’s an alternate thought: how about completely prohibiting right turns from this off-ramp? Cars exiting the freeway would be required to go straight up Lee Hwy.

It always surprises me that so many people come off I-66 westbound to make this right turn. There are only two possible places these drivers can be coming from: either 110 northbound or the TR Bridge. And there are only two places they could be headed to: the GW Parkway northbound or the Key Bridge. Examining each combination:

A) 110 northbound to GW Parkway: You can simply get on GW Parkway earlier and avoid Rosslyn altogether. Exit at Arlington Cemetery and go around the inside portion of Memorial Circle.

110 northbound to Key Bridge: The obvious alternative is Wilson Blvd to Lynn Street. This could put a few more vehicles in the urban part of Rosslyn. Not likely to increase overall congestion though, since the Key Bridge itself and the light at M Street are often the real holdup.

C) TR Bridge to GW Parkway: Anyone doing this could just take the exit directly off the bridge to the parkway.

D) TR Bridge to Key Bridge: I wonder what fraction of these drivers fall into this group. This might be the quickest way from Constitution Ave to Georgetown, for instance. But VDOT and Arlington shouldn’t be enticing these drivers to cut across two bridges. This traffic would stay in DC if the IoD right turn were prohibited.

Instead of just prohibiting right turns off that ramp, VDOT could remove that ramp altogether. Many drivers would likely ignore such a right-turn ban unless police were there almost non-stop. It’s better to rely on infrastructure design than ongoing enforcement. So remove that ramp and right turns would be impossible.

As you mentioned, there are already alternatives for drivers who currently make that right turn.

One issue would be for drivers who are crossing TR Bridge to get onto Lee Hwy. These drivers are traveling from Foggy Bottom to Rosslyn. They can simply travel on I-66 North (in DC)/E St NW to the Whitehurst Freeway. They would have to turn onto M St in Georgetown for one block before turning onto Key Bridge. Once they cross Key Bridge, they can take Ft Myer Dr south and turn right onto Lee Hwy. The trip from Foggy Bottom to Lee Hwy would be slightly longer, but not to an extreme extent. Perhaps the length of Key Bridge. Drivers who are heading from Foggy Bottom to I-66 west would continue to have the same access as today. The only lanes that would be removed under this idea would be those that branch off from I-66 to Lee Hwy. It’s not a super-long stretch of road.

Although this idea is unlikely to happen, if it were approved, VDOT could simply place concrete barriers at both ends. Some might complain that it would be an eyesore, but is that ramp not an eyesore today? It would look exactly the same except for the addition of some barriers. Then if Virginia ever sells development rights to the airspace over I-66 in Rosslyn, the developer could remove that stretch of the road. Or they could take advantage of the closed road to build directly on that stretch of land. This would provide more square footage for such a development and greatly decrease construction costs (because they wouldn’t have to work around a functioning road on that part of the area). The added footage and lower costs could make the area much more appealing to developers.

In the long-term future, funds from selling redevelopment rights could help pay for a second Metro tunnel through Rosslyn. This will make the Blue Line more functional than it is today. (After the Rush Plus plans and the opening of the Silver Line, Blue Line trains do not run as frequently through Rosslyn in peak hours.) A more effective Blue Line could encourage more people from Pentagon City, Crystal City, Potomac Yard and points south to take the Blue Line through Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom instead of driving. The Potomac Yard Metro station could be available by 2020 (although plans could easily change). Any changes to Rosslyn traffic patterns can and should be coordinated with Metro plans and the I-66 airspace redevelopment.

There would be some resistance from some quarters. But there are alternatives available for each trip. The closure would not be too expensive to implement. VDOT would only have to move a few concrete barriers into place. Plus they would need to study traffic patterns, survey drivers and then add signs on the roads leading into Rosslyn, along with media announcements about new traffic patterns. If the ramp closure helps to spur along the I-66 redevelopment plans, then the state could actually make a significant amount of money by closing that road. (Even if that money would have come anyway, the road closure could help move the redevelopment closer in time by a few years or more. Getting that money years earlier is a very real and very significant financial benefit to the state. Then that money can be spent on further improving transportation through Rosslyn.)

[PotomacCyclist]

@jabberwocky 129918 wrote:

A lot of old skate videos had slam sections, which was usually several minutes of the riders falls. Many were very nasty. I harbor no illusion that these guys are doing it injury free. I can remember watching a friend (who had a cast on after snapping both bones in his forearm and needing surgery/metal plates to put it back together) slamming over and over trying a huge set of stairs. He was in pain, but he kept going back to try again until he got it.

I don’t think you quite get the mentality of these sorts of riders. They aren’t doing a risk/reward analysis. They are looking at a line and thinking “it would be awesome if I could ride that”. The injury list is almost badge of honor. You just don’t ride at that level unless you really want to (and are frankly a bit insane). Just from knowing some people with that mentality, I’m firmly convinced that the camera is incidental. They would be doing crazy shit regardless, because they are driven to constantly one up themselves, find that next even more awesome line to try, hit that trick down ever bigger gaps, do ever bigger drops.

We can tut-tut and say he’s gonna hurt himself, but the reality is that he already knows that and does it anyway.

One difference with the MacAskill videos is that they have had a wider audience than just the daredevil crowd. At least that was my impression. I’ve seen a fair amount of positive comments about the previous videos from people who I don’t think are skateboarding, downhill bike racing or tightrope walking fans. His earlier videos were more of a combination of skill and art. Perhaps he has always had a mentality that wasn’t fully displayed in those videos and he will start to move in that direction. He’s already lost me. Not that it matters to him, which is fine.

I know he won’t read my comments. My comments here and elsewhere are more for general consumption. I don’t think every viewer thinks about the total process, especially when the earlier videos were more artistically focused. I certainly didn’t think of that side of it fully. There’s also a difference between those videos and the new one. I don’t want to get too repetitive here and I can’t think of much new to say on the topic. But when other videos are released, I’ll probably post similar comments. Not to troll but to continue the conversation with people who may not be familiar with the other videos, this and other threads, and behind-the-scenes facts about the activity and the filming process. I probably wouldn’t post these types of comments on a forum that was focused on daredevil stunts or extreme sports. But since this forum has a much broader focus and includes many people who are casual cyclists and occasional bike commuters, I think it makes more sense to post this here. I just that on a general forum, if these activities are going to be glorified, a different perspective is also necessary.

(I realize that I’ve posted some of his videos on the forum before. I don’t think his earlier ones were nearly as extreme, and my thoughts about him and others like Martyn Ashton have changed, precisely because of Ashton’s injury and MacAskill’s interviews.)

[Author]

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