[Riley Casey]

I bought my shopping pannier with a 24 pack of Negra Modelo in mind. Of course it means filling the other pannier pretty full for balance but hey balance is what it’s all about, right?:cool:

@acc 31930 wrote:

I lack the skill and balancing ability to carry two six-packs home on a bike. So I will keep my car for now. :p

[Riley Casey]

Any suggestions for a route from Takoma Park to Proteus?

[Riley Casey]

Hmmm I was actually thinking of going back to long hair again this winter. Perhaps not.:o

[Riley Casey]

Dang, that would have turned a lazy day into something fun. I need to pay more attention to the Proteus site.

[Riley Casey]

The weekend try-out ride is absolutely essential of course but it misses that one bit of positive feedback that every bike commute needs – riding past a block or three of gridlocked rush hour traffic. Just the sort of thing that can warm the heart on a cold winter morning. :p

[Riley Casey]

I went to see Premium Rush over the weekend. Predictable, maudlin, formulaic and thoroughly enjoyable. All except the bike race through Central Park. Fixie versus carbon fiber road bike. Say a mile and a half plus a few blocks in the city traffic at start and finish. Result – fixie wins by ten yards. Only in the movies. :rolleyes:
Sheesh!

[Riley Casey]

Gee, a doctor who doesn’t dismiss the idea that changes in a patients’ diet and exercise might have a beneficial effect? That would be a plus in itself. :rolleyes:

[Riley Casey]

Nitpick warning –

Not to find so marvelous a bit of bike infrastructure wanting but…aren’t green painted bike lanes specifically intended for use in protected bike tracks? The photos I’ve seen of this new addition in VA are paint on the open roadways. What am I missing here? I don’t dispute the cool factor but to copy and paste a bit from the Greenlaneproject.org site

“Green lanes are next-generation bikeways being built on streets across the country, from San Francisco to New York City, from Minneapolis to Miami and from Long Beach to Pittsburgh. Green lanes are dedicated, inviting spaces for people on bikes in the roadway. They are protected from motor vehicles by curbs, planters, posts, or parked cars. They are separated from sidewalks. Some are painted green. The lanes are carefully engineered with rigorous attention to safety, efficiency, and ease of travel for all street users.”

Much as I like the idea of green lanes ( as long as they aren’t slippery when wet ) would it be worth reserving the color for the real deal, that gold standard of urban cycling infrastructure the bike track?

[Riley Casey]

Something about your post has me thinking that this may be your first season of commuting in the dark winter hours. Disregard the following if thats untrue. If true then please adjust your goals from ‘minimum required’ to absolutely essential and worth the big money even more than having a helmet. If you are invisible on the road you stand a much better chance of being dead. If you can’t see where your going on a suburban side street or trail your either walking or finding the potholes needlessly. A really good head light plus tail light combo along the lines of those already suggested in the thread are really, really important for night riding. Also important, and one of those things that doesn’t get put on the list until it bites you in the nose is a spare light. If you are commuting and have no other options for getting home at 6 pm in January you’re pretty much stuck if your primary front light fails to come on one night. A spare such as a helmet light or even a $10 LED hardware store flashlight is a real life saver.

@Jason B 29592 wrote:

As the days grow shorter, I am looking for a decent small light that can easily interchanged to different bikes. I need front and back. Any suggestions??
Thanks

[Riley Casey]

Oh, I forgot to mention that I’m 6’3 and that it seems that most bikes are built for the vertically challenged.:rolleyes:

[Riley Casey]

The sheer awesomeness of this concept has me wanting to open one in DC. Despite the fact that my cooking skills are such that I can burn the water.

[Riley Casey]

Having seen Ann’s ” how to ride a bike in heels ” pic I’d have to agree.

@Certifried 28756 wrote:

I can honestly say I’d find you wrenching on a bike more attractive than the poseur in the picture. There’s too much fake in it.

[Riley Casey]

How much time do you have thus far in trailer practice? I have never used one myself but I have conceptual misgivings about going down any of the major hills that are 16th thru 13th Sts with that kind of ultra valuable weight behind me. Probably just wimpiness on my part. I like the concept of staying off commuter routes entirely though. Might it be worth zig zagging your way west on Park over to Mt Pleasent then to Ontario Rd and then to 17th and down to U St and finally left to the cycletrack. Certainly sounds like a good week end project to bike a few alternatives with an empty trailer before trying it with the kids in tow.

It really warms my heart to see your post. This sort of thing is cycling in a way that weekend road racing in spandex on carbon fiber will never be.

[Riley Casey]

Yikes, I’m supposed to get new gloves when I get blood stains on them? Who knew? I’d better hustle down to my LBS ( hi Jenn ) :p

@ronwalf 28772 wrote:

On the bright side, I get new gloves!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]1563[/ATTACH]

[Riley Casey]

Yea, I wouldn’t have caught either if someone hadn’t mentioned shoes. 😮 😎

@Certifried 28582 wrote:

oh, that was Specialized? had to look again, I see you’re right

[Author]

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