[Riley Casey]

Typical VA centric view … :p

@vvill 84804 wrote:

My understanding is

Original FCC: Friday @Swing’s 7:30-9am near the White House. People come and go all the time although the numbers swell around 8:30-8:45am. If you arrive at 7:30am you might be the first one there. There is a traditional “rollout” ride at 9:05 or so past the White House.
FCCII: Friday @Java Shack (not sure of time, but I assume it’s around the same)
FCCIII: Friday @Green Lizard cycling, Herndon – usually < 5 people so check on the forum with those who attend (I've never been)
Thursday Coffee Club @ Caffe Amouri, Vienna. From about 7am. not sure how long people stay but I’m usually there only 30mins or so.
Hump Day Coffee Club: Wednesday at Best Buns Shirlington. Again, not sure of exact timing but I assume it’s around the same

Feel free to add / correct. I’ve only been to FCC II and HDCC once or twice. I think jopamora began a MD edition recently.

[Riley Casey]

My 15 year old Subaru Outback is in a similar way but I have resolved to see it thru til it stops working or earns antique tags – which ever comes first. :rolleyes: I do wish I could swap the locks and front seats between the driver and passenger sides.

@JimF22003 83911 wrote:

Mine is going pretty strong at 11 years. The locks are munged up so I can only enter the car on the passenger side. They want $450 to fix…

…

[Riley Casey]

Having enjoyed a trip to the hospital after interacting with a rail track embedded in cobblestones ( best of both worlds ) I’d suggest a small signage add after seeing Dirt’s most ambassador-ish post. Having biked around and along H St NE a number of times I’m still surprised learning of the contraflow lanes a block away. Appending a sign about those lanes to the caution signs might save some pain and suffering or at least some embarrassment going forward.

[Riley Casey]

A bike day ?

@KLizotte 82690 wrote:

Automated bike wash?! (oh pretty please!)

[Riley Casey]

Whoops, just saw the prior post

[Riley Casey]

I’m a loyal Zeds patron ( plus I don’t want to be anywhere at 7 am if I can avoid it) so see you on the 15th!

[Riley Casey]

Thanks for the insights hozn, especially since you’re the guy that got me in this fix loaning me that snazzy mtb of yours and getting me hooked on riding in ways that are only appropriate for a man half my age. :rolleyes: 😮

I’m digesting this good stuff and mulling over some options. I need to get the current set up working properly then move on to the next stage but going fixed on the front chainring is something that I hadn’t even considered and has some serious appeal. The commuting side is less of a concern as the beater bike need is mostly a very occasional bail out when I decide I can’t risk the Coda. I will probably ask some more questions before this is thru.

Wait, it’s never thru is it?

[Riley Casey]

Worse yet is having to drive to a destination you normally bike to and come to the nasty realization that ” oh crap, I can’t do that in a car”

@KelOnWheels 81189 wrote:

Cos I’m not exactly sure where I left my car last… I haven’t seen it for a couple of weeks.

[Riley Casey]

I don’t bike to work. Well I do, but thats only because I bike anywhere that I am not otherwise compelled to use a car, the fact that its to work is sort of incidental. Is the real question why do I bike rather than drive? I hate parking that much. Really, don’t laugh. I’m not fond of driving at all in an urban environment but parking on a downtown street or a big suburban mega mall lot is absolutely insufferable. A long walk to the door when bike parking is 30 ft, a long hunt for a parking space is measured in seconds. Owning a car is essential in what I do, I can’t get rid of it, can’t use ride share or Zipcar but thats the break glass in case of emergency option. For an urban dweller whose kids are grown with a type A personality and patience measured in microns biking is simply more sensible.

It helps with the patience deficit too. 😮

[Riley Casey]

So the casual observer may well ask ” What exactly is the upside of riding to work when it’s 19F outside?” and of course there is perfectly obvious and cogent answer to such a question. There is never a concern that there won’t be room at the bike staples in front of Whole Foods in silver spring.

[Riley Casey]

Rant post – no useful suggestions on brands & models.

In a fairly dense urban area like DC metro it’s not enough to have powerful or even entertaining point source lights of any sort. After 14 years of bike commuting I’m convinced that no bike light is suitable competition for a busy downtown intersection of 30-40 cars and trucks, traffic lights and assorted store windows. There are two completely different needs to be met in looking for bike lights. One is a light that allows you to see the road ( or lack thereof, gotta love pothole season) where you are looking ( as opposed to where the bike is pointed ) and the other is lighting that allow drivers to see you.

I ride with a strobe front light on my handle bar, a fixed light on my helmet, a dual row red rear light with different flash rates on the two rows plus a cheap Chinese strobe flashlight pointing down at my legs and bike frame to illuminate the frame and my moving legs. These plus the reflective sidewalls of my tires and my reflective yellow road worker vest are barely enough to make me visible to the alert drivers. Not nearly enough of course for the cell phone distracted drivers – entirely useless for the drunk drivers. I don’t think any one light on my bike cost more than $40 and given some of the places I lock up thats a good thing but it’s the ensemble that makes for a safe ride in the dark.

[Riley Casey]

Life time supply of exotic super lubes in tiny bottle measured in milliliters VS a gallon jug of the serious stuff. http://www.stihlusa.com/products/oils-lubricants-and-fuels/oils-and-lubricants/chainoil/

[Riley Casey]

It’s a very special thing to ride when it’s 19F, just not as special as when it’s 70F. :rolleyes:

[Riley Casey]

http://flourish.org/upsidedownmap/

@dkel 76551 wrote:

You’d start by holding the map the other way up. :rolleyes:

[Riley Casey]

@ Greenbelt
Wait, what ?!?!? You have an entire building full of bikes and yet they are piled up in the living room? 😮 Now I don’t feel so bad about the piles of stuff in my house.

[Author]

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