[Rod Smith]

To keep on topic, I haven’t recruited any riders that I know of. I like to imagine some of the motorists who see me might be inspired to give it a try. Many will comment on the trailer and ask where they can get one.

Limited success even with my own extended family. I don’t have children of my own but I taught one of my nephews and my niece to ride. The other nephew is in college and cannot ride a bicycle! The niece will ride with me in Middlesex Fells when I visit once a year but otherwise never rides, would rather walk to high school than ride a bike…

[Rod Smith]

@TrishN 43428 wrote:

The numbers are correct now. Whew! I hated looking like a big cheat!

I accidentally double posted most of my rides this week and I’m actually quite pleased with the resulting gap I’ve put on Chris Randall. I’ve corrected the error and sadly anticipating my advantage greatly diminished soon.

[Rod Smith]

@ShawnoftheDread 45096 wrote:

I’m closing in on 1500 miles for the year, mostly on my cheap hybrid. For what it’s worth.

@consularrider 45105 wrote:

My 2200 miles in 2013 are split about 50/50 between my two cheap hybrids and the road bike…

ELITE hybrid riders! I can’t say my work horse was cheap. I paid over $300 for it!

[Rod Smith]

@Arlingtonrider 44946 wrote:

Rod, You give me far too much credit in all respects, but thank you anyway. I can aspire to all that.

Oh no, you are all that and I expect much more.

[Rod Smith]

Nice to meet you! Looking very classy on the bikeshare bike in your business attire. No one would have guessed you were a hardcore biker skipping lunch for your BAFS team and the Strava February Fifteen challenge!

I should have snapped a picture but I get a little shy about sticking my camera in the face of someone I just met.

I was sighted by Greenbelt outbound on the MBT this evening as he blasted past me. He slowed down to say hi and was kind enough to offer me his draft, but I don’t think I can keep up with him even sucking wheel, so I let him go.

[Rod Smith]

@dcv 44481 wrote:

…I just realized I rush to get to something I really don’t enjoy…

Fun jobs don’t pay well. Hopefully you have a job that either pays well or at least some part of it you enjoy. …I suspect you were rushing for the joy of rushing and not because you were going to work…

[Rod Smith]

Nice to see you and thanks for shouting out to me! Despite my obvious lack of speed, I was in a hurry, so it’s just as well you did’t stop to chat. If you had stopped, I likely would not have noticed anyway. If you had stopped, turned around and given me a push up that hill, that would have been fun. Maybe next time?

[Rod Smith]

Greenbelt sighted on Penn. Ave.

[Rod Smith]

Can I come to your place of business every few months to pick up the discarded tubes?

[Rod Smith]

Yes you should have a pump and if you have only one, it should be portable, so you’ll have it when you need it. Something that has a hose, so you are pushing with as much of your weight as necessary against the ground, not a pump that requires you to push with arm strength while holding the other end with your other hand which is probably connected to your weaker arm. And it should have a gauge.

Just my opinion, many prefer a floor pump at home and CO2 on the road…

Everyone’s different, but snow bothers my eyes more than my face, so glasses, preferably clear lens, or goggles would be a priority over face mask for me, but if it’s really coming down, you need both. If it’s really coming down, I’m trying not to ride my bicycle. :p

[Rod Smith]

@fuzzy 44078 wrote:

The left fork definitely feels different & while on a test ride on the boardwalk at navy yard I rolled the front tire in the gap between the brick and sidewalk- learned its characteristics real quick.

Those gaps are nasty and they will negatively effect the handling of any bike if the front wheel rolls into one.

[Rod Smith]

Great pics.

@Dirt 44064 wrote:

I’m not elusive. I’m ubiquitous.

When were those photos taken? My week has been kind of weird and I have been traveling at different times and different places. My gess is that it isn’t me.

Maybe someone else wearing your kit?

[Rod Smith]

I sighted Kevin Ulrich and Justin Antos on the last leg of the century they rode today.

[Rod Smith]

A rim brake will eventually wear though a rim. Maintaining good brake pad alignment and keeping brake pad/rim clean will greatly increase the lifetime of a rim. Letting the pads wear until you hear metal on metal will greatly speed the rim’s demise. :p Some rims have wear indicators (a groove or mark in the rim that when worn off indicates time to replace).

Back on topic; I believe the three Park Tool pumps placed on sidewalks in the NoMa district are all broken/gone. It was a good idea. The one at North Cap and H might still be operational. I’ll try to remember to check on that.

[Rod Smith]

I sighted Laurie Lemieux on D Street NE this afternoon and not long afterwards, her and husband Jeff on Pennsylvania Avenue headed for Virginia.

[Author]

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