[ronwalf]

More forum members among the winners – Steve Offutt (bike shorts – gold!) and Brandon Jones (PB bike lights – bronze). Three years, and nuttin’! Three years! Don’t they realize I only bike to work for the tantalizing chance at lip balm, bottle openers, and toilet paper?

[ronwalf]

Scenes from the long way home:

South Cap Bridge

Nationals Park

Purple reflecting pool

College Park Airport runway lights

[ronwalf]

@mstone 92735 wrote:

The trail info page says that bikes are only permitted on 2.7 miles of the trail. Are these pictures from that, or is the page out of date? (Last updated 2008.)

We stopped at the northern-most paved point. Disallowing bikes on the remaining part looked mostly superfluous, as the trail was full of mud, large rocks and standing water.

[ronwalf]

The Northwest Branch trail is quite stunning, although it doesn’t really connect to any major attractions. All these photos are from the portion of the trail north of University Blvd.

A tunnel:

Adelphi Mill playground (with covered wagon and water mill):

A ford!:

Another ford:

[ronwalf]

@mcfarton 92398 wrote:

My 14$ work stand

Where’d you get the clamp from?

[ronwalf]

@mcfarton 92341 wrote:

Is that West Old Baltimore?

[ronwalf]

Here, let me fix that for you:
@jrenaut 92265 wrote:

All this to say that you need a fleet of bikes and often to really do it right you have to switch bikes mid-ride.

[ronwalf]

I got sprinkled by a water devil while riding beside the Potomac. It was almost invisible – I only noticed it because of the thin line of ruffled water it left as it moved.

The cool mist felt nice, but given that I was downstream of DC, I’d have rather skipped it.

[ronwalf]

Starting out on the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail (East side, south of Benning):

Just over the railroad tracks:

USS Barry:

National’s Park:

I used Bladensburg Rd to connect the tributary trails to the riverwalk. The road was surprisingly fine for its width (30mph speed limit, no shoulders). I’m a little hesitant to use this route regularly given the reputation of Trinidad and Carver/Langston.

[ronwalf]

@cyclingfool 91744 wrote:

I personally am a big fan of bar end shifters and comfortably ride with them in traffic.

After some ten thousand miles on downtube shifter bikes, I just started riding one with bar ends (still getting it set up for commuting and kids). Now I keep reaching down to slap the bare tube.

I’ll probably get used to them, but I miss two things: With downtube shifters, I can shift both rings with one hand, and the kid in the handlebar seat can’t make his own gearing selection.

[ronwalf]

Evening commute (first commute since I started the job!) was pleasant for the first half, then my muscles wore out for the last half (total of 20 miles, 40 for the day). Post commute involved downing a smoothie, and promptly getting the shakes, diarrhea, and puking! Perhaps I shouldn’t double my weekly mileage in a single day.

[ronwalf]

@dasgeh 91492 wrote:

Just curious, does anyone else ride for transportation on the weekends?

Most of my recent rides are recreational outings with the family, including lunch, canoeing, and play ground trips.

[ronwalf]

@skins_brew 91487 wrote:

19-20 miles each way

Today was my first commute since I started my job back in March (21 miles in). We’ll see how the trip home goes, but that’ll double my weekly average. At one time, I worked myself up to about 100 miles a week (6 days, 20 a day), but I’ve been struggling just to get the weekend rides (10-25 miles).

[ronwalf]

@bikesnick 91254 wrote:

Mileage: 4530

Ugh, that’s less than I expect out of a tire!

@bikesnick 91254 wrote:

Should I purchase both rear and front?

In my not-a-professional opinion, only purchase the front if you have a burning desire to have a matching wheel set, or if you are starting to wear down the brake surface on the rim (unlikely at 4.5k). I’m glad you’re bumping the rear spoke count to 32 – hopefully it’ll last longer this time.

[ronwalf]

@bobco85 91136 wrote:

Looking at the chain, the master link is damaged. It seems like an easy fix (replace the master link), at least.

I just went ahead and replaced it. I abused this chain by letting it run low on lube and then leaving it in the shed for month. When I took it out, it was nearly frozen with rust. Before the link broke, it was mostly better, but I still had to keep it well oiled or the links would stiffen up again.

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