[ronwalf]

@cyclingfool 66366 wrote:

Rainy ride in. My rain cape is draped over my bike downstairs drying after doing its job admirably this morning.

Which rain cape? I’ve looked at some online, but nothing’s caught my fancy.

[ronwalf]

@DismalScientist 66282 wrote:

I tie a second flashlight to my helmet with a piece of inner tube.

That’s what I do.

[ronwalf]

Great! I’m pretty sure I eat my entire gas savings, and my per-mile bike maintenance is similar to my car, but I’m savings oodles on depreciation and insurance of a second car (plus, it’s just plain fun).

[ronwalf]

Had to take an unexpected 3-mile detour to drop the kid off this morning. Usually Research Rd (in Greenbelt) is closed on federal holidays and weekends, but they leave the pedestrian gate open. Today it was padlocked shut.

[ronwalf]

@hozn 65405 wrote:

Freezing saddles should use Sept as the benchmark month this year.

Now we just have to figure out how to host it. We can’t use Strava (directly) this year.

[ronwalf]

@bobco85 64971 wrote:

…I have a camera, but it obviously does not work on distracted drivers. NOTHING works with them except full-on defensive measures.

You just need a bit of an upgrade to your camera.

[ronwalf]

@Justin Antos 64814 wrote:

Edit: and then I realize they are doing a slightly different kind of riding than me.

A peloton on gravel? The domestiques need to be passing out dust masks!

[ronwalf]

I was planning on taking Justin’s route, but since I was running late, I took MLK straight through:
http://www.strava.com/activities/83360366

Things I noticed:

• The street surfaces are just a mess. It’s just patch on top of patch on top of pothole.
• No one gave me fits about riding in the street, though I did have to share the road with teenagers on non-street legal dirt bikes
• I couldn’t go up a hill without someone cheering me on.
• 20 miles of riding is easy. 20 miles of city riding is not.

[ronwalf]

First time crossing the 11th st. bridge, so I had to take a self portrait:

[ronwalf]

@Kolohe 64432 wrote:

Alternatively if you’re going to NRL, I presume you can get on military bases?

Sadly, I am but a lowly grad student visiting a researcher. Thanks for all the suggestions – it should be fun tomorrow!

[ronwalf]

@Popsicleian 64410 wrote:

My Garmin strap had me at well over 200 BPM for a significant portion of my ride this morning (a leisurely commute).

Mine does that if it fails to get a good connection with skin. Technical clothing and cooler weather seem to exacerbate the problem. Running the HRM under the tap to wet it down fixes the problem for me. They also make HRM gel for the same purpose.

[ronwalf]

Nice. It looks like that route is a short hop from the Congress Heights metro, so that’s another option.

[ronwalf]

@ronwalf 63354 wrote:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3643[/ATTACH]
Turns out the tension bolt sheared off somewhere. Argh. That saddle took 500 miles to break in. I don’t want to start again!

Update: Velo-Orange shipped me a new bolt the next week (for free!).

[ronwalf]

First time hauling my kid with a trailer, and I started off a couple minutes late to boot!

I have to say, the trailer opens up some possibilities for my family, but I’m really glad I can still squeeze my eldest into the iBert front seat.

[ronwalf]

@consularrider 64256 wrote:

Isn’t that what a “to-go” cup is for?

Convenient. I’d certainly have “to-go” after the third.

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