[SerialCarpins]

Ah, gotcha…yeah, that’s a tough call…I can’t imagine parking anywhere in DC minus a uLock…. good luck, and enjoy the trip to the Zoo….I’m due for a trip there, myself.

[SerialCarpins]

I got this from the Zoo’s website:

Biking

Capital Bikeshare has stations at the Connecticut Avenue pedestrian entrance (at 3000 Connecticut Avenue NW) and at the Harvard Street gate (Harvard Street and Adams Mill Road NW). Find out more about Capital Bikeshare.

Note: Biking is permitted only on public vehicle roads. Riding bikes, scooters, skateboards, and the like is prohibited on all pedestrian walkways. While in the Zoo, you must park or walk or carry your bike, scooter, skateboard, etc. There are bike racks near the Visitor Center and at Lion-Tiger Hill.

From my visits to the Zoo, I seem to recall them being the ribbon variety, but can’t remember exactly.

[SerialCarpins]

I’m not sure how these people do it….I always wear a helmet, and the rare occasion that I don’t (riding my bike to test out adjustments in my apartment’s garage, etc) I feel…just…off. Yesterday I went to get some passport pictures taken, in addition to some other errands, and used CaBi for the first time (enjoyable, easy to use, but MAN those bikes are tanks…) Since I was having passport pictures done, and though I am not vain, (these pics are for ten years!!) I did ride about 6 blocks with my helmet strapped to my bag, in an effort to not muss my beautiful mane of hair…granted, it was all back roads, but I really felt like an idiot…I was happy to be done with the pic, and strap the helmet on for the rest of my errands and CaBi hopping….I don’t know how people do it…especially with the helmet flopping around two feet behind you…

[SerialCarpins]

Thanks again for the replies, suggestions, and conversation…I decided to stick with OnGuard, though I went a bit heavy-duty…it also came with a cable that I can loop through the seat and other tire…I use this all in conjunction with another heavy-ish cable lock…I figure, a couple different designs couldn’t hurt to have. Thanks again, everyone!

[SerialCarpins]

Thanks for the replies….certainly is helpful to know that, like everything else, a few bad reviews don’t mean that a product is shot…

RCANNON-Yeah, I saw that video awhile back…luckily, I have never had any of those locks, so I was happy to not have to deal with that…and thanks for the recommendation…

ROOTCHOPPER-Yeah, I thought it might be the key, but like I said, I have always had problems with the key getting caught up and having to jiggle it to get it to work…I moved on from my original key to one of the spares, and have the same issues…It’s one of those things that I have been fine dealing with for years, but watching it degrade a lot recently has pushed me towards getting a new one…

DIRT, CHRIS, MARK, and VVILL-Thanks for your input…it helps to have some real world people weighing in…

And congrats on your recent 2000th post, Dirt.

[SerialCarpins]

Sorry to hear….I spent close to two months off the bike this past winter due to a wonky knee…Whenever the weather was nice, or I would see other people out and about biking, it would drive me nuts….I know your pain, and just wanted to chime in to wish you luck, and a speedy recovery.

[SerialCarpins]

I visited the site, and commented too….man, it’s always funny whenever something like this happens, there are some reasonable people, but more often than not there are people that stick to their guns and act like immature sad excuses for human beings…there is always the “My way is best….you are an idiot!” people that make up the majority of comments….I rarely read the comments sections for anything online anymore…often cyclists will hate on drivers, drivers will hate on cyclist, pedestrians will hate on both….it’s so extreme….no compromise, no give and take, no “I see your point…we’ll agree to disagree.” so many people think they are 100% right, and that it’s their way of the highway….frustrating. Condolences to the family…

[SerialCarpins]

Welcome to the forums! (And hopefully soon we can welcome you to the streets/trails in the area!)

I don’t know much in the way of buying a bike (I have a cheap Trek hybrid that I love) but I thought I could point you in the direction of some Pentagon Maze talk….This link below may not answer your question entirely, but it may nudge you towards people who do the trip (or one similar to how you’re trying to get into the city) and they could maybe help you out more.

http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?1903-Pentagon-maze&highlight=pentagon

Good luck!

[SerialCarpins]

Just a quick note to say “Welcome”. I commute in from Bethesda to the National Mall, and I couldn’t agree more about what a great route the CCT is…the grade isn’t all that bad, no cars, and year-round beautiful scenery….hope to see you out there!

[SerialCarpins]

Our apartment building’s racks are pretty full, but they require that everyone get a one time sticker registration that they have to display on the bike at all times…they then have contact info for all tenants in the building that have bikes and can match them up with their owners if need be. Periodically they removed bikes that are unregistered, and look abandoned (flat tires, etc)…then once a year they do a “spring cleaning”, and contact all people that have registered their bikes to make sure they are currently actively living in our building, or at least aware that they still have a bike there….they call and give a two week notice that they are cleaning out all bikes that they don’t hear from the owners of….not a bad system…we have about 40 or 50 bikes at any given time, and while it sometimes gets crowded, it never feels overwhelming or unreasonable…

[SerialCarpins]

@essigmw 14744 wrote:

Since it’s Valentines day I thought I would start the Cliche why we love bike commuting list.

Here goes
1) I love the parts of my commute that I don’t even know how to get to by car.

okay, now you go. . .

I feel the same way…I can’t tell you how many different ways I know how to get home, and how many new things I see/experience getting to not be in a car.

[SerialCarpins]

First off, I am loving this…nice collection… (I thought I was the only one who still enjoyed watching the sun come up over the Capitol after all these years)

I love getting to work faster than if I drove OR took Metro…

[SerialCarpins]

@WillStewart 14524 wrote:

btw, biking is snow is a beautiful experience, especially knowing that it was not going to stick during the commute and having a visor that kept snow out of my eyes (it normally keeps the sun out too).

I did this on a ride home last year when I was in no hurry to get home…biked in the snow (granted, it was just flurries, but still…) from down near the Capitol all the way home to Bethesda….the ride down PA Avenue was simply amazing….gorgeous.

[SerialCarpins]

Thank you very much for your input, everyone….one common suggestion seems to be a proper bike fitting, in addition to proper cleat set up, so I will definitely look into those…

Also-Dasgeh-The doc didn’t necessarily think I got the runner’s knee from cycling…cycling is really the only active thing I do outside of hiking, and so it was just kind of a natural assumption…also, I have always had problems with the left knee, and tend to injure it whenever something happens to me, so who knows what actually caused the damage…mayhaps it’s just the damage accumulated over time…. LOL

PotomacCyclist-Thanks for the detailed message…I think some of those exercises that you suggested are mentioned in the handout the doc gave me…it’s good to hear that the pain has subsided for you, and that there is hope for me.

I will definitely take everyone’s advice, especially for not rushing back into too much physical activity (Kind of hard when you have a 3 year old to chase around, but I’m doing my best ) and really appreciate all the input. This forum is great.

Also, a question in regards to bike fitting: What exactly does it entail? Are adjustments made to my current bike in some way in regards to the fitting? I have never had it done before outside of “You are this height…this bike seems like a good fit!”

[SerialCarpins]

Very cool video…thanks for posting. It was fun to watch, as I also commute from Bethesda to just off The National Mall, so a large chunk of this is the same as my route (I pick up the trail just behind my apartment on Montgomery, or downtown near the Barnes and Noble)….I have only done the trolley trail a couple times while going to Rockville for stuff, but that was pretty to watch as well. Kudos, and welcome to the commute…God, I love being able to avoid Metro…

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