[ShawnoftheDread]

@Dirt 23450 wrote:

All you need is a lot of momentum to make it up and down that staircase.

There are about 20 steps that need to be traversed. They’re not bad though. I walk up and down them 4 or 5 times per week as I cruise around.

I liked encountering the staircase –15 seconds of pretending I was in a cyclocross.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@Terpfan 23435 wrote:

Perfect morning if you were heading south/east on MVT. Imperfect if you were heading north/west, particularly with a bag. The temp was great, but the wind was killer. Plus only 2 called passes of 7 today.

Yes, I was five minutes slower today with the headwind. And 0 of 7 roadies passing me called it. But it was still 100x better than the drive portion of my commute, which was hideous.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@Dirt 23396 wrote:

This is the route: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1303020. It is about 12 miles each way. It does use some of Old Lee Highway which has a fair amount of traffic on it. The shoulders are pretty good. There’s a short section of gravel trail to get to the CCT. I ride it regularly on my road bike and have never had a problem.

Dirt!

Isn’t there also a staircase to get from that short stretch of trail to Holly Berry Dr?

[ShawnoftheDread]

@Cangrande 23232 wrote:

Here’s another option, which you may have considered, but which will become much easier later this Summer —

Starting from where you come out of the Holmes Run Valley Park onto Sleepy Hollow, cross Sleepy Hollow to Dearborn, proceed .4 mile to the Lakeview Causeway, and take the causeway (walking across the wood section) across the end of Lake Barcroft. From there, Lakeview Drive is not a bad ride to Columbia Pike. Cross the Pike at the light and proceed east down the service road and trail to the left side of Holmes Run, where you join the trail. With a mountain bike, the 5 fair weather crossings won’t be difficult (assuming that it hasn’t rained heavily). This will take you to the Chambliss bridge, which doesn’t exist yet but is scheduled, according to the Alexandria Transportation Planning division, to be built this summer. The route up N. Chambliss and the bike trail through the park is pleasant and the best-graded route up to Seminary. From Seminary, go through NOVA on Dawes and Campus Lane to Beauregard, then along Beuregard and S. Walter Reed (or the adjacent path) down to 4MR.

Currently, this route isn’t fun, in light of the unpleasant and hilly detour at Chambliss (see the Alexandria bike map). When the bridge is finished, however, I expect to incorporate Holmes Run in my loop rides much more often.

This looks good, provided you want to head north leaving LRT/Hummer area before going east. Also, I think the Lakeview Causeway is where Dirt recently indicated local residents tried to persuade him he couldn’t ride (though they were wrong on this). Looks like a nice ride, though.

[ShawnoftheDread]

Speaking of Phoenix, they had a great booth at TdF where kids could draw pics of bikes that would then be posted online. Any idea if they’ve been posted or will be? I have a six year old pestering me to see her and her friend’s drawings, but I haven’t been able to find them.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@KelOnWheels 23187 wrote:

Ask and you shall receive! Splam!

I had a sparkly red motorcycle helmet when I was 5. My parents would let me ride on the back of their awesome 70’s Kawasakis up to the neighborhood ice cream store. Evel Knievel was my hero, probably because he had a cool jumpsuit.

What were we talking about? Oh, thunderstorms! Right.

Our sparkly red and sparkly gold helmets didn’t fit me, so I got to ride on the back of the Kawasaki and the Harley chopper sans helmet. Ah, the ’70s…

[ShawnoftheDread]

I think if you cross LRT at Evergreen/Hillbrook, there’s either a sidewalk or a service road on the westbound side of LRT until Columbia Rd/Old Columbia Pike. There’s also a wide shoulder on that stretch on the eastbound side of LRT. None of it’s ideal, but it seems ridable.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@KelOnWheels 23171 wrote:

I think that was me on the way to work this morning. :p

Do you wear a purple helmet and ride a silver MTB?

[ShawnoftheDread]

@DaveK 23167 wrote:

They are also wrong. The grant they cite specifically used to help underserved markets hasn’t even been issued yet. There is an equity issue there, but they don’t help their case.

Which is a legit argument to make against the video. But “SOCIALISM” and “libertarians are insane” are less-than-legit arguments.

[ShawnoftheDread]

I live out that way too, but on the other side of the Beltway. I would just ride the service roads on LRT to Lincolnia, then over to Beauregard. You can then pick up the Holmes Run trail and take that to either Taney Ave or all the way down to Eisenhower.

[ShawnoftheDread]

They never call it socialism. They say it’s a waste of taxpayer money to help a demographic that doesn’t need it, and that it isn’t used by a demographic that was specifically cited as beneficiaries.

[ShawnoftheDread]

“Sad that people litter so much, but bikes? Why would you just toss a bike into the water? At the very least, sell it or donate it.
Last edited by PotomacCyclist; Today at 06:03 PM.”

Because when you steal something it’s fun to make it go splash or crash when you’re done with it, especially if you can’t or don’t care to get money for it.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@DSalovesh 22892 wrote:

A discount but still nice option that I like is the Pearl Izumi liner shorts. They sell them to go with all their baggy MTB over-shorts but they work fine without as well. They’re not especially good as your ONLY shorts tho – too meshy except when you’re around a lot of bikers that don’t care – so I wear “normal” shorts over them most of the time.

List price is just $30, often on sale for closer to $20 – the pad design is among the best, IMHO.

Thanks for the tip. I’m on the cusp between med and large for those – do you know if they run small or large?

[ShawnoftheDread]

Oh, and chain tool and quick link too.

[ShawnoftheDread]

Extra tube, patch kit, multi-tool with tire lever, and lube. Pump goes in my regular bag. I haven’t needed them for myself since I’ve started carrying them, but used them trying to rescue a folding bike during Tour de Fat. Small sunscreen sounds like a good idea, though.

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