[SilverSpring]

Bike To Work Day looks like a bust
All that rain will make the Steel Steed rust
Still, I might try to power
Through each passing shower
For I’m made of muscle* not dust

*Don’t ask about my BMI and I won’t ask about yours

[SilverSpring]

@bluerider 81108 wrote:

On my new commute from Adams Morgan to Silver Spring, I see a lot of riders coming down Kansas and 3rd Street NW up into Takoma Park. Anyone ride that route?

What time in the morning? I try that route (3rd/Kansas/11th to downtown DC) a couple of times a week probably around 6:40am.

[SilverSpring]

@consularrider 78934 wrote:

Hope to see some of you there! Link

Done! Hurrah! And I’ll see you there (provided, of course, you ride really really lethargically to begin with and are further slowed by stopping at as many pit stops as you can at which you attempt to get an ungodly number of water bottles in the hopes that–this year, at least–your children won’t find them and mix up all of the caps or melt them in the dishwasher).

[SilverSpring]

This morning, though, wasn’t so nice
And I didn’t have to think twice
About skipping what I like
(Riding to work on my bike)
Oh well, perhaps Monday…d%mn ice*

*Forsooth, for shizzle, ’tis hard to rhyme with freezing drizzle

[SilverSpring]

The Cold made me feel like a sissy
Scared from my bike, I did throw a big hissy
But today wasn’t so bad
For I was warmfully clad
But still they’ll ask “He’s not hardy now, is he?”

[SilverSpring]

Okay, so this is me asking out of complete ignorance. I have a broken spoke on my (relatively new, probably less than 1.5K) rear wheel. I can’t fix it myself. I can’t get to the shop tonight, and my LBS isn’t open until 10am tomorrow. How far can I bike with the spoke as-is (perhaps a new word in German…brospoken?) before becoming a danger to myself or others?

[SilverSpring]

I’m Mike and I commute on a silver/grey Fuji hybrid that’s sturdy, slow, and reliable. I commute from Silver Spring/Takoma Park to Downtown DC on the MBT, 5th/6th, 14th, and (on nicer days) the GBT and CCT. Curiously, with none of these routes am I as swift as the bicycle messenger guy in “Premium Rush”…perhaps my tires are underinflated….

[SilverSpring]

Both Greenbelt’s and Liz’s paths are good suggestions. I have three routes that I alternate depending on the day: 1) a modified version of Liz’s, 2) taking Piney Branch to Blair to 5th and 6th downtown (through Howard’s campus and by the reservoir, cutting over past Chinatown), and 3) the MBT (which takes a couple of extra miles to get to and has a nasty hill, but also some nice straight lines…eventually). You might start with 5th/6th first just because it’s a touch calmer. 14th has lanes almost all the way, but there’s more than a little construction south of U street which impedes the lane and cars are fast fast fast.

[SilverSpring]

I’ve got one of those RoadID thin bands (although my daughter, bless her heart, promptly said “Dad, You’re not thin!”) and I’ve got it positioned with my bike bag that I always put it on before heading to and from work. So far, so good.

[SilverSpring]

@jrenaut 38443 wrote:

I can’t speak for biking in Anacostia, as I’ve never done it, but bear in mind that many people think nothing in Anacostia is safe, so take those warnings with a grain of salt.

Also, curious about what part of Michigan – my wife is from Kalamazoo, and I seem to meet a disproportionate number of people from Michigan.

JRenaut,

Of course your wife is from Kalamazoo…K’zoo is the center of the Universe–although my Bride, from New Jersey, disagrees…and finds it particularly annoying when I use my handy (ha!) right hand to show all of Michigan’s key sites (K’zoo, Kellogg Corporate Headquarters, Bell’s, State, etc.).

[SilverSpring]

@DismalScientist 33501 wrote:

Growing up in Wisconsin, it was red-winged blackbirds. I saw one take down a cyclist. He probably wasn’t wearing a helmet.:rolleyes:

Of COURSE the red-winged blackbird wasn’t wearing a helmet…don’t you know what that does for aerodynamics?

[SilverSpring]

@krazygl00 30634 wrote:

We had a HUGE pressure-cooker way back when I was a kid. The pressure gauge broke on it, and my mom opened it up and the damn thing pretty much exploded (she was OK). WORSTFEARSREALIZED!!!!!

Apparently, in my Mom’s early days of cooking, she miscalculated something essential on the pressure cooker and it exploded upwards (no one was hurt, thankfully) propelling a recently deceased lobster to the kitchen ceiling….

[SilverSpring]

Ronwalf and Dickie,

Thanks for the great suggestions. I’ll try them out and see what I find (or hear).

[SilverSpring]

I highly recommend David Lamb’s “Over the Hills: A Midlife Escape Across America by Bicycle.” He’s a really good journalist who took some time after writing a very vivid (if chilling) look at African crises (“The Africans”) to bike across the land. He has at least three themes going: the demise of small-town America, biking, and bikes as a tool for changing American culture with their advent. It’s an inspiring read with some practical hints (put your fifth of whiskey in the front pannier) and certainly worth the time.

[SilverSpring]

@Certifried 29706 wrote:

29AUG2012 004 by certifried, on Flickr

Aha! I know this one! The new salmon/other fish swimming on the bike lanes by the new skateboard park on the newly redone NW Branch Trail right by Route 1 (near Franklin’s, not that I have a drinking problem).

[Author]

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