[slowtriguy]

@TwoWheelsDC 81221 wrote:

I skipped my usual W&OD exit point with the intention of doing an Arlington loop…got as far as the Custis connector and decided the trail was just too crazy to make it worth the frustration. The ice has been replaced by clueless n00bs.

That and folks who I was guessing weren’t newbies per se, just jerks. My prizewinner for the evening was the bozo simply HAD to squeeze between me and the power pole on the W&OD just east of the Brandymore Castle hill about 1745, because forbid he should take the right side of the trail which might cost him 0.1 seconds at Warp 56. I shouted at that guy, not that it did any good.

[slowtriguy]

You: Guy wearing big can headphones, riding EB on the W&OD near the Ohio overpass yesterday about 1800.

Me: Riding WB in my lane, thinking “Don’t pass now, don’t make that pass, no no no.”

Guy, you need to learn when it’s OK to pass and when it’s not.

Here’s a clue: if you have a bike coming toward you fully in his lane, and you have two folks running single file in front of you, and you are not going to be able to complete the pass before you reach the other cyclist, it is NOT a good time to make a pass around the runners. You’re lucky the runners and I were able to react quickly enough to avoid what would otherwise have been a really unpleasant crash.

Next time, just wait the 5 seconds, m’kay?

[slowtriguy]

I rode the W&OD-Bluemont this morning, leaving Falls Church around 0650. W&OD is fine, with just occasional frost, except for the Ice Patch of Irritation (between Great Falls and Little Falls); the bridges at Little Falls, just east of the Custis junction, and just east of the Wilson underpass; and the Brandymore Castle hill. Bluemont was fine all the way to Fairfax except for glaze ice about 2/3 uphill from the W&OD, where snowmelt has refrozen. I could ride everything except for the Ice Patch of Irritation, where I had to put a foot down and kick in some spots.

On a related note, it sure will be nice when Falls Church and Arlington finish street sweeping — there are some serious gravel patches out there. Fine if you’re on knobbies, but on semi-slicks…

Happy Riding!

[slowtriguy]

Me, riding in eastbound along the W&OD this AM: “Holy smokes, this is awesome!” “Man, this is gonna suck on the way home.”

Me, riding home westbound along the W&OD this evening: “Yup, I was right about that.” “But it still beats the alternatives…”

And before this morning, I had never accelerated from a standing stop on level ground merely by picking up both feet…

[slowtriguy]

You: Driver of a black sedan, going down Lincoln at Oak St. in Falls Church about 0740 today.
Me: Bicyclist you passed – pretty nicely, I should add.
The Other Guy: The driver of the car getting ready to turn left from SB Oak onto EB Lincoln.

Ummm, not a bad pass – thanks for giving me clearance – but the reason I was slowing down is because there is actually a stop sign at that intersection. You’re lucky The Other Guy anticipated that you were going to run the stop sign at 20+ mph and managed to keep it a Missed Connection.

[slowtriguy]

I rode the W&OD from van Buren to the Custis, then Custis to the western Twin Sister from 0740-0810. I had no major problems on 26×2″ semi slicks, but there are patches of crunchy ice where I slowed down to nearly a crawl: (1) Brandymore Castle hill east side on the W&OD, and along the Custis at the (2) Harrison St. underpass, (3) next to the Catholic school just west of George Mason, (4) George Mason underpass, and (5) the tree roots just past the Beaver Pond. Otherwise, the trails seemed fine.

[slowtriguy]

I rode from Falls Church City to Ballston via streets to van Buren, then W&OD->Custis->Vermont and then back on the road between about 0810 and 0840. No major issues on 26×2″ semi-slicks at any point, but I did ride (even) more slowly than normal. The Brandymore Castle hill has crunchy ice under the snow, but it was rideable.

[slowtriguy]

Two jackholes, no waiting!

Me: coasting to the light at the intersection of westbound Fairfax and Taylor in Arlington at about 1800 tonight.
You: Embrocated long-haired helmet-less fixie-riding jackhole, passing me on the right with about six inches to spare and with zero warning
Me, calling out: Man, was that really ne-
You #2: Jackhole #2, in high-vis from head to toe riding a normal commuter, passing me on the left between cars and me with about six inches to spare and zero warning.
Me, altering the call: -ecessary, either of you?

Seriously, people, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. The light changed green two seconds after you pulled your tag-team jackhole routine. I don’t mind being passed in the bike lane, with warning, and when I’m moving. But (a) you ran a red light, (b) it saved you two seconds, and (c) you passed me really freakin’ close and with zero warning. All told, that makes you both (a) jackholes, (b) really bad examples, and (c) did I mention jackholes.

I award you no points, and may both of you learn to be PALs, not jackholes.

At least I got to pull this out of the meme generator tonight:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4741[/ATTACH]

[slowtriguy]

Well that was fun.

I rode from Spring St in Falls Church City to Ballston via W&OD, Washington St./Lee Highway, Westmoreland, Van Buren, W&OD, Custis, Vermont, 15th, and Stafford. It was dicey — took 45 minutes, including two slow-speed crashes (I’m fine) and having to straighten out the handlebars before continuing on. Strava says 41 min in-motion time. I started at about 0730.

The roads I took are largely fine.

The W&OD between Great Falls and just past the bridge at Little Falls is very slick glaze ice – I crashed once midway, but slipped multiple times. The W&OD between Van Buren and the Roosevelt/Sycamore underpass is crunchy ice. Brandymore Castle hill is icy bottom-to-top on both east and west sides – I walked up and down. W&OD is largely fine otherwise until the Custis, but if you’re going to ride it, I’d stay toward the edges — it seemed to have better traction there.

The Custis has icy patches from the I-66 underpass at least to Vermont, in various spots that include the hill just past the I-66 underpass, the Harrison Street underpass, just past the Catholic school between Harrison and George Mason, just past the path toward Fairfax (I fell the second time here), and all the way from the tree roots at 11th St past the Glebe underpass. Interestingly, I didn’t see any ice on the overpass that crosses the Glebe exit from I-66 Westbound. I turned off the Custis at Vermont, not wanting to risk the Two Sisters.

I’m riding on 26″ Specialized Nimbus Armadillos (semi-slicks).

Again, it seemed less icy toward the edges of the trail, but that is really a relative thing.

[slowtriguy]

@consularrider 76344 wrote:

…as myoglobinologist points out the Wilson Blvd underpass is probably under at least six inches of water.

I thought folks might like a picture, so here’s one taken about 0815 today.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4659[/ATTACH]

Row, row, row your bike…

[slowtriguy]

I rode the W&OD and Custis from Falls Church City to Roosevelt Island and back this AM. I left Roosevelt Island about 0940 just as a few snowflakes started to fall; it was snowing more heavily by the time I stopped by the Central Library on Quincy, and then snowed steadily all the way home. The Custis was fine for its whole length – just a few wet spots, nothing icy or slick, though of course that may change. Lincoln, Nelson, Quincy, and Van Buren in Arlington were all fine — freshly treated with sand and salt. The W&OD is fine between Van Buren and the Custis except that snow is starting to stick on the Brandymore Castle hill. The bridge at Little Falls is coated in a thin layer of snow, but easily rideable. Snow was sticking in patches along the W&OD from Little Falls to West as I rode by around 1040 or so. All the roads I took in Falls Church City have been treated with at least salt; indeed, the road crew even was kind enough to fling a bit extra into my driveway!

It’s chilly and windy out there, but all in all, not a bad “beat the storm, ride one for Team 6” kind of morning…

[slowtriguy]

…was AWESOME!

I woke up with a head cold, which sucks, but the day went uphill sharply from the moment I got the bike out of the barn. Walked Miss Slowtriguy to school while pushing the bike, which was great. Hopped on and from that moment to walking into my office, everything that could have gone right did. Drivers stopped appropriately w/o Helpy McHelperson appearing. Every rider I saw was a PAL. Great conversation at a stoplight with a fellow rider. Got several “good mornings!” back to my usual morning greeting — which is unusual; most of the time folks just don’t say anything back.

The cool weather cleared out my sinuses, the sun warmed my face, and wheels rolled along, and even the kamikaze squirrels slept in this morning…

And to top it off, I think I swapped head bobs with Dickie heading westbound on the W&OD just west of the Brandymore castle hill about 0845.

How many people get to say that their AWESOME commute eased their head cold, got them exercise, and let them exchange “good mornings” with several random strangers?

Pardon me while I be blissful until That Meeting late this morning…

[slowtriguy]

@hozn 74167 wrote:

@slowtriguy, not sure from original context of your post, but if the failure happened in arctic temps it might be normal. My front derailleur stopped working on my commute yesterday AM but resumed working for the “warm” ride home. My rear derailleur/shifters temporarily stopped working too, but only for a few minutes and then they were ok again. Luckily I had no issues with my [disc] brakes, though I have only had issues there when they get wet and freeze riding through streams in winter (on mountain bike).

That sounds pretty similar to my rear derailleur issue. It was fine on Monday, failed Tuesday AM in the deep freeze, was fine again on Wednesday PM in the not-quite-so-deep freeze, and absolutely fine both ways today. I’m genuinely curious how it happened and what about the cold weather made the cable go slack, but then become taut again in normal conditions. It’s bugging me why a cable would apparently get longer in cold conditions. I almost wonder if the derailleur itself got stuck in such a position as to make the cable seem slack, then once the weather warmed, the derailleur moved back into position and took up the slack, but I’m really not sure how that’d happen just because of the cold.

Anyway, at least both our bikes are happy again!

[slowtriguy]

@PotomacCyclist 74039 wrote:

Is it the blinking Bike Glow wire? I had one of those a couple years ago. (I destroyed it when it accidentally got caught up in the pedal cranks. The wire ripped out of the battery pack. I’ve never gotten around to replacing it.)

It was a Christmas present, so I’m not 100% sure, but I think it was the Amazon generic version, perhaps this:

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Neon-Glowing-Strobing-Electroluminescent/dp/B003J99JW4

It is neon blue, with three settings: solid on, slow blink, and fast blink. Requires 2 AA batteries, coils around the frame nicely. I temporarily attached it with electrician’s tape, but once I’ve figured the final placement, I’ll probably swap in some skinny zip-ties. The battery case is probably not even water-resistant, let alone waterproof, but we’ll see. I wrapped it thickly with tape so hopefully that’ll help a bit.

[slowtriguy]

@KLizotte 74036 wrote:

^^^Glad you are ok slowtriguy!

Thanks, KLizotte! It did shake me up at the time, but it was a really slow-speed hit, and I got the bike checked out the next day. It was fine, and I was back riding right away.

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