[Sunyata]

@wheels&wings 97104 wrote:

You can bicycle commute in most anything, so long as you stick a pair of shorts under the skirt and throw a neon shirt on top. ).

Wow… I guess you must never sweat. Even this morning (it was cool, but super humid), I arrived at work super sweaty. Had I been in my regular work attire, I would be miserable, gross looking, and pretty stinky. So I absolutely disagree that you can bicycle commute in most anything and remain somewhat presentable, even in my very casual work environment.

As for the general conversation, I am a female and I commute to work and do most of my errands by bike. The only exception to my bike errands is if I have to take my dogs to the vet or if I need to get large amounts of beer or toilet paper (I still have yet to figure out how to safely carry an 18 pack of toilet paper home on my bike). I think the reason I commute is because I love cycling and hate parallel parking. 😎

[Sunyata]

@rcannon100 96542 wrote:

I hate to say it: you must be white and privileged. Not everyone has the same experience with police that you do. For many, the police are innately a threat.

I may be white, but I have definitely not lead a privileged life (Thanks for assuming that I have though…). And my experience with law enforcement may be different than yours, but it is not for the reason you are thinking.

While I agree that there are officers that abuse their power and have a “chip” on their shoulder, the vast majority do not and really do have the public’s safety in mind. I am sorry that you have had so many bad experiences with law enforcement officers, that sucks. But in an age where many people do not respect those who put their lives on the line every day for their safety, I do not necessarily blame an officer for starting off on the defensive if someone yells at them or attempts to covertly photograph their actions (even if it is your first amendment right to do so, why try and hide it?).

I am glad that there are some good conversations going on with ACPD regarding this intersection. I am hoping those positive conversations continue to happen and that it makes the area a safer place for all involved (cyclists, pedestrians, and motorists).

[Sunyata]

Any chance Arlington would be willing to clear the 395 Shirlington pedestrian bridge?

[Sunyata]

Out of curiosity, I wonder if the OP thought about explaining to the officer why his placement on the sidewalk was a bad idea instead of taking a photo to complain about it on a bike forum?

Law enforcement officers are people too. They make mistakes and sometimes do not think about how their actions affect others. Perhaps the officer thought his vehicle placement provided enough room for cyclists and pedestrians to move around him. Perhaps he was not thinking about two-way traffic on the sidewalk. If he is not a cyclist, he may not think about these things. Granted, that does not excuse the behaviour, but honestly… If someone does not point this out to him (perhaps in a polite manner), how will he understand that his action has negative consequences on morning commuters there?

If I were in my line of duty (or even NOT in my line of duty) and I noticed someone attempting to covertly take a photo of me, I might get a little perturbed, too. And while his response may have seemed rude to you (I was not there, I can only go on what you are telling us), I would not constitute his asking if there was a problem out of line.

My suggestion for incidences like this in the future is to stop, ask the officer if he has a moment and politely and calmly explain why you feel his actions are unsafe. “Officer, from my perspective as a cyclist, your vehicle placement on the sidewalk is limiting the space that cyclists and pedestrians have in this area to maneuver around each other safely. Would you still be able to fulfill your duty by moving your vehicle off the sidewalk and onto the grass?” You might be surprised at what you accomplish.

[Sunyata]

Did anyone else get a chance to witness the lunar eclipse this morning on their ride to work? It was pretty cool and definitely got my day off to a good start!

[Sunyata]

Today feels like it should be a Monday…

You: The idiot in the black SUV, MD tags who has no clue how to do a u-turn properly and safely.
Me: The cyclist crossing Martha Custis to get to the 395 pedestrian bridge in Shirlington.
The incident: The driver comes off 395 and onto Gunston Rd to do a u-turn to (presumably) get back on 395. Well, apparently his SUV is so large that he can not complete the u-turn and backs up. But instead of backing up into the roadway to turn back onto the on ramp, he rams his SUV onto the sidewalk as I was getting ready to transition from the crosswalk to the sidewalk to make my way to the bridge entrance. I yell “HEY!” to hopefully let him know that there was a cyclist (and a pedestrian) present on the sidewalk. He then stops on the sidewalk and just sits there, forcing me to go around him. He then has the nerve to yell at me for yelling at him. :confused:

And THEN…

You: The guy in a pick up truck coming out of 27th Street presumably going to turn onto 4MR Drive.
Me: The cyclist on the sidewalk/path with lights blaring and visibility yellow on that you almost ran over because you failed to stop at the stop sign.
The incident: The driver (on his cell phone) rolled out of 27th Street without looking or stopping as I and another cyclist (who was going the opposite direction as me) were about to come to that section of the sidewalk. Luckily I was going slow enough to stop, which I did, right in front of his truck after he FINALLY saw me. I stopped to make sure he saw the other cyclist. This idiot kept looking at me like I had three heads while I kept pointing at the other cyclist who was coming at him and telling him to look. He finally looked over and then looked super sheepish, which is more than I can say for most other drivers. Hopefully he will keep a look out from now on and perhaps stay off his damn phone while driving.

The remainder of my commute was incident free though with people even changing lanes to pass me on George Mason. And bonus! It was much warmer than yesterday’s morning commute!

[Sunyata]

@KayakCyndi 96064 wrote:

Currently pondering this one. If I go I’ll make a weekend of it. Going down to our place in WB on Friday pm before hitting the race Sunday. I’ll have room for guests ….

I am doing Monster Cross. This will be my third year. I am trying to determine if I should do the short course or the long course. The first year I did the long one and it was fun, but it got a little boring on the second lap. Last year, I did the short course and had a BLAST. Especially because I finished earlier than everyone else and got to start drinking beer! I am also riding a hard tail mountain bike, so I am a bit slower than the folks on CX bikes (which may explain why the short loop was so much more fun than the long one!).

[Sunyata]

@DanB 95961 wrote:

Going down a very dark stretch of the W&OD in Vienna this morning, I noticed two small patches of reflective material about 30 feet in front of me. Then I realized the reflective patches were the eyes of a deer. I think for everyone’s safety all deer that live along the W&OD should be outfitted with one of these:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6734[/ATTACH]

Can we get some for the squirrels, too?

[Sunyata]

@Harry Meatmotor 95954 wrote:

I know this is going to come off as arrogant or apologist for the poor behavior of those riders, but what happened there is pretty common if you’re used to riding in groups. it’s not “good,” that’s for sure, but there’s one simple concept that applies to any kind of riding (well, except for spinning on a trainer in your basement): your front wheel is your responsibility.

Yes, they passed too closely, and yes, she should have apologized immediately for bumping you (which she did later, and many of her cohorts did on her behalf), but I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that the majority of those riders have participated in races of some sort, where bumping elbows, hips, and shoulders is just what happens, especially when negotiating corners in a group. folks who race (or ride in groups) just get used to the contact – in fact, some riders actually practice “bump drills” where contact between riders is mandatory, to build confidence and bike handling skills. And if you bump somebody unintentionally, it’s generally not the kind of thing that group riders get too worked up over. Sure, we might yell things like “HOLD YOUR LINE” if somebody starts chopping a corner, but at the end of the day, i know that my front wheel is my responsibility.

Again – I know that sounds like I’m defending those ELITE SOBs, but it helps to understand where they’re coming from, too. The only other advice I can give is when you hear a bunch of chatter that sounds like a large-ish 2×2 paceline, stay to your right and ride predictably – no swerving or braking.

let the Dislikes fly!

You know… I hate conflict, but I have to say that this is probably the worst response that anyone could make to a situation like this. People who race are fairly comfortable making body contact with other racers. No one will dispute that. However, there is a HUGE difference between bumping another racer (or even another rider in your group that you are familiar with) and bumping someone that you do not know, who is obviously not racing/riding aggressively. The OP was on a flat bar commuter bike with racks and panniers. He was not on a race bike, nor was he riding aggressively.

And I will tell you that if someone had bumped me like that, I would have probably reacted in a similar manner. It was a dangerous and irresponsible thing for those riders to ride that close and for the woman that hit him to just ride off and not even acknowledge that she hit him was a douche move, IMO. Had that been a car that did that to the OP, you would be in an uproar (and rightly so). Just because you are on a bike does not give you the right to act like a dangerous jerk. No matter WHAT your riding background or skills.

This is not the first thread that has been posted about the dangerous group riding that goes on at Haines Point. In fact, I am terrified to ride there because of all the negative publicity that these groups get and it makes me angry and incredibly sad that there are cyclists out there that have such utter disregard for other cyclists. :confused:

ETA: Apparently my inability to watch an entire video has caught up with me… I did not see where the OP chased down the offending rider, I only watched up to the point where the two other group riders apologized on her behalf. So while I would have yelled at the offending rider to watch out (with a few choice words thrown in) and perhaps asked (maybe not politely) for an apology, I would not have chased her down (first of all, I am not fast enough but mostly because I hate conflict). I also did not hear the OP threaten the rider, so I can not comment on that.

[Sunyata]

I have three Yakima racks on the roof of my Subaru. I have two Frontloaders and and standard fork mount rack. I have not had any issues with them and LOVE the Frontloaders for their ease of use and durability. I have had them for going on five years now and had not had any issues with any of them. The fork mount rack is a PITA, mostly because only one of my bikes has a quick release (and it is the one I use the least often, my road bike), so I have to deal with carrying around different size thru-axle adapters.

My significant other has Thule racks and has been satisfied with them, but he likes my Frontloaders a lot better than his Thule racks.

[Sunyata]

@cyclingfool 95034 wrote:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6650[/ATTACH]

Others may recognize this quite quickly. Amazingly, it was my first time here in my years of riding.

I ride across that bridge at least twice per day! (And the right handed 180 switchback at the end going into Park Fairfax is the bane of my existence!)

[Sunyata]

Thanks for all the glove suggestions! I will look into grabbing some wool glove liners and checking out some bar mitts. (If they are easily interchangeable between bikes, I think that might be the way to go.)

As for the feet, I wish I could get some winter cycling boots! Unfortunately, they just do not make them in small and narrow enough sizes for me (I have tiny feet, size 37.5 narrow). Even wearing thick wool socks, the men’s sizes are way too big. I will try the boots and flats (I am used to wearing flats on my MTB’s, so it is not a big deal to switch) and see how they do. Plus, I need a new pair of winter hiking boots, anyway. 😎

[Sunyata]

@mstone 94474 wrote:

I went past lost rhino yesterday for the first time and was underwhelmed. Are they unaware of the W&OD? Not even a bike rack in their vast suburban wasteland of a parking lot. I did not bother stopping or going in.

Old Ox had a sign out on the trail, I wish I’d stopped there instead and will do so next time.

Old Ox is pretty awesome. They have pretty great beer and they are super bike friendly.

Beltway did not have any bike parking, but they let us bring our bikes inside with us and we just locked them to the stairs. I enjoyed it there, especially since they have quite a few of the other local breweries’ beers there, too.

[Sunyata]

@vvill 94562 wrote:

I wear “ski” goggles (actually, MX – motocross ones). It does limit your peripheral vision a bit but you don’t have to worry about getting cold eyes/sinus and it works great in conjunction with a buff or two (or whatever).

I often will wear my snowboarding helmet (which is fleece lined and quite warm) and goggles for mountain biking in the winter. Since this winter will be my first bike commuting winter, I may also wear them for commuting, but I worry about the peripheral vision since 95% of my commute is on the road. If it does not work out, I also have a pair of Tifosi interchangeable lens glasses that I can wear instead.

My biggest issue is my hands and feet. I have a pair of semi-insulated Gore Windstopper gloves, but they do not keep my hands warm if it is cooler than about 40 degrees outside. So if anyone has any suggestions for a nice pair of winter riding gloves that work REALLY well, but still allow dexterity, I would love to know them. Keep in mind, I am a woman with super tiny hands (I wear a size small women’s glove).

I am thinking about getting a good pair of insulated boots for commuting this year and just switching to flat pedals. I have shoe covers for my regular cleated shoes, but they just do not keep my feet warm enough in cold weather.

[Sunyata]

@nsfnsfdave 94565 wrote:

Not Quite. My point is my wife’s safety… She has the scars to prove that running on the sidewalks is dangerous. Let’s share nicely.

Okay, my judgement might be a bit biased since in addition to being a bike commuter, I am also a mountain biker and trail runner. BUT… If your wife (or any runner, for that matter) is unable to run on a sidewalk (even if it is less than pristine) without hurting herself, then perhaps she should not be running? When I run, I have a tendency to pay attention to what I am doing and where my feet are falling on the surface of whatever it is that I am running on. I have run on terrible sidewalks, horrible pavement, and rooty and rocky trails. I have NEVER fallen when paying attention to what I was doing. And I am the biggest klutz out there.

That being said, I do however often run on the street versus the sidewalk. I do it safely (facing traffic and never in a bike lane – that is just rude to my fellow cyclists, IMO) and mostly because pavement is much easier on my knees than concrete sidewalks.

In short, I do believe that running in the roadway (on low traveled roads) can be done safely, but that runners should stay off the infrastructure made specifically for cyclists. I also feel that runners should pay attention to what they are doing and take responsibility for their own safety. So yes, we should all try to get along. But in order to do so, we must follow the laws and rules put in place to keep us safe and take responsibility for our selves.

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