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They both did pretty doggone well for their first sprint tri. Most drivers today are very focused on fitness. Michael Waltrip did a tri last year and Tony Kanaan (who drives in Indycar) did the Kona Ironmana a while back. Bobby Labonte is an avid cyclist and, in fact, has put on several “share the road” charity events in North Carolina. I don’t know if any of this makes a difference with most fans.

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@creadinger 24762 wrote:

So usually when you write an opinion/editorial piece for a supposed respected newspaper you’re supposed to have a point right? What the hell is this guy’s point?! I realize the Times isn’t exactly a good source of anything, but why waste ink on something so useless? The whole thing is filled with snivelly little put down words here and there simply meant to denigrate CaBi and it’s riders. I would expect nothing less from a paper who’s only use is to stoke your woodstove, but seriously… “the genuises haven’t figured out how to stop bike theft”… really? And car theft has all but stopped once the industry introduced keys, door locks, and car alarms… ummm.

It’s basically a blog entry and a really bad blog at that! Someone in the comments said it sounds more like a piece that would come out of the Onion because it’s on the verge of being so ignorant and tasteless that it’s almost hilarious.

Wow, I always knew the Times was stupid, but this guy takes the whole stupid cake.

The put down is the whole point. I suspect the author was inspired to become a writer after reading a poor imitation of someone who was inspired to write by a poor imitation of someone who was inspired to write by Dorothy Parker.

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Things like CaBi and bike trails occur because of socialism. Roads, OTOH, come about because of the free market. I mean, come on. FREEways. FREE enterprise.

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I came through earlier (~7:45) and the crossing light (for crossing Lynn) did work but it seemed to me like it delayed a bit before turning. But that might have been my imagination.

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I’ll just leave this here:

http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/06/news/family-sues-strava-over-descending-death_224889

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The crossing lights at Lynn were stuck on red when I went through this morning. Not good.

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It’s nice to seen an effort being made and I suppose I should see this as a good first step. But I fail to see how any of this will change the fundamental problem. (Perhaps I’m just not comprehending the changes correctly.) We’re still going to have on-grade crossings on a roadway where vehicles go way over the posted speed limits. I don’t see how more signs or rumble strips will change things.

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Watermans Sprint is a terrific choice for a first tri. It’s well run, it’s a pretty setting, the swim is nice, the bike course is fun (basically rollers), and the run is not too bad. Plus you’ll almost certainly have cool weather. The only real downside to that — if you consider it a downside — is you’ll probably want a wetsuit. But you can rent one if you’re not yet ready to invest in buying one. Good luck! It sounds like you’re going at it in a very systematic careful way with the bike and shoe fittings. Running is probably your biggest issue as far as injury avoidance goes (especially with arthritis). I’m sure lots of people will tell you this, as well, but my 2 cents is to build your running mileage very slowly. If possible try and limit the amount of time you spend pounding asphalt and cement. We don’t have a lot of flat unpaved trails around here but the high school tracks are generally available for the public and much easier on your legs (though I find running on them tedious).

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One thing about pedestrians that befuddles me all the time is when they stand in the road waiting for the light to change. And I’m not talking about standing just off the curb but often 3 or 4 feet into the right lane. Why? Is this like those people who keep pushing the elevator button thinking that somehow the elevator will come sooner or, in this case, the light will change faster?

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@Certifried 21630 wrote:

Thanks! I plan on it. The “procedure” was an RFA (I’ve mentioned elsewhere). Big needle, raw nerves, lots of heat, destroyed nerves, then after a few weeks no more pain (until they grow back, they’re peripheral sensory nerves, which regenerate after, for me, about 9 months). Not really invasive or something that keeps me more than just sore for a few days. I just bit off too much with the whole carrying my desk on my back thing LOL. I have this crazy idea that I can do a triathlon now, so considering training for the Nation’s Tri in September. Probably something an old arthritic body shouldn’t be doing… (please talk me out of it haha)

Don’t do the Nation’s Tri if this is your first or you’re just getting back into triathlons. It’s fun and I enjoy it but it’s really really crowded. Plus it’s olympic distance. None of the course is particularly challenging from a technical standpoint though if you’re not accustomed to open water swimming the Potomac can be a challenge (unless, of course, the swim gets cancelled again). My advice is to try one of the local sprint-distance triathlons that are part of the Virginia Triathlon Series or the Maryland equivalent. There are lots of them and some even have pool swims for those who aren’t quite ready to try open water swimming, yet. (Hagerstown on July 22nd is a fairly well run spring with a pool.) I like Culpeper in August and one they do at Lake Anna in October. There are lots of choices out there to get started without taking on a crowded beast like Nations.

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I’m glad to hear they axed the hairpin this year. I saw someone go down hard there last year and needed medical treatment. I’m doing the Richmond Xterra on Sunday so will miss it this year. Oh well, have fun and be safe everybody.

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The failure of other to call passes doesn’t directly detract from my ride. To me that’s not the issue. For me the issue is the broader impact on trail safety, political support for pro-cycling policies, and the indirect influence of trail experiences on road safety. Appropriately called passes (high volume, well before passing) are generally safer. There are exceptions, especially where children are involved, but there are lots of reasons why a cyclist/hiker/walker may suddenly swerve left and needs warning. In addition, trails users are potential supporters of policies that makes cycling easier and safer. Or, they are potential opponents of the same. Case in point. We now have an inappropriate speed limit on the CCT. That happened because we alienated potential supporters. (It doesn’t matter that ipod wearers, dog walkers, etc behave badly, too. On the trails we’re the cars. We’re the vehicles that can kill people.) Finally, all those trails users, they also drive cars. I’m fully convinced a bad experience with a cyclist leads later to (some) drivers acting badly (and perhaps dangerously) towards other cyclists on the road. Perhaps the Metro driver who purposely tried to put me into the curb last week was buzzed by somebody on the MVT the week before. Like it or not, we’re all representatives of cyclists generally and our actions (good or bad) reflect on all cyclists.

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The week before last I did a little mini-study (very mini) on called passes. I focused just on commute times and just on the Custis (from it’s start at the W&OD fork to the bridge over GW Parkway). I counted on four trips total (two AM eastbound, two PM westbound) and I was able to adjust my work schedule a bit to get variance on start times (and thus hopefully sample a different group of riders). The results:

In total 9 out of 29 called their pass (defined as either a verbal warning or bell ring). That’s not too big of a shock but here’s where it gets interesting:

7am – 7:20: 6/10 called their pass
8am – 8:20: 2/11 called their pass
4:30pm – 5: 1/4 called their pass
5:30pm – 6: 0/4 called their pass

These are approximate times that I was on the trail. Now obviously this is a very small sample and probably reflects some biases. I commute on a real heavy bike and I carry a lot of weight in my panniers, especially in the morning. So I’m slow, as evidenced by how many people pass me. But I still pass a few so there is bias towards the faster riders (but I doubt it matters). What I find interesting is the difference between the earlier and later morning commuters. It definitely conforms with my strong impression (from when I drive or walk around the District) that earlier commuters are a far more pleasant species than later commuters. Still, with numbers this small the difference may really be random.

What about weekenders? Yesterday I took my little study to the W&OD but this time with me running. In the early afternoon I ran on the W&OD for just about exactly 5 miles (basically between John Marshall and Columbia Pike). I was passed by 48 bikes. Five called their pass.

Perhaps if I decide this is worth learning a bit more about I’ll assign some of my research staff to do a more elaborate study later this month. Then I could vary by trail, time, weather, & day as well as characteristics of the person getting passed. “Woman pushing stroller.” “Jogger wearing ear-buds.” Then, again, anyone who spends extensive time of the trails knows perfectly well that called passes are the exception. So spending the time proving it may not really teach us anything.

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@dasgeh 20139 wrote:

Not if there’s a sidewalk. And if there isn’t a sidewalk, the runner should still stay as far to their left as possible, so the cyclist would have pulled to his/her left to ride by.

I don’t know what it is about runners in Arlington ditching the sidewalks to run in the road. I find the sidewalks here pretty nice, and I just don’t get it.

Let me answer the question why road and not sidewalk. (I’m not defending running in the lane, let alone salmoning in the lane.) There are multiple reasons for running in the road. First, many many blocks in Arlington lack sidewalks. Second, concrete is harder on the legs than asphalt. Third, sidewalks are often obstacle courses with toys, debris, low-hanging branches, small children, and uneven surfaces. Finally, after any sort of major snow in the winter sidewalks aren’t passable, often for weeks.

So I run in the road all the time but in my view it’s the runners job to not obstruct cars or bike and I stay out of the bike lanes unless absolutely necessary.

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@dasgeh 19742 wrote:

BTW, in Iowa I saw a lady on a bike with a speaker. As in she was riding along, a speaker was mounter where I bike computer would normally be on the stem, and a nice workout-oriented was playing (at a responsible level). Seemed like a nice idea…

I bet she’s a frequenter of RAGBRAI. Lots of the folks there ride along with musical accompaniment (some of a decidly R-rated sort). If I ever do RAGBRAI again I want to go as Team Fitzcarraldo and play opera all the way across Iowa.

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