[thucydides]

Life intervened and I never got back to this thread. I’ll let it drop after this. For the record I’m not advocating for pedestrians in the bike lane. (Context specific I do support running in roadways — not bike lanes — but for reasons having far more to do with safety than convenience, but that’s a different topic.) However, while I think pedestrians should not be in the bike lanes, I also just don’t think it’s that big a deal. I gather that others experiences differ from mine, but I overtake slower traffic in bike lanes every day. Usually it’s other cyclists, sometimes it’s pedestrians. What do I do? I look under my left armpit to check vehicle traffic, pass accordingly, and promptly forget about it. It’s not unlike the dozens of cars that pass me every day in a sharrow circumstance. Virtually all pass me safely and move along. But I’m guessing that at least 500 times in my life I’ve had drivers yell at me some variant of “get off the road.” Sometimes they’ve done worse (e.g., cut me off). I’m just flat not going turn around and display that sort of attitude towards pedestrians just because the county painted a couple of white stripes on the road.

[thucydides]

Yeah I always hesitate to talk about helmets because it can be divisive. My attitude is I’m against mandatory requirements but I do think that overall it’s wise to wear one if you can. However, they won’t make you invulnerable to a head injury, especially if the helmet is worn incorrectly, I repeat, ESPECIALLY IF THE HELMET IS WORN INCORRECTLY. The guy who I saw crash yesterday was wearing his correctly. Picture-perfect, in fact, but even if it’s worn correctly it’s not magic, e.g., Wouter Weylandt.

[thucydides]

Rather than start a new thread I’ll just add to this one. While running this afternoon I saw a cyclist about a block away from me. Just like that he was down. Bam! His head whacked the pavement hard. The conditions were just about perfect for safe biking. It was on a quiet neighborhood street. He was going maybe 10 miles an hour, just coming back from a short errand. His bike was completely trashed, but he’s fine because he was wearing a helmet. I’ve no doubt in the least that otherwise he would now be in the hospital with a concussion or worse. He had no idea why he went down, perhaps he hit a some of the slick pollen goop that’s everywhere right now. But it really can happen when you least expect it.

[thucydides]

@DaveK 50637 wrote:

Running in the bike lane is never okay if there’s a sidewalk available. It just isn’t. You’re forcing the cyclist to merge into and out of traffic, endangering them for your own convenience.

Riding in the road is never okay if there is a sidewalk or trail available. It just isn’t. You’re forcing drivers to merge into and out of traffic, endangering them for your own convenience.

I’m not trying to be belligerent, but that’s exactly what you sound like to me.

[thucydides]

Eh. I can list many reasons why running in the road is preferable to running on a sidewalk (assuming there is a sidewalk). Generally I stay between the lane and the curb but parked cars often make that impossible. My guess it that your typical jogger/runner who uses the bike lane is also part of the support coalition for said lane and other biking infrastructure. Perhaps I’m naive on this point but we need all the support we can get. Now what really gets me are cyclists biking the wrong way in bike lanes (not talking about contra-flow). That’s just wrong, illegal, and dangerous.

[thucydides]

A Belgian environmental group is trying to get a bunch of riders in this weekend’s L-B-L thrown out for littering in last year’s race. In a race like this things like water bottles get snatched up for souvenirs but it’ll be interesting if races and racers eventually get forced to deal with gel packets and other similar refuse differently.

[thucydides]

Let me see if I’ve got this right. The Public & Government Affairs Manager for AAA Mid-Atlantic just associated the Klan with someone over a policy disagreement. This is not some overwrought Jethro-blogger but very much the public-affairs face of the AAA in the region. I realize that he didn’t directly call Alpert a Klansman, but the juxtaposition is completely outrageous. And then the pathetic pseudo-macho posturing, “ran…like a schoolboy.” Does the national AAA organization have any idea how much self-inflicted damage this guy is causing? I’d fire him in seconds. Perversely he’s probably good for our side of the argument.

[thucydides]

I suppose if there’s ever a “Strange Denizens of Local Trails” thread this guy could be in it. He was wearing what had to be a hospital robe, open in the back, but tucked into jeans. He was ambling like an extra for The Walking Dead across the TR yesterday afternoon. I asked him if he was okay. He just kind of stared. He seemed fine, at least physically. I keep wondering if he walked out of GW hospital.

[thucydides]

Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to sleep with it? You know: train low, sleep high. Not that I’m advocating people sleep with something that may inhibit their breathing.

[thucydides]

I think realistically there isn’t enough crime to warrant a major police presence on the trails, at least not WOD, Custis, & CCT. Police resources are finite. However, I do want to echo Terpfan’s point about neighborhood trail watch. When I lived in Columbia, Missouri we had this on the trail system there. Trained volunteers wore bright yellow vests and carried walkie-talkies. They could look out and report crime, chastise reckless behavior, help people with mechanicals, etc. There was also a related program where off-duty cops rode the trails (in outfits identifying them as cops). They mainly served as a visual deterrent but they could respond when needed. I can’t recall exactly how it was structured (this was over ten years ago) but I believe the cops got some sort of credit, perhaps towards their fitness requirements, by logging time on the trails.

[thucydides]

Thanks, Pete. All of it is helpful and confirms what I was thinking. Time to get to it. Woo hoo!

[thucydides]

Thanks, everyone. To some degree I’m not worried about Westernport. Westernport is mainly about pride. If I have to walk it, I have to walk it. My concern is more about the big picture, i.e., getting through a ride that features lots more difficult climbs after Westernport.

[thucydides]

I recently replaced my old commuter bike with a Specialized TriCross. It’s perfect for commuting (e.g., has plenty of braze-ons for fenders, rack, etc). Mine is aluminum, disk brakes, okayish components (SRAM apex). Aside from commuting I’ve taken it lots on the C&O and parts of the CCT. Personally I wouldn’t ride it on the CCT once you start getting north of Lake Fairfax, nor would I take it on dedicated mtb trails like Fountainhead and parts of Wakefield. OTOH I would not want to spend much time on a mtb on the C&O and certainly not as a commuter. So it’s a tradeoff type deal. (Isn’t it always?)

[thucydides]

I commute from northwest Arlington to Foggy Bottom (GWU, specifically). My specific commute’s a little longer than you’ve requested (right on 8 miles). But really if you’re anywhere in the northern part of Arlington the commute to FB is simple. (And it’s pretty easy to metro or drive when you need.) In my case I take the Custis trail to the Roosevelt bridge which dumps me off at the Kennedy Center. From there anywhere you want to go in FB (State, GWU, IMF, WB) is quick, easy, and safe on surface streets. Likewise it’s easy to live anywhere near the Capital Crescent Trail (e.g., Bethesda, MD) and commute to FB. In that case the CCT dumps out onto K street about 1 miles east of FB.

Within the District is more variable. The aforementioned Columbia Heights is a dynamic neighborhood. Foggy Bottom or the adjacent West End neighborhood are better places to live in now than before (mainly due to improved retail) but I guess then you’d be walking to work rather than biking.

[thucydides]

@TwoWheelsDC 46804 wrote:

Purely out of curiosity…where does the 17 mile number come from? Strava (and RideWithGPS) shows a full loop as 15.6ish miles, so I’m just curious if the Bluemont is figured in there or something like that.

That’s because it’s 15.6 clockwise and 17 miles counter-clockwise. The extra climbing causes the difference.

[Author]

Posts