[trailrunner]

I applied for a bike locker at the Franconia Springfield station in June 2016, and so far it has hasn’t happened. I never get updates unless I bug them (and it takes several emails before I get a response), and I don’t seem to actually make any progress on the wait list when I get an update.

Earlier this year I was told that as part of the blue line summer shutdown, they were going to install new lockers. These lockers wouldn’t be loaned on an annual basis, but instead would be on a first-come, first-served basis, and would be opened with a Smart Trip card. But that didn’t happen, and when I contacted them, they said something something something, and now I’m back to the wait list.

I’m retiring in a couple of years and that’s my over/under for when I’ll get a locker.

ETA: I just noticed that this was for Arlington. Disregard if not relevant.

[trailrunner]

@jrenaut 195283 wrote:

You know, now that i think about it, it may actually be 3,000 miles on this cassette. But I didn’t have any problems before I replaced the chain and cleaned the cassette, so I figured it was something I hadn’t gotten quite dialed in yet.

I’ve had this happen before – new chain on older cassette causes skipping. The theory is that the chain and cassette wear together, and installing a new chain on a worn cassette will cause some skipping. Sometimes I can look closely at the cassette and see that teeth have worn.

On the other hand, when it skips, does it actually change a gear? If it does, that would indicate your cable adjustment isn’t quite right.

[trailrunner]

When I used to do mountain bike races, there was always a pre-race inspection to ensure that all bikes had bar plugs. It was taken seriously for this reason.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[trailrunner]

The lack of progress at the EFC is pretty sad.

I’ve been waiting for a bike locker at Franconia-Springfield for 3.5 years. Earlier this year, I was told that as part of the shutdown last summer, new lockers would be installed. The new lockers wouldn’t require a yearly contract, but would be used with a SmartTrip card on a first-come, first-served basis. But then that didn’t happen. I will retire in a couple of years and doubt that I’ll ever get a locker.

[trailrunner]

Yeah, when I typed my response that issue was sort of nagging me. Even I f I could build a sensor, and it was integrated into cars, then would cyclists be required to have the special light? And if a cyclist didn’t have it, would they be presumed to be more culpable if they were hit by a car equipped with the sensor?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[trailrunner]

I’ve developed IR sensors and have thought of something like this, but it’s a lot harder to actually make it work in the real world, and at an affordable price. Making a bike light emit IR wouldn’t be too hard, although it would have to be coded (pulsed in a certain pattern) to be able to pick it out, and it would be hard to make it work 360 degrees, again at an affordable price. These technical details are straightforward to overcome, but convincing car manufacturers to put in an IR sensor just to detect bikes would be impossible. One other technical limitation of this approach is that is generally does not provide range (distance), so I’m not sure how useful it would be to merely know that there is a cyclist somewhere in the field of view.

BTW, contrary to what Wikipedia says, the sensor in the automatic faucet is not an active IR sensor, since “active” means that the sensor is emitting light. The sensors in faucets are very basic long-wave detectors with a simple algorithm to detect the presence of a warm object. It’s purely a passive system.

[trailrunner]

I’ll look forward to the lock picking lawyer’s review.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[trailrunner]

All my bikes have Shimano. Should I date someone who rides Campy?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[trailrunner]

@dbb 192385 wrote:

What’s up with that?

That’s just a typical day in CC. I see it every day. Restaurant row at lunch time is bad, but it’s also bad on the south side where I work. I see cops drive by, and around, the violators all the time.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[trailrunner]

I don’t think that’s a bike lane either, but I still take it as a challenge to see if I can keep my wheels between the lines as I go around the curve.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[trailrunner]

In my short ride from Crystal City to the Pentagon this afternoon, I almost got right-hooked three times. Twice by the same car – once while picking up sluggers, and then a mile later while they were rushing to get on the HOV lanes with their full load of passengers. The other time was by a car turning into a parking lot. They passed me, then slowed down and started drifting right. I was going to go around to the left, but it seemed like they were going to let me slide to their right, so I (very cautiously) held my line in the lane. But they kept slowly turning until they were in front of me and I was blocked.

[trailrunner]

This was probably another case that without a video, nothing would have happened.

[trailrunner]

It’s been a long time since I used one of those Edges. I think that those connected on to the mount by sliding sideways. There was a tab on the mount that would click and lock the Edge into place, and to remove the Edge, you pushed the tab down and slid the Edge off of the mount. If that’s the case, you need to figure out where the tab on the mount is, and insert something like a thin standard screwdriver and push the tab back, and then slide the mount and Edge apart from each other.

ETA: If a screwdriver doesn’t work, look around your house for something. A stout piece of wire, or a wire hanger might be able to be bent in the right shape to get in there. I have an assortment of old dental tools that have come in very handy over the years for things like this. If you can’t get to the tab, you might be able to use beak-shaped wire cutters to carefully break the mount apart until you can free it.

[trailrunner]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]20091[/ATTACH]

[trailrunner]

We have had a couple of incidents like this around here.

For a while, someone was sticking nails in logs in Wakefield to catch mountain bikers. I think they finally caught the person (or persons).

During one winter about 15 years ago, I was out for a morning run on the Bull Run-Occoquan trail. I was probably the first person on the trail that morning. I started at Fountainhead, and just past the 2 mile marker, there is a small, dense grove of small pine trees that crowded the trail as it went up a small rise. I just happened to look up the hill at trail, and noticed something strange. Somebody had taken fishing line and criss-crossed it across the trail at ankle level. This wasn’t some lost fishing line that blew away from the pier (which was a long way away) and got tangled — this was deliberately set, tensioned, and tied off. I don’t know if it was intended for runners and hikers, or for the horses that are allowed on the trail, but it could have been nasty either way. I tore it all apart and reported it when I got home. I felt fortunate that I just happened to see it.

[Author]

Posts