[TwoWheelsDC]

I frankly don’t give a shit about the competition. I don’t think I’ve ever been on a team that was even remotely competitive…I just sign up to promote the idea. So I don’t really have a dog in this fight, but I will say:

-the new rule changes seems a bit sudden and opaque for the impact that it will have
-I think the rule may make the scoring more even, but I don’t think it will affect anyone’s riding habits, which really is the objective (maybe the top riders will ride less, but I’m not so sure of that)
-The new rule may shift things to a more individual-focused competition, which I think is not in the spirit of how we originally conceived FS

I think some interesting things could be done to help incentivize the less ambitious riders, while maybe helping to even out the scores (with the disclaimer that these are not necessarily easy to implement from a technical standpoint):

-commute rides are worth 2x per mile (or whatever multiplier)
-CaBi rides are worth 3x per mile (or whatever multiplier)
-points available for non-riding tasks like volunteering/organizing bike-related activities (yeah this is tough, but I’m just spitballing)
-calculate team points based on some combination of standard points and “team total days ridden” (or something?)
-incorporate “jersey” points into team standings, maybe as a multiplier of some sort (fastest rider=green jersey, most climbing=polka dot jersey, etc…)

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Subby 183619 wrote:

As is watching a small group of people re-write rules

Also known as a “Senate.”

[TwoWheelsDC]

@AlanA 183575 wrote:

And one final note, I think the 1 mile sleaze ride is quite bogus. I’ve certainly done it in the past, but what does it really accomplish? A person riding one mile around their neighborhood in awful weather (or while they are sick) is not promoting anything of value.

Only if you assume no one would ride ~1 mile for anything, which is definitely not the case. The 1-mile rule incentivizes people to take a bike when they may not otherwise, like taking CaBi instead of Metro or a Lyft or whatever. While the 1-mile rule does enable the type of “sleaze” rides to which you are referring, I think you’d be surprised at the number of 1-ish mile rides in FS that are people using bikes to complete everyday tasks.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@huskerdont 183416 wrote:

If you have a locker, keep a spare there; then they’re all good days.

I keep two pairs of spares…that’s all I’m going to say about that.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@hozn 183390 wrote:

Sounds like TwoWheels is doing something wrong!

I had the pleasure of drafting a guy yesterday who was wearing jeans and loafers on the W&OD and cruising at 25mph, until he turned off just before Vienna. That’s a nice drafting speed; I love it when I can benefit from all that free wattage too.

Even if my bike could cruise that fast, which it can’t, I certainly couldn’t do it on any of the trail sections of my commute. The CCT is in such shitty condition that, above about 15mph, it’ll rattle the fillings out of your teeth.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Judd 183326 wrote:

I just checked the past few weeks of my rides on Strava in which I have ridden a gravel bike, my commuter bike, a single speed, CaBi, CaBi Plus and a Lime-E.

My average speed on a CaBi is usually a bit below 9 mph. Most of my CaBi Plus rides have been around 10-11 mph. I was faster going up hill on a single speed. I was way faster going up lots of hills on my gravel bike. I usually average around 13 on my commuter bike. My fastest CaBi Plus Ride averaged 14 mph which was going mostly downhill when most trail users were still at home in bed.

So at least in my case I am only slightly faster most of the time on an E-Bike and still slower than on my commuter. I go about the same speed, but it’s easier and allows me to show up places not sweaty.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My morning e-bike commute today was 3 minutes SLOWER than my non-e-bike morning commute yesterday.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@accordioneur 183338 wrote:

And yes, I used the old pair during Freezing Saddles last year, so add an asterisk after my name in the records if appropriate.

It’s Freezing SADDLES not Freezing Digits, so I think it’s allowed.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@zsionakides 183312 wrote:

The main issue is that ebikes are flattening the curve the wrong way. E-bikes that are assisting up to 20 and 28 mph change the average speed on trails upwards and let more riders be jerks at high speeds, even if many e-bike riders aren’t jerks. This creates a safety issue by increasing the speed differential between walkers and high speed e-bikes and greatly increases the severity of accidents that occur.

I get that some people “feel” that this is true, but I just don’t believe it absent actual data. Have trail collisions gone up? Has the severity of injuries increased? Are e-bikes involved in a disproportionate number of these collisions? Show me the data and I’ll change my mind, but otherwise the arguments boil down to tribalism and little else.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@musclys 183218 wrote:

Which is to say: Pretty sure we’re overthinking this.

You must be new here.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@cvcalhoun 183196 wrote:

But right now, e-bikes are banned on the CCT. And the idea of biking on the roads after dark makes me nervous, what with the drivers who think they own the road.

“A friend I know” commutes on an e-bike on the CCT multiple times a week and has even passed MPD officers on the trail. If you’re a stickler for the rules, I get it, but DC’s e-bike laws are absurd.

Obviously the law and order crowd will take issue with this, but to them I’d say “how would you like me to commute from DC to Virginia on my e-bike and NOT violate the law?” I can either a)take the lane on Key Bridge, then take the lane out on Lee Hwy and add like 7 miles to my commute, or b)ride out Canal Road and take the lane on Chain Bridge. Yeah, sorry no.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@buschwacker 183191 wrote:

I’ve found that most people assume that an e-bike performs like a motorized bicycle with an internal combustion engine (moped). It seems clear that the legacy prohibition of “motorized” bikes on the MVT, for example, had internal combustion engines in mind. No one that rides a consumer e-bike could reasonably come away with the impression that it is similar in performance to a moped, but if you’ve never ridden one, it’s difficult to understand the qualitative difference between the two.

I’d love to meet up with someone from Arlington DES and let them ride my RadCity a bit. The difference would be made clear.

And I hear “you’re basically riding a motorcycle on the trail” quite often. My motorcycle has 85 horsepower (63000 Watts), weighs 450 pounds, and will do about 120mph. My Radwagon has 750 watts, weighs 70 pounds, and is limited to 20mph. This sort of hyperbole, of course, seems to mainly come from people who’ve never actually ridden a regular e-bike.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@buschwacker 183169 wrote:

I haven’t ridden a CaBi Plus yet, but your experience may be the result of a defective cadence sensor on that bike.

This is a really good point. I suspect that either the cadence sensors are a point of failure for the Cabi+, or they’re using sensors with an insufficient number of magnets to get smooth power delivery. I know that Radpower Bikes used to have something like a 7 point cadence sensor (so 7 magnets) and people found the power delivery jerky, but the newer models have a 12 point sensor and it’s pretty seamless.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@komorebi 183153 wrote:

I rode a CaBi Plus for the first time today, and I actually didn’t like it very much. The Plusses are heavier and more unwieldy than the regular CaBis, which are already tanks. And the e-assist kicked in and cut out unpredictably, which made for a jerky ride. Possibly it was a problem with that particular bike, or possibly I would have gotten more used to the e-assist over a longer ride. But that’s now the third model of e-bike that I’ve tried, and I haven’t liked any of them. Maybe I’m just not meant to ride e-bikes.

Yeah, I’m not a fan of their assist. The only way I could get it smoothed out was to ride at a higher cadence/effort, which almost defeats the purpose. I find the Jumps to be much better and they feel very similar to my Radwagon, which is rear drive.

[TwoWheelsDC]

I have the Bar Mitts made for external cables currently mounted on my under-the-tape cabled bike. The Bar Mitt attachment system isn’t dependent on cables/no cables. Frankly, you’re better off getting the external cable-compatible set no matter what because they work on both, but not the other way around.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Judd 183030 wrote:

I’ve asked Santa for the below. I highlighted that it is $400 off on Cyber Monday.

What bikey things are on your list this year?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That is an insane deal! If you still have room on your wish list, I’d recommend immediately swapping the stock tires for Schwalbe Big Apples.

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