[txgoonie]

@Steve O 18875 wrote:

Where is Kirkland Road? Do you mean Kirkwood?

Yup, that’s what they mean. Between Lee Hwy/Lyon Village and Clarendon.

[txgoonie]

@americancyclo 18839 wrote:

I think they mean this: http://g.co/maps/tw4ss

That’s essentially where it is, but I think the trail next to it is the steeper climb. http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5430796 It’s cool b/c it’s followed by a nice curvy, gradual downhill. When I lived over there, I’d do repeats of that to judge my fitness. It’s uncomfortable, no doubt, but so short with such a nice recovery zone that it’s super doable to muscle it out, especially in the granny.

[txgoonie]

Turkey vulture along the MVT a bit north of Humpback Bridge. Man, that is a big bird! I got a good sense of it b/c he was right next to the trail and sorta hopped along with me as I ran. I must have looked pretty tired :-s

[txgoonie]

Ya’ll are inspiring me to hit more than one stop this year!

Last year Crystal City did a Bike to Work Week and awarded the folks who attended the most days with a pretty sweet jersey. I’m slightly embarrassed to say that it was my first actual cycling jersey, so I was pretty stoked No word yet on whether they’re doing that again this year.

[txgoonie]

There’s definitely wear and tear to consider with your helmet. I know I abuse mine pretty bad – I drop it all the time, which can cause small dents over time. I chain it to my bike at work so the adjustable cradle in the back gets beat up. The straps get gross after a while. I want all of those parts working all the time, not just the foam, so getting a new one after a few years of near daily use seems pretty reasonable.

[txgoonie]

I don’t fully retire ear protection until the days start above 60! Gloves, too. At least thin ones. Weenie? You bet, but warm ears and fingers keep this girl happy A day like today can be tough. 55 and sunny — ah, but windy, too. Hmm. The core will warm up, especially with the sun, but with wind cold ears stay cold. No likey.

[txgoonie]

@SpokeGrenadeSR 16975 wrote:

In my experience, calling ‘on your left’ when there’s ample room to pass has actually made the situation a bit more dangerous because the person I’m passing often twitches to “correct” their line, or check who’s coming from behind them and swerve a bit. So I only call out if they’re hugging the center line or are just generally a twitchy looking rider, but if they’re just doin their thing on the proper side of the trail I just carry on by.
It’s like if you were in a car, would you like someone honking at you every time you were about to be passed? Just check over your shoulder if you’re going to be turning off or you move over, and you won’t have to worry about being hit or surprised.
But that’s just how I operate.

I know this doesn’t help the discussion, but I have to disagree that warning causes more problems – this from someone who splits her time pretty evenly between being a rider and a ped. Perhaps other people are less twitchy that I am, but being passed by a rider without warning scares the crap out of me. It induces a shot of adrenaline I just don’t need. If you’re going 10mph or can pass with a good 5 feet of clearance, then, alright – ride on. But the vast majority of passes don’t occur under these conditions. Personally, I never run with earphones, and, since I find myself often running at dawn/dusk times of day, I’m swaddled in headlight, blinkie and reflective belts and straps. I do all of that – I sacrifice any semblance of looking cool – to keep both YOU and me safe. A collision is bad for both of us. I figure that if I’m doing my part to run predictably, follow the rules of the trail, be visible and keep us all safe, then taking a second to say “on your left” or ring a bell really isn’t asking too much. And I’m willing to wager that failure to warn when passing is much more often not a deliberate choice on the part of the rider but rather ignorance (especially this time of year) or plain old being inconsiderate and lazy. And, like I said, I’m on a bike half the time and have not had more problems brought on by calling my passes (and have been yelled at when I have my own moment of laziness and not warning).

On my run this morning, I was super stoked to see the number of people out riding but pretty bummed by the percentage who called their passes. To be fair – there were very few runners decked out in what I thought was an appropriate amount of safety/lighting gear.

[txgoonie]

Latest word was that they’d be out of the Union St. space by the end of January.

http://velocitycoop.org/?p=1018

New addy:
2111 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria, VA 22301

That’s right down the street from me, so I’ll check it out once they get up and running.

[txgoonie]

Simply awesome. Who knew there was a bada$$ chick hiding under all of those layers!?

[txgoonie]

I did see someone up on a ladder checking out the fixtures yesterday afternoon around 1:30pm. Sounds like no repair was actually made, however somebody did get the message at least.

[txgoonie]

“More than half of the incidents involved pedestrians who were run down by trains.”

Exactly how loud does it have to be for you to get run down by a train!?

[txgoonie]

I had no idea! Amazing story.

[txgoonie]

Going westbound, the detour shoots you onto N. Calvert St., adding a nice little climb to your ride, and then there is a sign to T/R onto Lee Hwy, fyi. Follow that little surprise with the 3 work vehicles that couldn’t manage to pull over another 6 inches to allow traffic to pass without going into the mud, and you have the makings for a mood-killing ride in this morning.:mad:

[txgoonie]

I’d like to see a little more emphasis on the rule that pedestrians are supposed to walk against traffic. There are a lot of streets in the area where sidewalks aren’t available and many occasions where, even if there is a sidewalk, peds, especially runners, chose to run in the street to avoid congestion/bad paving/etc. In my travels, it’s a very commonly broken practice and a super unsafe one. Either stronger language than “walk facing traffic” or a callout somewhere in the graphic.

[txgoonie]

Ladies generally have a bit of a conundrum in that we need a support layer first and foremost. So the question becomes do you try to multitask base and support with your first layer or accept that you’ll need two different pieces?

I’m a super cold-natured person. I feel chilly when it’s 70 degrees out. So for those poor souls like me, I’ll reiterate the part about fit – base layer has to be tight against your skin. I feel like if I have that part taken care of, the other layers matter a lot less and you need less bulk that you might think. If it’s still in the 40s, I’ll wear a shimmel, which is basically a long sports bra, with arm warmers as the base. Then I’ll cover with a long sleeve jersey and whatever outer piece the conditions demand (wind, rain, etc.). If it’s super cold, I’ll start with a standard sports bra and put a base layer over it: either a long-sleeve fleece-lined mock turtle tech shirt (the one I have is Nike) or a light wool half-zip (either Patagonia or Smartwool). Then layer as necessary.

So far this season I’ve been able to get away with PI lobster gloves, but I have a feeling when the temperatures really start to dip, I’ll want a liner in the mix, too.

My feet just stay cold. They just do. This past Sunday, I wore double wool socks, chemical toe warmers and neoprene booties, and at the end of a 3-hour ride, my toes were still frozen. Not sure what else I could possibly do besides get winter cycling shoes, and those aren’t in the budget this year.

This is more geared toward training rides than commuting, but I’m still experimenting with embro. That subject could probably support its own thread, though;)

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