[txgoonie]

@jrenaut 32898 wrote:

For those not racing – we went to this last year, and it’s a lot of fun. Very kid friendly. Plus the head organizer happens to be my team lead, and he informed me today that Dogfish Head is bringing 15 kegs of beer.

+1 Agree. I was there from the first race to the tandem last year. Brought to dog. Took pictures. Heckled. It was a blast. They had these little Belgian dough things with powdered sugar – what were they? Holy yum. And it is indeed possible to drink pretty much all day, but I would highly advise against it. Especially when dealing with DFH. Ouch.

[txgoonie]

I’m aghast at this. I would be more, however, if I hadn’t, too, been spit on before. It’s the negative equivalent to the wolf whistle. Really, people resort to this to make a point? That’s the best you can think of?

Sorry, dasgeh, that is totally sucky.

To the swarms of bugs (moths?) along the MVT last night near Gravely: you’ll extend your life and ensure the survival of your species if you DON’T kamikaze dive-bomb my headlamp. And when I put my head down to avoid you all hitting my face or god forbid flying into my mouth, please don’t fly into one of the holes of my helmet or lodge in my ponytail. I will freak and take you all down with me, I promise.

[txgoonie]

I’m sure if I got that ticket I’d be equally fired up about it, unclejed, as you are clearly a cyclist in the know. That said, there seems to be rather widespread, uh, liberal interpretation of traffic laws in Crystal City by CaBi users. It’s probably attributable to ignorance more than anything else, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there has been some squawking in that community about the CaBi program. It’s understandable b/c Crystal City infrastructure royally sucks for bikes–between the one-way streets and inconsistent bike lanes, we’re somewhat set up for failure. However, I can say that I’m tired of playing chicken with CaBi riders who, for example, are salmoning down Crystal Dr. south of 23rd rather than going around the block and down Clark St. to get to the station at Crystal Dr. & Potomac Ave or points south. Again, could be ignorance b/c people just don’t know that that’s technically how they should go if they want to travel southbound. But it’s an unsafe situation for everybody and folks need to be edumacated that it’s super uncool to do that to fellow cyclists. Issuing tickets is not what I would advocate doing to address it, but frankly I don’t know what I would advocate to reach the CaBi audience.

If it’s worth it to you, I would contest the ticket. Like others, I’ve sat in traffic court and even if you totally did what you were ticketed for but weren’t a total pain to the officer, the gesture of showing up usually results in a reduction.

[txgoonie]

New York is trying to wake everybody up!

http://www.fastcodesign.com/1670880/pentagram-and-new-york-city-attempt-to-redesign-pedestrian-behavior?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+fastcompany%2Fheadlines+%28Fast+Company%29#1

[txgoonie]

@jabberwocky 32394 wrote:

I think a lot of pedestrians get used to being able to hear cars coming, and since they’re in their own little world (lost in thought, texting, whatever) if they don’t hear anything they assume its safe to just step out without looking.

Definitely true. Also, ninja cyclists make it hard. Walking the dog the other night around 8, I was getting ready to cross the street, and a cyclist that was not illuminated and blocked from view by a row of cars came whizzing past. I didn’t hear or see a thing till a split second before. Gave me and the dog quite a start.

[txgoonie]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1752[/ATTACH]

Went by there last night cuz I was curious. Westbound is now reduced to one lane; EB is still two. WB the bike lane ends and it goes back to two lanes at Portner Rd. (where Buzz/Rustic are), which is a bit of a bummer. I was kinda hoping they’d keep it one lane with an exit for SB Route 1 and continue the bike lane up to the bridge (which, painted green like in Arlington, would be awesome!). Oh well. Continue to change lanes with care! They have arrows in the bike lane but no actual bikers painted. I’m hoping that will be forthcoming.

[txgoonie]

Another thing that seems to be happening to me a lot lately is pedestrians seeing me and walking out anyway. I’m thinking that either they don’t realize how fast I’m actually going or they think that it’s their right to do so, that bikes have to yield to pedestrians no matter what. Last week I swerved to avoid hitting a guy who stepped into the road mid-block, no crosswalk, and he yelled at me “Pedestrian!” WTH? He was the one jaywalking and I get yelled at.

[txgoonie]

Sweet:cool:

[txgoonie]

@acc 32190 wrote:

And seasons matter too. Wait until it’s winter. The trails will be quiet.

I might be totally making this up, but I kinda remember seeing a graph of trail use and there was spike in September. Anybody remember where that was? Anyway, shorter days should make things quieter.

[txgoonie]

@ShawnoftheDread 32212 wrote:

Have they recently repaved the street? I remember Slaters being pretty bad for potholes and bumps.

It was repaved a couple of weeks ago and remains un-striped. I’m most stoked about the bike lane but glad they’ll be putting any kind of markings down at all! Some folks unfamiliar with the area don’t realize it’s 2 lanes, and I’ve seen a couple of people drift right into the access road b/c there’s no stop line at the intersection. Sketchy. Anyway, it’ll be nice to be able to safely access the MVT from there.

[txgoonie]

I don’t think you can blame rear-end collisions completely on driver inattention there. That stretch of road runs uninterrupted for over 4 miles – no stops, no lights, no crossings. Then suddenly there’s a crosswalk on it? I know people need to cross there, but it just seem unsafe to put the onus on drivers — who are driving in “highway mode” at that point, not particularly primed for stops or things on the sides of the road, forget the fact that that area is strangely labeled with the signs and arrows and people routinely suddenly cut from the right lane to take the left exit and are probably completely discombobulated and lost — to have the situational awareness to also slow for trail traffic (and make sure the person behind them is also paying attention and isn’t following too close to slow down in time). I pity people driving on the Parkway who don’t know exactly where they’re going.

[txgoonie]

@Certifried 31883 wrote:

The GoPros are selling for really cheap these days, $149 I think was the last price I saw. Also, as mentioned, my phone/camera isn’t 100% waterproof. My battery would also likely not last for my entire commute!

True, but GoPro is really good at selling add-ons. That price could easily double if not triple once you get all the mounts you suddenly discover you simply must have.

My concern would be battery power. Their other products, e.g. that one that allows your iPhone to function as a GPS, comes with a battery pack. I don’t think a handlebar mount would work without something like that.

[txgoonie]

@jabberwocky 31986 wrote:

I was definitely reminded that these events can be frustrating. There were a lot of people who didn’t understand the concept of staying right and holding a line (weaving all over the road, riding on the yellow line on otherwise clear road, etc). Especially on the parts where the century was sharing the route with the shorter rides.

Indeed. And where you displayed great patience with the phenomenon, I approached with a “move it or lose it” mentality;-) When my IT band ran up the white flag, I was intent on finishing as quickly as possible. You ride the yellow line? I pass you on the right. I know the organizers sent out pleas to participants not to do this (less for other participants’ sake and more so the locals didn’t get mad at us), but I guess there’s only so much you can do.

Still, I’m very happy to have my first century in the books! Glad the weather served us up such a beaut and the course was nice ‘n rolly. Finished tired but not totally gassed. And for a Philly gal, Rita’s water ice was definitely the cherry on top.

[txgoonie]

I’d echo what elcee said. I have a Primal jersey that’s basically a pick-your-design kind of thing, not full custom.http://www.primalcustom.com/ I think Pactimo might have something like that, too. I’m actually waiting on a kit from them, so I can’t yet speak to the product.

I’ve had customer service/QA issues with Sugoi and Champion Systems (btw, for reference, CS requires half the money up front, the other half after fulfillment). My team is considering Hincapie, but they’re super chi chi (i.e. $$).

Anyway, to circle back – the jersey is super awesome, but check with the kids and parents to make sure you’re getting what they really want and what they’re looking to spend. I can’t imagine a custom jersey, after tax and shipping, will come in under $50-60. If you get a technical tee instead, you could pick a local shop (everybody does those these days) and save some dough.

[txgoonie]

To the two different cyclists who passed me as I sat red lights: it really kills our criticisms of drivers who do dangerous and unnecessary things in the name of saving 3 seconds when we do the same thing.

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