[vvill]

“Passing on your le–“… oh wait.

Also – this is why that time I rode with you on the Custis in the morning I set one of my fastest times whilst you were casually chatting the whole way! I’ll never complain about hauling my 4 y.o. again.

[vvill]

These appeared at Eurobike recently. I might spring for them if the price is reasonable, I’ve had an eye on DZR shoes for a while, and I’m probably due for some new shoes. I have 2 pairs of bike shoes, one is a 6 year old heavy Shimano commuter with laces and the other a 10 year old pair of Specialized MTB shoes.

[vvill]

Didn’t actually find just the strap for sale – edited my post, although it doesn’t show up with a edit on the history.

[vvill]

I splurged earlier this year and spent a whole $10 on clearance toe covers. I hope they do something – my toes never warmed up last winter, which was not so great on the longer rides. If they don’t work at all I’ll be considering boots as well. My other concern (if there is actually ice around this winter) is putting a foot down on ice when stopped (I have a bike ready with studded tires). I’m considering getting some grippier MTB shoes that take spikes.

[vvill]

I just use balaclava type things if I need head warmth. Never had a problem being too cold – it’s usually just the opposite.

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@dasgeh 29930 wrote:

Bumping this to its own thread, in the hopes that are friends in the County can get this fixed. As a reminder, here’s the situation with the light timing at Lee and Lynn:

…

Agreed. And what’s even more strange about this is that the less busy light just couple hundred yards up at Custis & Oak St has a nice dedicated bike crossing light (although I do wish they didn’t use that pebble aggregate on the curb cuts – it’s quite slippery in the wet.)

@consularrider 29968 wrote:

Probably no one is pushing the walk light button. It does seem like the left turn timing for southbound Lee Highway is slightly shorter. Also, I’ve started turning right onto Lee Highway and then left at Westmoreland by Chas’in Tail. So far I have had fairly good luck in either getting the left turn arrow or a break in the northbound traffic. Now if Arlington would only repave Westmoreland from Lee Highway to Sycamore.

I think this is quite a good alternative manoeuvre. I usually take it a step further when I’m going west bound and take Van Buren => E Columbia => Little Falls since I pop off the W&OD at Little Falls anyway. I often prefer crossing as road traffic at the E Columbia / 29 light rather than ped traffic at a busier intersection.

[vvill]

On any ride of distance, it’s important for me to eat and drink enough. Bonking is bad. The other thing is not riding too hard too early. It’s ok to ride hard in parts but make sure you don’t go too hard for too long. Pace yourself. Riding with others is also really important – more than 2 hrs alone gets reaaaally boring for me.

I also tend not to have anything caffeinated until at least 50-70 miles into the ride, which is when I might need it!

[vvill]

A combination of this challenge, the 2mile CLIF Bar challenge and a couple of Strava challenges motivated me enough to do quite a lot of extra miles from May through August. The fitness/riding ability gains also added to that (I finally understand why people ride Hains Pt now, and a few months ago would never have dreamed of setting my alarm <6am to go ride it in the morning before work).

Very impressive numbers posted by many around these parts, especially since some of the top riders had a couple weeks off. I did a quick calc and if we did assemble the top 10 BikeArlington riders into a team, it would’ve finished 3rd overall nationwide. I didn’t actually do as many miles as say, Greenbelt, because I got the minimum 20 pts for every day from thru August – but I had quite a few 0.6mi days (which happens to be the distance for a lap around my block). My lowest mileage day was Tour de Fat DC. I rode around inside the pen of weird/crazy bikes for 15 mins after a beer, and logged it as 0.1miles…

I’m especially impressed by those who have consistently longer commutes (Dirt, eminva, Greenbelt, etc.) because they can’t do a shorter commute on the days they feel off. I can shorten mine to less than 9 miles if I’m not feeling it.

I’m most pleased to be not logging on endomondo anymore.

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Not me. My long weekend has started already. I plan to visit Total Wine tomorrow.

I’m soooooooo glad to be done with Endomondo. I wonder if they can host this thing somewhere else next year ?

The only thing they do I like is the accuweather beta thing, so you can see what the weather was like when you were out riding.

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Ok I just put a brand new Gatorskin on my rear wheel for the Alpine Loop Gran Fondo. I only bought one tire though (they’re expensive!) as I already have a spare Panaracer RibMo 25mm with low mileage on it from when I switched my hybrid over to 32s.

I’m wondering if it’s really worth putting it on the front wheel though… is there any dirt climb around here that’s comparable to what’s on the GF? The RibMo is a nice commuter tire but I don’t want to have to be putting out extra watts all day if I don’t need to – interesting graphs here linked by Certifried:
http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?2888-Is-there-a-source-online-for-specs-for-old-bikes&p=29861#post29861

I’ve only flatted my front tire once in ~6000 miles of riding, and I wonder if the 2mm will really make that much difference. My current tire is a Hutchison Fusion 3 (clincher, 700×23). Chances are I’ll be slowing down on the dirt sections anyway, as I’m not the best bike handler.

[vvill]

I don’t think the difference between 26″ and 700c tires would be that significant, assuming the same tire compound/tread/width. But 20″ wheels vs 700c, now there’s a difference!

Rider position and frame dimensions/design affect aerodynamics and how easily you can transfer your power to the bike, which influence how fast you can go. (The greatest influence though, is of course the rider.)

Sometimes just having a 20lb road bike makes you feel like riding more. If I go back to my hybrid or MTB I’ll ride faster than I used to because I’ve ridden more + ridden harder since getting the road bike.

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@eminva 29808 wrote:

Okay, so the survey results are in: people don’t like blinky lights on the trail. And it appears the vis360 blinks. So that one gets crossed off the list. Thanks, everyone.

By the way, I mentioned earlier in this thread that I got my new Exposure Diablo last night. The Exposure USA website has the Diablo for sale for $199 with a “minor cosmetic blemish.” I cannot even discern the blemish on my new light. So if you were thinking about a Diablo for the approaching season, this might be an option to save some cash.

Liz

I don’t actually mind blinky front lights as long as they’re not too bright. And blinky rear lights are fine. I run with them on quite often.

As for the Exposure lights… endorsed by Pete AND Liz? I might have to get one now.

The great thing about being a night-riding cyclist is that when there’s say, a snowpocalypse or derecho, and you need some flashlights, it’s pretty easy to go to your bike room/accessories storage and come out brandishing 1000 lumens in two hands.

[vvill]

@Dickie 29747 wrote:

I can’t wait to roll on those green lanes, sort of like our version of the red carpet….. without the awards, cameras, tuxedos, celebrities, swag, police escorts, and screaming fans…. OK, so nothing like the red carpet!

Do the Freshbikes ride! It goes on those parts of Military, and you get a police escort, as well as occasional screaming.

[vvill]

Nice! I think this is a great improvement.

[vvill]

@Bilsko 29678 wrote:

Wireless shifters integrated into your gloves so you shift by pressing anywhere your hands happen to be on the bars.

I was thinking of something like this the other day when I was out riding! I’ve been riding with hands closer together (near the stem) a lot lately because I haven’t been shifting as much and I figured it would be the next logical step to be able to shift from anywhere.

[Author]

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