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I love waffles and tater tots too. Now I really need to try to make this.

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@Dirt 22149 wrote:

I guess my wife and I doing something right in the balance department (because honestly, it takes balance on her side too… she’s not a cyclist but has other things that are important to her). Today is my 20th wedding anniversary. My wife and I have been together as a couple for just short of 24 years. It gets better every year.

Congrats Pete!

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essigmw and I saw the the same scene when we went by. There was a cabi bike there too – not sure if it was just someone else stopped or someone else also involved in the accident.

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Sorry to hear that, heal up soon Brendan!

I did a slightly similar thing a month or so ago on my commute to work which was my “wake up call”. Kept yawning and forgetting to brake early enough (it was wet). I crashed braking on the Custis but got away with just a scrape on my elbow. Nowadays I make sure I am (closer to) 100% awake before heading out even if it means arriving late to work.

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@JimF22003 21972 wrote:

Can anyone recommend a bell that has a quick-release that works well? I’d put one on while on the MUP but there’s no way I’m riding out on the road with one

The Incredibell Omnibell isn’t quick release, but the rubber mounting band is very quick to attach/detach and reasonably thick. It might last long enough for your purposes.

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I’m fortunate that my S.O. is supportive of my biking. She’s known me for a long time and that it’s always been a sort of therapy for me. Since I got my road bike last year and started riding regularly (as in more than just 1-3 times/week) my knees have been a lot better too so there’s a huge additional specific benefit there. (I used to wear knee braces 50-75% of the time, just for walking around even. Now it’s <10% of the time.) This forum has been great too because no one takes it too seriously, and there's an intelligent and pragmatic activist aspect - whilst still being social and fun.

That said, I do have young kids, so I limit my non-commute riding (commuting is only 30 mins more than car per day, and faster than Metro which I took for years). I enjoy group rides a lot but weekends are also the only days where I can spend serious hours with my family, so I plan ahead to try to keep everything in balance. Participation in mass events like Crystal Ride can be organized well in advance. I do try to take my kids out on short rides, and as they get older, it will be a great to both ride and spend more time with them as well as getting them out of the house for a bit. I would happily take them by bike to the grocery store, out for ice cream, etc too but unfortunately my area is just not good for that. (Although they are “renovating” the Old Chesterbrook bridge now so it could become more viable.)

I gave up my gym membership And yeah the clean/nice looking yard/house/car/bike etc. although I still mow my own lawn (a good workout) and do small stuff like replacing leaky bathroom sink faucets. I don’t watch a lot of TV or movies either, but I’ve always liked music more than either of those and I get to listen to a lot while at work. As for sleep… that was given up years ago when my son was born. I guess I spend less time playing computer games than I used to.

I feel it’s important to keep riding fun. There have been times I’ve wondered why am I doing this (e.g. second rest stop during my first time on Kill Bill ) but generally I listen to my body/mind*. If I’m too tired I can go home. If I don’t want to ride a full commute even I can part commute or even… ride to Metro I don’t generally like riding myself to the point of exhaustion because then I won’t be able to do anything at home. But most rides are the opposite – I feel more energetic afterwards.

* I admit having Strava/Garmin has uhm… complicated this feedback loop.

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@jabberwocky 21949 wrote:

Yeah. There are limits to how much you can accommodate other peoples randomness/failure to follow rules. I’m a pretty careful cyclist on the trail, but I’ve almost hit a lot of people (and have hit a few) over the years I commuted on the W&OD. You can call, slow when passing, give as much room as possible but at some point, if someone decides to do a rapid 180 or dart into the trail without looking, well, there just isn’t much you can do to avoid them.

Yeah I’ve seen a few 180s from runners up ahead where I guess they’ve reached their allocated mileage/lap/run distance and just wheeled straight around without pausing or looking. Luckily I’ve never been close enough to hit any. And just this morning in Georgetown there was a lady running a blind sharp left turn straight into the right side of the “path” (just over the Key Bridge/M St corner) where I was riding. Neither of us were going fast and we were attentive enough that we both moved out of the way with no problem but again, if I had been 5-10 yards further ahead it could have been a different story.

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@txgoonie 21933 wrote:

On my shoe, where it was supposed to be. I’ve done a dozen running races with D-tags and never had any issue with them. My 5th and 6th laps were recorded accurately, but 1/2 and 3/4 were combined. Odd. ?? Oh well. It’s not like prize money was on the line. I just wanna feel like I really earned my medal!

This. I hopped on some pretty fast-moving pacelines, which I pretty much never get to do. It rocked.

Did you bunny hop way over the timing mats? Maybe they have some sort of automatic smoothing algorithm for detection that was a little too aggressive in your case. Or maybe there’s some limit to how many riders go over the mats at once at the same time? Clutching at straws here…

Yeah it was fun with the pacelines. I should’ve probably started further up front though as I think my pace ended up having me pass other people most of the time (I didn’t expect that though – I thought I was going to be scraping in to get 6 laps). That was probably the fastest 50+ mi ride I’ve ever done.

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Very sad to hear this ended in a fatality. Horrible situation for all concerned.

I use either/both bell and voice, depending on the situation. Wondering if I should change from “on your left” now though. I usually stop pedalling (or even brake) as the hub noise does often help as well. I agree though in a situation like JimF22003 mentions I will just pass without saying too much. Usually this is in the earlier hours of the morning and any trail users that around are experienced. I’ve found that some experienced trail users will even extend their arm up in recognition of your signal, and quite a few will thank you for calling your pass.

These days, I almost always give a small wave with my right hand when moving back into the right after I’ve overtaken another trail user, just to make it clear I was aware of them, even if they didn’t seem to hear me. A “Thanks” from me also happens fairly often – usually depending on if the trail user has earphones.

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@Mark Blacknell 21921 wrote:

I’m a big fan of the Incredibell line of bells.
…
There are other bells that work fine, too, and certainly bells with a more pleasant sound. But this is pretty much the most effective and practical bell I’ve come across. You can buy the original Incredibell in just about any local bike store. It’s $15 well spent.

Agreed! I have 2x Incredibell Omnibells. I have them mounted so I can flick them with my left thumb easily (sounds like it’s similar to mstone’s positioning). Sometimes I’ll let them ring when I hit them, and sometimes I’ll mute them again (with the same thumb) if I just need a short *ding*.

They’re the only bells I’ve ever bought (others have been freebies/came with the bike).

@Mark Blacknell 21921 wrote:

I did pick up a version that mounts on STI levers, but I doubt it would last very long.[/quote]

I’ve read that the STI shifter mounted one doesn’t work on newer Shimano shifters.

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@txgoonie 21880 wrote:

29mph? I suppose it’s possible, but highly unlikely. Just b/c of conditions, route, other riders, etc.

Anybody else’s results wrong? My first and second laps were nowhere near 58 and 57 minutes

Mine seemed pretty accurate. Where did you have your timing chip?

@PotomacCyclist 21872 wrote:

A quick scan of the results page shows that someone posted a time of 18:51 in the 7th lap. But I’m not sure that’s correct. That would be an average of more than 29 mph for the lap. Since no one else managed to approach that time, he would have had to ride that fast without the help of drafting. Is that even possible for an amateur rider?

They probably just looped back around without doing the whole lap – I don’t think the timing system’s that smart. If they had mats in Rosslyn and the Air Force Memorial then they could get some pretty cool timing breakdowns. (But still, I’m impressed with the setup – this is the first time I’ve been in a timed cycling event.)

I’m always amazed at how much faster I can ride with other riders around (to motivate/draft off)… I started maybe midpack and didn’t actually get to get going until after Rosslyn on my first lap. About 100 yards after that turn, someone’s mostly full water bottle rolled towards me and other riders were calling “water bottle!”. I slowed enough to let it roll in slowly onto my front wheel and picked it up but I guess not as slowly as I thought as the rider behind me fell off his bike. Oops. Then I looked around for a gap to throw it off the course but it was hard to find a good spot as I was on the far left.

I think it would be good if the event was NOT a mass start. They could simply have groups based on previous year’s finish times (and newbies would just go into the back group).

@PotomacCyclist 21884 wrote:

Here’s the video I shot

Ouch! I saw Mark’s photos but the video looks more painful somehow (I guess because you can see the limping OUCH gait.)
“That is a lot of road rash…”

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Works for me. I could do earlier even.

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I always treat myself as any other road vehicle when near a school bus. One time the driver emphatically encouraged me to go around because I was waiting on my bike and said I didn’t need to wait.

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I saw less commuters than average today, surprisingly.

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If I can make it I’ll join the EFC convoy, on my hybrid (comfy 700×32 tires).

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