wheelswings
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wheelswings
ParticipantI may have to say bye to my beloved bicycle of 20 years. I stopped by Phoenix this afternoon ‘cause I’ve been having trouble braking, especially during last week’s storms when I’d speed down hills despite my tightest squeezing of the brakes. Turns out the rear brake is literally frozen in place (and useless) ‘cause it’s so corroded. Edoardo tried for an hour to remove it, but it won’t budge. He’s soaking it in lubricants overnight. The trouble is, the piece that attaches the brake to the seatstay is bending and ready to snap off. Edoardo will try again to remove the brake tomorrow –- Paul is bringing a torch to literally flame it off. Meanwhile I’m trying to brace myself that my trusty bicycle may end up in the scrap heap. I know that Bike Snob teaches us not to become attached to our bikes, but I am very attached.
Participant@hozn 125555 wrote:
Yeah, this isn’t crazy. Crazy would be doing it on the unicycle.
Shush! Don’t give him ideas!!
Participant@Steve O 125531 wrote:
The more relevant metric is what is your marginal time. If your metro ride is 45 minutes and your bike is 1:05, then your marginal additional time is 20 minutes. Investing 20 minutes to get 1:05 of exercise is a very efficient use of time.
For me the key variable is reliability. You can rely on your bicycle. You know within two minutes when you are getting home or to your meeting or to the school bus to pick up the kids. You cannot rely on Metro, nor on driving through the traffic jams.
The marginal time variable is often less important…and honestly I wouldn’t want my commute to be any quicker ‘cause I like it too much. Often it’s valuable thinking time as well, and when I get to my destination I rush to write down what I’ve come up with. That rarely happens while driving or when I’m a high-priced sardine on Metro.
ParticipantIs midnight the start time, or will that be earlier? in DC or VA? And is there a projected finish time? This sounds totally fun, though it may not work for those of us needing some sleep Friday night (in order to drive a carpool of gymnasts on the beltway Saturday morning). Maybe I could join you for the first few miles, depending on the timing….
ParticipantOkay, I signed up for Car-Free Day. It will be a sacrifice but I think I can manage…
Seriously, though, I am still waiting for an event that offers me free coffee and prizes for driving my car. That’s when I could really use them.
Every time it’s my turn to drive the carpool on 66 and the beltway I am overwhelmed with gratitude for my bicycle and for our community.
We are so fortunate.
Participant@creadinger 123768 wrote:
A crazy ivan on a MUP caused a crash and serious injuries.
In the barely two weeks since creadinger posted this link, I can count on two hands the number of runners who’ve done these nifty U-turn maneuvers on the trail in front of me…including another one this morning on the WOD.
Competitive running was my world for many years…ever since I was a kid, actually. I like runners. But I think that many just don’t think about trail safety. I’m wondering if some simple educational signage would help, something like,
Look B4 u U.ParticipantHi secstate – welcome (back) to DC. I hope someone has an answer for you. My commute takes me on some other trails late at night. Following the collective wisdom of this Forum, I now carry readily-accessible mace and a shriek alarm, and I turn on extra lights. If it’s approaching midnight, I take alternate routes that avoid the spookiest section of trail. You might want to do the same.
Even as the bicycling population in our region is growing, it seems like very few of us actually use the trails at night. I wish more people would join us. That would make it safer for everyone, plus it’s a refreshing time of day to be outside in nature….cooler temperatures, cleaner air, and all sorts of crickets, birds, bats and frogs to keep us company!
ParticipantIf I hadn’t flunked that darn Ishihara Plate test for my pilot’s license, I could get there in half the time!
Participant@dasgeh 124555 wrote:
is it better to make the painted southbound bike lane protected and have no north bound bike lane (that will be on Clark/Bell)…
Do we ever put up signs on uni-directional bike lanes telling riders which street has the return lane? It seems like that could be helpful to newer riders.
ParticipantHmm…
So if I make it back to Arlington, I may win the Pointless Prize for Longest Ride, and then I’ll be awarded a holey medal, and then I’ll meet someone at the FS HH, and then – if I’ve not had too many flats – we can patch it, and then… worth a shot.
Participant@worktheweb 124465 wrote:
There was a part of me that wanted to walk back and tell him that nothing I was doing was illegal, and in fact it was actually expressly permitted by the DC code. Alas, I knew it would be futile and I left it at that.
Agreed – it wouldn’t make sense to try and educate such a creep. He was probably trying to intimidate you with the filming, as that’s all he really had available to deal with his frustrations. Sorry!
I think a lot of drivers are hating us bicycle riders these days because the traffic is so bad, and they’re stuck in it and late for work. This morning I flitted by many blocks of stalled traffic going up Florida Ave. It was pretty mind-blowing, actually, as I’m not exactly a speed demon on my 1994 Mountain Trek. I have no doubt the drivers found me hugely irritating.
As we know, DC tops the list of cities with the worst traffic. I feel bad for car-commuters – it’s got to be miserable, stuck in their steel boxes — but at the same time that’s absolutely no excuse to dish out the aggression on two-wheelers.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/08/25/worst-traffic-washington-dc/32075461/ParticipantYes – see you at 9 a.m. Looking forward.
ParticipantSo is the MMPC taking place tomorrow only in Kiev? Sounds like many folks are away or riding centuries… Mikes Deli opens at 9 a.m. on Labor Day. Anyone interested?
ParticipantNope, we stuck to Trek and Specialized vehicles, no Mazda’s.
But we did meet a couple Washington, DC bicycle commuters … we told them all about the Forum and encouraged them to join.ParticipantThx for the suggestions on Acadia National Park. We just got back from our car-free five-day holiday. We did some long rides on the carriage roads (open only to bicycle riders, horses, and pedestrians), and also relied on our bikes for daily transportation, though many of the automotive roads were not safe for child-cyclists so we had to exercise caution. The hiking was spectacular…my fearless young acrobats chose the most treacherous climbs on vertical rock walls (Precipice and Jordan Cliff trails), ignoring the height requirements and “danger” signs. For our 30 mile final ride we swapped out the 10-year-old’s rental bicycle for our first-ever experience on a tag-a-long, which forced me to actually SIT on the saddle to avoid fishtailing. Now I understand why many cyclists wear those padded briefs! Riding with the tag-a-long felt tippy at first but there’s a fun sense of teamwork once you master it. My 13-year-old was an ace at transporting the suitcases via bicycle.
Happy to share tips on bike-friendly/family-friendly motels, routes, etc., if anyone’s heading to Acadia.
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