[wheelswings]

@wheels&wings 115708 wrote:

The inaugural Bread destination is Best Buns in Shirlington at 8 a.m. this coming Sunday May 17th.
Bread clue: The item I am buying complements nicely an award I presented at the FS happy hour.

The bread’s on me tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. Hope you can be there — everyone’s welcome.

(And if nobody shows up I’ll bring it home to my kids :+) )

Happy riding. w&w

[wheelswings]

Yes indeed, I’ll be helping the Shirlington site with set-up at 6 a.m. Please come by for free hugs and tasty treats!

[wheelswings]

Here are four reasons I wear a helmet:
–The helmet may provide a small amount of protection, if I crash in exactly the right way.
–On rare occasion, my helmet has offered partial shielding from bird poop.
–When I’m carrying it around, my helmet leads to interesting conversations with strangers. This gives me an opportunity for person-to-person bicycle evangelism, and at the same time I get a greater sense of community, as strangers become not-so-strange.
–Most importantly, I wear my helmet for the sake of my girls. I have confidence that better, more concussion-proof helmets will be developed in the coming years – and that the Swedish Hövding airbag for cyclists will become more economical here in the US. When that day comes, helmets WILL make a difference. So I want my children to grow up in the habit of wearing helmets — thus I need to wear one myself.
There’s a lot of incentive to create better helmet technology. Whoever invents concussion-proof helmets will likely rake in the profits ‘cause of the huge demand in football and other sports…especially with all the new studies linking early brain trauma to Alzheimer’s risk.

[wheelswings]

OMG, that song is perfect for me today. A large bug collided with my eyeball last night when I was riding…I could barely see for blocks. I killed it, so I’m the lucky one, but my eye is still smarting from the impact. Guess I’m the windshield!

[wheelswings]

Sorry you will miss it… I feel your pain, having missed BTWD for 8 years because my shift started at 5 a.m. I feel lucky to be working later hours now.
I expect it’s tricky to find BTWD volunteers to work so early, since we’re all so sleep-deprived. Actually it’s probably a challenge to find volunteers for the late shift, too, since we’ve all got to get to work!

[wheelswings]

@rcannon100 114027 wrote:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8387[/ATTACH]

Looks like poor Jeremy’s been in a fight… perhaps with his bicycle! What happened?
Congrats on the award. Second place is very fitting for a Bipolar Bear. :+)

[wheelswings]

It’s a great question. Personally I’m in the outstretched-right-arm camp. The perpendicular left arm strikes me as old school, and many people are clueless as to what it means.

I think the hand signals are a relic from drivers’ education, all involving the left arm ‘cause the car driver can’t do the outstretched right arm from their car window. It’s good to know those signals and to be ready to use them in the unlikely event that your turn signals or brake lights stop working when you’re driving a car.

But on the bike, I use the outstretched right arm ‘cause it seems to be more universally understood.

[wheelswings]

Oh no. Very sorry to hear of your accident…that sounds scary. It must have been a bloody mess given your head wound. Were there any motor vehicles involved, or only the other rider and the tourist? I agree that the 15th Street lanes can feel treacherous at times. Sending healing wishes. w&w

[wheelswings]

The most important thing in rain is to dress to be seen … bright colors, neon, high-viz… if you look like a freak, you’re a winner. Good to turn on some extra lights, too.

As for the mental part, if I ever question getting on my bike, I think about the transportation alternatives….bus, metro, car….and voila, whatever hesitation I had dissolves in two seconds.

Often when I’m out there I find myself singing songs appropriate to the conditions. There’s always “Singing in the rain,” or, in traffic, “Staying Alive.” Or today it was the national anthem, following the very happy gymnastics regional championships last weekend. If you can distract yourself to the end of the song, you’ll likely forget the fact that you’ve got soaking wet in the process.

My only other advice is to ditch the wet clothes as soon as you can after arriving at your destination. Otherwise it’s a shiver-fest.

[wheelswings]

@consularrider 113527 wrote:

I think the climb up 41st Street to Randolph from Chain Bridge is a fine candidate for the bike escalator (except of course for the hard core climbers). If you watch the video you’ll note that the user has to insert a card and push a start button. I wonder if the card is so the rider can be charged for the trip up the hill?

I expect that’s exactly right … the card is to pay the fee. Nothing in Norway comes free…. but the scenery is exquisite.

I was in the Nordic countries in 2001 for some international treaty meetings. I was ~6 months pregnant, and one thing that really stood out in Norway was that ladies had to pay nearly a US dollar to use the public restrooms — while men had free use of the urinals and only had to pay for the private booths… surprisingly backward policy for such a progressive country.

In any case, I’m sure the bike escalator costs money, as well.

[wheelswings]

A friend just showed me this article about the valour bicycle.
http://mashable.com/2015/04/10/smart-bike-calls-home-when-stolen/
also
https://www.vanhawks.com/
It sounds very cool. My own bike (20 year old Mountain Trek) and phone (Sprint special, no data!) are from the dinosaur age… I’ve a ways to go to catch up with this Smart Bike, but it’s fun to read in any case. :+)

[wheelswings]

Indeed. Captain Ian rode 1619 miles this winter, in blizzards, ice, and single-digit temperatures. The guy’s got guts of steel. But we have discovered his Achilles’ heel. :+)

[wheelswings]

To Bipolar Bears Team Captain Ian: Congratulations on your baby boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry you, um, fainted when your wife’s water broke.

To quote your wife, “Guess if you’re going to hit the floor face first there are worse places to do it than in a hospital.”
Let us know when you’re ready for that beer, Ian…

Baby Charlie is now at Children’s National awaiting his first heart surgery. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Welcome to the world, Charles Owen Fingerman.

[wheelswings]

Great article. That takes spine to cut the speed limit to 18 mph – good for them. I’m intrigued by their proposed corner treatments:
“Junctions with traffic lights will be equipped with 7,000 new alternative corner crossings that allow cyclists to turn without waiting for lights to turn green. Where these are not in place, cyclists will benefit from priority at all lights.”
I wonder how this will work. Perhaps a field trip is in order (a girls’s gotta have dreams… )

[wheelswings]

@Steve O 113149 wrote:

But there are others here on the forum who prefer backpacks for some completely unimaginable reason. I don’t get it.

Just to give the other perspective…
When I first started bicycle commuting, I thought I really ought to get panniers to carry all my gear and groceries. But for various reasons I procrastinated on the purchase, and ultimately my back got so strong – from carrying so much weight – I stopped yearning for panniers. Now I don’t even think about it. I fill my backpack and strap a big cloth carry-bag to the outside for the extra groceries. It’s not elegant, but it works fine.

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