Author Topic: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition  (Read 40531 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Obed_Marsh

  • Posts: 7593
Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #500: May 12, 2012, 11:26:53 PM »
Give it time MDS, you will get there.

I have an extra 25 pounds but if I buckle down on something like cyclocross I'd expect it to taper down. My gut says more likely when my fiancée heads back to Brazil and I am bored. Granted I might spend more time in the pub too. :mg:

Offline mitlen

  • Posts: 66171
  • We had 'em all the way.
Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #501: May 13, 2012, 01:13:46 PM »
Rode the motorcycle to Gettysburg yesterday.

Offline Ali the Baseball Cat

  • Posts: 17647
  • babble on
Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #502: May 17, 2012, 10:40:59 PM »
Lots of people wearing World Bank "I biked to work today" yellow t-shirts on the CCT.  I guess that makes up for a dam or two. 

Offline CALSGR8

  • Posts: 11609
  • BE LOUD. BE PROUD. BE POSITIVE!
Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #503: May 18, 2012, 01:00:29 AM »
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/bike-lover-bike-hater-depends-on-whether-youre-on-four-wheels-or-two/2012/05/17/gIQARP6VWU_story.html?hpid=z10


Bike lover, bike hater: Depends on whether you’re on four wheels or two
By Petula Dvorak, Published: May 17
I am riding like the wind, coasting down Capitol Hill, bursting with righteous indignation.

It takes just five minutes on top of this bike for me to know I am good for the environment, healthy, frugal, smarter than all of y’all.

Whoa! Slow your roll, Virginia boy. Can’t you see that I’m busy saving the Earth on my bike? That SUV of yours takes up half the city. I bet you live on a huge cul-de-sac, in a McMansion with your own septic system and sad little saplings planted by the developer who chopped down all the mature trees to build that monument to yourself. I bet you don’t even recycle.

I roll my eyes at you, shake my helmet head at your obvious ignorance.

And, yes, we do think like that when we are on our bikes and you’re stalled in the crosswalk, picking your nose and contributing to the epidemic of traffic congestion, pollution, global warming and stretched nostrils.

Friday is national Bike to Work Day. Try it, and you’ll see how quickly you, too, will loathe cars.

Why are you parked in the bike lane, taxi?

Stupid suit, you’re not so important that you have to text while walking.

Hellooooo? Can’t you see the red light, iPhone Barbie?

It’s hard not to let that snarky, internal monologue get like this on the days I bike to work. But on the days I do the kids’ car pool and end up behind the wheel?

These selfish, ridiculous bikers think they own the road!

Oh, yes, two lanes of traffic slow to a crawl after their Lycra cabooses. They sail through intersections, ignoring red lights, using their righteousness to justify total ignorance of all regular rules of traffic.

“Why did that man yell the F-word at you and throw his sandwich at our windshield?” my child wondered aloud one day, after an angry biker chucked his lunch at us.

I hit the wipers. Jelly and cream cheese. Ugh.

On the sidewalks, pedestrians get clipped, rushed, dinged and frightened out of their Cole Haans.

My internal arguments flare up again. “Hey, I’m keeping four cars off the road by doing the car pool today. Stick that in your inner tube hole!”

The numbers of bikes on the road in the District has increased about eightfold in less than a decade. That doesn’t seem to mean fewer cars on the streets, but rather more cases of all-out war.

And in fine Washington fashion, it’s vicious and vehemently argued no matter what side of the bike rack you’re on.

Just last month, a biker who slapped a car that nearly hit him ended up with a broken jaw after the driver got out and took revenge with his fist. The report of that incident on the Prince of Petworth blog generated an endless back-and-forth on the “car slap,” which is the next level up, apparently, from a biker’s middle finger.

Or see the “On-your-left tales of woe” thread on the Bike Arlington Forum, where folks went on for eight pages about the politics of “calling your passes,” letting people know when you’re passing them.

Few interactions in everyday living become as quickly and hotly inflamed as the bike/car/pedestrian demolition derby.

When I’m biking, I can totally see why. I’ve been run off the road, wedged between tour buses, car-doored, bumped into a sewer drain, honked at, hooked, yelled at and scared out of my mind.

When I first started bike commuting, I imagined it all European and chic and stuff. A cute little city bike with a basket in front, usually filled with a bouquet of flowers and a fresh baguette. I’d be in my skirt and my heels, of course.

My first bike commute was seven years ago, on an August morning. I was among about 1,800 other people who pedaled to work at that time, and we were still relatively uncommon, with few bike lanes and even fewer drivers who cared to share the road.

When I got to work, my jaunty linen jacket was sweat-stained; my face was red. In the bathroom, I flattened myself against the wall tiles and the metal stall to try and cool off. I now understood the Great Bike Commuter Shower Hunt.

Clearly I didn’t get that city biking is a dirty sport. Out come the shorts and T-shirt.

Ahhh, much better. Now I feel a bit of kinship with those really serious bikers, the ones in Lycra, with saddlebags and clip-on shoes. I smile and wave at the tattooed couriers, with their fixies and dark shades.

They’d sometimes do a chin-raise acknowledging me and my ungainly commuter bike.

And now, with a commuter population of about 8,000? I am the lowest of the low. A biker subspecies.

“Renter!” one of the uber-bikers yelled at me as I blocked his turn waiting at a stoplight on my cute, sturdy Capital Bikeshare bike.

A commenter on a recent Dr. Gridlock chat agreed about my lowly position as a bike sharer.

“In fact, BikeShare cyclists are the worst of the lot, worse now than couriers,” he wrote. “They simply have no clue how to follow the rules of the road.”

Whoa, wait a minute, Lycra boy.

Capital Bikeshare now accounts for more than 1,000 bikes, and an average of 4,000 rides a day, in the city, with more bikes and riders in Arlington County. And the program is set to spread further into the suburbs, with plans for racks in Rockville, Alexandria, Bethesda, Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Friendship Heights and Forest Glen. Even College Park and Howard County are considering them.

There are a heck of a lot more SUVs out there. You think arguments about paint color at a homeowners association are vicious? Just wait. The politics of suburban biking are going to make Congress’s debt-ceiling debates look reasonable.

Enjoy the ride and tweet me your worst biker/pedestrian/driver story, @petulad. To read my previous columns, go to washingtonpost.com/
dvorak.


Offline comish4lif

  • Posts: 2934
  • Too Stressed to care.
Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #504: May 18, 2012, 11:42:01 AM »
I'm signed up for the "Metric" Century with the Seagull Century event in early October - starting from Salisbury, MD.

http://www.seagullcentury.org/

Who's with me?

http://www.seagullcentury.org/docs/2012/SGC_Brochure_12.pdf

Offline MarquisDeSade

  • Posts: 15101
  • Captain Sadness
Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #505: May 18, 2012, 11:52:43 AM »
Count me in. 62 miles won't be that bad.

Offline GburgNatsFan

  • Posts: 22277
  • Let's drink a few for Mathguy.
Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #506: May 18, 2012, 11:53:55 AM »
That's a typo, right?
kangaroo me in. 62 miles won't be that bad.


Offline GburgNatsFan

  • Posts: 22277
  • Let's drink a few for Mathguy.
Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #507: May 18, 2012, 11:54:55 AM »
Too much spandex. Doesn't anyone ride in touring shorts?

I'm signed up for the "Metric" Century with the Seagull Century event in early October - starting from Salisbury, MD.

http://www.seagullcentury.org/

Who's with me?

http://www.seagullcentury.org/docs/2012/SGC_Brochure_12.pdf


Offline MarquisDeSade

  • Posts: 15101
  • Captain Sadness
Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #508: May 18, 2012, 11:56:32 AM »
I wear bibs but touring shorts over them.

Offline Ali the Baseball Cat

  • Posts: 17647
  • babble on
Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #509: May 18, 2012, 12:20:09 PM »
Running shorts over lycra bibs are de rigueur.  They have that nice petticoat flutter.

I wear bibs but touring shorts over them.


Offline tomterp

  • Global Moderator
  • ****
  • Posts: 33783
  • Hell yes!
Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #510: May 18, 2012, 12:50:36 PM »
I'm signed up for the "Metric" Century with the Seagull Century event in early October - starting from Salisbury, MD.

http://www.seagullcentury.org/

Who's with me?

http://www.seagullcentury.org/docs/2012/SGC_Brochure_12.pdf

I'm usually fishing in the Pocomoke that weekend.  At least one of the ride options crosses Nassawango Creek where I spend a fair amount of effort.  Unreal how many riders there are.  Eastern Shore is a great place to ride.  Nearly flat, with scenic marsh vistas and little traffic. 

Offline tomterp

  • Global Moderator
  • ****
  • Posts: 33783
  • Hell yes!
Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #511: May 20, 2012, 08:21:36 PM »
Cruised by REI Fairfax today, what a mob scene.  "Biggest sale of the year" was packing them in.  Line fully across the store, though they are very quick at processing transactions.  20% off one item!

But I digress.

Finally cracked open the dividend and bought a pair of Look pedals and Shimano shoes for my road bike.  I woold never have guessed the French were so bad at translating to English (Look instruction manual) but eventually figured it out, and went for a short ride in the neighborhood.

It then dawned on me that I had never learned to exit the clips.     :-[ :-[ :-[

But being a man of considerable intellect, I simply cruised onto my soft green lawn, then gave a mighty tug, congratulating myself on my foresight.    :bow:

Unfortunately, I failed to factor in the Adirondack chairs to my left and so the only way to fall once I realized I wasn't escaping the clips was to the right, onto my blacktop driveway.    :clown:

 I immediately took stock of the situation, and gratefully nobody saw me fall.    :pray: :thumbs:

Eventually I extricated myself from the predicament (took the shoes off my feet)   :lol:  and set about solving the riddle.

At the risk of Coladaring the thread, let's just say I figured it out and successfully made another test run.    :clap: :bow:

Offline MarquisDeSade

  • Posts: 15101
  • Captain Sadness
Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #512: May 20, 2012, 08:26:47 PM »
If you have the little clips you just twist. The triangle ones should work the same way.

Offline Ali the Baseball Cat

  • Posts: 17647
  • babble on
Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #513: May 20, 2012, 10:49:45 PM »
Ha

My first go at Look pedals involved falling over in the middle of Pennsylvania Ave (1700 block, right outside a notorious house of ill repute)
during rush hour.  Got it quickly after that.

Cruised by REI Fairfax today, what a mob scene.  "Biggest sale of the year" was packing them in.  Line fully across the store, though they are very quick at processing transactions.  20% off one item!

But I digress.

Finally cracked open the dividend and bought a pair of Look pedals and Shimano shoes for my road bike.  I woold never have guessed the French were so bad at translating to English (Look instruction manual) but eventually figured it out, and went for a short ride in the neighborhood.

It then dawned on me that I had never learned to exit the clips.     :-[ :-[ :-[

But being a man of considerable intellect, I simply cruised onto my soft green lawn, then gave a mighty tug, congratulating myself on my foresight.    :bow:

Unfortunately, I failed to factor in the Adirondack chairs to my left and so the only way to fall once I realized I wasn't escaping the clips was to the right, onto my blacktop driveway.    :clown:

 I immediately took stock of the situation, and gratefully nobody saw me fall.    :pray: :thumbs:

Eventually I extricated myself from the predicament (took the shoes off my feet)   :lol:  and set about solving the riddle.

At the risk of Coladaring the thread, let's just say I figured it out and successfully made another test run.    :clap: :bow:
[/quote]

If you have the little clips you just twist. The triangle ones should work the same way.


Offline tomterp

  • Global Moderator
  • ****
  • Posts: 33783
  • Hell yes!
Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #514: May 21, 2012, 08:41:45 AM »
If you have the little clips you just twist. The triangle ones should work the same way.

Oh sure, big help you are now.  Where the hell were you yesterday?   :doh:

Offline MarquisDeSade

  • Posts: 15101
  • Captain Sadness
Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #515: May 21, 2012, 09:50:22 AM »
Oh sure, big help you are now.  Where the hell were you yesterday?   :doh:

I always try things like that out before I hit the road.  Learned that the hard way the first time I used disc brakes...

Offline GburgNatsFan

  • Posts: 22277
  • Let's drink a few for Mathguy.
Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #516: May 21, 2012, 10:06:52 AM »
disc brakes are that much more effective?
I always try things like that out before I hit the road.  Learned that the hard way the first time I used disc brakes...


Offline MarquisDeSade

  • Posts: 15101
  • Captain Sadness
Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #517: May 21, 2012, 11:48:27 AM »
I put this in another thread but it definitely belongs here:



I highly suggest everyone that cycles, runs, or hikes have a Road ID® bracelet.  For $15 you can't beat having your vital information on you at all times.  I only included relatively simple info on mine - name, DOB, wife and parent contact info and one of my favorite Bukowski lines on mine - "If you're going to try, go all the way."  The cheapest one only has five lines but, if you need more, they do offer a six line version so you include all kinds of relevant info (allergies, needledickitis, Red Sux fan).  Just make sure you buy extra bracelets (they're only $1 each).

Road ID®

Offline MarquisDeSade

  • Posts: 15101
  • Captain Sadness
Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #518: May 21, 2012, 11:50:58 AM »
disc brakes are that much more effective?

Big time.  Very, very sensitive.

Offline tomterp

  • Global Moderator
  • ****
  • Posts: 33783
  • Hell yes!
Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #519: May 21, 2012, 12:01:40 PM »
So the big new thing I saw when I was perusing bikes a month or so back was the automatic transmission.  Anybody tried those out yet?

Offline MarquisDeSade

  • Posts: 15101
  • Captain Sadness
Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #520: May 21, 2012, 12:12:25 PM »
So the big new thing I saw when I was perusing bikes a month or so back was the automatic transmission.  Anybody tried those out yet?

Those are total garbage.  Complete and total trash.

Offline Ali the Baseball Cat

  • Posts: 17647
  • babble on
Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #521: May 21, 2012, 12:14:41 PM »
They also work a lot better in the rain or cold. 

Big time.  Very, very sensitive.


Offline MarquisDeSade

  • Posts: 15101
  • Captain Sadness
Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #522: May 21, 2012, 12:16:08 PM »
They also work a lot better in the rain or cold. 

When it rains I'd almost rather be on a fixed gear than my pinch-brakes bike.

Offline comish4lif

  • Posts: 2934
  • Too Stressed to care.
Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #523: May 21, 2012, 12:21:12 PM »
I put this in another thread but it definitely belongs here:

(Image removed from quote.)

I highly suggest everyone that cycles, runs, or hikes have a Road ID® bracelet.  For $15 you can't beat having your vital information on you at all times.  I only included relatively simple info on mine - name, DOB, wife and parent contact info and one of my favorite Bukowski lines on mine - "If you're going to try, go all the way."  The cheapest one only has five lines but, if you need more, they do offer a six line version so you include all kinds of relevant info (allergies, needledickitis, Red Sux fan).  Just make sure you buy extra bracelets (they're only $1 each).

Road ID®

I have one of those. They Road ID Slim is also interchangeable with other "tribute" bracelets. So, you can put the metal, printed part on a Livestrong bracelet or other group of your choice.

Offline MarquisDeSade

  • Posts: 15101
  • Captain Sadness
Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #524: May 21, 2012, 12:24:48 PM »
I have one of those. They Road ID Slim is also interchangeable with other "tribute" bracelets. So, you can put the metal, printed part on a Livestrong bracelet or other group of your choice.

Yeah, I figured that would be the case.