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Wish I could come, but I’m out of town. You’ll have to find someone else to help you lead the ride:( — Laurie

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It was a beautiful night for a ride. Great company too. It was the most lively Proteus pot luck in memory – no mac and cheese, but great chili and beer instead. Thanks, Pete, for making the trip with the unicycle. Ben (aka “the bike whisperer”) was absolutely stunned and thrilled to get the unicycle. I’m sure he’ll be riding it through the shop soon…. I love the generosity of the cycling community! — Laurie

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@KLizotte 12015 wrote:

I do think women have a harder time of it though when it comes to wardrobe since they often need/choose to haul jewelry, hair accessories, pantyhose, matching shoes/belts, make-up, etc. in their commuter bags. And hair that is any longer than a buzz cut is a royal pain in the arse to style quickly at work.

I ride to work almost every day now. I’m a college professor and make it a point to look serious and professional. I do not have a shower at work. I’d like to think I don’t sweat…but I do. My bike commute is 12.5 miles each way. And I have pretty long hair. And I wear make-up at work. So here’s what I do – I keep action wipes, face soap and towels at work. The action wipes usually make me presentable. I keep toiletries, cosmetics, hair dryer, a couple of pairs of shoes, a winter wrap, and winter boots in my office. I bring fresh clothes to work – including suits, hose, jewelry and the like, and my laptop in my panniers. It cracks me up when people complement me on my post-bike hat/helmet just out of the ponytail “new” hairstyle. And the bike in my office gives me great street cred with my students. I’ve been doing this for about a year and a half and it’s very very do-able! And in regard to repairs, I don’t think that is gender dependent. I do the minor bike repairs in our house (tubes/tires, chain cleaning, tightening cables) but we take our bikes to the shop for real repairs. The manicurist just has a little extra challenge getting the bike grease out from under my nails
Great thread – lots of good ideas for getting families on bikes!
–Laurie

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Nice to meet JRenaut today! Great day for a ride. Can you believe it’s January?? — Laurie

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Thanks to my most wonderful riding partner and husband who enables my spandex and smart wool addiction (Greenbelt) I have recorded 1705 miles since July (when I started using mapmyride). I’m estimating about 2500 miles for the year. I started fair weather commuting in fall of 2010 about 2 days/week. Barring really lousy weather, I bike commute nearly every day now. We take weekend fun rides to Eastern market from Greenbelt, and for my birthday I was surprised with a bike trip to a downtown DC hotel. It was the coolest thing ever to pull up on bikes to a hotel valet! I plan to keep on pedaling into 2012!!

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The evening commute was equally gorgeous. I didn’t see much wildlife last night. But the ride past Lake Artemesia was stunning — the Canada geese and my favorite fishing great blue heron in silhouette on the still lake with an orange/purple sunset in the distance. One of these days I’m going to get so distracted by the beauty that I’m going to ride right into the Lake. I love bike commuting!

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@Dirt 10078 wrote:

Amen to that, Ann and Mark. That was a great way to spend a Sunday. I wish I could make it to some of their potluck events. Thursdays are just 9 kinds of bad for me. It was great to meet Greenbelt there too.
On board: 2 cases of beer (3 12-packs and 2 sixers), 1 laptop, 2 iPads, clothes, tools and 15 pounds of cat food.

Bring the fat tire and we’ll see if we can get Jill to host another Sunday event
–Laurie

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[QUOTE=acc;10061
The only downside to the whole adventure is the realization that the rhinestones I glued to my helmet for the event are apparently permanent. I can’t pry them off.

Don’t take off the rhinestones! They are fabulous. And I recognized you immediately from the forum. No introductions necessary.
–Laurie

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@Dirt 9908 wrote:

What a great event! The people at Proteus are awesome. I love that shop more than ever. If you’re in the area, check them out. They’re truly a cool community bike shop with a great attitude and a great support of the local riding scene.

Proteus has pot luck suppers on Thursdays 7-9 at the shop, so please come on back and visit! It was really cool for a “junior” member of the forum to meet legends like Pete. And I recognized Ann immediately by her awesome rhinestone studded helmet. Very fun. Thanks for coming out – what a great group!
–Laurie

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Wow. Sorry to hear about your fall. I hate road rash… I am a health care provider (NP) and your advice is sound. When you dress your wound make sure to get telfa pads/non-stick pads. You do not want anything sticking to the wound. Ibuprofen/Aleve (any of the NSAIDS) work better than tylenol/acetaminophen because they have anti-inflammatory properties – and you really want to shut down inflammation. Shutting down your brain (narcotics like vicodan) help you cope. Not an advocate – just saying – if you need them (and have them) use them. Ice also decreases inflammation. But anything that touches the wound hurts like hell. When I’ve had road rash I’ve had to tent my covers – I can’t stand much of anything touching it. Once the oozing stops, then try to go without a bandage so the wound can start to dry out and heal. Think of this wound like a burn with a bruise… it’s going to take awhile to heal completely. Keep riding and keep the blood flowing!

[bikenurse]

@Joe Chapline 9324 wrote:

Thanks, I ordered one — it would be great to have a travel mug that doesn’t leak. Better to get it at Target, though, the shipping is half as much as the mug online.

Hope it works out for you. Remember to clean the lid carefully – I use a bottle brush. There are some lovely nooks and crannies where things can germinate and solidify. Not so much fun when you’re looking forward to a nice cup of coffee and you get something solid…

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i have an insulated, leakproof contigo coffee cup that I got at target. I don’t ride a CaBi. I take my home brewed coffee with me on my 12 mile commute in my pannier side pocket. The coffee is still hot when I get to work and I’ve never had a spill. Here’s a link so you can look at the products: http://www.gocontigo.com/travel-mugs.html

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Jill might need some volunteers, so contact her if you’re able and willing. I hope lots of people come check it out. The more the merrier!

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To drivers I tend to say ‘have a nice day” and “please share the road”. I smile and wave (mostly)
I try to let pedestrians know when I’m passing, however phones and ear buds tend to render them deaf… today I rang my bell to alert a family armada of moms and strollers on the trail 3 across. And they stopped and stared at me so that I had to slowly weave through them. I did tell them that was less than helpful.

[bikenurse]

@theakston 8853 wrote:

“Lights on your dog!” that’s what a cyclist screamed at me as he passed me on the W&OD in Arlington yesterday at about 6:30 AM. I was running, as I often do, with my dog before cycling in to work. I always run with a LED head light on and usually will point it in the direction of the dog when I hear a cyclist come up from behind to make sure they see I am not alone. He is always on a short leash and is very good at running at my heels. It never occured to me that a cyclist would think I needed additional dog specific illumination.

I have tried some of the products out there for dogs and none of them have been very successful – flashing leashes with those expensive disc batteries that last about a week, same with all the flashing collars I have tried.

Does anyone have any recommendations for what might work?

Try this http://www.bikewrappers.com/dogwrappers/
We met the guy who makes these products at Interbike – real nice guy who’s just interested in visibility. No flashing lights – just reflective stuff, so not ridiculously expensive.

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