[lordofthemark]

@FFX_Hinterlands 27879 wrote:

Ratings: Preferred route, somewhat preferred route, sucky route, death trap. What’s so hard?

which are the dashed lines on the map supposed to be? They show hummer road and annandale road that way (supposedly somewhat preferred route) and they also show Little River Turnpike that way (which is a sucky route, at best). The FFX map is a pretty map, and I am glad to have a copy, but I those ratings leave me confused.

[lordofthemark]

I am sorry that motorcycle slamming into the car coming southbound, in the center, pushed the left hand north bound lane drivers over into the right hand lane. That did not, I think, give y’all the right to use the bike lane to compensate. Yes, there was no one in the bike lane at the moment, but that was because I had pulled onto the sidewalk to stop and look to see if anyone was hurt (no one was, and others stopped to help, and I was too pre-occupied with my riding to be a good witness) I wanted to go on my way, but could not immediately return to the bike lane due to your appropriating it.

[lordofthemark]

@baiskeli 26963 wrote:

Yep. We should keep that in mind.

Of course, the difference is that we’re right about the law in both cases. Bikes belong on the streets, while runners don’t belong in the streets or bike lanes or cycletracks.

i dont run but I do want to say

in the suburbs there are places where

A. There is no sidewalk

B. Where the sidewalk is poor for runners (overhanging vegetation, etc)

On the other hand there are places where, due to crime, the street is (or at least feels) safer at night than a poorly lit sidewalk with adjacent alleys, vegetation and other potential ambush points. I know there are times that, as pedestrians, my wife has insisted we walk in the street.

Note that has nothing directly to do with bike lanes or cycle tracks.

[lordofthemark]

@dasgeh 25679 wrote:

What surfaces do you ride on? How fast do you go/want to go? How much do you carry?

for my current weekend rides all kinds of things – last weekend I took the bus to the MVT and rode that (and also the bridges too and from DC and a bit of the Canal towpath) Ive riden on the cross county trail, including the gravelly and dirt parts, on streets in annandale, sometimes on sidewalks on Little River Turnpike (varying sidewalk conditions).

The commute I am aiming to do would be from the Pentagon Metro station to corner of M and New Jersey SE.

Someday I would like to take a nice long ride on the W&OD – like to Purcellville and back.

Maybe its not being in shape, or knowing the tricks to riding effecitively (I do want to take a class) or its the heat, but I find I get exhausted riding the mountain bike any length, and I don’t go very fast. Last sunday I did a short ride, maybe 10 minutes here in hilly annandale (to get to the bus) than a ride from the Pentagon around to the MVT and then on the MVT to Rosslyn, and by the time I got to Rosslyn I was tired and sweaty. I assume that would have been more pleasant on a lighter bike with narrower wheels.

I would still keep the MTB for the CCT excursions, and so forth. Or I would give it to my daughter.

[lordofthemark]

@GuyContinental 25550 wrote:

I think that a use case might be helpful- if you have a short commute (under 10 miles) and want something just to kick around on there is nothing wrong with a hybrid. If you have a longer commute or want to do longer weekend rides then a road bike might be in order. If you want to do longer rides AND the towpath AND some light dirt trails then Greenbelt’s versatile suggestions are fantastic.

What would you say to someone who wants to do a short commute, mostly short weekend rides, an occasional longer weekend ride, and who already has a mountain bike for dirt and gravel trails?

[lordofthemark]

@dasgeh 25316 wrote:

It’s a bummer that you can’t get from Annandale up to FMR/W&OD etc on your bike. But the Arlington bus network is pretty good.

I can, it just is going to take a long time (best access would be north to W&OD near Falls Church) Thanks for the Ft. Myers tip.

[lordofthemark]

for my commute (when I try it, hopefully before next bike to work day) I will be going to M street and NJ avenue SE. I have a friend at work who is a bike commuter, and says he will show me the alternatives from 14th street Bridge to our workplace. Pentagon station to the 14th street bridge if there is a better way than I found (the same way that Google maps shows from Pentagon station to Jefferson Memorial – IE around the Pentagon along “Connector road” north to bridge to Ladybird Johnson grove, then back south on MVT to bridge, that would be nice.

For recreational trips to Old Town I think it would be better to skip the Pentagon, take the local bus to Col Pike and 4MR and take 4MR east to MVT (or take the bike on the 29K bus all the way to Old Town, or wherever in West Alex I want to start biking from)

I suspect my biking life will be much improved after I get a road bike.

[lordofthemark]

@ShawnoftheDread 25287 wrote:

The weekday express busses are actually very quick from Annandale to the Pentagon, and they come fairly regularly.

yup when I actually start bike commuting it will be on the 29G and/or the 29H. I don’t want to try for the first time on a workday. Sunday at the start point of the 16B is kind of mellow (though I suspect some of my fellow passengers were headed into their work)

The 16B can have other cycling uses – going to the WO&D/4MR at Columbia Pike without having to bike up Col Pike from Annandale.

[lordofthemark]

You – the 20 or so people, adults and kids of various ages, all on bikes, together on the sidewalk south of Independence east of the Lincoln Memorial today. I know its only a sidewalk (albeit wide) and only suitable for very slow riding with all the pedestrians, but when TWENTY of you need to stop to determine where you are going, it would be very nice, to both other slow riders and to pedestrians, if you could move OFF the sidewalk, because you were actually blocking the entire sidewalk.

[lordofthemark]

Toward the end of my ride today (on the old mtn bike) I felt the brakes were not working very well – so instead of coming home I took the bike in the (to the annandale bike shop) for new brake pads, and while its in for that, a “tune up” which I am told is adjusting the derailers, safety check, etc $10 for the pads and $25 for the tune up. I figure its a local business, and I really want there to be a bike shop in this neighborhood.

[lordofthemark]

@ShawnoftheDread 23193 wrote:

I think if you cross LRT at Evergreen/Hillbrook, there’s either a sidewalk or a service road on the westbound side of LRT until Columbia Rd/Old Columbia Pike. There’s also a wide shoulder on that stretch on the eastbound side of LRT. None of it’s ideal, but it seems ridable.

Tried it today. Yes there is a sidewalk on the north side (though I don’t particularly care to ride opposite of traffic on a sidewalk) and that leads to a side road in an adjacent development, which then – ends. The only option at that point is to cross to the south side of LRT – where there is a shoulder, that leads again to subdivision roads parallel to the pike, and then to service lanes/sidewalks/parking lots. West bound (I went back instead of say a loop onto Braddock, as I had left my bike lock at the library) you have to go against traffic on the shoulder. I walked the bike rather than riding, as salmoning on the bike on LRT felt too dangerous.

All in all, unsatisfactory (and its SUCH a short stretch on either side that are problems). I think using Alpine as a bypass might be better. Though slightly longer.

[lordofthemark]

I went to the bike shop that just opened off Little River Turnpike. Hole in the wall place. All bikes for sale are used, some on consignment I think. The woman there seemed knowledgeable (though she said her husband knew more – literally mom and pop business I guess) Said bikes were refurbished, looked good – she seemed to grasp what I was looking for. I went there by bike after an hour ride around Annandale, so I did not feel like test riding just then, but I will go back. I saw bikes that looked like they would fit my need for $200 to $300 or so.

[lordofthemark]

thanks to all for your suggestions. I would like to try Lake B again, and may just try that causeway thing even before the Chambliss bridge is done. Once the bridge is done could be a nice ride.

and yes, I will give LRT east of the library a try.

[lordofthemark]

http://economics.about.com/od/priceelasticityofdemand/a/gasoline_elast.htm

“One such study is Explaining the variation in elasticity estimates of gasoline demand in the United States: A meta-analysis by Molly Espey, published in Energy Journal. Espey examined 101 different studies and found that in the short-run (defined as 1 year or less), the average price-elasticity of demand for gasoline is -0.26. That is, a 10% hike in the price of gasoline lowers quantity demanded by 2.6%. In the long-run (defined as longer than 1 year), the price elasticity of demand is -0.58; a 10% hike in gasoline causes quantity demanded to decline by 5.8% in the long run.”

[lordofthemark]

@DismalScientist 23228 wrote:

I haven’t claimed that the gas tax is set at the right level, just that it may be the best, if imperfect way, to impose a user fee.

My jargonized answer for lordofthemark is that I see no empirical evidence suggesting the long run elasticity of gas tax has a different sign that the short run elasticity. In English, I doubt that raising the gas tax would induce sufficiently higher mileage cars that the increase in tax would result in a net reduction of revenues. Remember that much of the potential revenue comes from trucks moving stuff around the country. I doubt that there is much room for greater efficiencies in these vehicles.

The collection of gas taxes is relatively anonymous from the perspective of the driver. I don’t want to tell the government how much I have driven every year.

1. IIUC there is currently further research going on on the elasticity of VMT wrt to gas prices. The a priori reason to think its higher in the long run are due to the slow turnover of the vehicle fleet. Also, IIUC, there are differences in gas mileage among differerent trucks. There is also room for economies in truck operation, including changing the number of empty miles by changes in head haul vs back haul rates.

2. The govt can treat the odometer readings as confidential for revenue purposes only, with firewalls, etc. I fully understand many people will not trust that. But if thats the case, then there are larger problems with income taxes, census records, etc. It seems to me the cost benefit on this is pretty strong.

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