[lordofthemark]

you – pair of young women, more elite than me (well at least y’all WERE passing me). If you’re good enough to pass me, maybe, you should be good enough to pass single file on a trail as crowded as the W&OD is right in the heart of Vienna.

to myself – just because the above got me upset, it was still a poor idea to blow through the next stop sign obliviously (IE not a deliberate Idaho stop) . Fortunately it was a slow cross street in Vienna, and nothing happened.

to the joggers who run on the left on the W&OD – I kind of get that you want to be near where the better off trail conditions are, but I still find it disconcerting when I pass you

to the walker salmoning IN the bike lane on Gallows Road – whiskey tango foxtrot. I am glad I was just sitting waiting for the bus at the time.

to Fairfax DOT. It would have been nice if the bike racks on the Fairfax connector buses were the same as those on metrobuses. Would have saved me some embarrassment, and maybe saved a bus full of people some time (although I bet the driver made it up) I wonder if the difference is due to genuine technical differences between the buses, or is an unintended result of “objective” procurement practices.

To the daddy teaching his 9 (or 8?) year old daughter to call “on the left”. That was really adorable. It was worth being passed by you two, as I neared the end of my ride.

[lordofthemark]

I have a paper copy beside me as I write this, which I got (for free, though “$3” is printed on the front) from the mobile commuter store. They are also supposed to be available at the county govt facilities in each magisterial district, I think.

[lordofthemark]

@Certifried 29861 wrote:

Here are some interesting graphs on tire resistances.

http://www.terrymorse.com/bike/rolres.html

For me, needing to lose about 30 pounds, I won’t bother spending too much time or money on trying to get my bike more ELITE. If I get down to my ultimate body weight, then I’ll worry about all that

Ah, I was afraid someone would say something like this, but the laws of physics I guess care as much about my weight (about 12 to 15 pounds over what I would like based on that hop on the scale to weigh the bike) as the weight of the bike.

And I guess I will lose weight as fast or faster riding the MTB, though I won’t get as far in the time I have for riding.

[lordofthemark]

@ShawnoftheDread 29720 wrote:

Sure, sounds right. My hybrid is 31 lbs. Next time you’re pedaling your tank up a hill, just think how fast and strong you’ll feel when you’re on a 20 pound road bike sometime in the future.

see thats actually why I wanted to know the weight

1. To better inform my bike buying strategy – since I will want a bike eventually for commuting (pentagon metro to M Street SE) AND for weekend rides on the W&OD, etc, I might not get a 20 lb road bike, and I wanted to see where Im starting at, relative to what I might get

2. I also want excuses (aside from fitness level and biking inexperience) for my current slow speeds

Is the weight the only thing about this bike that might be slowing me down? I would think a road or city bike would also be faster due to different tires – is that the case, holding weight equal? Are there other factors?

[lordofthemark]

@ShawnoftheDread 29600 wrote:

It seems to be hard to find weights online consistently. Companies don’t want to post them because so many things can affect the weight of a particular bike. Just stand on a bathroom scale holding your bike, and then again without it.

But bikepedia is the best source for other info.

okay tried that. First thing I learned is that I need to bike more, and be a bit a more sensible in my eating than I have been lately.

Second thing – bike is about 35 or 36 pounds (including small pouch, bell, and mirror, but without water bottle) Could that be right?

[lordofthemark]

bikepedia is definitely interesting but they don’t seem to list Roadmaster.

Should I be very embarrassed at having this bike? (ultra terrain EXTREME, as it happens)

[lordofthemark]

@Tim Kelley 29115 wrote:

Arlington County, despite being only 26 square miles in size, has 31+ miles of on street bike lanes.

Ah yes, I was actually on one in Rosslyn for about a block, getting back to MVT from my rest stop on another ride.

Any favorites?

[lordofthemark]

Its been a few days now, but I am pretty sure I signaled my turn.

Thanks for the advice on the mirror – I may well start a thread on proper mirror usage.

For my W&OD rides, I’m thinking if I do drive there again I like the parking by Cedar Lane. Also avoids that hill on Gallows at the very end of my ride. Or I may put the bike on the Fairfax Connector bus – I want to try the bike on the bus thing from a beginning of the route stop at least one more time before doing it at regular stop.

Yeah, although I’ve done a few rides that take me on Hummer and on Annandale Rd, I don’t suppose I’m experienced on roads like Gallows.

Where is a place to get used to using on road striped bike lanes thats more foregiving than Gallows? DC I expect?

[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.

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