[SilverSpring]

@EfCzar 178297 wrote:

Does anyone have experience as a regular commuter to one of these medical centers. I’m beginning a new position in the upcoming weeks and I am considering commuting from downtown Silver Spring to CNMC 3 days a week. Does anyone have insight or experiences with location, parking/lockers or facilities available?

I go by there a lot and it’s a pretty nice ride from Silver Spring (Fenton-Takoma-Piney Branch-5th-Park Place, not too trafficky and some bike lanes to boot), but I haven’t a clue as to facilities once you get there. Good luck!

[SilverSpring]

deecee6five,

For at least the first part, I recommend 3rd (I dunno where you’re starting, so watch crossing Blair Road) to Kansas to 13th to Spring to 11th to Vermont to R to 15th to Rhode Island to M to 21st to H. I know the bit from 3rd to 11th really well and it’s pretty mellow. I don’t know the second part from regular use, but it seems sensible. This isn’t quite the route Google Maps/Bicycle recommends, but it’s a start.

[SilverSpring]

Bob, you’re a far heartier fellow than I. I bailed on 50 States at PitStop #3, feeling the pull of home only a few miles away. I was feeling the heat, couldn’t climb worth a d**n, and had to concede that–at least this year–the ride kicked me in the keister. I had a nice chat after Haines Point with Kitty, who at that pace has likely completed half of the RAAM.

[SilverSpring]

This is a variation on the Schwinn Collegiate Project from last year. A friend has a (fairly, kinda, very) old Schwinn that seems to be in good shape (so I’m told) save for a back rim/wheel that’s bent (I know not the degree of bend or tacocity [taconess?]). She’d like to get this up and running for her lad when he heads to college late next month, but has been told at a couple of bike shops that it’s not worth it. So, suggestions on an inexpensive repair or referral to kind souls who tinker and, in so doing, bring happiness to Moms and their boys?

[SilverSpring]

@cvcalhoun 115794 wrote:

As usual, there has been a lot of focus on Virginia pit stops. (I can only be jealous of the Crystal City one being open all week!) But does anyone have recommendations on the Maryland and DC ones? Ones I could possibly attend are:

• Rockville – Fallsgrove
• Rockville – Town Center
• Rockville – Twinbrook
• North Bethesda – US Nuclear Regulatory Commission
• Rock Springs Business Park
• Naval Support Activity Bethesda
• National Institutes of Health Bldg One
• Bethesda
• Friendship Heights
• National Geographic Society
• Golden Triangle – L Street
• GoldenTriangle – Farragut Square
• Georgetown Waterfront Park Area

However, applying my math skills here, that would be only about 15 minutes to get to and spend time at each one, which would be just about doable if I were using a jetpack instead of an overloaded bicycle with an ancient rider. I’ve therefore had to give up my dream of going to all of them. So, on that list, which ones have the best food? The best swag? The best raffles? The best entertainment?

I’m aiming for five pit stops tomorrow: Takoma/Old Town-nice people; Silver Spring/Discovery-serviced by my LBS, Silver Cycles; Bethesda Downtown-a better class of swag; Georgetown Waterfront-best food treats; and Freedom Plaza-a chance to see Team EPA kitted out). At different points in the past, I thought it was friends and family, money, love, and work worth doing that were the mark of a life well-lived. Now I know that free BTWD water bottles are the TRUE measure of success!

[SilverSpring]

Well, I envy the generally sunny attitudes folks have about their morning commutes. Mine…well, it was too cold to be Hell, but it sure scared the heck outta me (and confirmed my Bride’s “you’re a dumba$$” appellation as I headed out the door). Where it was just snow, it was lovely and serene. That, sadly, was only up the block. The next seven miles (3rd/Kansas/11th) was a mix of sliding around on the ice packed down by cars or trying to get a good bead through the slush in the bike lanes. I’m glad I’ve tried it, but I think I’ll limit future Winter precipitation rides to light dustings only.

[SilverSpring]

@americancyclo 103798 wrote:

The brining worked really well, particularly under the bridges and overpasses.

All this talk of brining, but I haven’t seen a single turkey yet….

[SilverSpring]

I suspect it’s a function of the greater volume of cyclists in the good weather, and the increasing bike-friendly culture in the area, but I do find myself calling “On your right” a lot more these days….

[SilverSpring]

Dear Lord, you people pedal a lot! Here I was thinking I was hot stuff (rubber stuff? whatever the appropriate cycling analogy is) for getting 100+ miles a week what with the good weather and all, but normally I’m somewhere between 50 and 80 (4-5 time a week, ~15 miles roundtrip if I go the short way, ~30+ if I take the long way, but–please–just tell my Bride I was stuck at the office).

[SilverSpring]

Geoff,

My Dad, in Kalamazoo, sent me a flier about this and it seems like it’d be a fun, and probably scenic, challenge. Unfortunately, I’ve got too many family vacation things bumping up right at that time. Good luck!

[SilverSpring]

Americancyclo and Dickie,

Got it, I’ll be attentive to the rim. I used to get a lot more flats and then I replaced my previously trusty Velox rim tape with some kinda plastic rim strip and that has been a charm against pokey spokes. I hadn’t thought to do a look armed with a file, though.

Emm,

Pretty cool that USAJobs worked. I don’t hear enough of those kinds of stories.

[SilverSpring]

Americancyclo,

That’s a good idea about borrowing a gauge…lemme poke around.

Mstone,

It could be pinched, although I’m much better at putting replacement tubes in than I was a few years back, when such an endeavor would’ve left me weeping.

Back to Americancyclo,

What would a burr look like? Something on the rim where the metal was etched or sticking out?

And Emm,

I had to carefully remove our cat from inside the tube (I’ve no idea how she got there, but don’t tell my Bride). I was certainly more ginger (ha, cat pun!) putting the third tube on and the slow pumping may have served me well…no more problems today. Hey, by any chance are you a PMF?

All,

Thanks much for the thoughts…good stuff to absorb.

[SilverSpring]

Just a quick update, this was a great ride! I managed to get us lost so we started at Marley Station Mall instead of Friendship Park, but still had a delightful 11-or-so miles along the trail before the hustle up and over the Severn River Bridge. You were right, JRenaut, about catching the green light on the way back…gravity is my ally. All-in-all, a wonderful ride (with pretty good weather to boot).

[SilverSpring]

@jrenaut 87813 wrote:

Not a problem at all. I’ve done Annapolis out across the bridge, up the trail, and then back. I highly recommend bombing down the hill right before the bridge and hoping for a green light.

There’s a nice wide shoulder most of the way, and if you turn left at the first light past the bridge, it’ll take you straight downtown.

I didn’t think I could find the Strava route I took but then I did.

I will warn you that pedestrians on the trail are more like Gravely Point gawkers than those out for exercise on the W&OD – give them extra time to react and expect cluelessness.

Thanks! This helps a lot. Now, I only need to worry about the weather.

[SilverSpring]

@cvcalhoun 87132 wrote:

So, on my commute home on the CCT this evening, I saw one of those signs that says the speed limit, and then says how fast you, personally, are going. Speed limit on the CCT was 15, and it said I was going 17. (The sign may have been counterproductive in my case, because my primary reaction was pride that I’d actually managed to get my 64-lb. hybrid up to 17, as opposed to shame that I was exceeding the speed limit.) But it occurred to me that I have not seen (or at least not noticed) that sign before. Does anyone know whether it is new? Or only operates at night? Or only turns on if you are in fact exceeding the speed limit? (Maybe I never managed to do that before?)

CV,

Was it just over Bradley Boulevard by Washington Episcopal School? There has been one there on and off, but I noticed it again earlier this week (and I had exactly the same thought as you…”woo hoo! Lookit me! I can go fast!”). I think it’s more of a gentle reminder than an actual enforcement tool. After all, they’d have to get your picture, identify you, track you down, and come to get you and that’s just not gonna…wait, someone’s at the door….

Please move along, there’s nothing to see here.

[Author]

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