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Don’t play this one if you’re at work…

Got back on the bicycle after being off for a week. (I was sick). I figured I would only ride about 10 miles but the weather was nice and I felt good so I went for 18. I  seriously bonked about 2 miles from the end. I should have eaten a bit more before I started. Best songs of the ride: Henrietta by the Fratellis, Sweet Virginia by the Rolling Stones, and Stranglehold by Ted Nugent.

Track 007

I’ve been out of work sick for the last couple of days with a cold, flu or whatever. It actually started on Saturday so I got to be sick over the weekend too.

Today I started on what’s called the Hacker’s Diet. It’s an engineering approach to dieting written by the guy who started AutoDesk. It’s a little old (1991 or so) but the book is free. Basically eat less than what you need to maintain your weight. I’m using a program on my iPhone called Lose It that helps you track how many calories you’ve eaten and how many calories you’ve budgeted per day. One of the major points that the Hacker’s diet makes is that you should pay attention to a moving average of your weight instead of what you weigh day-to-day. This makes a lot of sense to me.

The other thing I’m doing is making sure that I have an accurate calorie count for everything that I eat. Since a two or three hundred calorie difference per day can seriously add up, if I don’t know how many calories are in something, I find something else to eat.

Hopefully this will work better than the other diets I’ve tried.

If there are frequent updates on this blog about the diet that will mean I’m doing well. If you never hear about it again, that means it didn’t work. We’ll see.

As far as I can tell this story was not from the opinion page of the Washington Post but you can’t tell from its tone.

On a bad day it can take hours of crawling, and as of July 21 northbound drivers will not have a rest stop to, well, rest in, or whatever else they may need to do.

Is this tone really needed for this story? The last half of that sentence is completely unnecessary.

This will save the state agency $9 million against its $2.6 billion revenue shortfall.

I could be reading a little into this sentence but it seems snarky to me. Of course there’s no context provided for this. You have to make a lot of little cuts to make up that kind of shortfall.

Caldwell will tell you that that is all well and good, but those are mid-20th century highways and these are modern times. While Gov. Tim Kaine may no longer be able to afford you a bathroom, Ronald McDonald can.

What the hell is wrong with stopping at a McDonald’s or a gas station to use the rest room? Do I have to use a government provided shitter?

Though some rest stops will be open to truckers only (no, an SUV is not a truck), the state will continue to maintain 19 open to all drivers.

Thanks asshole for letting me know that an SUV is not a truck. I would never have guessed. Could we just have the story and not interlace commentary into it? I know it’s not normally how things are written but they’re usually better at hiding it.

I’ve ridden on back roads up and down the east coast, into Canada and all over Colorado on my motorcycle. I purposefully avoid major roads. (back roads are much more fun). There are no rest stops on any of these country roads and somehow I’ve managed to survive all these rides without pissing myself.

This is a good example of why the government can never stop spending money. You can’t cut anything without someone getting all bitchy about it. Even when they should just be reporting the story.

Traffic Light at Catoctin

There’s a traffic light where the W&OD crosses Catoctin Circle just for the bike trail. In the last week, I’ve seen 3 cars run straight through that light on red. I don’t know if they don’t realize that there’s a light there (since there’s no cross street – just the bike trail) or they just don’t give a shit. Either way, eventually someone else is going to get nailed on that crosswalk. I have my head on a swivel whenever I cross there.

Kajota’s Rule on Determining an Asshole Bicyclist

I’ve also developed a rule about other bicyclists on the trail. The possibility that a particular bicyclist is an asshole is directly proportional to the expense of their bike and the similarity of their clothing to someone riding in the Tour de France. The possibility of this person being an asshole increases if they’re riding in a group of others with similar bicycles and attire. The possibility increases even further if all the members of this group are wearing the same ‘uniform’.

When I say asshole, i don’t mean that they just look like an asshole. (although that’s usually true). I mean that they are more likely to pass too close, ride side-by-side into your lane, or run into you. They’re also more likely to make stupid close passes so they can stay in their pace line.

I’m not saying that anyone that looks like this and has a $6000 bike is an asshole. I’m just saying they are more likely to be one than the guy riding a hybrid bike wearing a T-shirt and a baseball cap.

Zig Zag Lines on Belmont Ridge

I noticed that some crazy zig-zag lines have been painted on Belmont Ridge where it crosses the bike trail. This intersection has always been a pain to cross. The cars are usually doing at least 45 mph and, in the morning, the traffic on that road is heavy. This is great candidate for a tunnel, bridge or traffic light. So instead, they’ve painted lines on the road. My first instinct is that is pretty useless. After a couple of months people are going to get used to these lines and just ignore them. I haven’t driven down Belmont Ridge in a car so I haven’t experienced these lines from that perspective. Maybe they’re useful. I’m glad they’re trying something, but this just seems dumb.

UPDATE: I was reading the comments for the link I posted above concerning those zig-zags. One person made a very good point. When wet those zig-zags are going to be hell for a motorcycle. Those painted lines are slippery as fuck when wet. I can see a motorcycle losing control trying to stop in the rain for someone crossing the bike path.

I felt pretty good so a rode a little farther than I had originally planned – 12 or so miles. Best songs of the ride: Sit On My Face – Monty Python, Clenching the Fists of Dissent – Machine Head

Bicycle Ride 6 Jul 2009

Colorado Motorcycle Trip 2006 Map Part 6 of 6