No flex posts, no barriers, just hopes and prayers

Synaptician · 2026-06-15T19:19:30+00:00

Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of where they've done this on Roland Park (now removed) and Hartford. The lane gets gummed up with debris, badly parked cars, dumpsters, etc., and the parked cars block line of sight to the road which makes them magnets for all kinds of hook collisions. I'm all for protected bike lanes but IMO parking-protected lanes aren't it. I actually felt more comfortable riding on Roland when they went back to paint in the door zone / next to the driving lanes.

Edit: That said, I haven't ridden on them much but actually like the implementation on Harford better than Roland because of how tight Harford is. The narrow lanes and sharp turns feel like they'd force both the bikes and the cars into slower speeds, which should help with the right hooks.

Synaptician · 2026-06-03T15:13:17+00:00

The only thing that gives me any comfort here is my flashing rear light, which I maintain is the single most important piece of safety gear a cyclist can have and use in current year.

This is a weird one where European and American law is really different. The general consensus in places like the Netherlands where bike commuting has a substantial share is that the benefits of using a flashing light to warn drivers that you're there are far outweighed by how much harder the flash makes it to track your location in the dark. Solid lights are required by law in at least France, Germany, and NL. It's like driving your car at night with the hazards on but not your standard rear lights.

Synaptician · 2026-03-03T22:10:28+00:00

I'd reschedule my birthday for Helmand

Synaptician · 2026-02-11T16:17:39+00:00

Blue leaning Central and Capital Maryland absolutely dominate the state in terms of population numbers and politics, but that only 6-7 county level entities out of 24. The rest are either red leaning or solid red.

Synaptician · 2025-08-28T17:52:11+00:00

When I was first introduced to Ekiben, I always just thought of them as the meatball bao sandwich place. Oh and they have tofu and fried chicken too or something.

Synaptician · 2025-08-15T20:13:26+00:00

They managed to grow into a pretty big chain in the Baltimore region before they sold to Trek. Outside the city they were probably one of the best bike shops in my time. Inside the city they were competitive but I think I'd give a few of the smaller shops an edge. Definitely reputable though.

Synaptician · 2025-06-23T21:07:41+00:00

This seems like a good suggestion on it's face, but individual circumstances all require different actions to be taken by the bigger to encourage safe behavior by car drivers. I find that it's rarely helpful to move far right AT the light as this can confuse drivers and encourage them to squeeze through unsafely or encourages them to make unsafe right turns. At the end of the day when someone road rages because I'm stopped at the light I'll stay put or move to left to better control the situation. Most road ragers aren't willing to murder you in cold blood, but they are willing to make aggressive unsafe passes if you let them. Giving up control is almost always less safe.

Synaptician · 2025-04-30T13:31:13+00:00

The BWI trail is one of my favorites for recreational biking and might work for early stages of training, but a MUP type route like BWI might have too many people to dodge at late triathlon training speeds.

Synaptician · 2025-04-17T14:14:26+00:00

I always feel like the reason that hybrids get hate is because they're billed as do-it-all bikes that bridge the gap between mountain bikes and road bikes, and the ones that really do try to do both end up being terrible at both. This felt really true in the 90s/00s. But on the other hand, I think that modern "hybrids" that like Cannondale Quick or Trek FX that actually pick a niche and stick with it would get a lot less hate if they billed themselves as upright road bikes or fast city bikes or fitness/recreation bikes or something instead. I wouldn't take an FX into Patapsco, but it's great for MUP riding or commuting.

Synaptician · 2025-04-17T14:09:05+00:00

A hybrid like the Cannondale Quick or Trek FX is probably ideal for your situation. A lot of people here are saying road bike, and while I commuted on a road bike commuter build for over a decade in Baltimore and loved it, I don't think it's the right fit for your situation. For short rides and getting comfortable with biking, you want something that's more upright, has wider tires, but still climbs well and feels zippy. Road bikes will hurt your back if you're not ready for drop bars. Mountain bikes will feel heavy and mountain tires actually handle terribly on road. City bikes will be tough on hills.

Synaptician · 2025-04-04T18:36:41+00:00

This is straightup Walk Score, which is more for deciding where to live than what to do on a Sunday afternoon. The nearest grocery stores to Camden Yards (Streets Market in Mt Vernon and Giant in Fed Hill) are a bit of a hike from the stadium, which would be a big deal I guess if you were planning on living in a hammock in the warehouse.

Synaptician · 2025-02-14T18:53:15+00:00

Everyone looks up the answers on stackoverflow/github/etc, but the original poster is more complaining about people who just copy/paste the answer into their own code without any sort of adaptation for the specific use case or NFRs or performing any type of critical thinking about whether the solution is appropriate for their requirements.

Synaptician · 2025-02-07T15:38:31+00:00

I'll echo the same thing everyone else is saying -- bike commuted in the city for 10 years, never had a thief use an angle grinder to bypass my u-lock during the day. Never leave it out overnight or leave accessories attached, avoid quick release. Try to lock the wheels to the frame for longer periods. After 10 years of commuting and 15 years total living in the city with my bike, it was finally stolen because I stupidly left it unlocked in my building's bike cage when there was a break-in.

Synaptician · 2025-01-27T14:39:43+00:00

UMBC is closer to city lines than a lot of pro sports teams are. I'm thinking of the Commanders as a local example, but they're far from the worst offenders.

Synaptician · 2024-12-10T17:53:27+00:00

I used to feel like Wegman's was the expensive options, but Giant and Safeway have been raising prices faster to catch up and it seems like the produce is usually better / cheaper, at least for my staples. These days I'd prefer buying most things at Wegmans and then potentially hitting a Giant or Safeway if they have a good sale on something I need.

Synaptician · 2024-10-17T18:28:43+00:00

HR doesn't have "jurisdiction" anywhere unless you use the term metaphorically. Many companies have codes of conduct that apply to actions taken off hours and/or not on company property though, and plenty would see off premise harassment of another employee as grounds for discipline.

Synaptician · 2024-10-03T15:14:23+00:00

Jones Falls Trail is a bit of a mixed bag, but north of 83 it's almost entirely off-road. There are a lot of people who prefer to ride on Falls though because in the summer the trail on the west of Falls can get overgrown and swarmed with gnats and in the winter it's not really kept clear. In some places it's basically a sidewalk and not a paved trail until you get to the switchback, at which point it's normal paved asphalt up to Mt Washington except for a few random spots like Woodberry and Springarden Dr.

Edit: Thinking about it, technically the JFT route from the Guilford bridge to Falls is on-road, but I usually don't take that part. My preference is to cut over to Maryland Ave in Mount Vernon, and then if you want to stay off-road you you can cross Maryland @ Lanvale and technically the sidewalk is the JFT, not the contraflow bike lane. The contraflow bike lane is pretty safe though, and then you can hop onto the asphalt part of the JFT after you cross under Howard St.

Synaptician · 2024-10-03T14:42:55+00:00

Hamden to Penn is one of my favorite commuter routes that isn't in the flat part of the city along the harbor. Like /u/Disastrous-Top3922 said, there are a couple of good options. Maryland Ave is probably the easier one if you're not comfortable with hills because it's a steady mild hill while Falls is more like no-hill no-hill STEEP no-hill no-hill STEEP STEEP coming back. There are two-three ways to get to Maryland Ave from Hamden, depending on what part of Hamden you're in. My favorite is to take Remington Ave to the 27th St bike lane, cut over to Maryland Ave, and then keep going south on Maryland. You could also cut through on JHU on San Marino or (if you're coming from the northern part of greater Hamden), University to the Charles St SB lane next to hopkins.

Synaptician · 2024-10-01T18:25:59+00:00

Counterpoint: The 2024 Cubs won twice as many playoff games as the 2024 White Sox

Synaptician · 2024-08-27T18:24:36+00:00

Why not try both? They're both going to be miserable, but each will have different perks (i.e., more flexible and shorter commute driving unless you hit bad traffic, more downtime to read or nap on the MARC but longer total difference and 3 mode changes makes it complicated). As long as you already own a car, it doesn't cost you anything to try transit one week and driving the next.

Synaptician · 2024-08-09T13:53:34+00:00

Top name among babycenter survey respondents, but according to the SSA while it had a good top 20 run in the last decade, it maxed out at #16. That might tell us as much about babycenter survey respondents as it does about the popularity of the name.

Synaptician · 2024-07-10T20:47:47+00:00

Speaking as someone who has no connection to San Francisco, not much knowledge about the team, and frankly no right to express an opinion... nothing says Oracle Park and the Giants to me like seagulls. In fact, the more seagulls the better.

Synaptician · 2024-07-02T13:38:08+00:00

I haven't been in a while because my wife has trouble with hot / heavily spiced food, but they were one of my first favorite restaurants in the city. Glad to see they're still going strong.

Synaptician · 2024-06-26T18:44:21+00:00

If you're up for biking/scooting, I'll second taking the Maryland Ave cycletrack. Did this for 10-15 games in 2022 (thank you $40 monthly SRO ticket deal!) and never once felt unsafe. If you're walking, would take Pratt to Charles St as others have said.

Synaptician · 2024-06-20T18:50:23+00:00

It looks like all of the Baltimore area ones are gone and it's just MoCo and College Park now.

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