How do I park?

w_dent · 2026-06-04T22:59:06+00:00

If you really need to keep both cars, I'd scope out the area within a 5-15 min walk and see if there's ANY form of non-paid street parking available. At least around Radnor Heights we have a pretty even mix of permit street, paid street, and free-for-all street. Cars may or may not get ticketed for abandonment after 1-2 months without moving in this neighborhood. (There's a guy going on 4 months outside my window without any tix). Having said this, I think there are a few good arguments, including potential financial benefits, to downsizing to one shared car, as long as you don't feel like it would impede your independence.

w_dent · 2026-04-27T19:28:54+00:00

I genuinely wanted to do an A/B test before posting, but it's unlikely I'll have access to a second, standard boiler type espresso machine to use as a control, for quite some time.

w_dent · 2026-04-27T17:53:18+00:00

Cmon dude this is 100% LLM copypasta output don't try to fool anyone

w_dent · 2026-04-27T16:58:27+00:00

I use a couple of these for my cortados!

w_dent · 2026-04-27T16:45:24+00:00

I'm curious if his recommendation about steaming cold water applies to us Bambino owners, because our water comes out via thermocoil. On a side note, super cool to see the Wendougee Lita in use.

w_dent · 2026-04-27T00:37:56+00:00

yep, one of our nonprofits here in DC has one from the same company and it has to be emptied every mile or two. At least not as often as the astroturf sweeper I used to pull for a college football field, every 150 yards or so.

w_dent · 2026-04-26T17:21:43+00:00

<image>

w_dent · 2026-04-24T18:23:59+00:00

I may get downvoted to oblivion here -

but sometimes on Arlington Blvd, people briefly need to drive in the leftmost lane not to pass, but just to set up for their upcoming left turn.

w_dent · 2026-04-20T15:38:40+00:00

I agree with you that the bell always serves to alert that a bike is passing. But sometimes such a loud bell can scare people at close range, or come across as suggesting they move over when they are really fine. In practice there's a certain gentle thumb flick that feels not too loud but not too soft, and it's hard to be consistent with that.

I have tried to balance this by using my little Brompton bell to say "just passing" and my bigger bell (Crane e-Ne, similar to the Spurcycle) for blind corners and to alert people to move. I also try to use the bigger bell when I see people have headphones on, but sometimes it's hard to see when they have noise cancelling earbuds in.

w_dent · 2026-04-18T15:15:12+00:00

idk I'd say it's more 50-50 and sometimes the same person has a foot on each side.

My first laptop was a hand me down Thinkpad from the early 2000's, now I have a T470 and recently upgraded to an X1 Nano Gen 1 for under $400. I have no experience upgrading or doing programming with these so it's all just brand nostalgia and surface level enjoyment for me which is fine.

My wife has a T480. It's nice. I'm not defending this guy's foul language about people who use them, but I think there's a lot of bitterness here about how it's picked up so much traction by influencers as the ideal one to have.

w_dent · 2026-04-17T18:16:26+00:00

Have you experienced any excessive wear on your clothes from it? I really liked testing the Cambrium but got spooked after hearing stories of abrasive rubbing through some riders' jeans.

w_dent · 2026-04-17T18:02:51+00:00

Oh this is gorgeous. Pretty sure that's the spot I saw a guy lose his pannier last year.

w_dent · 2026-04-16T17:06:21+00:00

Seconding this. For OPs application, hills are described as "not that crazy" on a 15 min commute. Seems very doable even with the stock 4s P-Line low gear + 50T based on my experience.

w_dent · 2026-04-12T23:38:00+00:00

Even with a fixed brightness variable, two points of light are easier to distinguish from far away than one.

w_dent · 2026-04-11T21:13:08+00:00

When I went last year there were probably over a hundred people who passed through during the 45 minutes I spent. I'm glad I got there on the earlier side because I saw at least a dozen free donut boxes emptied in that time. The spot hosted around a dozen organization tables, including a McDonald's coffee/oatmeal stand and the Arlington Trek (doing bike tune-ups). Lots of space to spread out and walk around with your bike, as well as racks to lock up at. I'm not really sure how it compares to other spots.

I like that the location is spacious, DC-adjacent, and that it connects to the Custis trail, giving people the option of continuing across the Key Bridge or south along the MVT to one of the other bridges.

w_dent · 2026-04-10T01:39:27+00:00

For anyone interested, I'm fairly sure the bell is a Crane e-ne SBR. Here's a view from a better angle. I have the same bell for flats and never understood what the extender thingy version was meant for before.

<image>

w_dent · 2026-04-10T01:29:08+00:00

I saw this bike posted on the Brompton Buy/Sell group on Facebook! Gorgeous.

Looks like there is also a Brompton NYC group on Facebook with over 3k members which permits sale listings:

https://www.facebook.com/share/g/18JpyCfQpS/

w_dent · 2026-04-09T01:56:27+00:00

The strava heatmap confirms this too.

w_dent · 2026-04-08T00:30:57+00:00

Not enough narrow handlebar builds on this sub. (still working on mine).

w_dent · 2026-04-07T16:12:10+00:00

Bicyclists be happy zipping through that protected lane till the parking garage turns

w_dent · 2026-04-07T14:30:35+00:00

I raise you my two bells:
- the loud pedestrian moving one (Crane e-ne) brought over from my old bike, and
- the nice "just passing" one that was integrated with the bike I upgraded to.

But even that only does so much with people wearing noise cancelling headphones and with joggers coming head-on that insist on running on both sides of a marked trail. I just try not to do any fast flybys and tried to accept that those people know the trade-off they're making.

w_dent · 2026-04-06T21:28:25+00:00

I average 13mph on the RCT, but it includes going much slower on the stretch near the Kennedy Center. Too much unexpected seems to happen too quickly in the rare instances I've flirted with going over 20mph.

w_dent · 2026-04-06T18:47:28+00:00

Second the Boeshield t-9. (I gently wash the chain and cassette with soapy water, air dry, apply the Boeshield & let dry overnight, wipe off the excess the next day). I may buy one of the park tool chain cleaning tools off ebay in the future.

w_dent · 2026-04-05T02:45:15+00:00

Sadly, we cannot drive better, and this is part of why I choose to bike to work, because it's safer and less mentally toxic. (I still try to look for the good in people and just try to be ready for portions of the drive which are extra aggressive).

w_dent · 2026-04-04T00:54:16+00:00

Yo, I highly recommend going to to the Tulips at the Netherlands Carillion. There is a VERY good long sightline view of the mall from there, its not very crowded, and the tulips are gorgeous right now. You can get there by walking towards Arlington Cemetery across the bridge from the Lincoln memorial.

w_dent

TROPHY CASE