Forum Suggestions & User Assistance - Why not add DC to either the Northeast or Southeast Regional Forum?

Given the number of responses to the below thread and the fervency of the DC cycling scene, why not just add the 580,000 citizens of DC to either the Northeast or Southeast Regional Discussion Forum?

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?272080-Washington-D-C-Metro-Area-BF-Member-Roll-Call-Thread-(since-no-MIDATLANTIC-Forum-)

Replying to myself here....DC is such a Cinderella. Not only do we not get the vote (we're in practice a colony of the US, taxation without represenation), but we don't get included in any Bike Forum Reqional Discussion category. One could easily say don't get the vote because our locally elected representatives are pretty sketchy, but why leave us out of Bike Forum Regional discussions? It would take only a minor edit to add us to Southeast or Northeast. John Kennedy paraphrase: DC has all the charm of a northern city and the efficiency of a southern one.

I have a piece I want to post on shops and people who have helped me re-build a bike but would prefer to include it in a category that includes the shops I'll write about.

By the terms, doesn't DC belong to all the states, though? :p

It would seem to me that adding DC to the Southeast or Northeast Forum masthead would make sense.

Honestly, the problem is that it really belongs in both. I was joking a bit in my initial response, but in all honesty, either would be equally applicable.

Yeah, yeah, DC belongs to every state - and we don't a congressperson or 2 senators.

The problem is (as discussed in that huge stream I referred to) people either double post which splits the responses into 2 streams or we don't post at all about "regional matters".

Having been born in Boston, I personally relate to the Northeast, but locally I do business more in the Southeast's Virginia than in Maryland. My draft post recommending shops that helped with my restoration are in DC and VA. So, I'm not an unbiased advocate as to which we should be assigned to. But I feel strongly we should join one or the other.

But it's not in both; it's in neither. 458 forum members in these two SPLIT posts seem to think it's an issue.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=272075
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?272080

I have 800 words on how various named and linked mostly-DC shops have helped me restore an old bike. (Yes, I had to travel to VA to find a powder coater.) I really don’t want to post in the Maryland and in the Virginia Regional Forums when an admin could add two letters (DC), a comma, and a space to either header and give my story a proper place. Please answer why not.

Here’s a draft of what I'd like to post on a Bike Forums Regional Forum with photos:
<< I’ve been buffing out Bertha, a bicycle, I bought on craigslist out in Virginia in late October. The seller, Doug, (who I never met, but who was great to deal with) bought her at a yard sale and fixed her up some – greased up bearings, changed the seat, adjusted the gears, and I don’t know what else. I didn’t really need another bike, but I just loved her lines and get a huge kick out riding her. Despite posting here (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?605953-Help-ID-Young-Line-Bike) and asking all around, I still haven’t figured out who made her.

Even with all the tweaking I’ve done, I’ve spent about half what a new bike of similar quality and weight would cost and have something that no one else has. Getting stuff and services at a good price is important to me – especially stuff use repetitively. You may be thinking, “But what about all the time you put into it?” Working with my hands seems to be good for me, and I enjoy dealing with people who do specialty work. That time is not work to me. It was a wonderful winter project. Here’s a rundown on what I’ve done to Bertha, who has helped, and what more I may do.

I bought a brake from a nice guy named Martin in San Francisco off craigslist. The Foggy Bottom District Hardware and Bike (http://www.districthardware.com/) folks sold me a new brake cable, cable cover, pads, and 3 Watt bulb for the dynamo (without a rear light hooked to the dynamo the 2.4 Watt front bulb would probably blow out). The replacement pump came from a CA company off eBay. Ben at The Bike Rack (http://www.bikerackdc.com/) (14th/Q NW) solved a problem in the bottom bracket and stripped the parts off the frame for powder coating.

I traced the decal graphics and scanned the tracing paper. My friend Phyllis cleaned the .jpgs up and sent them to Len at Figure Finishing (http://www.figureengineering.com/). Len stripped the paint off, fixed the seat tube, baked on silver powder coat, further cleaned up/painted on the graphics, and then baked on a clear coat of powder. “Painting” Bertha cost more than the purchasing her, but it was worth it.

I bought a correctly-sized seat post (after destroying when removing the stuck and too-large seat post with which she came) from Bikes@Vienna (http://www.bikesatvienna.com/) (while I was looking at Bike Friday Tikits) and installed a seat my girlfriend had left around. I brought the frame and fork back to Ben at The Bike Rack (http://www.bikerackdc.com/) to re-assemble and overhaul the bottom bracket and head set. I re-assembled the rest after having cleaned up the parts while they were removed.

17th Street Hardware (http://www.truevalue.com/17th/) helped me with some stainless nuts and bolts to make the fenders fit better. Peter White Cycles (http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/) in NH sold me a bracket for the dynamo light and a rear light from Busch & Müller. Neal in Foggy Bottom District Hardware and Bike (http://www.districthardware.com/) wired the lights together and re-installed the 2.4 Watt front bulb. I picked up a handle bar stem bolt at a Mt. Pleasant Bike Swap. I built a steering damper type thing (to keep her from tipping over when weighed down) with 2 brackets and a spring I bought at 17th Street Hardware (http://www.truevalue.com/17th/). I might refine that with a stronger spring and brackets with smaller holes. Bicycle Pro Shop (http://bicycleproshop.com/) in Georgetown was a Biria distributer; so Taylor got me some new pedals that turn out to not be as close to the originals as I’d like.

There are some little things left to do. Some silver zip ties from eBay are on the way; they’ll pretty up the wiring running to the rear light. I’m still rummaging around German eBay looking for a key to the spoke lock or a replacement lock. The spring in the ESGE rack broke. I’d like to get a new shift cable and cable cover.

If I lighten up on my period-look obsession, I might get some of those reflecto-silver side-walled tires and some SKS fenders. I think the present steel fenders may have been made by SKS’s predecessor company ESGE. A black Brooks saddle might be nice, although it seems strange to put a British saddle on a bike that is made from almost exclusively continental Europe parts. (The fork is Japanese.)

That’s the story of Bertha to date. I was thinking she’d be Bertha the Beater, but she was too proud to be a beater bike –even if she has no pedigree. I highly recommend everyone who has helped. Some are quirkier than others, but all are worth it.>>


DC's car license plates say "No Taxation without Representation" on them in big letters. The President's limos have that on their plates. DC has more citizens than several states and probably more forum members than many states. Please explain why you can't add DC to a Regional Forum.

As I've said previously, the best solution to this problem is to create a Metro DC subforum. Alas, my words of wisdom have gone unheeded... ;)

OK. How does that work? Does an admin have to form the subforum?

1. I'm being logged out alot. This happens when I do a long post. Any way I can extend the period before I'm logged off?

2. How can I ditch the ads? it does slow up my laptop when I'm moving from forum to another and this a new laptop. I hardly have anything on it.

Yes, that's an Admin function.

We've reviewed the issue several times, already, though and still see no reason to further fragment the forums.


OK. How does that work? Does an admin have to form the subforum?

1. I'm being logged out alot. This happens when I do a long post. Any way I can extend the period before I'm logged off?

2. How can I ditch the ads? it does slow up my laptop when I'm moving from forum to another and this a new laptop. I hardly have anything on it.

http://www.bikeforums.net/payments.php

Subscribe to Titanium membership for the ad issue. For the logging out, check the remember me box when you log in. If you log in from a public computer, remember to log out after you are done if you check the box, to protect your account.

An admin could add two letters (DC), a comma, and a space to either SE or NE header and give my story a proper place. 457 members and I really don't get why DC is left out. And still wish you'd address the issue.

Yes, that's an Admin function.

We've reviewed the issue several times, already, though and still see no reason to further fragment the forums.

So, the inconvenience to your hundreds of DC-area riders, who are currently split into 2 subforums (DC & MD in one, VA in the other) doesn't count as a reason?

So, the inconvenience to your hundreds of DC-area riders, who are currently split into 2 subforums (DC & MD in one, VA in the other) doesn't count as a reason?

DC isn't included with MD in the Northeast Discussion. Here's the list from the masthead: Connecticut | Delaware | Maine | Maryland | Massachusetts | New Hampshire | New Jersey | New York | Pennsylvania | Rhode Island | Vermont | West Virginia

My issue is that we are left out altogether. (Thus all my faux drama about DC having no rights.)

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?637403-Please-Weigh-in-on-quot-Why-not-add-DC-to-the-Northeast-or-Southeast-Regional-Forum-quot-Thead&p=10681402&posted=1#post10681402
:deadhorse2:

DC is a cusp region. No matter which way we set it, half the city's riders won't be happy. As it stands right now, if an event is DC area north of DC, it's a NE event, if it's south of DC, it's a SE event. Let me think here a bit, I may have an idea for the moment to explore which region is most suitable. How about paired stickies, to start? One in SE, and one in NE. Call them DC Metro South and North stickies, and see which one generates the traffic to place DC.

I don't know what a stickie is but it sounds like an immprovement. Thanks. (I moderate a very small in comparison 800 member listserv and know what thankless task it can be.)

As I've said previously, the best solution to this problem is to create a Metro DC subforum. Alas, my words of wisdom have gone unheeded... ;)

Likewise, I think you would also increase Tennessee participation if you give us a Volunteer State subforum.

DC is a cusp region. No matter which way we set it, half the city's riders won't be happy. As it stands right now, if an event is DC area north of DC, it's a NE event, if it's south of DC, it's a SE event.

Tom, thanks for giving this some thought. The paired stickies option seems like the best effort yet to try and place DC in a regional forum.

As far as my $0.02 are concerned, as a DC resident, I'd put DC in the Northeast forum, as the natural geography of the District would suggest its inclusion with Maryland. Sure, it'll make the more southern-identifying folk grumble, but they'll eventually adjust.

The ideal solution, to my eyes, would be having a Mid-Atlantic forum that includes DC, MD, VA, DE and possibly PA. I understand that this adds another level of complexity to the Regional categories, but it makes a lot more sense. That said, I don't exactly run the place here, so it's just one man's opinion. :D

Thanks again, Tom, for your thoughts on this. It's great to see you working on a solution to DC's identity crisis on BikeForums!

OK, I have the stickie threads up in both Northeast and Southeast regionals. There are polls attached as well, so this way, YOU have a voice in the matter. I'll combine and average the results of both polls after 30 days and that will decide where DC will be included, by simple majority.

Thanks much.

Tom, I appreciate your trying to find a solution to the problem, especially given your recent health problems. But I think you're missing the point: Metro DC has a lot of members here, many in DC, many in MD, and many in VA. And, the region is set up that many people will ride in all 3 jurisdictions in the course of one ride. Thus, any solution that splits metro DC into > 1 subforum is not a good solution. That's why a lot of folks have suggested a mid-Atlantic subforum, and why I have suggested a Metro DC forum (chiefly b/c I think drawing the lines for a mid-Atlantic forum will prove to be problematic, whereas creating a Metro DC forum avoids those problems). In response to VeloVol's (presumed) sarcasm, I would just point out that if TN had enough active members and if there were border/geographical issues similar to ours that could be cured w/a TN subforum, I'd be all for it.

"Bumping" only because I'm looking through here for why the Road subforum is rendering ridiculously wide tonight...

Yet another vote from me for Mid-Atlantic. (just as I said in the stickies Tom started in the NE and SE forums).

It's really not much fragmentation of BF overall. Conceptually, the East Coast has the Northeast (NYC on up), Mid-Atlantic (around these parts), and the South/Southeast (Carolinas on down). Weather forecasters refer to this area as Mid-Atlantic, too. I've double-posted threads in NE and SE just to make sure that somebody local would see it.

One of the car forums I'm on has a M-A section with PA, VA, DC, MD, and DE. It even has a DC sub-subforum and a regional For Sale forum.

The fragmentation of users isn't an issue, though, because nobody stays sequestered in just one subforum of that site. You'll see regular users scattered across all the other sections of the forum, but they come "home", so to speak, and plan get-togethers, look for local business reviews, and sell their stuff in their local region forum.

Incidentally, I just counted 89 subforums visible at the main page of that car forum site (clubrsx.com). What it really does is create organization of information. If someone's looking for info about turbo kits, they don't have to dig through a broad "Engine Mods" section that has tons of threads that say nothing about turbos -- they go straight to the Turbo forum. Here on BF, we've got subforums for so many aspects of cycling that we've got the technical stuff covered. I think that the regional stuff could be made more clear, though.

as I just posted in another thread there really does need to be a Mid-Atlantic forum of its own. This area does not identify with either the NE or SE... The states included should be MD, De, DC and VA, that's the historical breakdown of the region.

As Tom (site admin) points out, all borders make some people unhappy. But not liking a border is a lot different that not including DC in any region because you don't identify with either region. Let's start by including DC and then move on to including it in a newly founded region.

MidAtlantic suits me (born in DC). I never could consider myself Northeastern, nor Southeastern (hence Tom's difficulty).
MidAtlantic solves the problem without dividing the Metro region (which would be another crazy hurdle if you are trying to network within the region).

Good points. But those who want to network across the metro area already have to work in 2 forums. Those of us in DC don't have a home forum at all and deserve one. If Tom thought there should be a MId Atlantic forum, he'd have included that as an option in the poll.

You can read Tom and my discourse; my take if that he's worried that no matter where you put a boundary someone doesn't like it. Pennsylvania for instance.

Where do I put my post on refurbing my bike with the help of DC shops without having splintered commments?

Thanks again, Tom.