Date Archives May 2011

Bike Week in Charlottesville

Bike Charlottesville It’s National Bike Month and Bike Charlottesville has organized a slew of events : – Monday , May 16th, 12-1pm: Cross Town Ride , News Conference, Award Ceremony – Tuesday , May 17th, 6-8pm: Charlottesville Community Bikes Open House + Intro to Biking – Wednesday , May 18th, 6:15-8:00pm: Ride of Silence – Charlottesville – Thursday , May 19th, 12-1pm: UVa Lunch & Learn “Bike Commuting 101″ – Friday , May 20th, 7-9pm and 4-6pm: BIKE TO WORK DAY Energizer Stations – Saturday , May 21st, 10am – 1pm: Tour de Coop – Saturday , May 21st, 3-5pm: Bike Rodeo

…With your help, we’ll succeed at spreading the news by word of mouth and decentralized flier distribution. … If you can only come to a few events, please come out on Mon, Wed, and Fri.

…I’ll be bringing my good bike to town and riding as much as possible.

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Exploding Water Heater Demontrated – Thanks to Mythbusters

One of the most common items that is found on a home inspection is a missing/broken/leaking TPR* valve – a Temperature Pressure Relief valve . Basically, (someone who knows more than I, please correct me) if the water heater gets overloaded the TPR valve is where the water will go. … One of the home inspectors I used to use would say that a hot water heater, given the right circumstances, would explode with the force of a stick of dynamite. I was thinking about this today in a home inspection, and said that someone ought to suggest this to the Mythbusters.

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Willoughby Neighborhood is Growing

The following was sent in by a reader (and I’m grateful): “Don’t know if you’re repping any homes in Willoughby or any of your buyers are looking there, but there are some plans in the city and county that they may wish to consider. … All 100 units will enter and exit on Harris Road in Willoughby, as the property is constrained by Moore’s Creek and I doubt the County would give permission to build an automobile crossing into the Avon Center development, should it ever be built. … * Part I of the city plan looks to be about half the units and beds — 25 units/100 beds or so. — From Albemarle’s “County View” : (bolding mine) ZMA 201100003, Willoughby Apartments Planner: Claudette Grant PROPOSAL: Rezone 5.671 acres from Planned Unit Development (PUD) zoning district which allows residential (3 – 34 units per acre), mixed with commercial and industrial uses to PUD zoning district to add residential density to plan.

…I contacted an attorney who graciously bent his ear for 20+ minutes about the very possible encroachment or developing on Willoughby Common Property in the City without legal right of way and he said to hire a surveyor and have him/her survey the area, mark it and record it, then we will have an expert determine if this is true.

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An afternoon in Western Albemarle – Strawberries, Eggs and Beer

It’s easy to forget about or take for granted some of the simple and simply awesome things that are available in the Charlottesville area. This is about three hours on Sunday, 8 May: Picking strawberries at Chiles Orchard in Crozet : Strawberry Picking at Chiles' Orchard in Crozet Driving to Blue Mountain Brewery to fill up a growler with Rockfish Wheat : Driving to Blue Mountain Brewery in Afton Picking up some local, farm fresh eggs at AM Fog : AM Fog is Open! * Pictures taken with my Droid Pro, and weren’t edited or altered at all. It’s just that pretty here. 🙂

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Charlottesville (city) is Walkable + a Thoughtful Tour of the Charlottesville Bus System

She’s taking a tour of Charlottesville via the bus lines. – In Which I am a Bus Geek (the Number 1 Bus) – Ultimate Bliss on the Number 8 Bus – Number 2 Bus – Joyriding on the Number 2 Bus – Deja vu on the Number Four bus – The Number 5 Bus: Shaken, not Stirred Charlottesville is very walkable .

…Transit is available within a ¼ mile of 95% of the population seven days a week and operates at 95% on time performance. This ensures that residents of Charlottesville have ample opportunity to access high quality transit that serves a variety of destinations.

I have been riding my bike more and more around the City and while I have no context as to how we rank, I have found it mostly easy to do.

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