@Rockford10 161327 wrote:
For those interested, the donation went just fine.
I got a little turned around with the streets back there (man, what are they doing to the hospital!!), but that was my poor planning. My pulse was a little high, so I needed to wait about 20 minutes before they would take me back.
During and after the donation, other donors and staff asked me if I biked to work (I was wearing a BtWD shirt). I said “Yep, I usually ride to work. In fact, I rode here, and I need to ride to work from here!” The usual blather continued.
After donation, I drank two waters and two juices and had some cookies. Then, to escape the CNN coverage, I left. No one told me not to ride my bike, the only comment I got was to “not exercise.” Okey dokey.
In general, if you can, blood donation is a great thing to do! I got a specific call to donate, and felt I really needed to try and make it happen. I put in the effort to make it happen (via bike) and everything turned out well.
Wow, I’ve never had a network cover one of my blood donations 
I take it you rode straight from INOVA to Tysons?