Found Connection

[Anonymous]

Wednesday evening, narrow, intermittent-shoulder, rural-ish road.

Me: taking the lane on a shoulder-free section approaching the crest of a small hill. Claiming approximately the left tire track for reasons that may not be apparent at the moment. Continuing to take the left tire track after cresting the hill, aiming for what is the most-rideable spot in the full-road-width pothole on the downhill side, then heading for the shoulder that starts at the bottom of the hill.

You: passenger in car stuck behind me at bicycle hill-climbing pace. Passing after I hit the shoulder. As you pass, sticking head out the window clearly about to yell at me.

Me: tensing in anticipation of the pending verbal abuse…

You: (screaming) “TWO THUMBS UP!!!!” while literally giving me two thumbs up both hands out the window

Thanks for yelling nice things not mean things at me. Sorry for assuming you were going to be mean.

[Mariner]

@Crickey7 127229 wrote:

Either the jogger I just passed was using a language learning app on his smartphone, or someone was telling me again and again, in a very affected Spanish accent, that he loved me.

Where would we be without your contributions on the WaPo comments boards?

[GovernorSilver]

My thanks to the three cyclists who stopped to try to help me as I was trying to figure out how to untangle my chain.

Two of them were a nice couple who suggested I try pulling the chain while one of them tried turning the crank gently. It worked! Saw them chilling out by Gravelly Point later – we waved at each other.

[Tania]

Me: slow rolling on a CaBi from Metro Center to the Bike Rack and back.

You: all the pedestrians who thanked me for yielding to them in the crosswalk when they had complete right of way.

[GovernorSilver]

My thanks to the three guys who came rushing to my aid after I wiped out on N. Capitol St. One of them left his truck in the middle of the street and came running over with Wet Wipes or something similar that I could use to wipe some blood off – he had nothing to do with the accident.

[ian74]

@GovernorSilver 140808 wrote:

My thanks to the three guys who came rushing to my aid after I wiped out on N. Capitol St. One of them left his truck in the middle of the street and came running over with Wet Wipes or something similar that I could use to wipe some blood off – he had nothing to do with the accident.

Man, you’ve had a rough week! Is the bike ok?

[komorebi]

On the 14th Street bridge this morning, I was puzzled to see (1) an unoccupied bike leaning against the railing, and (2) another rider dismounting a bit in front of the unoccupied bike. The mystery solved itself as I got closer, when I saw the rider approaching someone else in a bike helmet (presumably the owner of the first bike) who was pulling a mattress along the bridge, and then saw the boxspring that he had already pulled off the bridge and onto the trail shoulder.

Kudos to you both for helping to clear the bridge!

[KLizotte]

Many super thanks to the two cyclists who stopped to help me fix a flat tire yesterday on the path leading to the Custis by MOM Organic grocery store. They were very kind and patient. Hope they made it home before it got too dark.

[GovernorSilver]

@ian74 140827 wrote:

Man, you’ve had a rough week! Is the bike ok?

Yeah, the Uptown 8 is ok. Amazingly, none of my cycling gear was damaged except for my REI coop t-shirt. Rode the Uptown 8 home that same day.

Did take a look at the tires after performing the basic Nexus 8 shifter cable adjustment procedure to try to reduce the random shift-in/shift-out clunk issue that this IGH is known for. I think the mileage is still under 1000 for the tires – I didn’t notice anything other than normal wear. I should remember to leave the tire pressure on the low side for wet road conditions like that day.

[jrenaut]

I’ve been biking my older daughter to camp pick up most days this week – it’s about 11 miles each way from NW DC to the pick up spot in Old Town. Today was the last day of camp and one of the counselors approached us and said, “so you’ve been biking from DC every day?”. We told her we had. “I thought your daughter was lying to me, or didn’t know what ‘biking’ meant”. Turns out she lives maybe 10 blocks from us and couldn’t imagine biking that far on her own, let alone with a gremlin on the bike.

[notinthe18]

Someone at the northwest corner of Hains Point (near the stop sign near the gate) had a found connection with a large quantity of the devil’s lettuce last night. It smelled like someone was burning a dispensary. Was a pretty nice night for it, I suppose.

[LhasaCM]

Shout out to the motorist last night turning right from the northbound 1st to K St NE by the MBT. Unlike most there, he had his neck craned and was looking way back to ensure the bicycle traffic coming northbound was clear before starting his turn. Unlike other examples we’ve seen in that other thread, he continued to wait despite the furious honking of horns from the other motorists behind him.

[Drewdane]

You: my bike

Me, back on the bike after six weeks due to ankle injury followed by vacation: “I missed you, Baby!”

[creadinger]

Given all the real and perceived strife between cyclists and peds on the trails I want to share a good story. My wife is training for a marathon walk later this month and did a 16 mile training walk today, mostly on the MVT.

Not only did she not have any negative interactions with cyclists, but virtually everyone who passed was super cheerful and said things like “have a great day” etc…

So, thanks #BikeDC! It pays to know that good interactions are noticed on both sides as well.

[huskerdont]

Note the “predictable.”

http://wpcomics.washingtonpost.com/client/wpc/fz/2016/09/03/

Meant this to go on the root of general discussion, but it’s somewhat in spirit of a found connection.

[Author]

Posts