I actually rode over to the Tidal Basin yesterday during lunch. Of course it was very crowded. I rode on the streets more than I usually do there. In the stretches where I stayed on the sidewalk, I walked the CaBi bike, moving at about 0.25 mph. That’s just life during peak bloom or near peak bloom. But it’s still worth it to me.
The blossoms didn’t appear to be quite at peak bloom, which is defined as 70 percent of the Yoshino trees blossoming. It might be at 50-60 percent, so it’s close. It was supposed to rain overnight. That may have blown away some of the existing blossoms, but maybe not.
The streets are fine, but the pollen levels spiked noticeably yesterday. A couple weeks ago, I took a single 24-hr Claritin-D tablet but that was it. I’ve been OK in recent days, doing some evening riding on most days. But yesterday, if I didn’t rinse off my face immediately after riding around, my eyes would start to burn badly because of the pollen. That may not be a road or trail condition, but it’s definitely a riding condition.
I’ll probably be riding around more areas with cherry blossoms this weekend. I’ll bring a water bottle. Not so much for drinking but mostly to rinse out my eyes every 30-60 minutes. The pollen is going to be bad.
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