Morning tailwinds of Evening Doom

[creadinger]

Wow, the MVT was hard this morning from gravelly point to the 14th St. bridge! The bridge itself was interesting; leaning over to avoid being blown into the fence and all. After that my commute was mostly all tailwinds and I know I made several PRs and probably even moved into the top 5-10 on some Strava segments. On the east side of the Anacostia between the Douglass bridge and the 11th Street bridge I still had a tailwind at 25mph.

Now the fun is over. This evening is going to suck. If there was a category for being the slowest on a Strava segment (POM peon of the mountain?), I would compete for that this evening.

Topic

[GuyContinental]

Ha! I am the ghost of commute future- I had my slowest recorded WB commute ever on the W&OD (out of 150+) and that was riding with the indefatigable Hozn. Beautiful day but the wind was brutal. Hozn rode out to 28 just so he could ride the wind sled back to Reston (and to eek out his 1000 miles for Jan- go Ochos!) Have fun on the way home… muhahahaha

[Dirt]

My commute is a zig zag, so I usually get a headwind for at least some of my ride to and from work. You’re right… MVT was special this morning. I made a few unplanned swerves to the right on my way North.

[consularrider]

After having to alter my layering choices before the commute as the temperature dropped five degrees between 5:30 and 7:00, I hadn’t paid enough attention to the wind issues before I got on the bike. I enjoyed the tailwind headed east on the W&OD/4MRT combination, but turning north on the MVT and having the wind direction change slightly into a strong headwind I could have done without. Still with the combination I had a fairly quick time, and might have had my best in quite a while if the trails had been drier.

[TwoWheelsDC]

There was a weird wind tunnel effect as I crossed the KenCen parking lot from the TR bridge. Hit me right in the face and almost stopped me dead in my tracks. The ride across the TR was pretty sweet though, and my smugness was running at record highs after crossing the GWMP and seeing that the NB lanes were CLOSED at the TR Island parking lot. It feels very good being liberated from that particular thoroughfare.

[eminva]

When I come to work via the 14th Street bridge, as I did today, I usually take Ohio Drive north around the other side of the tidal basin to get to the trail up to the Kennedy Center and then into the city via Foggy Bottom.

Today, much praying was done in that little trail section between the Memorial Bridge and the Rock Creek Parkway ramp to the bridge. And futile yelling at cars to scoot over several lanes.

Liz

[DaveK]

@GuyContinental 42677 wrote:

Ha! I am the ghost of commute future- I had my slowest recorded WB commute ever on the W&OD (out of 150+) and that was riding with the indefatigable Hozn. Beautiful day but the wind was brutal. Hozn rode out to 28 just so he could ride the wind sled back to Reston (and to eek out his 1000 miles for Jan- go Ochos!) Have fun on the way home… muhahahaha

From: Dave K

To: Nature

Re: My westbound commute from Capitol Hill to Arlington this morning

Dear Nature:

I feel like the phrases “the worst”, or “history’s greatest monster”, get thrown around a lot these days…

[KelOnWheels]

After getting beat up by the wind on the way home last night, this morning was brutal!

There were a few times I thought I was going to have to give up and walk (or possibly have a little lie-down) because I was going so slow

I almost blew into the railings over by the Big Pencil, that was entertaining

On the plus side, the Ibex glove liners I got are the BOMB.

[Rootchopper]

Last night’s ride into a 20+ mph headwind from Rosslyn to MV was a serious workout on my Bike Friday. My reward was a ride into a 20+ mph headwind this morning with gusts from DCA to Rosslyn. I rode my faired Tour Easy recumbent. At the humpback bridge a gust grabbed the fairing and turned me sideways. In Rosslyn the wind became a tailwind for a couple of blocks. I barely had to pedal. Looking forward to tonight”s wind aided ride home.

[vvill]

I often try to check the wind forecasts before my ride – I’m sure I looked like I was overdressed with my goggles and face mask but it made it a pleasant enough commute given the conditions, and the W&OD south-east bound was fun. Going N/NW on MVT and Ohio Dr was aero practice (…on a hybrid with 540mm handlebars).

I passed someone on a faired recumbent near DCA, perhaps Rootchopper?

Also, one reason I love the Custis is that it’s relatively shielded from winds, so when I’m feeling tired, etc I can commute without worrying too much about winds.

[pfunkallstar]

I felt superhuman coming in on the W&OD/Custis – it was like Warp 9, only that isn’t allowed anymore because of tears in the space-time continuum. FLAVIN

[culimerc]

All I can say is that I’m really looking forward to my eastbound commute home tonight.

[consularrider]

It’s time to get ready to go home. The temperature has dropped since this morning and it is still windy and gusting from the west. Tonight I wish I lived on the other side of the Potomac!

[KelOnWheels]

consularrider;42787 wrote:

the temperature has dropped since this morning and it is still windy and gusting from the west.

nooooooooooooooo i don’t wannaaaaaaaaaa

[krazygl00]

I’m going from Oakton to Alexandria. I can’t wait

[KelOnWheels]

@krazygl00 42794 wrote:

I’m going from Oakton to Alexandria. I can’t wait

It’s still gonna be a headwind by the airport. It’s ALWAYS a headwind by the airport. 😡

[Author]

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