My Evening Commute

[dasgeh]

@Terpfan 93565 wrote:

Basically ditto for me. It probably didn’t help that I commuted from near Silver Spring to Annapolis, which is not very friendly bike commuting wise. But even when I switched to a job in DC, I didn’t really think about biking as an option and took the bus/metro. It only dawned on me once my car broke down and I realized I could use my then-gf/now wife’s car. I do my best to preach the benefits to new and old friends alike, but I think only one or two has seriously listened as I know one actually does CABI to work a few times a week.

I think most people don’t realize they can do it until they actually do it. That’s why I think bike to work day is so important. And why I think Bike to School Day (and other efforts to encourage biking to school, like SRTS) is so important — students are more of a captive audience, and it’s easier to get them to care about learning a new thing (being that school is all about getting them to learn new things). Get them to ride once, they’ll realize they can ride cool places, they’ll drag their folks along, who will realize they can ride places. Eventually, they’ll realize they can ride to work.

But first, let’s get everyone to bike to ice cream.

[Boo Boo]

Did not beat the rain home. Felt great, though!

[dplasters]

@Boo Boo 93626 wrote:

Did not beat the rain home. Felt great, though!

It was so hot yesterday I was praying it would rain on me.

[Terpfan]

I beat the rain. Albeit, I also believed the forecaster claiming there was a “small chance” of a t-storm south and east of the city. No, it was like a 100% chance. I didn’t mind the heat as much as the headwind. Sometimes I feel like mother nature knows my route on the MVT and throws the wind at me both ways on the commute. When I think about it more, I realize, the trend appears worse in the winter. Maybe it’s a question for the CWG.

[cyclingfool]

@dplasters 93643 wrote:

It was so hot yesterday I was praying it would rain on me.

It was so hot yesterday I MADE it rain on me. (as in water bottle “rain” through the helmet vents)

If you want to spend $60 for a similar effect, apparently, you can buy this: http://www.spruzzamist.com/

[Crickey7]

At the end of the CCT, in the new park that’s been built along the river, there is a fountain with arcing jets perfect for cooling off.

[dplasters]

@cyclingfool 93664 wrote:

It was so hot yesterday I MADE it rain on me. (as in water bottle “rain” through the helmet vents)

If you want to spend $60 for a similar effect, apparently, you can buy this: http://www.spruzzamist.com/

I much prefer the hilarity of this product.

[DanB]

@jnva 93499 wrote:

Driving a car is so ingrained in people’s mind that they can not imagine riding a bike to work.
My evening commute was awesome. Hit all the lights from Thomas circle to key bridge and it only took about 5 minutes to leave the city. In a car, this would have taken 20 minutes.

My office building is right on Thomas Circle. Just wondering … what route do you take to the Key Bridge from the end of the M St bike lane to the bridge? I’ve avoided that route since getting stuck in massive traffic on M Street.

[Anonymous]

@Steve O 93498 wrote:

Keep hoping.

On March 17, 2003, Dwight Watson drove his tractor into the pond on the national mall. The morning of March 18 was exceedingly beautiful for bike commuting: blue sky, 50’s, crystal clear air, gorgeous. I had to take an annoying, 45-second detour along Independence Drive (in those days one could ride literally onto the apron of the Washington Monument and touch it if you wanted to on the way to Jefferson Drive).
Car commuters took 3-4 hours(!!!) to get from Alexandria into DC. It was a monumental clusterf*$#k. Epic. Rivaled only by the day the suicide jumper closed the Wilson Bridge IMO.

The next day was equally as beautiful: blue sky, 50’s, crystal clear air, gorgeous. The news had been essentially 24/7 about the kook in his tractor in the pond. I was certain that on Wednesday morning I would see more bike commuters. I mean, they knew he was still there. And they knew what a clusterf*$#k it had been the day before. It was not a surprise. Surely at least 1% of all those people who had sat in their cars for 3 hours to go 6 or 7 or 8 miles on Tuesday would figure out that they could ride their bike instead. Surely. After all, the DC area has the most highly educated population in the Western Hemisphere. Surely. Surely…..

I was wrong. I did not see any indication whatsoever that more people were riding the next day. Once again I had to take my annoying 45-second detour, but I was still on time (I probably left a minute early just in case )

So if on a day when every single driver already knew that he or she was going to be sitting in an epic traffic jam–already knew!–and virtually none chose to ride his or her bike instead, then I don’t think those everyday, ordinary jams are going to do it either.

So keep hoping.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6519[/ATTACH]

It took me about a year from the time I considered it might be possible to ride my bike home from work until the first time I actually tried it. Admittedly, I was doing something not quite as simple as Alexandria to DC, was a big scaredy-cat about the whole prospect, and might be an outlier in idea=>planning=>implementation time, but even so, making a first-time ride as a spur of the moment decision without having previously considered cycling route, clothes (and other item) transportation, showers, etc was probably pretty unlikely even on a predictably-horrendous traffic day. That doesn’t necessarily mean the idea doesn’t occur to some people sitting in traffic who then start the planning/implementation process.

[jnva]

@DanB 93728 wrote:

My office building is right on Thomas Circle. Just wondering … what route do you take to the Key Bridge from the end of the M St bike lane to the bridge? I’ve avoided that route since getting stuck in massive traffic on M Street.

I always stay on M.

[Kolohe]

@DanB 93728 wrote:

My office building is right on Thomas Circle. Just wondering … what route do you take to the Key Bridge from the end of the M St bike lane to the bridge? I’ve avoided that route since getting stuck in massive traffic on M Street.

If M isn’t you’re thing (and it wasn’t mine for a long time), you can turn right on 28th and go up the hill to N, left on N to 34th, then down 34th to get back to the Key bridge approaches.

Backed up traffic on M (westbound) normally means backed up traffic on 34th, so I often enough just take the sidewalk (and normally walk it down due to the steepness and the cornerstore at the bottom) and the then cross at the light. (and take the downriver side path) If the traffic permits, though, I ride on the street, right onto M, take the right most of the left turning lane, then make the left onto the upriver Key bridge side path

https://goo.gl/maps/YwUx2

[DanB]

@Kolohe 93743 wrote:

If M isn’t you’re thing (and it wasn’t mine for a long time), you can turn right on 28th and go up the hill to N, left on N to 34th, then down 34th to get back to the Key bridge approaches.

Backed up traffic on M (westbound) normally means backed up traffic on 34th, so I often enough just take the sidewalk (and normally walk it down due to the steepness and the cornerstore at the bottom) and the then cross at the light. (and take the downriver side path) If the traffic permits, though, I ride on the street, right onto M, take the right most of the left turning lane, then make the left onto the upriver Key bridge side path

https://goo.gl/maps/YwUx2

Awesome. Thanks a lot! I’ll try it out on my sweat (i.e. ride) home today.

[Greenbelt]

National awesome sunset week (except for Tuesday) continues…

[lordofthemark]

Did the ride from SE to Park Center in 67 minutes, I was pleased. Traffic in SE was surprisingly civilized for a game night. Another cyclist on the Eye Street lane asked if I was taping my ride, I said “Oh this, its just a helmet light”. Second time someone has asked about it in three days. Maine/Water continues to be a mess – the end of Water that is open, right by the fish market, has a nasty bump covering a wire. I took 4MRT to Walter Reed instead of going up the 31st street hill to Abingdon. May not have been much faster but definitely more pleasant. The sidewalk on the west side of King Street from Walter Reed to 28th was definitely not pleasant.

[Greenbelt]

OK, one more to round out sunset week, by College Park airport
[IMG]https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/p600x600/10603383_713134405419946_7577230343772298623_n.jpg?oh=6a4033139b8c37d49d440a2887813961&oe=549BF384&__gda__=1419234228_d9cf4095751d5a2e61f09953ea29e8fb[/IMG]

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