My Evening Commute

[Terpfan]

What was really annoying was that by the time I got to the Honey Pig later to meet some friends for dinner, it was all rain. Of course the way home was all huge ice sleet/frozen rain pellets. I was almost hit by a truck whom decided it was okay to move in toward me on the 34th bike lane and honked at me for daring to ride in the bike lane.

Aside from the painful sleet, the other worst moment was making the right turn at the bottom of the hill right past the condos at the south end of Old Town on MVT (right after where it becomes trail again). As I make that turn, what do I confront? Another cyclist wearing dark clothes and with no lights on my side of the trail riding straight at me. This dumbass is like a deer in the headlights and doesn’t move so I go off onto the slippery grass and just narrowly avoid a head-on collision. I yelled some choice words back at him. Like, really, who rides with no lights, wearing dark clothes, on the wrong side of the path, and in a sleet storm no less?

[Powerful Pete]

Despite the cold and blustery wind my evening commute was surprisingly pleasant… BAFS is really having its intended effect…

[vvill]

@Powerful Pete 106750 wrote:

Despite the cold and blustery wind my evening commute was surprisingly pleasant… BAFS is really having its intended effect…

Mine was unsurprisingly unpleasant.

[ShawnoftheDread]

Mine was a slow grind on studs that were only needed for about 1 minute total. And pretty nice.

[jopamora]

I had to recruit a riding buddy to make it home.

@Powerful Pete 106750 wrote:

Despite the cold and blustery wind my evening commute was surprisingly pleasant… BAFS is really having its intended effect…

[rcannon100]

@Powerful Pete 106750 wrote:

BAFS is really having its intended effect…

You mean to waste time and distract us from the dreary blight that is winter…. until we can once again return to happy hours on the patio???

[Powerful Pete]

@rcannon100 106755 wrote:

You mean to waste time and distract us from the dreary blight that is winter…. until we can once again return to happy hours on the patio???

Well yes… but don’t remind me of the patio. My patio needs a major intervention. So I will focus on BAFS for now…

[Steve O]

@sethpo 106420 wrote:

First rain and light sleet in D.C. which was starting to accumulate on the CCT enough to see tracks of other riders but didn’t really feel too slick.
Then the sleet mixed with snow near Bethesda.
Then it was all big flaky snow coming down pretty good.
Then it was face stinging sleet and maybe hail (I dunno)
Then light rain
Then sleet again

It was quite the ride. Visibility was my biggest concern w/ glare from car headlights and my own lights making it tough to see through my squinted eyes (glasses were impossible to keep clear).

There was even a part on a long downhill when I started getting chilled enough to shiver which is a bit disconcerting while riding downhill in the sleet in the dark with limited visibility but fortunately an uphill warmed me right back.

Never a dull moment around here. Seriously. It’s amazing how varied the conditions can be throughout the year.

Sethpo – I am bowing down. You are a badass. Nice ride in Rule 9 weather. Loved the MacArthur tunnel shot into the dark darky darkness.

[dbb]

My evening commute was much warmer than this morning and generally quite pleasant. Then I got to 18th Street going under the Route 1 overpass. WTF? Talk about double parking.

I called the Arlington County Police non-emergency number and had to tell the operator that the vehicle that was double parked was not really a vehicle. After reaching some agreement on the nature of the blockage, an officer was dispatched.

[chris_s]

@dbb 106873 wrote:

My evening commute was much warmer than this morning and generally quite pleasant. Then I got to 18th Street going under the Route 1 overpass. WTF? Talk about double parking.

I…just…*boggle*

[mstone]

this one time, I was on my way to work and the trailer fell off my rig. sorry.

That does remind me of a somewhat unusual traffic disaster I was stuck in one time. after many, many long minutes of creeping along I got to the front of the delay and found out what the problem was: there was a trailer double axle sitting on the highway with no trailer, and about 15-20 feet further ahead there was a trailer sitting on the highway with no wheels. I guess they had to bring out a crane to fix that.

[cyclingfool]

My evening commute grew an extra leg. I rode from the office to my other part time job for an evening shift. Then shortly after midnight, it was finally time to head home. It’s amazing how quiet the streets can be at night. I ride from Clarendon to Del Ray between 12:15 and 12:45, and I think I only got passed by eight cars. So tranquil and quiet. Almost eerily so, but very nice.

[jrenaut]

WTF? Reports from the wife that it was hailing in DC when she rode the kids home from school 20 minutes ago. The forecast I’ve been looking at (forecast.io) has been saying clear all day today for days now, and suddenly it’s hailing when I’m almost ready to ride home? And I have my beautiful fenderless fixed gear today.

[Henry]

@cyclingfool 106900 wrote:

So tranquil and quiet. Almost eerily so, but very nice.

True that. In a previous life I worked at at newspaper in Merrifield. Would often, at 1AM after we put an issue to bed, ride the 9 miles on the W&OD back to South Arlington in total solitude. It was grand.

Tonight’s commute promises to be something less than that.

[jrenaut]

That was not pleasant.

[Author]

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