My Evening Commute

[Dickie]

Was not my finest. It started OK as I stopped off at Bikenetic to see Dirt and talk new cross/commuter tires as mine are completely shot and flatting all the time. Dirt was not around but Jan was glad to help out. I left informed but without new rubber for now. Back on the WOD and being careful to elude the dreaded FCPD I slowed at the Grove St. crossing only to be passed by a dude with absolutely no regard for the stop sign. He flew through the intersection just as I was getting clipped in without even a look. He then pulled the ultimate DB move, passing (and nearly clipping) two woman with strollers as they crossed paths with a gentleman walking towards them… yep, four abreast with him at speed. The gentleman yelled and put his hands out for protection and the ladies screamed. I slowed, apologized for his behavior and chased the scum down. As I got next to him (and gestured for him to remove his headphones) I became possessed by a sudden calmness (weird). I decided to politely explain what I had just witnessed and suggested better methods for future situations… he tolerated my intrusion and then I flatted. DANG IT! Luckily it was directly in front of the “Free Air” station on the WOD so I rolled my bike to the station, leaned my steed against the air machine (you can see where this is going), started taking off my back pack when I watched my bike slowly roll forward and fall against the pole…. result:

Needless to say, wasn’t a great ride home.

Topic

[GB]

@brendan 112954 wrote:

I ate gravel several times today, but didn’t crash once.

B

So you just decided to eat gravel?

[mstone]

@brendan 112954 wrote:

I ate gravel several times today, but didn’t crash once. Silly wind.

B

It was like being sandblasted. I wonder how long it will take for this winter’s ice treatments to go away.

[bobco85]

@brendan 112954 wrote:

I ate gravel several times today, but didn’t crash once. Silly wind.

B

@mstone 112958 wrote:

It was like being sandblasted. I wonder how long it will take for this winter’s ice treatments to go away.

Eating gravel? Sandblasted? Someone better tell the local health clubs/spas that there are free mineral treatments on the trails!

[Terpfan]

@Crickey7 112951 wrote:

I pity the MVT’ers tonight. That wind will be right in your faces.

Yep, my legs are still feeling it. Couple that with the “oh it’s warm out, let’s take a run/walk/ride” crowd that’s gone for 1/2 of the year and the warmth wasn’t really that entertaining.

At TR Island, another cyclist was coming up the parking lot so I had to stay the trail portion there (southbound). When I got to the point of crossing the parking lot, I went slowly to make the hard right into lot to stay on trail seeing two women walking from the other side. As we meet, one woman decides to move further right (my left) and the other stutter steps about 5x and goes left (my right) forcing me to literally stop given the delay in moving/moving into my path.

But, they were outdone by the folks I ran into by the Memorial Bridge tunnel. Two guys decide to dismount their bikes and walk through, so I ride very slowly behind them. As we get out of the tunnel, they decide to stop and chat so I ring my bell and proceed to go left around them. Before making the move left, I check my rear. Low and behold, a runner is there attempting to pass me. I may have mumbled a wtf aloud. But seriously, what a tool.

Toss in the aforementioned wind and usual folks with dogs on leashes extending across the trail in an effort to see if I jump 2 feet into the with my bike and that about summarized the MVT yesterday.

I wish I didn’t have a doctor’s appointment today and had ridden. The rain would have been my blessing.

[dasgeh]

@Terpfan 112969 wrote:

I wish I didn’t have a doctor’s appointment today and had ridden. The rain would have been my blessing.

Seriously. Warm temps + empty trail made the light rain totally worth it.

[Emm]

Be careful commuting home tonight everyone…

From the CWG:

Timing: Mid-afternoon into evening, and then another round possible later tonight.

Location: The southern, warmer portion of the D.C. region has a higher chance of seeing thunderstorms that meet severe criteria than the immediate D.C. area and north, but all areas have the chance to at least hear some thunder.

Impacts: The threat in these storms will be mainly strong winds, though widespread damage from wind is not expected. Some of the storms could produce small hail. There’s also a small chance that a weak, short-lived tornado could develop, should conditions ripen further.

[brendan]

@Terpfan 112969 wrote:

Yep, my legs are still feeling it. Couple that with the “oh it’s warm out, let’s take a run/walk/ride” crowd that’s gone for 1/2 of the year and the warmth wasn’t really that entertaining.

At TR Island, another cyclist was coming up the parking lot so I had to stay the trail portion there (southbound). When I got to the point of crossing the parking lot, I went slowly to make the hard right into lot to stay on trail seeing two women walking from the other side. As we meet, one woman decides to move further right (my left) and the other stutter steps about 5x and goes left (my right) forcing me to literally stop given the delay in moving/moving into my path.

But, they were outdone by the folks I ran into by the Memorial Bridge tunnel. Two guys decide to dismount their bikes and walk through, so I ride very slowly behind them. As we get out of the tunnel, they decide to stop and chat so I ring my bell and proceed to go left around them. Before making the move left, I check my rear. Low and behold, a runner is there attempting to pass me. I may have mumbled a wtf aloud. But seriously, what a tool.

Yup.

Thursday was my first “I’m cautiously overtaking a slower trail user in front of me, calling pass, ringing bell and then glancing over my left shoulder to find someone overtaking me at speed as I’m about to swing out” of 2015. But at least that was on the wider W&OD so it wasn’t a tragic incident.

I need to get back into the habit of checking behind me earlier so I can keep myself out of the collision zone. Even though it’s a shared responsibility for the person behind me to understand that I’ll need to move left to overtake the person in front of me as I approach them, so…perhaps it should be wiser to delay their own pass…

B

[dasgeh]

So I’ll just ask, is there any reason to be Straving these days? No BAFS, no NBC, not doing #30daysofbiking ….

[dkel]

@dasgeh 113089 wrote:

So I’ll just ask, is there any reason to be Straving these days? No BAFS, no NBC, not doing #30daysofbiking ….

Compulsive accumulation of useless statistics, duh.

[Powerful Pete]

Useless?! How could you say that?! 😡

The statistics I accumulate from my Strava-recorded rides are very, very important.

I use them to analyze… my statistics! And stuff. Important statistical stuff! :p

[Crickey7]

The young intern at work passed me halfway up the long hill on Mass Ave. After some obligatory trash talk, I glued myself to his tail and stuck with him the rest of the way up, and then along Wisconsin till he ran a red.

I am redeemed.

[Steve O]

@dasgeh 113089 wrote:

So I’ll just ask, is there any reason to be Straving these days? No BAFS, no NBC, not doing #30daysofbiking ….

@dkel 113091 wrote:

Compulsive accumulation of useless statistics, duh.

@Powerful Pete 113123 wrote:

… Important statistical stuff! :p

Or, if you are FFG, art.

[Terpfan]

I complain about winter until spring rolls around and every hooligan finds his or her way back onto the MVT. I think what frustrated me most was the number of fair weather riders pulling ridiculous passes that would force me to come to near complete stops. Specifically, I’m thinking of yellow jersey in the middle of a literal peloton heading northbound on the MVT last night. He’s mid-pack–and their pace line is pretty close to the center of the trail–when he decides to try to pass them all forcing me to hit my brakes hard to avoid a collision. What a tool. On the bright side, the various idiots made me forget about the wind in my face. And on the very bright side, the weather was perfect. So guess it’s all a trade-off.

[Powerful Pete]

Yup. Have to say that the commuting bits on the MVT are rather stressful. Especially last nigh, with all the traffic. I also had two choice guys who seemed to have great difficulty controlling their bikes – as in they seemed to be about to fall over and were all over both lanes, right at the gravelly point portajohns. Forced me to come to a complete stop twice in the space of about 10 meters. Really, grown men having trouble balancing themselves on bikes?

On the plus side, the wind helped ride… like the wind on 4MR. Happy Pete.

[americancyclo]

@dasgeh 113089 wrote:

So I’ll just ask, is there any reason to be Straving these days? No BAFS, no NBC, not doing #30daysofbiking ….

to know how much wear and tear I have on my bikes and the components.

[Author]

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