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

[PotomacCyclist]

@consularrider 117977 wrote:

The northernmost flyover at National Airport was crowded with rubberneckers as we rode home from last night’s happy hour. I finally found out why, it appears a DC taxi missed the runway on its landing approach. (sorry for the callousness of the post, but how do you get a taxi on its roof so far off the road?)

In a 24-36 hr period, the taxi flipped. An SUV driver rear-ended a tractor trailer in Arlington. Two pedestrians were struck by drivers in Northwest DC. (One of the pedestrians died.) Another pedestrian was fatally struck in Gaithersburg. And people rant about cyclists, Amtrak and Metro?

[PotomacCyclist]

Thunderstorms moving into Arlington and DC over the next 45 minutes or so, according to the local ABC station. Heavy rain and lightning strikes have been reported in the western suburbs.

[Terpfan]

@PotomacCyclist 118132 wrote:

Thunderstorms moving into Arlington and DC over the next 45 minutes or so, according to the local ABC station. Heavy rain and lightning strikes have been reported in the western suburbs.

For once I actually outran the storms. They ever-so-briefly caught up to me along Belle View Blvd, but I sprinted the hill and cleared them. I’m batting like 2 for 10 on beating storms this year.

[Crickey7]

@Terpfan 118178 wrote:

I’m batting like 2 for 10 on beating storms this year.

On the plus side, I kept my streak of avoiding storms going strong. On the down side, I didn’t leave work till 9:30.

[dbb]

Last night’s commute was full of smugness. Traffic on Jefferson sucked so I filtered from about the Natural History Museum to 14th Street where the cause of the corkage was two buses that ran into each other on 14th. Filtered past them and then headed south.

On East Basin Drive, the Park Service had the left lane closed as it seemed they were having a contractor dig a hole in the lane.

Combined with the moisture based stupidity, it was a crappy evening to be a motorist.

[vern]

I ran into a storm around Vienna on the WOD, but it cooled me off, which I greatly appreciated.

[Crickey7]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8896[/ATTACH]

This presents a challenge to keeping my dry streak alive.

[PotomacCyclist]

Well, most people probably noticed today’s storm. I think the severe T-storm warning continues until 5:45 pm.

The flash flood warning continues until 7 pm.

There were a couple lightning strikes out in Maryland, including one near Frederick. I don’t think anyone died, fortunately, but one hiker was treated for a head cut after getting knocked down by the lightning. I don’t know the details.

[Crickey7]

@Crickey7 118289 wrote:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8896[/ATTACH]

This presents a challenge to keeping my dry streak alive.

I am impregnable! (no offense to the pregnable).

[Tania]

I predict my (unexpected! I thought I was going to have to metro home for various reasons) ride home with my new granny gears (yes, plural) will be GLORIOUS! I’m looking at you, two sisters.

[Vicegrip]

Left Western end of ‘Tysons corner in a full on downpour. Co workers were “What the what ?!” Felt good to have some watercooling and took the long way home. Felt and saw some small hail for a couple min and came upon 2 trees down in vienna so I missed the hard stuff. Steamy sunshine and I was almost sort of dry by home fall.

[cvcalhoun]

When I left my house, it wasn’t raining. A minute later, when I got my bike out of the shed, it was. I biked to the Y. By the time I left, the thunderstorm had started. I tried to count the gap between lightning and thunder to figure out how far away the lightning was, and realized there was no gap. I’ll bike in almost any weather, but I didn’t like the idea of getting struck by lightning, so I stayed put for half an hour. By that time, there was still a downpour, but the lightning had moved farther away, so I just got wet.

[dkel]

Started out sunny, got darker, and then I stopped at Bikenetic. As soon as I went inside, it got black and the wind picked up. The power went out at the shop, which means I had to leave without paying for the small part I was there to pick up (I guess I’m running a tab now, lol). I got rained on a little bit on the mile ride home from the shop, but missed the downpour, which started shortly thereafter. I also got a coveted low five from dcv on the trail, so all in all, it was a very exciting ride!

[KWL]

… involved stopping and helping a fellow Cyclist (with a capital “C” – we were both wearing Lycra) with a flat and coming upon these critters wandering from the banks of the Potomac to a puddle on the other side of the MVT.

[S. Arlington Observer]

I have reported this to Arlington Transit this morning. Yesterday was not the first time this particular us driver has done this. Yes, parking the bus would always take up some of the bike lane, but not all of it. Taking it all is merely her choice. About 5:20 p.m on N. Veitch Street in Courthouse. And this is not just a stop. The bus remains parked there for some time (probably to calibrate its schedule).

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[Author]

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