My Evening Commute

[GovernorSilver]

As for rain, I recall checking the weather before leaving home Tuesday morning for my inaugural commute ride. Wundeground said no rain in the morning, 20% chance of rain in the evening. They got it backwards!

Fortunately it was light rain, and we didn’t ride on anything too slick, which was good because that was my introduction to riding between lanes in the middle of congested motorist traffic and frequently changing position within a lane (eg. parking at right of middle lane on N. Capitol at a particular intersection because the right lane became a right-turn lane and the middle lane is occupied by a car, then when the light turns green, letting the car go ahead and quickly claiming the middle of the lane). Rain was too light to really test my choice of commuting attire – quick-dry shirt, quick-dry shorts, quick-dry socks, Converse canvas shoes, helmet – not that I’m complaining.

[MLB]

@komorebi 119302 wrote:

FYI, an alternative to the Slaters Lane/Powhatan St. route is to continue on the Potomac Avenue MUP all the way to the end, at Braddock Road. Cross the westbound lanes of Braddock on the crosswalk, turn left to join Braddock’s eastbound lanes, then turn right onto West Street. If you follow West Street all the way south, it’ll take you to Jamieson Ave.

I haven’t done this during the afternoon rush hour, but I sometimes go this way in the evenings and I usually find the traffic on Braddock and West to be pretty light.

The route I typically take from Braddock Rd to Carlyle district is the unnamed MUP that goes along the east side of the train tracks from Braddock Metro to the King Street Metro via Cameron Street. At the end of the MUP, take Cameron through the 4-way stop at Commonwealth/Daingerfield, then cross King Street with the pedestrian signal and take the Metro station bus lane up to the pedestrian tunnel under Duke Street. The tunnel puts you out on the Dulaney St. sidewalk. (Note: it’s right turn only at the Diagonal & Duke intersection) It’s the most direct route, but often requires a dismount when going through the tunnel as it can be crowded with pedestrians, so taking West Street down to Jamieson may be a quicker or easier route depending on traffic. I’ll have to give it a try some time.

https://goo.gl/maps/gz1F6
(note: Google won’t route bike riders through the bus lanes so I used pedestrian directions)

For the inbound commute in the morning, you can cross Duke northbound on Dulaney/Diagonal, so skip the tunnel. Take Diagonal up to a left at Daingerfield, then a right onto Cameron at the 4-way stop and then back to the MUP.

[GovernorSilver]

@MLB 119516 wrote:

The route I typically take from Braddock Rd to Carlyle district is the unnamed MUP that goes along the east side of the train tracks from Braddock Metro to the King Street Metro via Cameron Street. At the end of the MUP, take Cameron through the 4-way stop at Commonwealth/Daingerfield, then cross King Street with the pedestrian signal and take the Metro station bus lane up to the pedestrian tunnel under Duke Street. The tunnel puts you out on the Dulaney St. sidewalk. (Note: it’s right turn only at the Diagonal & Duke intersection) It’s the most direct route, but often requires a dismount when going through the tunnel as it can be crowded with pedestrians, so taking West Street down to Jamieson may be a quicker or easier route depending on traffic. I’ll have to give it a try some time.

https://goo.gl/maps/gz1F6
(note: Google won’t route bike riders through the bus lanes so I used pedestrian directions)

For the inbound commute in the morning, you can cross Duke northbound on Dulaney/Diagonal, so skip the tunnel. Take Diagonal up to a left at Daingerfield, then a right onto Cameron at the 4-way stop and then back to the MUP.

I did a test ride yesterday down the Potomac Trail to Braddock, then down the MUP connecting Braddock to Cameron, then took Cameron -> Commonwealth/Daingerfield -> Diagonal. Where I diverged was cutting through the June Coffee/Joe Thiesman’s/etc. mall to the Duke and John Carlyle intersection. There is unfortunately a sort-of-switchback with rails that I had to walk my bike through because I’m just not that good at navigating switchbacks with sharp turns, especially if there’s rails on both sides to restrict my movement.

I’ll try the Diagonal to pedestrian tunnel under Duke St. route on my next evening commute. Thanks!

For the morning, I prefer to take the MVT, using the access MUP connecting Rt. 1 to Washington. I enjoy viewing the scenery along the MVT as the start to my day. I do like having a separate evening route to take, to avoid the evening MVT traffic, even with that inconvenient to climb switchback (those damn sharp turns and handrails!) connecting Four Mile Run to Potomac Trail.

[scoot]

@MLB 119516 wrote:

For the inbound commute in the morning, you can cross Duke northbound on Dulaney/Diagonal, so skip the tunnel. Take Diagonal up to a left at Daingerfield, then a right onto Cameron at the 4-way stop and then back to the MUP.

It should be noted that Cameron Street is one-way the opposite direction. I wouldn’t ride in the road going the wrong way, as a general principle, but especially not at this location. Drivers won’t see you until the last second given that curve around the Wyndham, plus they can be aggressive about lane changing ahead of the Commonwealth intersection. The sidewalk between Commonwealth and the start of the MUP is an option, but it’s very narrow and hemmed in by a concrete wall, complicating pedestrian encounters.

You might consider Harvard Street, or maybe the alley (unnamed?) that runs under the Cardinal Bank building and along the Wyndham.

[MLB]

@scoot 119529 wrote:

It should be noted that Cameron Street is one-way the opposite direction. I wouldn’t ride in the road going the wrong way, as a general principle, but especially not at this location. Drivers won’t see you until the last second given that curve around the Wyndham, plus they can be aggressive about lane changing ahead of the Commonwealth intersection. The sidewalk between Commonwealth and the start of the MUP is an option, but it’s very narrow and hemmed in by a concrete wall, complicating pedestrian encounters.

You might consider Harvard Street, or maybe the alley (unnamed?) that runs under the Cardinal Bank building and along the Wyndham.

Exactly right – I forgot to mention needing to take the sidewalk along Cameron when heading north/east. 😮
It’s really tight right next to the metro station but it’s not bad the rest of the way. Just take it slow and be ready to use the grass verge as needed. BTW I recommend avoiding the sidewalk on the Wyndham side- not only is it brick but there’s plenty other hazards like light poles, trees, loading bays and a garage exit.

[GovernorSilver]

@scoot 119529 wrote:

It should be noted that Cameron Street is one-way the opposite direction..

Heh, I learned that yesterday during my “test evening commute ride” to scout the prospective route. I’d ridden up Diagonal, made the left on Daingerfield, was going to make a right onto Cameron…. Uh oh!

Ended up riding on the sidewalk to get to the MUP, but as noted it’s narrow – especially between a column and I think a mailbox or newspaper dispenser – I definitely would have hurt myself there a month ago when I had less cycling experience and thus less control of my bike.

I’ll have to play the Braddock leg of the commute by ear. Not sure if I should cross Braddock from the end of the Potomac Ave. Trail and stay on the sidewalk to get to the MUP, or half-cross the road and make a left turn onto the road then turn right into the other MUP. I’m not sure what the car traffic would look like, and the quick left turn followed by the quick right turn might be confusing to motorists.

[peterw_diy]

Take the sidewalk westbound at the 7 Eleven, go south on Mt Vernon and take Oak or Walnut to Commonwealth. You might want to filter past cars between Rosemont and Cameron, as they get pretty backed up. Then Daingerfield, Diagonal, and cross Duke either in the tunnel or at grade in the crosswalk south of Duke/Diagonal.

[GovernorSilver]

Decided to go down the bike lane on First St NE towards the Union Station/Louisiana Ave intersection instead of mixing it up with the cars on N. Capitol St as with my first ever evening commute. Less of an adrenaline rush for sure. The bike lanes though suddenly disappeared after I climbed past the Metro entrance. Louisiana Ave still isn’t as quiet as I was hoping it would be, but without my more experienced colleague to follow, I switched to the pedestrian crosswalks and used those to get onto First St NW, then cut through the “Constitution Ave parking lot” to get to Madison.

The “wait at the island” trick on Raoul Wellenberger worked great again. So glad it was taught to me. Just wait there until the light turns green, then use the hill descent to boost speed to dash through Maine and get on Ohio/East Basin.

The Four Mile Run to Potomac switchback kicked my butt again, and I suppose it will be that way for a while. I watched several other cyclists negotiate it, but all descending, so I didn’t learn a thing about how to climb it properly. Those damn handrails make it harder.

Took the Diagonal to Duke St. tunnel route. There didn’t seem to be any guard around watching for cyclists at around 7-ish pm but there might have been a camera for all I know. A pedestrian walking in the opposite direction chuckled as we passed each other. I don’t know if it’s because I looked silly walking my bike through the tunnel, or the hub-powered light on my bike just came on, or something else. I look silly riding my bike anyway.

After making the right from Dulaney to Jamieson, a parked car suddenly started moving into the bike lane I was riding it. I sprinted around it, then used the descent to Andrew’s Lane to help accelerate even more and thus create more separation between myself and the car.

Too wiped out to climb all the way home. I made it as far as maybe 3 doors down. Made it home alive! So it was a good commute.

[AFHokie]

@GovernorSilver 119642 wrote:

Decided to go down the bike lane on First St NE towards the Union Station/Louisiana Ave intersection instead of mixing it up with the cars on N. Capitol St as with my first ever evening commute. Less of an adrenaline rush for sure. The bike lanes though suddenly disappeared after I climbed past the Metro entrance. Louisiana Ave still isn’t as quiet as I was hoping it would be, but without my more experienced colleague to follow, I switched to the pedestrian crosswalks and used those to get onto First St NW, then cut through the “Constitution Ave parking lot” to get to Madison

I work on N Capitol St. Try taking G St NW to 1st St NW. G is one way (west bound) through there with much less traffic. It ends in a bit of a mess where it meets both 1st St NW & New Jersey Ave, but I think that it’s easier to manage than getting around Union Station where the bike lane suddenly ends.

I take E St NW over to 3rd St NW and take that to the mall where I jump on Madison.

[GovernorSilver]

@AFHokie 119687 wrote:

I work on N Capitol St. Try taking G St NW to 1st St NW. G is one way (west bound) through there with much less traffic. It ends in a bit of a mess where it meets both 1st St NW & New Jersey Ave, but I think that it’s easier to manage than getting around Union Station where the bike lane suddenly ends.

I take E St NW over to 3rd St NW and take that to the mall where I jump on Madison.

That explains why I see some cyclists turning to G St NW from First ST NE.

I’ll give that route a try. Thanks!

[Terpfan]

Words I thought I would never speak– thank you Metro bus driver. I was coming down 35th street from Wisconsin Ave and approaching that first stop sign last night. A D-something or other bus was clearly going to beat me to it, but instead of going, the driver waved me through. It really set the stage for the rest of the ride. Thanks anonymous bus driver!

[dplasters]

Despite my rolling the dice on so many miles without a flat tire, I was not punished with a flat on the way home. That’s good.
I was instead greeted with 30 solid minutes of rain. That’s bad.

But the cars were nice. That’s good.
But my hands were actually pruney when I got home from all the rain. That’s bad.

[wheelswings]

Four Mile Run River is exquisite tonight. Just beware that you have to take the overland routes ’cause the underpasses are flooded. My face is aching from so much grinning in a single ride. Utterly beautiful out there.

[dbb]

The moisture appears to have confused the motorists. While I was on the 14th Street Bridge (just the concrete of the bridge proper) I passed 76 cars in the far right lane. That bests the old record of 55.

Smugness abounds!

[Boomer Cycles]

I got totally soaked on the way home tonight. All was good crossing the Memorial Bridge from DC to Arlington Cemetery, but I then ran into the storm front while climbing the 14th Street ascent and enjoyed a drenching downpour all the way up Wilson Blvd until Fairfax Drive, where I bailed out at Northside Social to take shelter from the Storm. Once there, I discovered their upstairs wine bar and Happy Hour from 5-7pm (where any wine or beer from the house menu is $5). Several glasses later, I didn’t really care about the rain, which made it subside, and I completed my commute home with a much better attitude even though I had a wet behind. I will wine about the rain forever more:)

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