My Evening Commute

[dkel]

Stayed at work long enough to miss the deluge, and had a lovely ride home in light rain. Also, since I needed to do laundry when I got home anyway, I just threw the wet clothes in the wash. Plus I was going to lube my chain for tomorrow anyway! Perfect!

[GovernorSilver]

Looks like there’s a thunderstorm coming to DC at 5 PM. I was fooled by the Alexandria forecast which said there’s only 10% of rain, starting at 6PM. Both forecasts were on Weather Underground.

[TwoWheelsDC]

Always nice when you have the luxury of waiting for the rain to blow over before you get on the road….

[GovernorSilver]

As it turns out, I got home with nothing more than some raindrops here and there falling on me.

The sidewalk along 15th St looked like it had less foot traffic than usual – should have jumped on there instead of staying on the road, where I was waiting behind a bunch of cars, without the cojones to squeeze the bike between them like my colleagues do. Instead of the usual mad sprint down Maine to Ohio/E. Basin, I quickly switched to the sparsely populated sidewalk to take it easy. 14th St. looked like a parking lot – was glad to be on the separated bridge MUP.

Managed to climb portions of that accursed Four Mile Run to Potomac Ave. switchback with a couple of turns. Someday, a nonstop climb on that thing will be mine. I stopped to take a water break and shake my fist at it.

Decided to grab dinner at the Chipotle on St. Asaph and King St. I didn’t see a bike rack anywhere close and my exhaustion-addled brain did not think of trying Rackspotter. So I just walked the bike into Chipotle, got my burrito bowl, and walked it out again.

The climb home was same old same old, ending with me collapsing into a puddle as usual.

[dbb]

Heading to the “Stop the U-Turns” demonstration on Pennsylvania Ave about 4:50 this afternoon I saw a well dressed gentleman in this Chevy Volt attempt to make a u-turn on 7th Street between Maryland Ave and Independence Ave.

He was initially heading south on 7th and decided to do a u-turn. This was complicated by the fact that the far right lane on northbound 7th had traffic in it. He started the turn, then had to back up (OK – I can live with a 3 point turn), then pulled forward, had to back up again, then pulled forward, had to back up again. I stopped counting at about seven pull-back sequences. Holy crap Batman, an 8 point turn!

He then put his right turn signal on to turn east on Independence. There was no room as we were about 4 car lengths from Independence. Not to be deterred, he turned right from the center lane.

Oh. Did I mention the car had GSA tags? Might have to give them a call.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@dbb 119836 wrote:

Oh. Did I mention the car had GSA tags? Might have to give them a call.

I know State has a large collection of Volts…not sure about other agencies.

[DanB]

Did anyone else stop for the Rail to Trail Conservancy survey along the W&OD yesterday (Thursday)? They were located just east of the Custis Trail junction.

The questions were easy enough: riding from … , riding to … , estimated travel time, how many times a week, alternate mode of transportation if not on trail, health, age, etc.

Bonus: they were giving away Camelbak Eddy bite valve water bottles to anyone who participated–which go for over $10 on Amazon. Score!

[kwarkentien]

They were out there on Sunday evening as well but I was in a hurry to get home and didn’t stop. I noticed after I passed on a sign they had up that they were giving out these Camelbak bottles for filling out the survey. Almost made me turn around and go back.

[dbb]

Was nearly interrupted as I rolled towards the trail ramp up to the 14th Street Bridge along East Basin Drive in front of the Jefferson.

I had drifted to the left lane (taking what I thought was the whole lane) in preparation of making the left from the roadway to the trail.

I glanced in my mirror and was surprised to see a Park Police motorcycle closing on my left (between me and the curb). I hopped on the brakes and he passed safely before I made my turn.

[komorebi]

Wow, was today opposite day or something?

First, there was the weather. For weeks on end, my afternoon commute has been some combination of (1) just rained, puddles everywhere; (2) rain pouring down, flash flood alerts going off on my phone; or (3) about to rain, humidity so high it’s like biking through soup. Today, there were blue skies! And actual sunshine! I’d almost forgotten what the MVT looks like when dry.

Second, there was the usual bad behavior on the MVT and streets — but today, all the cyclists were polite and it was the noncyclists engaging in risky behavior. Just about every cyclist called their pass, but three separate pedestrians left me shaking my head.

Ped # 1, man stopped on trail with skateboard and dog just north of the airport long-term parking lot: initially, I wondered why you were taking such a tight grip on your dog’s leash. The answer became clear as I got closer and your dog started lunging at me, even though you were repeatedly telling the dog, “No!” I appreciate that you had your dog under control, but maybe a busy MUP isn’t the best place for a dog who dislikes cyclists?

Ped # 2, runner northbound by the marina: the northbound lane of the MVT was fully occupied by a couple walking side-by-side with their dog, and I was coming toward you in the southbound lane. Maybe that wasn’t the best time to try an “up the middle” pass?

Ped # 3, skateboarder on the streets in OT: maybe you should thinking about moving one street over so that you’re not skateboarding the wrong way on a one-way street?

[wheelswings]

@komorebi 120244 wrote:

Ped # 1, man stopped on trail with skateboard and dog just north of the airport long-term parking lot: initially, I wondered why you were taking such a tight grip on your dog’s leash. The answer became clear as I got closer and your dog started lunging at me, even though you were repeatedly telling the dog, “No!” I appreciate that you had your dog under control, but maybe a busy MUP isn’t the best place for a dog who dislikes cyclists?

No kidding… that dog was terrified and terrifying. The owner was wrestling with it on the ground to keep it from lunging at the cyclists as we passed. It was downright spooky to go near. The dog – or perhaps the owner — could have used some training from rcannon100.

[rcannon100]

@komorebi 120244 wrote:

I appreciate that you had your dog under control

In no way was that dog under its owner’s control.

[kwarkentien]

I saw him too as we convoyed to the TdF viewing and can confirm he was not under control.

[DrP]

I was thinking that I was finally going to have a week without being rained on any evening commute home, until that localized shower hit me as I was approaching and riding through Ballston. Sure, the sun was shining and it was light and refreshing rain, but you had to get me.

[GovernorSilver]

Evening commute was just as pleasant as the morning commute – loved the weather today. I did get close-passed on the Raoul Wallenberger descent towards Maine-Ohio by a van with out of state license plates – probably didn’t know that one’s car needs to be on the left lane to get onto the 395. That was before I started gathering speed.

Got a wee-bit lost going towards the happy hour site. I should have just hit the road as soon as Four Mile Run Trail ended abruptly on S. Shirlington Dr – Google Maps makes it look like it continues across the street, alongside Arlington Mill, but once you cross the S. Shirlington Dr. from the trail, all you get is this narrow sidewalk.

After the happy hour, I rode at night for the first time, but it wasn’t too bad. Car traffic was minimal all the way. The streets were reasonably lit, but I was still glad to have my new Cygolite 850 light mounted on my helmet to help me spot potential flat-causing stuff.

[Author]

Posts