My Evening Commute

[GovernorSilver]

@Choiboy525 129326 wrote:

I had my strobe on for fear of death (still new to this night biking thing) and I didn’t see you approaching. Sorry about the obnoxiously bright strobe .

Can you actually see anything in the dark with your light in flash mode like that?

I can’t. That’s why I use my headlight in steady mode.

[Choiboy525]

I was biking in the bit of the path between the end of the bridge and the two crossings to get to Washington Blvd. It isn’t a very long stretch and I kept the blinker on because the second crossing terrifies me. Normally I keep it on medium or low steady light.

[Powerful Pete]

This evening I was simply not paying attention and almost took out a fellow rider. I passed a jogger in the blind corner approaching corkscrew hill (I know) just as a rider was coming downhill. Head on collision avoided, he stopped me and demanded an apology, which I sheepishly provided.

It was all completely my fault. I feel terrible. So please be careful out there – I consider myself a safe rider and this evening I endangered the safety of another cyclist and a jogger. Not really sure how I allowed this to happen… the best I can come up with was that I was distracted thinking about work.

So if the other rider is on this forum, I apologize once again. That was a dumb, dumb move.

[wheelswings]

Dear fellow Custis Trail rider who passed me for barely a minute: Please do not blow your nose into the wind immediately after passing, especially if you can’t maintain your pace. I was happy to pass you back and leave you far behind. The uphills are my friend, and one day you may be too, but your snot is not.

[Steve O]

@Powerful Pete 129366 wrote:

This evening I was simply not paying attention and almost took out a fellow rider. I passed a jogger in the blind corner approaching corkscrew hill (I know) just as a rider was coming downhill. Head on collision avoided, he stopped me and demanded an apology, which I sheepishly provided.

It was all completely my fault. I feel terrible. So please be careful out there – I consider myself a safe rider and this evening I endangered the safety of another cyclist and a jogger. Not really sure how I allowed this to happen… the best I can come up with was that I was distracted thinking about work.

So if the other rider is on this forum, I apologize once again. That was a dumb, dumb move.

I did that exact same stupid thing once myself in the exact same spot, about 10 years ago into an oncoming group of walkers rather than a cyclist, though. Totally asinine on my part. No one hurt, luckily and thankfully.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Powerful Pete 129366 wrote:

he stopped me and demanded an apology

….and this is where the “offended” rider loses my sympathy. What an entitled douchebag.

[Vicegrip]

@Powerful Pete 129366 wrote:

This evening I was simply not paying attention and almost took out a fellow rider. I passed a jogger in the blind corner approaching corkscrew hill (I know) just as a rider was coming downhill. Head on collision avoided, he stopped me and demanded an apology, which I sheepishly provided…….

This is when belch speak comes in handy.

[BTC_DC]

This was a first for me:

A car salmoning the wrong way up the one way S. Clarke Street in Crystal City in that stretch connecting Crystal Drive to Potomac Avenue!

Can we use the term “salmoning” for cars? Or is that reserved only for cyclists?

[komorebi]

@BTC_DC 129485 wrote:

This was a first for me:

A car salmoning the wrong way up the one way S. Clarke Street in Crystal City in that stretch connecting Crystal Drive to Potomac Avenue!

Yes, I’ve seen that twice in the past few months, along with a car full of nuns that almost went the wrong way on Crystal Dr. at 26th Street, where Crystal Dr. goes from a two-way to a one-way street. My guess is that the drivers are confused, tired visitors who just came from the airport and are looking for their hotels.

[scoot]

It’s not just airport traffic.

Twice in the last several months, I’ve been riding on Wilson Blvd westbound between Rosslyn and Clarendon and encountered a car going eastbound. In both instances it was late evening with no traffic, and the drivers looked more confused than malicious. In each case, I tried to get the driver’s attention by waving but they remained oblivious.

I also once drove eastbound on Seminary Road on the high bridge over 395 and saw an elderly driver make a left in front of me from Kenmore heading toward the bridge. Which is illegal because there is no break in the median, so he became a salmon. This was a couple years ago, before the recent HOV ramp construction, when there were two lanes on each side of the median going over the bridge. He was clearly confused, but he at least understood my animated hand gestures out the window as we passed in opposite directions. In my rear-view mirror, I saw him start a multi-point U-turn. No other vehicles had yet crossed the bridge.

[DrP]

Heading north on MVT, south of Memorial bridge near the cut-off for crossing the parkway, a cyclist was approaching me. Once in my light beam I saw it was Santa! Full outfit and (fake) beard. I greeted him.
Then I turned to look at him as we were passing and someone filtered between us without a call or other warning. Since Santa actually witnessed this, I presume that cyclist will be receiving coal.

[dasgeh]

@DrP 129592 wrote:

Heading north on MVT, south of Memorial bridge near the cut-off for crossing the parkway, a cyclist was approaching me. Once in my light beam I saw it was Santa! Full outfit and (fake) beard. I greeted him.
Then I turned to look at him as we were passing and someone filtered between us without a call or other warning. Since Santa actually witnessed this, I presume that cyclist will be receiving coal.

And now I want to dress up as Santa and just mutter “coal” whenever someone annoys me.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@DrP 129592 wrote:

Once in my light beam I saw it was Santa! Full outfit and (fake) beard. I greeted him.

[S. Arlington Observer]

For those who aren’t fond of riding home in the dark, today marks a milestone. The earliest sunset of the year happened late last week. The sun sets a minute later today than the end of the last workweek and will continue getting later until June 25th.

Today’s sunset is 4:47. By the end of the month it will be 9 minutes later at 4:56 and by the end of January it will be 5:28 – getting some out of the dark almost entirely.

There are scientific explanations for why the earliest sunset is before the solstice available on the Internet. All I know is “heck yes, I’ll take it!”

[vern]

The yin and yang of my commute:

I saw Dickie with wife pushing the stroller with the newborn inside down 4MR along Glebe. That was a nice surprise and I got to see their beautiful new baby. All looked well, though not surprisingly, mom and pop Sewell confessed to some fatigue.

In Glen Carlyn I got to see some guy wreck twice(!) while trying to ride his bike and simultaneously hold onto his dog’s leash. It was blooper reel funny.

[Author]

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