My Morning Commute

[OneEighth]

Sounds like uniformed secret service

[mstone]

@OneEighth 88286 wrote:

Sounds like uniformed secret service

that’s a concept which has always amused me

[Emm]

@rcannon100 88282 wrote:

I could not identify them. So I am sure they were not ArlCo. I am pretty sure they were not NPS. They all had white polo shirts on with badges on their shirts. It definitely looked like a training run. They didnt look like cyclists.

I pass DC officers all the time doing training runs in DC and on some of the trails, usually around 7:30/8 am. They typically ride black trek road bikes…I can’t remember what they wear though (I usually check people’s bikes out, not the people on them). Some of them clearly don’t know what their doing at intersections, which seems to really amuse their fellow officers .

[OneEighth]

MPD usually wear light blue polo shirts

[pfunkallstar]

@OneEighth 88300 wrote:

MPD usually wear light blue polo shirts

White shirts are definitely Secret Service. They were doing laps around the Washington Monument last week, which was odd considering the plethora of other spots that they could rack up some miles. Perhaps it was a security exercise…or a very orderly bike derby…who knows.

[Toonces]

Commute was gorgeous this morning, nice and cool. Will be a different story going home….. Nice to see familiar faces on the ride into work. You don’t get that in car!

[rcannon100]

I got dropped on the MVT by a guy pulling a kids trailer, who wasnt Tim Kelly!!!

There is no better way to start the work day than with a bike ride!

[dasgeh]

Holy flashing lights on the way in (for us late shifters), Batman! First, 8-10 firetrucks, ambulances and police cars at 25th & Virginia (does that circle have a name?). Then 17th Street closed (even the western sidewalk) from north of Penn to G.

Then, as I’m approaching 12th in the Penn Ave cycletrack, I notice the contracters have set up some equipment (a “digger” with tank-like treads) on the southern edge of the cycletrack. No cones or other warning that they’ll come into the cycletrack. I slow, and try to get the attention of the workers standing around, but without luck (they see me, but don’t respond to me). So I move to the west-bound lane to pass it all. Lucky I did, because just as I’m passing the equipment, it jolts back in my direction — completely crossing the eastbound bike lane, and coming within inches of me. Seriously? I understand if you need to do work that requires blocking the cycletrack. But if you do, you need to actually block the cycletrack. Reported it to DDOT, but really it deserves more. Does anyone know how to reach the bike advocate created by last year’s bike safety law?

But aside from all of that, it really was a beautiful morning to ride in.

[consularrider]

@dasgeh 88444 wrote:

… 25th & Virginia (does that circle have a name?) …

Maybe Juarez Circle according to Wikipedia since it has the statue of Pablo Benito Juarez on the southern half. Google maps labels the northern quarter as Triangle Park.

[Boo Boo]

Really nice ride today. Glad that the milling on Courthouse westbound is done (hopefully eastbound is done shortly).

Beautiful light to start the ride:

[ejwillis62]

It was a nice morning ride this morning. I love love love when the temps get into the high 80’s and 90’s this is my kind of weather. Grin.

[G_bikeDC]

Really nice warm rides lately. I don’t mind sweating a little to start the day. This morning had me in front of a driver that apparently doesn’t think bicycles should be on the road. Just honking and yelling at me on a quiet residential street. I think she has some other issues to deal with.

[cyclingfool]

This morning, my commute involved four wheels, not two. Am I bitter? No. Because wheels three and four were the Burley trailer. This morning, its only contents were my panniers, thrown in on the seat. I have it because, depending on how long I need to stay at work, my wife might be dropping cyclingfool, Jr. off at my office on her way to meet a friend for dinner. I meant to double up on the trip and load up the trailer with other things I’ll need at work next week (including a couple suits), but that didn’t happen. Alas… Either way, since the trailer’s hooked up, I’ll have some sort of kidical ride (minus the mass part) this afternoon/evening, be it riding home from work or riding around the neighborhood after I get home. Hooray!

On a related note, it’s a small sample size, but the car commuter crowd seemed to give me a little more room and a wider berth this morning w/ the trailer in tow, presumably assuming there was actually a child in the trailer. It was like having a special force field around me.

[dasgeh]

@cyclingfool 88726 wrote:

On a related note, it’s a small sample size, but the car commuter crowd seemed to give me a little more room and a wider berth this morning w/ the trailer in tow, presumably assuming there was actually a child in the trailer. It was like having a special force field around me.

Welcome to kidical riding. With very few exceptions, I’m treated better by drivers when kids are on my bike — at least when drivers see the kids. A couple of times, a car has been behind me, being a bully, then pulls up to the point where they can see a kid in the box or on the front seat, and they back way off. I’ve even gotten some apologies at lights.

[Subby]

GOD bike commuting in beautiful DC is SUCH A CHORE.

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