My Morning Commute

[arlrider]

@LBSki 96942 wrote:

Rider in front of me slipped and wiped out on the teddy roosevelt boardwalk this morning. He was fine, just a bruised ego. I know almost everyone claims to know this, but riders still wipe out there ALL the time, so PLEASE, slow down at the corner! Like, really slow down, like basically stop your bike before taking that turn if there is any moisture on the ground. I took a very nasty spill there early this year, and it makes me cringe nearly every ride.

Also – if you are cutting back on the boardwalk leaving the TR bridge to go south on the Mt. Vernon trail (so you have to do a 180 from the TR off-ramp to SB Mt. Vernon), there is ONE gap between two boards that is just big enough to eat a wheel and 25mm tire down to the hub…

You can ask me how I know this, but I’m sure you know the answer…it involved me standing in the middle of the boardwalk with no bike under me…

[Terpfan]

I was doing an Idaho stop in OT and couldn’t see through the red toyota suv that was four feet over the solid white line. Another car was turning left from the opposite direction, but I had plenty of time to stop and even fully unclip only two feet past the white line. This of course didn’t stop the suv driver from yelling out the window “that’s what a stop sign is for.” I figured I’d let it go about him being way over the line until at the next stop sign he was over by six feet and never stopped. I made sure to say, “practice what you preach,” but perhaps in a little more (albeit non-cursing) language.

[dplasters]

Whoever you were, riding westbound on 29 between Shreve Rd and Gallows Rd.

Props to you. I haven’t seen anyone else ride on the road for this stretch.

You make me feel less crazy.

[Greenbelt]

Perfect commute this morning. Perfect weather. Sunshine. Quiet beautiful trails in MD. No aggressive drivers or sleepyheads on the neighborhood streets in NE. Easy left turns on to the Met Branch trail. Calm traffic around Union Station and Louisiana Ave. Zen on the PA Ave cycletrack, plenty of passing room so I could hit all the green lights, hope I didn’t buzz anybody. Plaza between the White House and Lafayette Park was open. No boxblocking cars on PA Ave or 17th or 18th street intersections downtown.

All in all, pretty perfect. Just one cop car (secret service maybe) parked in the 15th street cycletrack by the Treasury building/White House car entrance, but he looked so perma-angry that I just gave him a wide berth and moved on.

[chris_s]

I’m pretty sure it was dumb luck, but I nailed the level of clothing required this morning. Arrived at work warm, but not sweaty. Very pleased.

[jrenaut]

All last week there were signs up near Gallery Place saying that 7th St NW would be closed at F this week. So, even though 6th is a miserable excuse for a road, I took it this morning after dropping the kids.

Imagined my surprise when I got to H Street to find signs saying that 6th was closed with detours onto 5th and 7th. So I turned right on H, preparing to turn left on 7th and continue on.

Oh, look, no left turn allowed on 7th. Thanks for the detour.

[cyclingfool]

Mondays suck, especially Mondays that come on the heels of a nice, long weekend in a beautiful place like Niagara Falls, but at least this morning’s weather and riding conditions made up for that. Great weather. Finally got to break out the long sleeved tees for the first time this AM!!! Yippee!

[LBSki]

What happened at the intersection of doom this morning? As I was pulling up (maybe 7:40 a.m.), an ambulance was loading someone on a stretcher, right near the bike counter. Lots of bikes piled around, but there didn’t appear to be any cars involved. Person on the stretcher did not look good. Did anyone see this?

[dcv]

@LBSki 97380 wrote:

What happened at the intersection of doom this morning? As I was pulling up (maybe 7:40 a.m.), an ambulance was loading someone on a stretcher, right near the bike counter. Lots of bikes piled around, but there didn’t appear to be any cars involved. Person on the stretcher did not look good. Did anyone see this?

A cyclist fainted while waiting to cross. A few of us stopped to help (fast friendly guy was there too). The man hit his head on the ground, looked like he may have needed stitches above his eye. He was an older gentlemen, he didn’t seem steady enough to stand up after the fall. One guy called 911 (first responders got there in about 5 minutes), a women cleaned off some of the blood. We asked if we could call someone to pick up his bike, or if he wanted me to take his bike to my work garage in Georgetown. He had a bike lock and asked us to lock his bike up to sign post near the monolith. He was able to a speak coherently, hope he’s OK.

[LBSki]

@dcv 97416 wrote:

A cyclist fainted while waiting to cross. A few of us stopped to help (fast friendly guy was there too). The man hit his head on the ground, looked like he may have needed stitches above his eye. He was an older gentlemen, he didn’t seem steady enough to stand up after the fall. One guy called 911 (first responders got there in about 5 minutes), a women cleaned off some of the blood. We asked if we could call someone to pick up his bike, or if he wanted me to take his bike to my work garage in Georgetown. He had a bike lock and asked us to lock his bike up to sign post near the monolith. He was able to a speak coherently, hope he’s OK.

Glad to hear a few people were around to help. Thanks for the update.

[rcannon100]

Badass

[chris_s]

*sigh*

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6885[/ATTACH]

[jrenaut]

At least they said “bicyclist” and not “bike”. Baby steps.

There is something about riding in weather like this that makes me feel awesome. The kids had their new rain suits on, my cardboard temporary fender was doing its job, and it wasn’t so cold as to be miserable. I think it’s partly that I imagine all the drivers who see us thinking we’re crazy, which I suppose is not that far from the truth. It also helps that we have a choice – I could have driven or taken Metro, though it wouldn’t have been that fun. And it’s not a long ride.

Anyway, I hope all of you who rode this morning feel similarly awesome.

[arlrider]

@chris_s 97582 wrote:

*sigh*

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6885[/ATTACH]

Ugh…

ACPD had a presence at the IOD this morning – two cars, lights on, neither blocking any trail, sidewalk, or road. I thanked the officer as I rode by.

Unfortunately, there were TV crews working the intersection, apparently (from what I saw an another person’s account) interviewing about the “Intersection of Doom” (they were using the term). This was at about 8:30, and they were in fact blocking the sidewalk at the very most important crossing (Mt. Vernon and Custis intersection) in doing so.

Also, given the local TV news media and its target customers, I can only imagine the sorts of questions they were asking:

“What made you decide to take up this hobby?”

“Don’t you think this is dangerous?”

“Has driving just gotten too difficult in the area?”

“But, aren’t you concerned that it’s raining?!”

Etc., etc.

[bobco85]

@chris_s 97582 wrote:

*sigh*

I saw it on the main site: http://www.arlnow.com/2014/10/22/morning-notes-1061/

Cyclist Struck on Lynn Street — A bicyclist was struck by a vehicle on Lynn Street in Rosslyn, between Wilson Blvd and 19th Street N., just before 9:00 this morning. The cyclist was transported to Virginia Hospital Center with an apparent dislocated collarbone.

That’s the stretch of Lynn where the bike lane has disappeared due to closed lanes of traffic with all the construction. I would recommend cyclists to take the lane when passing through there because that area has been rather chaotic with closed lanes, angry/impatient/aggressive drivers, people blocking the box, and parked cars. Mix in the cold and rainy weather today, and you get an even more dangerous situation. I hope the cyclist is okay and heals up quickly.

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