My Morning Commute

[Terpfan]

Of course on 35th St NW, I get honked at by an impatient father with his kids in a minivan. Turns out, he’s upset that I don’t heed the whole lane to him and decides to try to pass me at a stop sign, right in front of two cops (who of course, do nothing). Then he honks at me. What a tool, and, what a horrible impression to share for kids. Anyway, outside of that idiot, it was an extremely pleasant ride. New pedals have stopped my annoying click noise. Looking forward to 65 and sunny on the way home.

[Crickey7]

@Terpfan 111318 wrote:

Then he honks at me.

That’s totally my pet peeve. Dude, it’s not a “dislike” button. It’s a safety mechanism that’s been made loud enough to hear inside a sealed metal box with background noise to boot. Outside, it’s really loud. Which is why using it as an instrument to communicate inchoate personal grievances is illegal in DC. Though arguably, it would be legal to communicate political ones.

[Terpfan]

@Crickey7 111342 wrote:

That’s totally my pet peeve. Dude, it’s not a “dislike” button. It’s a safety mechanism that’s been made loud enough to hear inside a sealed metal box with background noise to boot. Outside, it’s really loud. Which is why using it as an instrument to communicate inchoate personal grievances is illegal in DC. Though arguably, it would be legal to communicate political ones.

Bingo, especially in a residential area and directly in front of an elementary school. But people feel entitled… to the roads, to blare their horns, to everything because it’s all about them. I’m only glad there were no kids (except in his car) nearby that he may have hit while he worked himself up to honking because he couldn’t race to the stop sign (and eventual red light at 35th & Wisconsin, where he was a solid 2-3 cars back).

[Alcova cyclist]

Beautiful morning – crisp, but not too cold, and what’s left of last night’s winds mostly at my back. Also hit an uncanny set of green lights/walk signals rolling down WOD into Shirlington.

Nice to see a big crowd at HDCC. Maybe outside next week?

[baiskeli]

@Boomer2U 111177 wrote:

I slept in this AM after SteveO keep me out late last night drinking beers,

At the Rosslyn popup bar?

[Boomer Cycles]

Well winter seems to be back after a short reprieve as I had to resort to 3 layers again this AM (though I didn’t need the face mask) . But the sun was up, out and about. The only downside was the woman in the SUV (DC tags EV 5889, who tried to pass me on the right while in a single Lane on New Hampshire Avenue, coming off of Virginia Lane, who cut dangerously close to me until I took back the center of the lane and made eye contact (with a glare). Be careful out there on the streets.

[dasgeh]

It was one of those glorious mornings where the weather wasn’t too bad (at least if you started in Arlington), there were tons of people out (but why were they wearing so much cold weather gear?), and I got to see some of my favorite people out on the trails/roads.

And I realized that by commuting this morning, I officially reached perfect attendance for #BAFS15, which is pretty awesome. So yay!

[dasgeh]

I really tried to be positive about this morning. It is snowing! It will be pretty! The snow will collect on my rain cape and I won’t need rain pants. But no, it was just gray and cold and ice crystals stung my face. And I definitely needed rain pants.

But at least it was the last snow commute this year (as it, it better be the last snow commute this year, or there will be words).

[Phatboing]

I rode the bus today. I sat on my arse and people-watched and read my really rather good book.

It’s an acceptable alternative, depending on the book.

[vern]

@Phatboing 111847 wrote:

I rode the bus today. I sat on my arse and people-watched and read my really rather good book.

It’s an acceptable alternative, depending on the book.

I was really jonesing for some cherry pie, which served as motivation to ride to FCCII, where I was amply rewarded for my efforts and sogginess, and got to enjoy it with some good company.

[bikeeveryday]

I rode in the snow to FCC today, even though I had a #BAFS2015 hangover. Enjoyed the late shift at FCC with a jumbo coffee of the day and TWO cinnamon rolls.

[ShawnoftheDread]

Rain pants failed, leading to shoe failure. But my jacket worked great. And i got to take the kid to school. But I missed all coffee clubs. Wintry mix, mixed results.

[vvill]

@bikeeveryday 111868 wrote:

I rode in the snow to FCC today, even though I had a #BAFS2015 hangover. Enjoyed the late shift at FCC with a jumbo coffee of the day and TWO cinnamon rolls.

I went with a large coffee and two pastries today too! (One jam donut and one almond croissant.) More hours spent riding than sleeping over the last 24.

I tried a new pair of rain pants this AM and they worked fine, although I noticed when changing at work that the tag was still on them, on the inside, possibly causing some of the discomfort I’d experienced.

[Emm]

Today was my first commute on the road bike (aka first day I didn’t have a ton of stuff to haul to and from work). Overall great commute, but I realized it’s not that my new commuter bike is slow–it’s that I am slow. Switching from the commuter to road bike only saved me 2 minutes of time, which can partly be explained by not have 20 lbs worth of work stuff on my bike, and the fact I timed a few lights perfectly. Hopefully within a few weeks I’ll be faster.

On a less positive note, my new commuter (Raleigh Cadent i11) had some gear issues on last night’s commute. I’m not quite sure if it’s slipping gears, or what. The bike jerked at a few points, as if I had attempted to switch gears under load (my hands were nowhere near the shifters though). When I bought the bike I saw a review or two that mentioned this issue, but they all said switching the cable connected to the IGH for a higher quality one fixed the problem. The shop told me if the bike did in fact have this issue, they’d fix it under warranty, so I’m hoping they keep their word…

[jrenaut]

@Emm 112273 wrote:

…On a less positive note, my new commuter (Raleigh Cadent i11) had some gear issues on last night’s commute…

This is pretty common for a new bike – new cables need to stretch a bit then get readjusted. Most shops will tell you to come back in a month for a first tune-up after you’ve broken the cables in.

That said, it could still be that Raleigh puts crappy cables on that bike. If that’s the case, tthhhhppfffttt to Raleigh.

[Author]

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