My Morning Commute

[KLizotte]

Damn this humidity!!! I purposely rode in this morning nice and slow and yet still wound up with frizzy, nasty hair for the rest of the day. I want to walk around with a sticker on my forehead that says “This hair has been caused by biking”. Sigh.

Fortunately the ride home is always fun. I only scare some of the dogs in my building.

[DrP]

@DrP 123136 wrote:

Then, heading south on MVT as I descend from the Humpback bridge to continue on the MVT (and I do not signal to go to the 14th Street (aka George Mason Memorial) Bridge), some guy on a CaBi comes shooting off the bridge access road and cuts me off. I have to grab a bit of break and then he slows even further to answer his phone! More break. Others then pass the two of us, One told him to watch where he was going, but he sloughed that off. I get a chance to pass him and off I go. As I ascend the airport bridge, I am stuck behind a jogger with joggers coming down and another bike coming down, so, trying not to be a jerk, I wait to pass. I signal my pass, and as I am passing, the same CaBi guy passes without any announcing himself! While I didn’t get there in time to be certain, I have a feeling he jumped his turn through the CCC tunnel too.

So, do CaBi’s have bells? Same guy on the CaBi passed me going up the airport hill again with no audible pass call. So, I told him to call his passes. He responded he did to which I said it wasn’t very loud and he claimed it was due to the airport.To which I suggested that he do it louder. So, I was able to hear this entire conversation with him as he was past me and riding away, so clearly he can speak louder. If the bikes have bells, perhaps I will recommend that he use that next time. And judging by the pedestrian reactions as he passed them (since I follow him onto the CCC), they were not able to hear him either and there wasn’t the same airport excuse.

Otherwise the commute was very humid, but good.

[GovernorSilver]

@DrP 123473 wrote:

So, do CaBi’s have bells?

I rode one for the first time last night. I didn’t see a bell. Maybe I didn’t look in the right place. I do appreciate the dock holding the bike in place so I could adjust the seat height.

I was supposed to ride in today, but I overslept.

According to Cyclemeter GPS, I rode for a combined time of about 1:20, about 20 min. over my usual ride time to get to work. Did a test ride at an LBS, then rode a CaBi to a house concert. On the way, the plastic cover over the left side of the handlebar fell off with a loud clatter. Took me a few minutes to figure out how to snap it back in. Later, I rode another CaBi to the metro station.

[Tim Kelley]

@GovernorSilver 123478 wrote:

I rode one for the first time last night. I didn’t see a bell. Maybe I didn’t look in the right place.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9512[/ATTACH]

It rotates up and down: https://twitter.com/bikeshare/status/634048797354668032

[S. Arlington Observer]

@GovernorSilver 123478 wrote:

I rode one for the first time last night. I didn’t see a bell. Maybe I didn’t look in the right place. I do appreciate the dock holding the bike in place so I could adjust the seat height.

I was supposed to ride in today, but I overslept.

According to Cyclemeter GPS, I rode for a combined time of about 1:20, about 20 min. over my usual ride time to get to work. Did a test ride at an LBS, then rode a CaBi to a house concert. On the way, the plastic cover over the left side of the handlebar fell off with a loud clatter. Took me a few minutes to figure out how to snap it back in. Later, I rode another CaBi to the metro station.

I have ridden many CaBi bikes and never had one without a bell. It can twist all the way around the handlebar so sometimes it is “underneath” and not obvious. Facing forward it should be on the left side of the handlebar. One odd fact, they don’t ring well in the coldest winter months but recover in the spring. Not sure why.

[DrP]

@Tim Kelley 123484 wrote:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9512[/ATTACH]

It rotates up and down: https://twitter.com/bikeshare/status/634048797354668032

Excellent! Thank you. I will propose he (and other CaBis, should this be the case) use it next time.

[Crickey7]

As I am coasting up L Street this morning, I see a large moving truck blocking the bike lane and movers about to start unloading it. I asked/told the driver to move, and he gave me a stream of chatter clearly designed to waste my time and accomplish nothing, though he was at least polite. I told him his choice was to move or have the cops called, and he disbelievingly called what he thought was my bluff. As I started to give the particulars to the 311 operator, a traffic cop on a Segway cruises up, gives them a ticket and makes them move.

[bentbike33]

@Crickey7 123552 wrote:

As I started to give the particulars to the 311 operator, a traffic cop on a Segway cruises up, gives them a ticket and makes them move.

Ah, the sweet smell of carbon paper in the morning! It smells like VICTORY!

[dasgeh]

I stopped to chat with the lovely Erin from Bike Arlington… then got busted for telling the hubs that I “had to get to work” when I left the house as hubs and the very tall Tim Kelly sped by on their way for a ride. Whoops.

[DrP]

Detour on Custis this morning – considered adding to road and trial conditions, but this seemed quite temporary and affects commuters more than others.

Around 7:10 am today heading inbound on the Custis, just after the Spout Run bridge there were cop cars on the trail. One just after the Culvert St access point and the other appeared to be on the little rise by the apartments (well before the hill to the bridge to nowhere). There were two people sitting on the railing along the trail with hands behind their backs and heads bowed – I presume they were under arrest for something. Unless this is part of larger search, I would guess this is likely cleared out by now.

Caused a bunch to detour to Calvert and then Lee Highway and to the redone access by Veitch.

If law breakers are using the path to run away and cops are following, shouldn’t this qualify the trail as traffic-report-worthy?

Very humid this morning and those extra hills provided by the detour (not complaining about the cause – Arlington Police are just doing their job) made me realize it much sooner than I expected.

[Tim Kelley]

@dasgeh 123570 wrote:

I stopped to chat with the lovely Erin from Bike Arlington… then got busted for telling the hubs that I “had to get to work” when I left the house as hubs and the very tall Tim Kelly sped by on their way for a ride. Whoops.

Two blocks away from your house….”She left like half an hour ago!”

[GovernorSilver]

Finally raised my saddle height after my coworker noticed it was getting low. I thought it was just the heat and humidity that was draining my pedaling power away – nope, it was the saddle height. I’d never adjusted it on my own before because I hadn’t figured out how to support the bike while determining if my leg was too straight or if it had too much knee bend. My solution was to put one foot on a small step ladder.

The restored pedaling power helped compensate for the morning humidity. A cyclist ahead of me and I encountered 3 pedestrians walking northward on the MVT. The cyclist ahead of me called his pass, but one of the ladies wandered right in front of him instead, causing a near collision at the intersection of the MVT and the access road to Indigo Landing Restaurant. They were very nice, though, and a bit embarrassed when I greeted them.

Followed a government SUV on First St. that absolutely would not turn right onto Louisiana on a red light, even thought it was clear. I wasn’t in enough of a rush to take a risk slicing between the SUV and the curb to make the right turn, and it would have been a tight fit anyway for this bike.

[bentbike33]

@DrP 123713 wrote:

Around 7:10 am today heading inbound on the Custis, just after the Spout Run bridge there were cop cars on the trail. One just after the Calvert St access point and the other appeared to be on the little rise by the apartments (well before the hill to the bridge to nowhere). There were two people sitting on the railing along the trail with hands behind their backs and heads bowed – I presume they were under arrest for something. Unless this is part of larger search, I would guess this is likely cleared out by now.

Caused a bunch to detour to Calvert and then Lee Highway and to the redone access by Veitch.

Wow, I guess I got through there just before all the excitement began. Glad I missed it.

[Boomer Cycles]

I saw this big wheel unicylist on the gravel alongside the Custis Trail at Great Falls intersection, heading west, at about 8am this morning. Very cool. Anyone know who this unicylist is? And no, it wasn’t SteveO!

[Steve O]

@Boomer2U 123806 wrote:

Anyone know who this unicylist is? And no, it wasn’t SteveO!

Correct. I’m not blurry.

[Author]

Posts