My Morning Commute

[Certifried]

@KLizotte 40917 wrote:

God god, glad to hear you are all right. What happened? Any citations given?

I had made a wrong turn, and turned back around to head back in the right direction. At the time, I was salmoning I was about 50 feet from the intersection where I was going to cross back to the other side to get headed back in the right direction. I had my helmet blinkie on, it wasn’t raining or dark. She was looking to her left as she turned right (on red, but it wasn’t prohibited). She wasn’t texting or even had the radio on. I wasn’t going very fast at all, but just couldn’t brake in time. She was sort of on the shoulder a bit and used that bit of it as a merge. Unfortunately, that was the part of the shoulder I was on. Older lady, very sweet. She actually gave me a ride back to my work where my car was, so I ended up driving home.

http://goo.gl/maps/T30eS

[dcv]

glad you and the bike are ok

[consularrider]

It’s always exciting having deer run in front and behind you. This morning it was a trio at Bluemont Park just east of the Bluemont Trail connects to the W&OD

[Certifried]

@dcv 40930 wrote:

glad you and the bike are ok

thanks! I kind of felt bad. On one hand, I shouldn’t have been salmoning, but I had made a wrong turn and was going back to an intersection to cross to the proper side of the road to get headed back in the right direction. So, on the other hand it was pretty much unavoidable. The next place to turn around was on the other side of highway 50, so trying to cross the on/off ramps would have been more dangerous I felt. On the other other hand, she didn’t look right. There was a pedestrian I had jut passed, he saw the entire thing. It could very well have been him she had hit. On my 4th hand, she was a very sweet lady and was really shaken. She told me how she preaches to her kids not to text or drive distracted at all. She also took me back the 4 miles to my work, where my car was parked. I was doing the commute home instead of facing a potential drive on the beltway in falling snow that never came, and was going to ride in today to retrieve my car after work.

It was actually my first wreck ever, which is why I never join in the crash discussions. I never wanted to jinx myself! So, for a first wreck after 2k miles last year, and 4 or 5 Cycle Across Maryland tours back in the early 2000’s, a few centuries, lots of training/mentoring kids on bikes, and thousands of other miles I never tracked, I feel pretty lucky my first crash was so minor.

[Mikey]

I had one of the best commutes in a long time, here are the highlights:

– I got out before 6am.
– The North West wind was more North than West, felt it in my face all the way to Vienna.
– Made good time cranking down the W&OD.
– Arrived with enough time at the Custis turnoff to just keep going. Did a few extra miles taking the long way around (W&OD/4MR/MVT)
– Enjoyed my ride up 15th and Pennsylvania, pretending I was in the inauguration parade.
– Arrived at coffee Club at 26 miles in exactly 2 hours, and was surprised by Cake! and a cool coffee club pin.
– I didn’t see any u-turns on Pennsylvania as I made most of the lights down to 4th.
– Green light parade to the Navy Yard!
– Plenty of parking and not all of the cell phone lockers were taken! — Winning

[consularrider]

@essigmw 40969 wrote:

I had one of the best commutes in a long time, here are the highlights:

– I got out before 6am.
– The North West wind was more North than West, felt it in my face all the way to Vienna.
– Made good time cranking down the W&OD.
– Arrived with enough time at the Custis turnoff to just keep going. Did a few extra miles taking the long way around (W&OD/4MR/MVT)
– Enjoyed my ride up 15th and Pennsylvania, pretending I was in the inauguration parade.
– Arrived at coffee Club at 26 miles in exactly 2 hours, and was surprised by Cake! and a cool coffee club pin.
– I didn’t see any u-turns on Pennsylvania as I made most of the lights down to 4th.
– Green light parade to the Navy Yard!
– Plenty of parking and not all of the cell phone lockers were taken! — Winning

Cake and a cool coffee club pin! I knew I should have just taken some leave this morning and crossed the Potomac for my first Swings visit.

[ShawnoftheDread]

What’s a cell phone locker?

[Certifried]

@ShawnoftheDread 40992 wrote:

What’s a cell phone locker?

certain “facilities” (usually classified) will have cell phone lockers for you to lock your cell phone in while you’re at work, as they’re not allowed inside the SCIF (sensitive compartmented information facility)

[TwoWheelsDC]

Honestly, with as windy as it was, I thought about taking the car as I have stuff to pack up at work and take home. But the wife needed the car, so….I thought I was going to get blown sideways into traffic a couple of times, but otherwise, it wasn’t awful. Riding my fender-less, pannier-less road bike helps I think, as there just isn’t as much stuff to catch the wind, but I still had to gear down and spin to keep my speed up.

[KelOnWheels]

Cake! Coffee Club! Insane head/crosswinds!

Over by the airport I was pedaling and pedaling and pedaling and my cadence was lovely and my speed kept going dooooowwwwwn… I saw a couple of people riding the opposite direction and I was SO JELLY.

I thought I was going to have to get off & walk across the 14th St/George Mason/Rochambeau!/Rock Paper Scissors bridge because I was blowing around so much. Then I decided that walking in that wind would suck way more than crashing into the railings.

I spent most of the ride in thinking of amusing ride titles for Strava, like “Headwind! FUUUUU!” or “My bike is stationary, your headwind is invalid” and singing appropriately-themed songs like “Summer Breeze”.

I was totally warm and comfy all the way in and then I went to Coffee Club and had coffee! And cake! And then I rode to work on Pretzelsaltania Ave and my hands were FREEZING the whole way.

The end.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@TwoWheelsDC 40996 wrote:

Honestly, with as windy as it was, I thought about taking the car as I have stuff to pack up at work and take home. But the wife needed the car, so….I thought I was going to get blown sideways into traffic a couple of times, but otherwise, it wasn’t awful. Riding my fender-less, pannier-less road bike helps I think, as there just isn’t as much stuff to catch the wind, but I still had to gear down and spin to keep my speed up.

Team 1 thanks your wife and casts a collective “tsk tsk” your way for even considering driving.

[KelOnWheels]

Oh and I found a dollar in the street!

AND!

Guess who’s got two wheels and commuted FOUR days this week?

THIS GIRL!

[Dirt]

kelonwheels;41022 wrote:

this girl!

woot woot!!!

[KelOnWheels]

@Dirt 41024 wrote:

woot woot!!!

I know! A WHOLE DOLLAR!

[Dirt]

I liked the window washing SWAT team too. Hut hut hut hut…

[Author]

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