My Morning Commute

[GovernorSilver]

@worktheweb 127391 wrote:

It was a nice morning to be out on the bike.

I had a little excitement on Washington Street as I went one lane left to pass a stopped bus (I signal and do so safely) a guy starting laying on his horn for about 30 seconds (really). Of course, as I get to the passing point, the bus gets going, so I pull behind him and continue. I’m going faster than the traffic in the middle lane, so I get a few cars between me and the hot-headed car, and the bus goes to stop again, so I pass, and this guy from several cars back now does another 30 second horn blast. Once I pass the bus, I’m going faster than surrounding traffic again (being slowed down by other cars, in fact), and I never see that car again. By the time I get to the MVT, I notice two busses at Slaters, they don’t pass me until around the airport … I don’t get it, I’m clearly not holding this idiot up, I’m going faster than he is, but he feels a need to be an ass. I guess he missed the “Share the Road” signs on Washington Street …

Even though this article was published a few years back, I only recently found it and had a read. I thought it was interesting – the author’s take is that the motorists who hate cyclists, not only do so because we’re perceived as rule-breakers, but also as free-loaders. Of course it’s not logical but when is hate every logical…:
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130212-why-you-really-hate-cyclists

When I first started riding up Washington St. for my morning commute, I dreaded being stuck behind a bus. Now I appreciate buses because they discourage motorists from getting behind me or cutting in front of me – much more effectively than the HOV-only signs. Bus fumes suck, but I don’t get much more than I do riding on roads anyway.

@worktheweb 127391 wrote:

One thing I feel good about — I didn’t give the guy a response. No glance, no single fingered gesture of disapproval, not even a flinch from his horn, just kept on going as though he didn’t exist. I made it a point to savor the Fall color lightly shrouded in a veil of mist and not let him ruin my ride.

Good job. I haven’t been commuting as long as the forum regulars here such as yourself but I’ve had enough happen to me as far as close passes, sudden u-turns, etc. that I forget about those offenses quickly now.

[jpaulwhite]

Hello

Had a great ride in this morning. I come down Columbia Pike in Baileys Crossroads and take Carlin Springs to Ballston. I’m finally starting to feel stronger yaaaaayyyy lol. Can’t wait till tomorrow and those upper70s

[KWL]

… Was very Portland-like. Wet but not wet. The smell of moist vegetation. Cool temperatures. Nostalgia.

[gibby]

@KWL 127446 wrote:

… Was very Portland-like. Wet but not wet. The smell of moist vegetation. Cool temperatures. Nostalgia.

..ohhhh for that view of Mt Hood in the distance…

[jpaulwhite]

Had a great ride in today. Can’t wait for this evening

[Drewdane]

My commute this morning was frustrating. A lot of clueless people apparently hellbent on causing an accident along the WOD and Martha Custis. Sadly, most of them were cyclists.

[jpaulwhite]

@Drewdane 127485 wrote:

My commute this morning was frustrating. A lot of clueless people apparently hellbent on causing an accident along the WOD and Martha Custis. Sadly, most of them were cyclists.

Were they going too slow? Or too fast?

[Drewdane]

@jpaulwhite 127506 wrote:

Were they going too slow? Or too fast?

Riding erratically, mostly. Speed (or lack of same) doesn’t really bug me one way or another. One lady headed the opposite direction cut right in front of me to pass a runner and then basically forced me to swerve aside. I guess worrying about a head-on collision is for “other people”. Another guy decided that me ringing my bell and moving to the left to pass someone was a signal to speed up and try to pass both of us first; only the sound of his drivetrain alerted me to the fact that I was about to get run into (and yes, I could’ve checked the lane before moving over, but AFAIC the onus is on the passer to WAIT until the path is clear before ALERTING the passee before actually passing – like I did for the jogger in front of me). I got to watch still another rider a ways ahead of me brush by pedestrians without any warning, visibly scaring the crap out of several of them. Not cool.

[jpaulwhite]

@Drewdane 127508 wrote:

Riding erratically, mostly. Speed (or lack of same) doesn’t really bug me one way or another. One lady headed the opposite direction cut right in front of me to pass a runner and then basically forced me to swerve aside. I guess worrying about a head-on collision is for “other people”. Another guy decided that me ringing my bell and moving to the left to pass someone was a signal to speed up and try to pass both of us first; only the sound of his drivetrain alerted me to the fact that I was about to get run into (and yes, I could’ve checked the lane before moving over, but AFAIC the onus is on the passer to WAIT until the path is clear before ALERTING the passee before actually passing – like I did for the jogger in front of me). I got to watch still another rider a ways ahead of me brush by pedestrians without any warning, visibly scaring the crap out of several of them. Not cool.

Ahhhhh. The excitement of dealing with an overcrowded trail. Almost as exciting as looking over your shoulder every five seconds to try to make eye contact with any cars about to zoom by you when riding in the street lol.

[GovernorSilver]

I forgot to mention that near the start of my Thursday morning commute, I saw Abe, I mean Dan Storck, on the corner of Rt.1 and Ft. Hunt with a “thanks for voting for me” (something like that) sign and waving to passing motorists.

[consularrider]

Lots of cyclists out and about in both Garmisch and Munich on Friday. One thing I noticed was that none of the buses appeared to be equipped to handle bicycles.

[Emm]

Lovely ride, which ended with my bike not fitting into my work’s bike rack anymore. I got full front and rear fenders installed yesterday, and there is no longer enough space between the front wheel and the fork to go over and hook into my work’s awful grid-style bike rack. Due to my frame and wheel size, locking it up this way is the only method to get the U-Lock through the frame and wheel when the sides of the rack are taken up by other bikes. So now my bike is locked up only with the cable. It’s in a covered area with security guards a few feet away so not the end of the world, but still..I HATE locking my bike up poorly.

Luckily, CPTJohnC told me about the new bike racks and fix-it station at VOA, so I may start parking my bike there on days when rain isn’t in the forcast. They have much nicer (albeit, uncovered) bike racks, and I owe them this favor since their staff took up my building’s bike racks all summer .

But yea. Fenders are cool. My bike now looks like a super-commuter with its IGH, disc brakes, rack, tons of the lights and shiny fenders

[Sunyata]

Autumn Amazing-ness!

This morning’s commute was completely and utterly bliss inspiring. I was running late and ended up taking my early morning meeting by conference call, so I started my commute to the office at 6:50 instead of 6:00. The sun was almost up and the sky was a beautiful pink. I stopped to smell the roses by the Shirlington pedestrian bridge again this morning and had a quick ride by “wave and hello” to a friend I have not seen in a couple of weeks.

I did get honked at by a person in a car, but I just smiled and waved. Everyone else was super pleasant this morning and the weather was just incredible. I want all mornings to be this amazing.

Happy Friday (the 13th), everyone! 😎

[Tania]

Hazelnut Nutella Pie at Java Shack.

That is all.

[TwoWheelsDC]

This morning I was confused as to why I was going so slow despite my normal power output. Things made a lot more sense once I stopped and realized it was fairly breezy. It’s much harder to tell when the trees don’t move because the leaves are gone.

[Author]

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