My Morning Commute

[DrP]

Well, with the drizzly weather today, there were fewer people and a higher percentage of those who passed me actually announced their passes in some fashion (other than my hearing/sensing a bicycle) – earlier this week, I would have put it at something like 1 in 20 people announced passes. From this I conclude that the non-year round riders are more likely not to know the “rules” of the trails.

How do we get people to learn to announce passes and the like? More signage on the trails (and not just at a few entrances)?

[Steve O]

@DrP 138937 wrote:

More signage on the trails (and not just at a few entrances)?

I don’t think signage works. Particularly those signs that list the 97 “rules” that have, like, 1000 little tiny words on them.

I think the best we can do is model the behavior we want to acculturate and keep smiling.

[bobco85]

I never thought about using the helmet cover for cold weather. I guess it helps by providing a nice pocket of warm air. I will try that when it gets cold again (hopefully not anytime soon!).

@ursus 138934 wrote:

That sounds like a great idea just for the reason which you mentioned. Any idea if it works when you have a helmet-mounted mirror and a visor?

I have a taillight, headlight, and a visor on my helmet. The cover fits nicely around the visor which allows me to use my headlight unobstructed (the taillight gets covered, but I have lights on my bike as well). I don’t think it would obscure your mirror, so it should work as long as your helmet has stuff for the cover to latch onto.

@DrP 138937 wrote:

Well, with the drizzly weather today, there were fewer people and a higher percentage of those who passed me actually announced their passes in some fashion (other than my hearing/sensing a bicycle) – earlier this week, I would have put it at something like 1 in 20 people announced passes. From this I conclude that the non-year round riders are more likely not to know the “rules” of the trails.

It’s a little easier to hear people approaching because of the wet pavement, so that helps, but I agree that the seasoned veterans tend to be more forthcoming with calling their passes on days like this.

@DrP 138937 wrote:

How do we get people to learn to announce passes and the like? More signage on the trails (and not just at a few entrances)?

I like the idea of adding more signage in both English and Spanish to the trails (just the simple ones like “Stay right, pass left,” “Call your passes,” and “Yield to Pedestrians/Horses”), but honestly I think the best way to get others to follow good trail etiquette is to be a good example.

Monkey see, monkey do. If I queue up behind others stopped at a red light on the trail, I notice some others will queue up behind me instead of shoaling and bunching up. If I call my passes on a crowded trail in a nice way, I notice that some others will do the same (it especially helps when pedestrians/slower cyclists give a hand wave or say thanks since other people see the positive reaction; same goes for when I am getting passed). If I signal my turn if there is a fork in the trail or turn-off, I notice that some others will be more aware when turning onto/off the trail. The hard part is trying to overcome all the bad examples out there including my own temptations.

[DrP]

@Steve O 138940 wrote:

I don’t think signage works. Particularly those signs that list the 97 “rules” that have, like, 1000 little tiny words on them.

I think the best we can do is model the behavior we want to acculturate and keep smiling.

There are signs along the W&OD, I think Reston and points west, that do state things like “slow traffic keep right.” Do these help? Are signs like these or “Burma Shave” style ever useful? They aren’t too much clutter and do remind folks of some of the rules in a style that isn’t a tome.

I have considered attempting a “hard” left turn signal when I can tell someone is passing and not telling me. I can smile when I do that, if you think that will help.

[huskerdont]

Rode the fixie with the new Vredestein Gran Fondo Tricomp 23s in the rain shower. First time but they felt good. Bike is faster, and it’s easy enough to skid stop but still have decent traction. Hope it’s wet on the ride home so I can see if they tend to slip out powering up the hills.

Fixie + rain = fun.

[DrP]

Today was a lovely commute.
Weather bad enough to keep most people off the trail (and the two people who passed me, called/dinged their passes), but it was not actually raining, the material on the ground was not excessive so that I did not end up covered in grit (unlike my commute home last night), the temperature was great since I would wear the rain pants to protect from the grit but not sweat from lack of air flow, and the wind was really quite low so no fighting it from the 14th st bridge to the airport. I hope the ride home is as lovely.

[Terpfan]

I felt like I was dragging today, but agree that there weren’t many out and those out were courteous riders. The highlight of my ride was the woman saying “good morning” in a cheerful voice as she passed folks on the MVT. I was in one of those mindsets of ‘ugh, im dragging, im going to be a little late to work, i wore one layer too many, etc’ and then the cheerfulness sort of clicked me out of it to see the nice side–that I was riding, that being late would be no big deal, and so on. Funny how the little things can make a big difference.

[Anonymous]

Do you know komorebi? Bet it was her.

@Terpfan 138979 wrote:

I felt like I was dragging today, but agree that there weren’t many out and those out were courteous riders. The highlight of my ride was the woman saying “good morning” in a cheerful voice as she passed folks on the MVT. I was in one of those mindsets of ‘ugh, im dragging, im going to be a little late to work, i wore one layer too many, etc’ and then the cheerfulness sort of clicked me out of it to see the nice side–that I was riding, that being late would be no big deal, and so on. Funny how the little things can make a big difference.

[huskerdont]

I was dragging too. Went through the neighborhoods instead of on the trail, which I often do when dragging. Happy to report that the Vredesteins are incredible though. They have enough grip that they don’t slip in the wet going up hills on a single speed, but they do have enough slippiness that skid stopping is easy. Will likely pick up a pair of 25s for the winter.

[komorebi]

@Amalitza 138981 wrote:

Do you know komorebi? Bet it was her.

Alas, I only wish it had been me. Scheduling issues forced me to take the Metro in this morning. But at the places where the Metro crosses over the MVT, I was looking at the cyclists and thinking wistfully that I would rather be out there with them.

[huskerdont]

A bus and an SUV collided in the middle of the intersection of Wisconsin and M around 6:45. Easy enough to get by on a bike, but I pitied any drivers coming through for a while. They were just offloading the bus when I went by, and the two vehicles looked a bit jammed. Even on a rainy day (especially on a rainy day), bike commuting is better than the other kind.

[GovernorSilver]

@komorebi 138989 wrote:

Alas, I only wish it had been me. Scheduling issues forced me to take the Metro in this morning. But at the places where the Metro crosses over the MVT, I was looking at the cyclists and thinking wistfully that I would rather be out there with them.

I do the same thing whenever I ride the Metro and it passes over the MVT – wistfully observe the MVT traffic.

Hope to start cyclo-commuting again this week. I needed at least one more ride on the road bike to regain my confidence before I commute on it – confidence that was lost when I took that spill due to a bad angle on a ramp. I did that ride yesterday, mostly tracing over decent portions of my commute routes for a total of 13 miles, and should be good to go.

[Crickey7]

Back on today after the ill-advised decision to take on major, first-time repair jobs on both bikes sidelined me for a week. Also, internally routed cables.

On the plus side, my earworm was a piece of German opera the middle child performed over the weekend. Ausgezeichnet!

[ian74]

This morning was wet and misty, and damp. The #CCT was covered in lots of debris from the storms. Rode with my friend the Enthusigator up the CCT and we encountered several large downed branches, and a tree blocking the trail! You could get around the tree but had to carry the bike.

We cleared two large and heavy branches, and several cyclists and runners stopped to help. Seeing community in action is always refreshing!

One of the branches partially blocking the trail, you can see my orange helmet on the other side of it.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]11685[/ATTACH]

After we cleared it.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]11686[/ATTACH]

Big Tree down!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]11687[/ATTACH]

[GovernorSilver]

First morning commute for me since November!

I’m still getting used to riding a road bike with conventional derailleurs, so i took it slow and easy. Plus I had my Freezing Saddles “Lowest average MPH” award for inspiration!

It did look for a while that this ride wasn’t going to happen on the Renegade because the valve on the rear tire kept hissing every time I tried to put the cap back on. Then I realized the Presta valve adapter for my pump had loosened a couple of screw-like things in the valve. Whew!

It was overcast with mist/light rain constantly in my face but it was so great to be out there again.

[Author]

Posts