My Morning Commute

[AFHokie]

@bobco85 143853 wrote:

While I did not wake up early enough to go to HDCC (I have yet to attend, even though it’s close to my morning commute as I ride Beauregard-Walter Reed-W&OD, but I promise before the end of summer that I will go to at least ONE!), I did have a pleasant ride.

I brought my insulated water bottle instead of my normal clear plastic bottle, and about 2.5 hours after having arrived at work, I was surprised to discover that the ice I had put in it before my ride had still not completely melted! Usually, when I use my regular clear plastic bottle, the contents are liquid before I even hit Beauregard/Seminary (about a mile into my commute). I will have to remember to use the insulated bottle more often.

I find insulated water bottles one of those “why didn’t I buy some waaaay earlier” items

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[mello yello]

got the chance this morning to return a dropped pannier to a fellow on a recumbent. He was heading into DC over Mem bridge and the expansion joint covers popped it off. He’d stopped at the end of the bridge to look at directions and was pretty incredulous when I rode up with the pannier – he’d ridden 600 miles without losing one.

In other news, it was actually nice this morning, and I’m 90% recovered from my crash 10 days ago. Yay commuting.

[bobco85]

Well, I’ve been biking for the past 25 years of my life, and today is the second day that I ever had a collision with a car (my first collision was hitting a parked car when I was about 8 years old). Luckily, this was a very minor collision.

I was riding eastbound on Beauregard St and was in the middle of the right lane (I was taking the lane since there are 3 lanes of travel). Just after crossing Mark Center Dr (approaching Seminary Rd), I heard a van pull up from behind on my left side and *whap* his side view mirror hits my left forearm.

I was surprised by it, and the driver immediately pulled over into my lane. I rode up alongside him as he rolled down his window in the right lane. He asked if I was okay and apologized since he realized he had hit me, and I said I was fine and that to please give 3 feet when passing. Then, we parted ways as he headed onto Seminary Rd (I-395 bound I’m guessing) and I continued on Beauregard St towards Arlington. I had my front-facing camera on at the time (my rear-facing camera was out of battery power), so I did somewhat record the collision (I will review it when I get home).

Looking back at the situation, I think he tried to pass me in my lane which does not work when there is not enough room to do so (3 foot passing law). I was also uninjured due to the following:

• the force of his side view mirror hitting my forearm was displaced due to the fact I was holding a casual/somewhat loose grip on my handlebars at the time and the side view mirror wasn’t very dense
• he was only driving about 5-10 mph faster than me in the same direction
• the collision felt similar to if someone were to hit you by slowly swinging a plastic wiffle bat (enough to be annoying, but not enough to cause pain)

I will report the incident in to the Alexandria Police later today so that it can be documented. Other than slightly annoyed and renewed in my vigor to ask for better bicycle infrastructure on Beauregard St (right now, there’s nothing), I am fine.

[cvcalhoun]

Glad you’re okay! Definitely add this to the crashes topic in this forum. @bobco85 144263 wrote:

Well, I’ve been biking for the past 25 years of my life, and today is the second day that I ever had a collision with a car (my first collision was hitting a parked car when I was about 8 years old). Luckily, this was a very minor collision.

I was riding eastbound on Beauregard St and was in the middle of the right lane (I was taking the lane since there are 3 lanes of travel). Just after crossing Mark Center Dr (approaching Seminary Rd), I heard a van pull up from behind on my left side and *whap* his side view mirror hits my left forearm.

I was surprised by it, and the driver immediately pulled over into my lane. I rode up alongside him as he rolled down his window in the right lane. He asked if I was okay and apologized since he realized he had hit me, and I said I was fine and that to please give 3 feet when passing. Then, we parted ways as he headed onto Seminary Rd (I-395 bound I’m guessing) and I continued on Beauregard St towards Arlington. I had my front-facing camera on at the time (my rear-facing camera was out of battery power), so I did somewhat record the collision (I will review it when I get home).

Looking back at the situation, I think he tried to pass me in my lane which does not work when there is not enough room to do so (3 foot passing law). I was also uninjured due to the following:

• the force of his side view mirror hitting my forearm was displaced due to the fact I was holding a casual/somewhat loose grip on my handlebars at the time and the side view mirror wasn’t very dense
• he was only driving about 5-10 mph faster than me in the same direction
• the collision felt similar to if someone were to hit you by slowly swinging a plastic wiffle bat (enough to be annoying, but not enough to cause pain)

I will report the incident in to the Alexandria Police later today so that it can be documented. Other than slightly annoyed and renewed in my vigor to ask for better bicycle infrastructure on Beauregard St (right now, there’s nothing), I am fine.

[jrenaut]

My morning commute was exceptionally pleasant. Took the older gremlin to Alexandria to catch the bus to camp, then the long way home to pick up our CSA from Navy Yard. I may have inspired her counselor to try biking to the bus pickup tomorrow. On the MVT, I chatted with a gentleman about the cargo capacity of the longtail, and how nice it is to go from a heavy/loaded bike to a light/unloaded bike. Then I got some directions from a stranger on Water St, then I stopped to chat with a friend. Saw another friend on PA Ave, just two Xtracycles passing in the morning, and finally talked to a father of two who is interested in a longtail. Of course I told him he should get one.

[bobco85]

@cvcalhoun 144268 wrote:

Glad you’re okay! Definitely add this to the crashes topic in this forum.

Will do; I totally forgot we had a section for it! Thanks for the reminder.

[KLizotte]

@bobco85 144263 wrote:

Well, I’ve been biking for the past 25 years of my life, and today is the second day that I ever had a collision with a car (my first collision was hitting a parked car when I was about 8 years old). Luckily, this was a very minor collision.

I was riding eastbound on Beauregard St and was in the middle of the right lane (I was taking the lane since there are 3 lanes of travel). Just after crossing Mark Center Dr (approaching Seminary Rd), I heard a van pull up from behind on my left side and *whap* his side view mirror hits my left forearm.

I was surprised by it, and the driver immediately pulled over into my lane. I rode up alongside him as he rolled down his window in the right lane. He asked if I was okay and apologized since he realized he had hit me, and I said I was fine and that to please give 3 feet when passing. Then, we parted ways as he headed onto Seminary Rd (I-395 bound I’m guessing) and I continued on Beauregard St towards Arlington. I had my front-facing camera on at the time (my rear-facing camera was out of battery power), so I did somewhat record the collision (I will review it when I get home).

Looking back at the situation, I think he tried to pass me in my lane which does not work when there is not enough room to do so (3 foot passing law). I was also uninjured due to the following:

• the force of his side view mirror hitting my forearm was displaced due to the fact I was holding a casual/somewhat loose grip on my handlebars at the time and the side view mirror wasn’t very dense
• he was only driving about 5-10 mph faster than me in the same direction
• the collision felt similar to if someone were to hit you by slowly swinging a plastic wiffle bat (enough to be annoying, but not enough to cause pain)

I will report the incident in to the Alexandria Police later today so that it can be documented. Other than slightly annoyed and renewed in my vigor to ask for better bicycle infrastructure on Beauregard St (right now, there’s nothing), I am fine.

Ekkkk! Am very glad to hear you are okay. Am rather amazed the driver stopped but hopefully he will be more careful in the future. Many thanks for reporting the incident to the police. You can’t manage what you can’t measure!

[Sunyata]

So, I had an interesting interaction with a driver today on my commute to work. I was heading north on S. George Mason Drive passing the Army Readiness Center, in the bike lane. There was a car parked in the “Authorized Shuttle Parking Only” area right after the entrance to the center. The driver of the car had the door wide open, blocking the bike lane and both him and his passenger were standing in the bike lane. Traffic was backed up at the light at Route 50, so I could not get over into the regular travel lane. I rang my bell and the passenger moved behind the vehicle and the driver shut the door and stood close to the car. I gave a chipper “Thank you” with a smile, and the driver yelled (quite angrily, I might add) “Whatever”. :confused::confused::confused:

I just shook my head and continued on, but really? If you are going to be human enough to recognize that you are blocking a travel lane and correct it, why not be human enough to say “You are welcome” or “no problem” or even “sure”. I mean, even ignoring my thank you would have been better than yelling “whatever” at me.

But on a brighter note, I did have a nice “hello” moment with a pedestrian later in my ride though.

[bobco85]

I made it a point to take the same route as yesterday for my morning commute (I sometimes like to mix up my routes for variety) so no lingering fears/anxiety would remain about the spot I was clipped. I took the lane (again), but this time (and I’ve resolved to do this every time in the future) I made sure to stay in the mid-left portion of the lane instead of the mid-right. I still saw a few people drive past me then cross 2 lanes without using their signals, but at the very least they had to use a different lane than mine for their pass.

[mello yello]

Had an entertaining verbal confrontation with a lady in a car this morning. She took exception to me taking the lane where construction had narrowed the usually two-lane Alabama Ave down to one, 10-ft lane. As soon as the cones stopped she whips around me with tires screeching and… stops at the stoplight 50 yards away. She was telling me to use the bike lane or sidewalk, to which I told her that there is no bike lane and I’m perfectly within my rights to ride in the road. She insisted that roads are made for cars and if I wanted to use the road I should drive a car, or be on my bike at my own risk. I told her that biking in the road should not entail the risk of being intentionally hit by angry drivers. This conversation obviously wasn’t going anywhere and ended when the light changed. In the end I told her she had an attitude and just don’t hit me. I usually don’t participate in this sort of altercation.

[lordofthemark]

Saw a guy on a unicycle on the 14th Street bridge this AM. A few weeks ago I saw a rider on 15th street, pulling a boat on a trailer.

[AFHokie]

He was either doing laps, or we crossed the bridge at about the same time

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[lordofthemark]

@AFHokie 144578 wrote:

He was either doing laps, or we crossed the bridge at about the same time

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Strava confirms you were a minute or two ahead of me.

[mello yello]

Found half a Planet Bike Superflash on my way in. If the back is still attached to your bike let me know! The front is a little worse for wear, unfortunately. I found the batteries too!

[hozn]

@mello yello 144626 wrote:

Found half a Planet Bike Superflash on my way in. If the back is still attached to your bike let me know! The front is a little worse for wear, unfortunately. I found the batteries too!

After having mine fall apart like that in the street several times, I stopped buying those lights. There are much better lights out there anyway.

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