My Morning Commute

[TwoWheelsDC]

It was windy, and the puddles on the towpath and the edges of the canal were frozen.

[Judd]

As I bike in this morning I was thankful that I don’t have Ian’s commute. That was one bad ass wind from the north.

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[dbb]

MVT was wet but empty at 0640

Passed two peds on the trail and two outbound cyclists in DC. Aside from that, the trail was mine from Crystal City to L’Enfant Plaza.

Was it something I said?

[Crickey7]

My little squirrel friend on the CCT this morning. Your fearlessness–some may call it foolhardiness–is duly noted. Safe passage to that big oak tree in the sky.

[TwoWheelsDC]

Almost ate it at the foot of the wooden walkway on the C&O between the trestle and Chain Bridge. My body/bike was slightly askew when I hit the mud at the beginning of the walkway and my rear tire slid out about 6 inches in a microsecond. Thankfully I had cross tires with good tread and was sort of expecting it so I wasn’t tensed up…would’ve been painful if I’d crashed, since I would’ve hit the railing on my way down.

[huskerdont]

@TwoWheelsDC 150271 wrote:

Almost ate it at the foot of the wooden walkway on the C&O between the trestle and Chain Bridge. My body/bike was slightly askew when I hit the mud at the beginning of the walkway and my rear tire slid out about 6 inches in a microsecond. Thankfully I had cross tires with good tread and was sort of expecting it so I wasn’t tensed up…would’ve been painful if I’d crashed, since I would’ve hit the railing on my way down.

That’s the one where you can bike across the broken concrete below it instead if you wish, correct? That’s what I always do, but I can see why one would not want to. Years ago the canal was always high enough to seep across it, but it isn’t any longer. If on the bridge and you go down, it’s so narrow that yeah, you can’t avoid the railing, but the concrete needs care or wider tires like yours.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@huskerdont 150274 wrote:

That’s the one where you can bike across the broken concrete below it instead if you wish, correct? That’s what I always do, but I can see why one would not want to. Years ago the canal was always high enough to seep across it, but it isn’t any longer. If on the bridge and you go down, it’s so narrow that yeah, you can’t avoid the railing, but the concrete needs care or wider tires like yours.

Yep! Normally the mud isn’t too bad at the ends, but today it was pretty slick!

[huskerdont]

@TwoWheelsDC 150277 wrote:

Yep! Normally the mud isn’t too bad at the ends, but today it was pretty slick!

It’s also the worst mud known to humankind–so bad that on rainy days, I used to ride up and down the hills on Military instead, even though all I had was a slow pig of a mountain bike. (At least they had just installed the bike lanes and it was no longer the 4-lane Military Road Speedway of Death.)

[KLizotte]

@huskerdont 150274 wrote:

That’s the one where you can bike across the broken concrete below it instead if you wish, correct? That’s what I always do, but I can see why one would not want to. Years ago the canal was always high enough to seep across it, but it isn’t any longer. If on the bridge and you go down, it’s so narrow that yeah, you can’t avoid the railing, but the concrete needs care or wider tires like yours.

Huh, I’ve always taken the “low” route fearing picking up a splinter on the bridge. I’ve never done it during muddy/bad weather though. No problems during good weather on skinnies.

[huskerdont]

@KLizotte 150286 wrote:

Huh, I’ve always taken the “low” route fearing picking up a splinter on the bridge. I’ve never done it during muddy/bad weather though. No problems during good weather on skinnies.

I feel the need to take in carefully on skinnies, but then most of the towpath is like that so it’s not any further of a hindrance.

[Subby]

The concrete part is the best way because you can catch air coming up from either end. The bridge is for old people who live their lives in fear.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Subby 150304 wrote:

The concrete part is the best way because you can catch air coming up from either end. The bridge is for old people who live their lives in fear.

I catch air on the bump at the north end of the Kennedy Center cobbles…I use the mud at the wooden bridge to practice my off-road skillz.

[LeprosyStudyGroup]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]12953[/ATTACH]
my supa dupa fly commuting outfit held up this morning, but the laser emitting sunglasses burnt my eyebrows off, do not recommend

[bobco85]

Hoo boy, that wind was brutal this morning, and there’s a wind advisory for parts of VA for winds this afternoon up to 50 mph!

From today’s commute:

• The good – I felt nice and toasty because I had the right winter gear setup, and I will be rewarding myself for biking through the cold with some hot cocoa
• The bad – moving in slow motion while buffeted by the W&OD wind tunnel
• The ugly – feeling my rear tire losing air a few blocks before arriving at work, squeezing the tire, and knowing that I will have to do a repair this afternoon
• The humorous – I chuckled a bit at the fact that the top of my water bottle was starting to freeze, making it harder to drink water along the way

[EasyRider]

A mostly enjoyable, bracing commute. The only dicey part were cross winds going downhill on Columbia Pike between S. Courthouse and Washington Blvd. After one gust I experienced a slightly alarming front-end wobble, not quite a shimmy. I’ve noticed that the pavement on that stretch is pretty smooth but has what feels like tiny undulations, and I wonder if that contributed.

[Author]

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