My Morning Commute

[Emm]

I’m usually fine biking in the wind, but this morning I got caught in something ridiculous at Gravely Point. While going around the bend east of the runways a massive gust got me. I began to lean over to stay on course, which was already next to impossible with the curve and the massive gust. Of course right then another cyclist decided to pass without warning. I ended up getting blown right off the trail since I didn’t want to overcompensate and possibly cause an accident if the gust let up suddenly. Luckily I was going like 8-10 MPH at that stage and it’s soft grass, so I was fine and just re-joined the trail a few yards later. But that was one hell of a wind gust.

Otherwise lovely commute. Almost no one on the trail, and trees did a good job blocking the wind for most of my ride

[streetsmarts]

@Emm 156165 wrote:

I’m usually fine biking in the wind, but this morning I got caught in something ridiculous at Gravely Point. While going around the bend east of the runways a massive gust got me. I began to lean over to stay on course, which was already next to impossible with the curve and the massive gust. Of course right then another cyclist decided to pass without warning. I ended up getting blown right off the trail since I didn’t want to overcompensate and possibly cause an accident if the gust let up suddenly. Luckily I was going like 8-10 MPH at that stage and it’s soft grass, so I was fine and just re-joined the trail a few yards later. But that was one hell of a wind gust.

Otherwise lovely commute. Almost no one on the trail, and trees did a good job blocking the wind for most of my ride

It was crazy windy! Glad you were ok. Almost hit the side of 14th St bridge myself

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[OneEighth]

I found the flying monkeys more disconcerting than the gusts on the ride in this morning.
My legs are so totally looking forward to the ride home!

[Brett L.]

@OneEighth 156171 wrote:

I found the flying monkeys more disconcerting than the gusts on the ride in this morning.
My legs are so totally looking forward to the ride home!

The wind will change directions by then

[drevil]

If you ever wondered what the bottom of a Spot-a-Pot/Port-a-John/Jiffy John/Porta Potty/Don’s Johns looks like, Ma Nature’s gusts have helped to sate your curiosity. Head to the Anacostia Waterfront trail for 2 fine specimens.

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[Tim Kelley]

@drevil 156174 wrote:

If you ever wondered what the bottom of a Spot-a-Pot/Port-a-John/Jiffy John/Porta Potty/Don’s Johns looks like, Ma Nature’s gusts have helped to sate your curiosity. Head to the Anacostia Waterfront trail for 2 fine specimens.

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[huskerdont]

Still some v. nice sunrises on the morning commute, though getting toward the tail end. Since we slip back into morning darkness Saturday night, there should be some more opportunities in a couple of weeks. Best spring I can remember in years for sunrises, I guess because it hasn’t rained as much.

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I suppose these could have been posted on the pics of your ride thread, so apologies to those who care about such things, and times being what they are.

[DrP]

The commute was good except for the right turn on red driver and the harassing driver.

1. Marriot at Key Bridge Parking garage driveway, which is a road with traffic lights and no turn on red signs. It was green for Lee Hwy and for the trail. Driver came out of garage, drove up the hill and continued through the crosswalk and made a right – I had to brake hard to not hit him. He didn’t look to his right at all. Then I yelled and gestured at him, but he cared not.

2. On the Connector Rd from Boundary Channel Dr to N Rotary Dr at the Pentagon (i.e., the 110 overpass) it is one lane with a median to the left and a no travel area to the right that is both usually full of crud and the line between the two is an ever enlarging pot hole. I am nearing the top of the hill and I head a car honking his horn at me as if his life depended on his getting passed me NOW. I look back to make sure it isn’t some kind of emergency vehicle without sirens or a “friend” thinking he is being funny. Nope. He passes me, less then 3 ft, of course, and it is a DC plated orange Fit (I think) with an Uber sticker in the window. I did effectively catch up to him, but it was where I needed to turn off, so no interaction aside from my yells and gestures on the overpass.

[chris_s]

Commute? What commute? I played hooky and rode to Maryland on the ART and it was wonderful.

[cvcalhoun]

Morning commute was fine, albeit a bit cold. But I brought my tire chains along, because I suspect tonight’s will not be so fine.

[cvcalhoun]

One of the advantages of this unseasonably cold weather is that I finally get to test out my new toys. A couple of days ago it was the tire chains; today it was the electrically heated jacket and gloves.

[Judd]

@cvcalhoun 157102 wrote:

One of the advantages of this unseasonably cold weather is that I finally get to test out my new toys. A couple of days ago it was the tire chains; today it was the electrically heated jacket and gloves.

How were the electric gloves and coat? I nearly bought electric socks once, but the reviews online were mostly negative.

[cvcalhoun]

@Judd 157109 wrote:

How were the electric gloves and coat? I nearly bought electric socks once, but the reviews online were mostly negative.

They were great! I decided to give them the acid test this morning: I wore only a t-shirt underneath, on a day that was 21° and windy. When I left the house, I set the heat on high. Twenty minutes later, I realized I was a little too warm, and stopped and moved it to medium. And I probably could have reduced it to low.

The other nice thing is that it preheats when you first turn it on. So you don’t have that moment when you first walk outside and are freezing, before the coat warms up.

My thought is to use it in two situations: First, when it is in the 20s or below, and my normal biking jacket isn’t really warm enough. I’ve been using my LLBean down jacket for those days, but it’s large and heavy, and noticeably slows my speed. The second is on those days when the temperature is 20° in the morning and 60° in the afternoon. Because I can turn the heat in the jacket down, or even off, having this jacket means I don’t have to worry about carrying clothes that are now too warm to wear.

[KWL]

A smooth, dry ride in on skinny tires today thanks to the NPS MVT clearing.

[TwoWheelsDC]

I initially felt silly for keeping my studs on, until I got to the RCP trail at the Lincoln, which had some extended icy spots. Rideable without studs, but I appreciated the extra stability. Things were going great up the CCT….and then I had to get on the towpath. For all intents and purposes, it’s unrideable. I got by on a small sliver of untouched snow right on the edge of the embankment, but even walking on the main portion of the trail was a risky proposition. Frankly, it would’ve been okay had it not been ridden by 4 or 5 riders on Tuesday, who left ruts that froze solid…like, a skating rink is rideable if you stay upright, but throw some some criss-crossing ruts on it, and you can’t ride a straight, steady line. Then the sidewalk across chainbridge was the snow and ice equivalent of root-y singletrack. Studs actually saved me there, but it would’ve been much more comfortable with a suspension fork. Commute ended up taking me about 25 minutes longer than normal…

**edit**: I think if there was any ride that was going to knock my chain off, Chain Bridge this morning would be it…no chain problems whatsoever though, so I’m feeling pretty good about my 1×11 setup. That said, the cassette on my spare wheelset is from when my bike was 2×11, so it’s only a 11-28, vs the 11-36 that I have on my day-to-day wheelset…so climbing Chain Bridge hill this morning was a little more slow going than normal, although the 45NRTH Xerxes tires didn’t really seem to slow me down much.

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