My Morning Commute

[streetsmarts]

@Tania 160052 wrote:

I saw a herd of about 30 cops walking in loose formation along Lafayette Square this morning around 8:20. I just figured it was another day in Trumpland.

On Ohio Drive, I passed mounted police from 50 states (maybe), horse trailers from 50 states, and navigated around horse poop from 50 states.

The horses were cool!

[dbb]

My “herd” of police were in a tighter formation as they moved east on Independence, preventing me from crossing to the south on 7th.
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[DrP]

Generally today was lovely, despite being warmer than I would like given the extra mileage to hit Crystal City and need this week to get to work extra early.

However, at about 6:25am I was heading south on the MVT just south of Gravely Point and approaching the airport when I see a bike moving quite fast towards me (north bound) with little or no pedaling. “Damn electric bike,” I thought to myself until it got closer. Then I hear and quickly smelled the 2-stroke engine. That was basically a motor cycle! Person was past me and no way to even say anything. I yelled “illegal bike,” but was unlikely heard. WTF.

[AFHokie]

@DrP 160309 wrote:

Generally today was lovely, despite being warmer than I would like given the extra mileage to hit Crystal City and need this week to get to work extra early.

However, at about 6:25am I was heading south on the MVT just south of Gravely Point and approaching the airport when I see a bike moving quite fast towards me (north bound) with little or no pedaling. “Damn electric bike,” I thought to myself until it got closer. Then I hear and quickly smelled the 2-stroke engine. That was basically a motor cycle! Person was past me and no way to even say anything. I yelled “illegal bike,” but was unlikely heard. WTF.

Was it a red frame and possibly look like a full suspension mountain bike? On May 7th a around 5pm I passed someone headed north on the MVT under the rail bridge riding a bike with what clearly sounded and smelled like a 2 stroke engine

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[DrP]

@AFHokie 160318 wrote:

Was it a red frame and possibly look like a full suspension mountain bike? On May 7th a around 5pm I passed someone headed north on the MVT under the rail bridge riding a bike with what clearly sounded and smelled like a 2 stroke engine

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Yes. Which is why at first I thought it was just a souped-up (if that is how you spell it) e-bike.

[Zack]

@AFHokie 160318 wrote:

Was it a red frame and possibly look like a full suspension mountain bike? On May 7th a around 5pm I passed someone headed north on the MVT under the rail bridge riding a bike with what clearly sounded and smelled like a 2 stroke engine

I have seen this guy too but just once. Odd for sure but good luck getting this enforced. I have seen Park Police drive their motorcycles across the 14th St Bridge Path which is also a definite no-no.

[AFHokie]

@Zack 160355 wrote:

I have seen this guy too but just once. Odd for sure but good luck getting this enforced. I have seen Park Police drive their motorcycles across the 14th St Bridge Path which is also a definite no-no.

The Park Police riding motorcycles on the 14th bridge path is more than likely for familiarization in case they ever need to do so for an emergency. I have no issue with that; in fact I’d like to see the police on the trail more often.

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[Tania]

Everyone was super polite this am – people waited to pass me until the path was clear and called their passes/rang a bell (even the e-bikers!) and some even said hello or thank you.

But what was up with all the chipmunks?

[Crickey7]

Older lady weaving in and out of the L Street bike lane this morning on a scooter. You suck.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Crickey7 160469 wrote:

Older lady weaving in and out of the L Street bike lane this morning on a scooter. You suck.

DC law, unfortunately, is somewhat permissive of scooters in bike lanes…not to say this person wasn’t riding illegally by weaving, but it’s *possible* that she was using the lane legally if her scooter fell within the “motorized bicycle” category of <50cc. DC really should follow VA's lead and explicitly ban scooters from bike lanes and create a separate classification for e-bikes that allows those to be ridden in bike lanes.

[Vicegrip]

Stand and start cranking up VA ave. A small twiggy tree branch falls and lands in front of bike timed just right so I don’t bother to go around it. Crunch the branch and as near as I can tell it paid me back by sticking a little stick in the chain/cog/RD. Chain skips on cog big time, I don’t catch it in time and do a low to 0 speed flop splat.

[DanB]

Awfully quiet on the trail. Thought there’d be more activity, because the rain had stopped early this a.m. with no more expected until late. Maybe everyone’s already off for the weekend?

Coming down the M St bike lane. Upshifting to make the next green light when suddenly my front derailleur cable housing pulls away from the shifter and points straight up. I might have laughed, but I quickly realized I’ll be having a somewhat slower commute home. At least now I’ll be motivated to put all those shifter and brake cables to use that I’ve already bought and are waiting for me to install.

[AFHokie]

@DanB 160592 wrote:

Awfully quiet on the trail.

Maybe too quiet…

As far as noise I thought the same thing…it was earily quiet this morning, but the number of people I passed suggested it was rather busy

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[Emm]

Today on my ride to work, I forded the mighty Potomac! I lost 2 oxen and 100 lbs of food, but I didn’t drown at least.

Seriously though. The water was above my pedals at 3-4 spots along the MVT between Tulane Dr and the Airport. At one point there were some ducks SWIMMING across the trail. My shoes (and the rest of me) are beyond drenched, and I’m surprised my bike made it across some of the trail since the flooding was pretty extensive. I don’t think I quite realized how much rain came down last night. I’ve seen the MVT flooded before, but this was the first time I’ve tried to ride in it. Not gonna lie though–once I realized there was minimal risk of drowning it was actually kinda fun to bike through the water.

Here’s hoping my tiny usb powered desk fan can at least dry my shoes out a little today…

[anomad]

I’m drying my kit the same way but it may just get wet again on the way home according to the forecast.

[Author]

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