My Morning Commute

[drevil]

@Emm 160629 wrote:

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…

Haha! A few years ago I tried to cross underneath the train tracks at the corner of Lake Artemesia after a few hard rainy days. It was flooded, but I went for it. The water got deep quickly, and when my front wheel went completely under water, I was all “EFFFFFF THIS!”

I’m not sure of the condition of the water by you, but I’m guessing it’s not very healthy to immerse in flood water.

This was the Northeast Branch Trail that same day 3 years ago:

Commute Home by ricky d, on Flickr

Flooded Trail by ricky d, on Flickr

[gibby]

@Emm 160629 wrote:

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.

No oxen lost, but I am thinking of getting a tetanus shot, a bubonic plague scan and cholera test after splashing along 4MR under the Rt 1 overpass….and people fish in this???

[Steve O]

@Emm 160629 wrote:

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

(psst – sandals)

[Dewey]

Standing in the Orange Line Crush this morning after we pulled into Courthouse station I heard the ominous ker-chunk of doors failing to close followed by the inevitable off-loading. The platform was packed. I decided to bail and take Bikeshare, I’m only an occasional user now but keep my membership alive for this eventuality. I was pleasantly surprised to find plenty of bikes available at the Courthouse CaBi station at 8:15am – took Veitch to the Custis trail, through the improved Roosevelt Island GW trail section, and over the Roosevelt Bridge to my workplace in Foggy Bottom, downhill most of the way except for the bridge (why is there a headwind whichever direction I cross!). Thank you Capital Bikeshare.

[MFC]

@hozn 142211 wrote:

I had a Gutr and have a Halo. For me the Gutr seemed like a good idea, but was quite uncomfortable — can’t remember if it was interfering with the helmet or glasses or just bothering me above ears or what. I later bought a Halo which worked much better (though it does have more material, so may be a little hotter). So just a suggestion to try on with your helmet/glasses if possible (not sure who carries those products).

Does anyone have any more recent opinions on the Gutr or the Halo? I’m tempted to purchase one or the other at some place with a decent return policy and return it if it not comfortable.

Thanks.

[dasgeh]

@Dewey 160779 wrote:

[…] downhill most of the way […]

If you want downhill all of the way, stay on Wilson/Clarendon, then take Lynn to the Key Bridge to M, and head south on whichever numbered street makes sense for you (I like 24th, which I take to H to head a little further east).

[GovernorSilver]

Never owned a Gutr but have 2 Halos that I bought on sale at REI – one w/ a skullcap and one headband-only.

On 12 mile evening rides in 90 F heat, the headband oversaturated around the midpoint of the ride. Someone here posted the genius idea of stopping and wringing it out, which can work, but I found that wearing one of my tech cycling caps (also purchased at REI) instead of a Halo was a better solution still.

I’ve settled on wearing the Halos on the cooler spring/fall rides, when I don’t need the visor provided by a cycling cap – the extra bit of protection from the rain makes a difference. Since I now have multiple caps/Halos, I may also carry extra headwear for the very hottest days.

[KLizotte]

I tried a Halo but didn’t like the indentation mark it made on my forehead. Took forever to go away so now I just use a regular headband if needed.

[mello yello]

I’ve got to echo the halo imprint thing… it does take about an hour to go away. I’ve been using them (full and headband) for rides up to an hour and they do keep my eyes from stinging, even when it’s raining. The regular headband is maybe a bit too tight but the cap has a tie back that helps keep the band in the front from digging in too much.

[Dewey]

@dasgeh 160784 wrote:

take Lynn to the Key Bridge to M, and head south on whichever numbered street makes sense for you.

The same thing happened again today, this time the train stopped at Courthouse due to a power outage at Eastern Market. Once again CaBi to the rescue, and it was a nice morning so I followed your advice Gillian and took Key and M through Georgetown. I managed to resist the temptation to stop at Ladurée. I’d like to be able to carry a folding cardboard helmet in my bag for these CaBi ‘get out of Dodge’ rides.

[semperiden]

Guy decided to draft behind me at MVT for at least 4 miles. A ‘thank you’ or at least a ‘nice butt’ would have been nice.

[GovernorSilver]

Was going to ride today but some kind of bug is going around the office – one that got me too.

Sick of being sick already. :p

[dasgeh]

My ride was fine, but adding to the files of “people driving their kids to school, being jerks”, I witnessed a driver hit (possibly intentionally) a runner on Key Blvd at Bryan. I stopped to talk to the runner (he was fine — rear view mirror to the arm), and the drivers stops his car, opens his door and starts yelling at the runner. I mention I saw him hit the runner and we’re calling the police and he drives off… only to turn in to Key Elementary. The runner mentions he saw a kid in the car. We got the license plate so call in the hit and run, and while we’re on the phone, the same car comes back, heading westbound on Key this time, and the driver starts shouting again!

Kudos to Arlington emergency services — EMTs showed up before the runner could tell 911 that he didn’t need an ambulance. Police were also very quick, and professional as always.

However, the Police questioned whether there is an implied crosswalk to cross Key on the west side of Bryan St N (you’re going to have to look at a map for this to make any sense). There are 2 1/2 streets that come together basically at the same intersection, and none of the corners are right angles. They spoke in terms of what a judge would enforce (though they agreed the hit and run aspect was clear).

Does this mean that Arlington needs to paint crosswalks at all non-right-angle intersections for ACPD/the courts to interpret that pedestrians to have the right-of-way?

[Drewdane]

Beautiful morning today!

[bobco85]

Wow, what an asshat of a driver. You should report this behavior to the folks at Key Elementary School because an enraged criminal (hit ‘n’ run) driver had just entered their parking lot that had faculty and other schoolchildren, a serious safety issue.
@dasgeh 160987 wrote:

However, the Police questioned whether there is an implied crosswalk to cross Key on the west side of Bryan St N (you’re going to have to look at a map for this to make any sense). There are 2 1/2 streets that come together basically at the same intersection, and none of the corners are right angles. They spoke in terms of what a judge would enforce (though they agreed the hit and run aspect was clear).

Does this mean that Arlington needs to paint crosswalks at all non-right-angle intersections for ACPD/the courts to interpret that pedestrians to have the right-of-way?

Looking at the satellite image for the intersection (https://goo.gl/maps/dw2fTMcPmh42), it’s clear that the pedestrian ramp “points” northeast across Key Blvd. Thus, there would be an implied crosswalk. I also see that there is a speed hump that the driver must have flown over in their haste to get their kid to school on time which apparently overrides the value of human life.

[Author]

Posts