My Morning Commute

[VA2DC]

@KLizotte 161254 wrote:

Wow, morning commuters are an entitled angry bunch. Drivers, if you are in that much of a hurry, please leave the house earlier!!!!

Indeed! Just this morning heading east on Jefferson Drive, I started filtering by a string of cars held up by a Circulator bus that itself was waiting for a tour bus to pull out of the Circulator bus stop at 12th. The windows were down on the last car in the line, and the driver started honking and flinging f-bombs for the traffic ahead to get moving.

1. Dude, the cars ahead of you have nowhere to go until the Circulator bus pulls over. Honking won’t make them move any sooner.
2. The Circulator bus can’t pull over when the stop is (unlawfully) occupied already. Yelling at it doesn’t alter that fact. Actually, the Circulator finally pulled over past 12th St, since the tour bus wasn’t moving. Everyone is trying to get somewhere, and this is a tourist destination. There are lots of drivers, including tour bus drivers, just trying to navigate the streets as best as they can. Deal with it.
3. The speed limit on Jefferson if 15mph. If you are in that much of a hurry, take Independence or another street.

[OneEighth]

Full moon.
Lots of special going on today.

[ian74]

@OneEighth 161260 wrote:

Full moon.
Lots of special going on today.

That was me and LeprosyStudyGroup who said “hi” to you yesterday morning on the 4 Mile Run detour! The elusive and rare OneEighth sighting.

[OneEighth]

@ian74 161263 wrote:

That was me and LeprosyStudyGroup who said “hi” to you yesterday morning on the 4 Mile Run detour! The elusive and rare OneEighth sighting.

Great to see you both out enjoying the awesome riding weather.
Gotta say, there’s something really nice about knowing that you are likely to see someone you know on the commute.
Am still waiting for someone to recognize me when I’m sitting on the moto stuck in 15th Street traffic.

[bentbike33]

@Crickey7 161255 wrote:

I just bought a new bell that is much louder and easier to ring than my old one. Now, if I see anything within a 100 foot radius of me that looks like it might, in time, turn into something less than perfect bike-wise, I just ring the shit out of my bell.

Brand and model? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Crickey7]

Planet Bike courtesy bell classic. I’m not wild about the brass finish, but otherwise like it a lot. The Incredibells have better aesthetics but are quieter, move around too much and the rubber dinger breaks after about two years of use, for me.

[drevil]

@Crickey7 161273 wrote:

Planet Bike courtesy bell classic. I’m not wild about the brass finish, but otherwise like it a lot. The Incredibells have better aesthetics but are quieter, move around too much and the rubber dinger breaks after about two years of use, for me.

The absolute best bike bells are Spurcycle. Expect to pay at least 5 times as much though

[hozn]

@drevil 161274 wrote:

The absolute best bike bells are Spurcycle. Expect to pay at least 5 times as much though

Are they a lot better than the Crane brass bells?

I have a Spurcycle and it is great but the Crane look like a good value. I paid $45 for the black Spurcycle back in Kickstarter days; I am not sure I could justify $60.

[anomad]

I have a couple of these. They replace the stem cap and are hella loud. People think you are much closer than you are when you ding.

http://wheelsmfg.com/products/accessories/striker-bell-brass.html

More politically correct than singing out the opening lyrics of Officer by Operation Ivy.

[Sunyata]

@hozn 161287 wrote:

Are they a lot better than the Crane brass bells?

I have a Spurcycle and it is great but the Crane look like a good value. I paid $45 for the black Spurcycle back in Kickstarter days; I am not sure I could justify $60.

I have a Crane on my commuter bike, and it was amazing… Until I bought a Spurcycle to put on my gravel bike after almost losing my voice one Saturday morning on the W&OD (ONYERLEFT!). The Spurcycle is louder, sounds WAY more pleasant, and has a much smaller footprint on my bike than the Crane (there is not much real estate on drop bars).

That being said, I am not going to replace the Crane on my commuter bike until it dies (or until someone gifts me another Spurcycle). The Spurcycles are definitely nicer, but at three times the price of the Crane, I think I will keep what I have for now.

[GovernorSilver]

Another satisfied Spurcycle owner here. Got the brassy one because I didn’t feel like spending extra money just for a black color.

I somehow stripped the adjustment screw on mine. I got a new one fairly quick and painlessly by ordering from their website.

[GovernorSilver]

Rode north on Potomac Ave. as usual. I don’t mind motorists trying to use it as a shortcut around Rt. 1 – they get punished for that by the backup to the Potomac Ave/Crystal Dr. intersection . Lack of easy access to the temporary MUP on the west side of the street, from the east side when heading north sucks, but the news about the plan to extend Potomac Ave Trail, presumably to meet the new Metro station, then go all the way to Crystal City is encouraging – a more comfortable route to ride on when the wind gusts are ridiculous.

Actually, what I dislike the most is the shuttle parked on Potomac Ave, across from the hotel, blocking the bike lane. With all the obstacles on the sidewalk (not human ones), there’s no place to go other than try filtering between vehicles. Today I got to sprint ahead of the shuttle, thanks to that traffic backup, and beat it for a change

[OneEighth]

Was stinky until we hit some inclines and I was able to pass the guy in front of me.
Seriously, if I can smell your rancid gear from 20 feet back first thing in the morning, you may have a hygiene problem.

[anomad]

Punks can be smelly.

@OneEighth 161497 wrote:

Was stinky until we hit some inclines and I was able to pass the guy in front of me.
Seriously, if I can smell your rancid gear from 20 feet back first thing in the morning, you may have a hygiene problem.

[OneEighth]

@anomad 161500 wrote:

Punks can be smelly.

Rancid with a small “r”. Seeing Rancid on the MUP would have been most triumphant.

[Author]

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