My Morning Commute

[lordofthemark]

@scoot 163955 wrote:

When going from Case Bridge to I St SW, I often take the Maine sidewalk from 9th to 7th. Sidewalk!!?? Yeah I know… but that block isn’t bad. It saves the trouble of two left turns and riding through the ever-changing construction zone. I haven’t encountered crowds of peds there, plus there are no driveway crossings to worry about. Westbound I use the Maine roadway.

Depends on the time of day and the weather – early PM rush hour on a nice day there can be quite a few peds, as well as the cyclists in both directions. And I don’t like to ring my way past peds on a narrow sidewalk if I can avoid it. And I don’t have patience for long stretchs at 3MPH. Or less. But that is westbound where the road is usually a better option. Eastbound I am usually coming from the sidewalk near the fish market (almost always used only by cyclists and a few runners in the AM) from which getting into the east bound roadway is a good bit easier I think than from the Case Bridge (which I only use going westbound)

[bentbike33]

First, at the IOD (where else) I am eastbound waiting for the LPI behind another cyclist, nobody on the other (westbound) side of Lynn. We begin crossing Lynn as the LPI turns on. As the leader approaches the ramp, oblivious driver, focused like a laser beam on potential cars coming from the left, starts his right turn and abruptly stops just short of flattening the leader who with some physics-defying lateral moves makes his way onto the ramp. Meanwhile, I’m in front of the driver now screaming, “HEY! NO TURNS! LOOK AT THE SIGN!” and pointing at the light-up “No Right Turn” sign (hoping it was still on). Not sure if the bro heard me over the sports talk radio in the car, but he was looking right at me. Anyway, got out of the street, asked the other rider if he was OK, he was, and off I went. It occurs to me, the IOD needs two things: a second one of those “No Right Turn” light-up signs, but this one positioned on the other side of Lee Highway over the rightmost lane of Lynn Street facing north, i.e., in the field of view of the right-on-red drivers; and yellow strobes around both signs that flash when the signs are lit.

Second, at the ramp up to the 14th Street bridge off of MVT, lots of traffic around so I’m coming down from the Humpback squeezing the front brake while signaling a right turn. Northbound guy on funny-looking ebike with small fat wheels goes whizzing up the ramp, not really cutting me off but close, keeps slowly pedalling through the turn and forgets he needs to bank hard at that speed and catches the left pedal on the trail. He manages not to crash though, so second possible disaster averted.

What a beautiful day though.

[lordofthemark]

@TwoWheelsDC 163946 wrote:

+1. I modified my eastbound PM route to take the Case Bridge to G, G to 3rd, then 3rd down to I to get across to Capitol Hill. It adds 0.2 miles to my commute compared to taking Maine to I, but is much less stressful. Westbound in the AM I take I to Maine, just because G is one way eastbound and carrying my bike over the curbs at L’Enfant is more trouble than it’s worth.

I followed Emm on this route this morning (except I took 4th street to get to Eye) . It avoided the mess on Maine, but A. The Case is better going westbound, because you have to go slowly around the hairpins anyway, and eastbound you get the long uphill on the bridge itself instead of the long downhill B. The curb to get onto the road at Banneker Park (but I am running flat pedals, so not so bad) C. The troublesome left turn onto 9th.

A is really a matter of Rule Number 5, and B really isn’t that bad. Not sure I want to make that left regularly though.

[GovernorSilver]

@KWL 163786 wrote:

…was a little eventful. I figured I would need to clean up and dry off when I got to the office but I didn’t count on needing to walk the last 4 miles to work pushing a bike with a blown out front rim. It became clear the tire trashing about made things worse so I removed it and clattered up the MVT on the rim. I was tempted to ride in the grass, but my bike handling skills aren’t all that great in the best circumstances. I took CaBi home and will transport an extra 26″ front wheel to my crippled XO-1 tomorrow. Note to self: Be more diligent in checking rim wear.

Sorry to hear that. I might have taken advantage of my AAA membership in that situation, since it includes byke roadside assistance – depending of course on distance to go.

[huskerdont]

@bentbike33 164014 wrote:

First, at the IOD (where else) I am eastbound waiting for the LPI behind another cyclist, nobody on the other (westbound) side of Lynn. We begin crossing Lynn as the LPI turns on. As the leader approaches the ramp, oblivious driver, focused like a laser beam on potential cars coming from the left, starts his right turn and abruptly stops just short of flattening the leader who with some physics-defying lateral moves makes his way onto the ramp. Meanwhile, I’m in front of the driver now screaming, “HEY! NO TURNS! LOOK AT THE SIGN!” and pointing at the light-up “No Right Turn” sign (hoping it was still on). Not sure if the bro heard me over the sports talk radio in the car, but he was looking right at me. Anyway, got out of the street, asked the other rider if he was OK, he was, and off I went. It occurs to me, the IOD needs two things: a second one of those “No Right Turn” light-up signs, but this one positioned on the other side of Lee Highway over the rightmost lane of Lynn Street facing north, i.e., in the field of view of the right-on-red drivers; and yellow strobes around both signs that flash when the signs are lit.

It was IOD day then. (When isn’t it?) This morning, I was first in line, and the first dumptruck went through right as the light was changing. This is always bad news because the visibility of the guy behind is now shite, but in this case, the guy behind was a second dumptruck. I went through anyway and held him off in the end with my evil glare of death that promised fire and fury and whatnot.

[KWL]

@KWL 163786 wrote:

…Note to self: Be more diligent in checking rim wear.

Checking my maintenance records I see this rain bike wheelset had over 10,000 miles on it. Yeah, I should have been checking for wear a little closer at that distance.

[DrP]

@bentbike33 164014 wrote:

It occurs to me, the IOD needs two things: a second one of those “No Right Turn” light-up signs, but this one positioned on the other side of Lee Highway over the rightmost lane of Lynn Street facing north, i.e., in the field of view of the right-on-red drivers; and yellow strobes around both signs that flash when the signs are lit.

I have thought the intersection needs a regular sign that is “NO TURN ON RED” with the sub-sign of “During Leading Pedestrian Interval” or whatever the appropriate phrase is. It gets people to realize that there may be a time to not turn so that the sign that lights up isn’t a complete surprise. (Okay, I would prefer the lack of the caveat sign, but that is probably changing some other rules)

[DismalScientist]

Having a standard red arrow would help as well. The illuminated sign is unclear in some conditions (evenings in particular) where you can that something is prohibited, but you are not exactly sure what.

[bentbike33]

@DrP 164081 wrote:

I have thought the intersection needs a regular sign that is “NO TURN ON RED” with the sub-sign of “During Leading Pedestrian Interval” or whatever the appropriate phrase is. It gets people to realize that there may be a time to not turn so that the sign that lights up isn’t a complete surprise. (Okay, I would prefer the lack of the caveat sign, but that is probably changing some other rules)

This might work, but I still think we need something in the field of view of the drivers that only look for oncoming traffic from their left before making a right on red. That was clearly the problem I saw yesterday.

[bobco85]

@DrP 164081 wrote:

I have thought the intersection needs a regular sign that is “NO TURN ON RED” with the sub-sign of “During Leading Pedestrian Interval” or whatever the appropriate phrase is. It gets people to realize that there may be a time to not turn so that the sign that lights up isn’t a complete surprise. (Okay, I would prefer the lack of the caveat sign, but that is probably changing some other rules)

My idea: add a sign farther back on the off-ramp stating “Fine for Disobeying No Turn on Red Signal: $XXX”

People sometimes care more about money than the safety of others, so why not use that to our advantage?

[huskerdont]

@bobco85 164090 wrote:

My idea: add a sign farther back on the off-ramp stating “Fine for Disobeying No Turn on Red Signal: $XXX”

People sometimes care more about money than the safety of others, so why not use that to our advantage?

Add the same sign for the Intersection of Ft. Meyer and Lee. I was almost dead there once.

Seriously, for any riders new to the trail, be very careful approaching Ft. Meyer when you’re going downhill at speed and have the right-of-way. People will ignore that no turn on red, and the consequences are yucky to think about.

[scoot]

@DrP 164081 wrote:

I have thought the intersection needs a regular sign that is “NO TURN ON RED” with the sub-sign of “During Leading Pedestrian Interval” or whatever the appropriate phrase is. It gets people to realize that there may be a time to not turn so that the sign that lights up isn’t a complete surprise. (Okay, I would prefer the lack of the caveat sign, but that is probably changing some other rules)

Yes, a big part of the problem is that drivers pull up, start looking to their left for a gap in Lynn traffic, and never bother to look right again after they see those cars stopping. This is why I think it should be “NO TURN ON RED” all the time. The present situation is confusing to drivers, because it’s something they don’t encounter anywhere else. Is there another intersection anywhere that goes directly from a “turn on red is permitted” phase immediately to a “no turn on red” phase? And without even using a red arrow? I can’t think of one.

That said, putting this information on the sign itself is a decent idea. It certainly won’t stop all the LPI violations, but maybe it will help some drivers realize how this intersection is supposed to work.

[scoot]

@huskerdont 164093 wrote:

Add the same sign for the Intersection of Ft. Meyer and Lee. I was almost dead there once.

This one’s also not great when Ft Myer has the green. From Key Bridge, I usually ride Ft Myer to Nash to Wilson. After crossing the Potomac on the sidewalk, I have to transition back into the roadway, which sometimes doesn’t happen until that intersection. It can be an awkward dance, especially when drivers aren’t signaling.

[mstone]

@GovernorSilver 164039 wrote:

Sorry to hear that. I might have taken advantage of my AAA membership in that situation, since it includes byke roadside assistance – depending of course on distance to go.

PSA: AAA’s token bike aid doesn’t make up for their extensive anti-bike & pedestrian lobbying. Anyone who needs roadside assistance, please get it from someone other than AAA so they can’t continue to use their membership fees to fund their lobbying.

[creadinger]

So I had a bit of a ‘mare this morning. Got a flat tire on Anacostia River Rd so I stopped to fix it in the light rain.

1) I noticed that my tire has WAY too many miles on it and the kevlar threads are showing through over most of it and they’re the only thing holding it together in others. Oops! I have a couple of replacements at home.
2) Put in a new tube and ride a mile then hear the familiar hissing sound again. I take everything apart again but cannot find what the hell the problem is. So I patch that tube, expecting it will go again, if only I can make it another mile or two I’ll be close enough to walk to work.
3)Yup, there it is. The hissing sound as I crest Mass Ave SE and pull over at the intersection with Alabama SE. This time, I skip the stupid patch and just pump some air into it to ride it for a mile flat, then I can walk up the hill.

I got to work wet, and about 45 minutes late but the worst part of my day will still be dealing with the GODDAMN government travel system!

[Author]

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