My Morning Commute

[Terpfan]

This morning was an interesting ride. I gave directions to two folks and watched one guy take a little tumble (yes, I checked, and he was alright) by the Jefferson Memorial. I did give a few stink eyes to some elite cyclists who were attempting ridiculous passes between sets of cyclists going both ways on the MVT. It’s one thing to do that to me and folks who usually ride it, but to beginners who are trying to get into it, c’mon, it won’t kill them to slow down just a tad–shoot, given they’re not in a race, it will probably help them in their next race.

Also of interest was that folks were particularly good about calling passes. If only this were always the case.

And, not surprisingly, it’s BTWD, but DC’s parking ticket brigade was rolling up and down the 15th St Cycletrack on the segway blocking 2/3 of the track during the middle of the busiest time for it. Go figure.

[dasgeh]

Yesterday’s ride home was particularly satisfying in that it’s-a-beautiful-day, I’m-on-a-bike, and all-the-cars-are-stopped kind of way. I even breezed past cars on the uphill on Lee Hwy from the Italian Store the Safeway. I NEVER pass cars there.

This morning’s commute was me + toddler headed to the BTWD pit stop in Ballston (it’s my flex day). Fun times.

[PeteD]

Now, this wasn’t my first time biking to work, but my first Bike to Work Day…

Started Out Nice and Early (for me) at 7am.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2868[/ATTACH]
Larger

Headed off towards Ballston… I had to get a Bike Arlington water bottle!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2869[/ATTACH]
Larger

Made my way into the parking lot, man was it packed.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2870[/ATTACH]
Larger

Those FeXY guys make quite a spectacle too.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2871[/ATTACH]
Larger

Saw some familiar faces too.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2872[/ATTACH]
Larger

Left Ballston, headed towards Tyson’s. Tim thought that I could make it by 8:30, as long as I didn’t stop too long or hit any bad red lights. I got dropped by the FeXY guys on Wilson, but made up the time on the Custis, only to get dropped by them again at Lee Highway & W&OD. But then hey, my bike + gear weighed 3 times any of their bikes. 😎

Stopped briefly at the Falls Church Stop on West St. Had a nice chat with the bike cop there. He appreciated my conspicuousness, as I had two head lights and really bright tail light, in addition to the light on the back of my helmet. I mentioned that I’m a very paranoid rider, having a wife and a child to provide for at home.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2873[/ATTACH]
Larger
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2874[/ATTACH]
Larger

Made the slog up Virginia Lane, and coasted down into the Merrifield Stop at about 8:20. Picked up my registered-for Tshirt. They had Bagels and Beer… Root Beer that is.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2875[/ATTACH]
Larger

Rode up Gallows, with an ever increasing pack of swag and waterbottles now. I should have put my bike on the scale the folks from Inova Fairfax hospital had at the stop. Turned right towards Tyson’s corner mall, and made fun of the folks on Route 7:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2876[/ATTACH]
Larger

Made a right into the mall proper, then a left into the bus stop hell at the parking deck, almost got right hooked by someone who couldn’t wait 15 seconds behind me. Yay for cars dropping people off at bus stops.

Got to the LL Bean stop at 8:35:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2877[/ATTACH]
Larger

Rode back across 7 on International Drive/Gallows (not that bad), and was a bit disappointed to be the only bike in the parking lot. My coworker Ian did show up 20 minutes later, having ridden in from Herndon, stopping at the Reston and Vienna BTWD stops.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2878[/ATTACH]
Larger

Swag:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2879[/ATTACH]
Larger

[KelOnWheels]

BIKE TO WORK DAY! Wooooo!

It’s like our own special holiday! With bananas!

Except we have to go to work. WORST HOLIDAY EVER.

I saw my friend Sam at the Crystal City pit stop! She is back on her bike as of a couple of weeks ago! (Sam is the one that got rear-ended by the hit-and-run driver last year and got really hurt.)

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2882[/ATTACH]

Here is Sam and also Mr. Sam! Sam is AWESOME!

I got a blinky light (which attempted to commit suicide on 3rd St NW, silly light) and some sunscreen and stuff! I didn’t have time to stop at Freedom Plaza though

My friend Lesa got right-hooked on N. Capitol St this morning though, so that’s not cool. She is a little scraped up but fortunately OK.

Some folks on the trails were making some very silly passes. Silly peoples.

Be careful out there nice cyclist friends!

[MV Clyde]

Working at home today so did a round trip commute this morning. I hit Crystal City, Old Town, and Collingwood pit stops. All were great!! The good folks from Spokes gave me some great advice and adjusted one of my brake levers on the spot. Weird that I didn’t see many cyclists on the first leg, but there were hordes of people riding north on MVT as I was heading south. I agree with Kel on the silly passes. Other than that, it was great to see so many people out there. Good times!

[jopamora]

It was a good morning even though I missed ebubar in Silver Spring. Made it to the Silver Spring, Freedom Plaza and Crystal City pit stops and saw consularrider and @dirteng. Also, sat down for a little bit at coffee club and talked to Bilsko and @rocketpress.

[jtcallahan]

I had a pleasant trip in from Mt. Vernon to Fairfax. Only saw a handful of other bikers on my route. When I got close to my destination I rolled up on a guy with an ElliptiGo that had thrown its chain. I offerred assistance, but he thought he would be ok. I left him with my phone number just in case.

I’ve seen that same guy cruising on that crazy bike down the shoulder of Fairfax County parkway near Ox Rd. Not for the faint of heart as that is a very congested section. I prefer to stay on the bike path.

Happy BTWD!

[mello yello]

This morning was a brilliant and gorgeous morning.
It was absolutely thrilling to be pedaling along through the morning sunshine in the open air. Perfect weather for shorts & tee shirt without being soaked upon arrival.

I took my road bike because my commuter had sat on the back porch for two years, and was looking rough even before that.
My road bike has a an ancient brooks-style leather seat that I haven’t broken in. About mile 5 it started hurting, even with padded shorts.

Good news: I still remember how to use clipless, and I’m still not afraid of cars. Well, afraid enough to ride on the sidewalk for the mile or so of MD 704 that I have to traverse on my way, but everyone was nice to me today.
Bad news: after 2 years of inactivity, I’m already sore in places I’d forgotten about.

Saw 2 other bicyclists total, probably not commuters, but John at Maryland Park Bicycles (Capitol Heights pit stop) said there were a bunch earlier coming down Central / E Capitol St. I go cross-ways. http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5900830
Anybody have ideas about where I can go for route guidance? This one worked pretty well for me today, but I really wish there were more paths and less roads.

[CPTJohnC]

A fine example of how BTWD should go. Left the house on time, hit the first light green (a rarity) and had a trouble free ride past Dunn Loring pit stop to my registered Falls Church. Chatted with Jan from Bikenetic, and headed in, passing the Rosslyn pitstop.

tried to ride politely around the hordes of newbies and irregular cyclists, though that effort was hampered by some other regulars who were in quite the hurry, I guess. Managed a rolling average of 14.8 MPH, which is fine with me.

The ride home promises to be HOT! but there’s an afternoon pitstop in Arlington, near EFC, so that might be fun.

[brendan]

The good news:
– My fist bike to work day! When I started biking, I worked from home full time, then I got laid off, then I took a nearly two year vacation from work.
– My office is in Reston, so it’s a good workout.
– It was a beautiful morning!
– All the BTWD stops were pretty awesome looking: Fairfax, Merrifield(!), Vienna.
– I’m working from home today, so I decided to bike to work, then bike back home to work, doubling my ride length!

The not-so-good news:
– Didn’t sleep well at all, and got a late start.
– Dragged the whole way from Clarendon to Reston Town Center. I rode the same route (sans the last 1.5 miles or so) Saturday without a problem. WTH?
– Because I registered at Reston, I didn’t stop at any of the fine stops I noted along the way, now I regret that.
– Due to the late start and seriously dragging the whole way, I got there at 9:10am, 10 minutes after closing with most tents and tables put away and no BTWD people to be found, so I refilled my water/gatorade bottles and headed back.

The bad news:
– The dragging continued and got particularly bad as I got east of East Falls Church Metro.
– By ballston, I could barely pedal and just wanted to pull over and lie down. At every intersection. Never had that happen before, it was seriously weird.
– When I got off of the bike to lock it up in front of my place, I started to pass out. The whole world started fading away and I just sat down on the side walk because it seemed the smart thing to do.
– It took me about 5 minutes to slowly get my bike put away and take my bag off the bike, necessitating leaning over and sitting several times.
– The problem continued inside, where I was comfortable lying (on the floor) but standing or sitting was a problem.
– Out of concern, I took my pulse and it was chaotic.
– Took about two hours before I could stand up from sitting without a problem.
– I still feel pretty beat (though that could be mostly the sleep deprivation… I hope).

Not sure what all that was about. Dehydration and sleep-deprivation can trigger arrhythmia. I had something similar before during/after a long ride in 99 degree high humidity conditions, dehydration related, a couple of years ago.

I’ll chalk that up to too much too fast after so many many months off the bike for surgical recovery, combined with external factors such as very little sleep and dehydration.

For now?

B

[KelOnWheels]

Eek! Hope you are feeling better now. Underhydration and fatigue will definitely get you, especially on a hot day like today.

[Dickie]

Holy Crap Brendan that sounds horrible. I hope you are feeling better. I would suggest still seeing your physician and getting checked out to make sure it was nothing other than dehydration, although your symptoms sound pretty consistent with that.

[brendan]

@Dickie 52686 wrote:

Holy Crap Brendan that sounds horrible. I hope you are feeling better. I would suggest still seeing your physician and getting checked out to make sure it was nothing other than dehydration, although your symptoms sound pretty consistent with that.

Thanks. I hope so. I’m in a bit of shock about it and hoping it was primarily dehydration, but I’m also worried. I’m planning to call my doc during call-in hours (8-8:30) tomorrow.

[Honeybadger6]

Was AMAZING! Undoubtedly because of the brand new bike shorts my hubby bought me that fit perfectly. Also, in part due to the fact that I finally got on a road bike today! What.was.I.waiting.for?!!? I was so fast like lightning that I took the long (ish) way and still made it with plenty of time! No, seriously, I was all, “swoosh, swoosh, WHEEEEEE!” And then I was all, “On your left!” I’ve claimed the Cannondale through eminent domain.

On a related note – Stay tuned to the classifieds page for a super cheap, blinged out Fugi hybrid. It might make good wall art for those of you who are in to that sort of thing? Or you could take it to the scrap metal place and get, like, $3 for it. I’m keeping the extra tubes for my scrapbook.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Honeybadger6 52700 wrote:

No, seriously, I was all, “swoosh, swoosh, WHEEEEEE!” And then I was all, “On your left!”

My perspective was somewhat different…”watch the grooves!!!! careful over the bumps!!! ack, you’re crosschaining!!!”

[Author]

Posts