My Morning Commute

[Terpfan]

@dasgeh 59502 wrote:

Eh, shoaling when the person is slower than you is annoying, but I wouldn’t say shoaling = cheating. I’m not that fast, especially on my commuter bike. I’ll often stop a little farther back and way to the right to allow those faster than me to move ahead at lights. Every once in a while, someone slower than me takes advantage and goes ahead of me. Meh. I still get to ride my bike. I may miss a light cycle, so the whole thing costs me 45 seconds (maybe a minute). But all in all, it’s not dangerous. It’s not scary. I’ve got way more important things to worry about.

I just don’t like the presumptiveness of the person shoaling. It’s them saying they’re better than you. And it’s the same nonsense as people who use merge lanes to race ahead in traffic to cut off a few cars. They’re also only saving 45 seconds. But in the end, collectively these actions are less predictable and therefore more dangerous. I wonder if it’s like this riding in the midwest. Growing up around here made me realize the overinflated egos of 2/3 of the people in DC. I even catch myself sometimes being selfish and sit back to say why on earth would I hold myself up as somehow better than others. Ha, obviously we have hit my pet peeve.

On the brighter note, it was a beautiful morning. Sure only one person called his pass, but it felt so refreshing riding in. I still want to figure out how to kayak into work one morning. The problems are I’m not close to the river, don’t own a kayak, and have no idea how to tie or lock a kayak up .

[cephas]

@americancyclo 59499 wrote:

Took the long way in this morning and was rewarded with a few sightings and latching on to some fast, but scary riders. These two guys were hauling and sticking real close together, but there was tons of wheel overlap and one sat in the middle of the trail most of the time. Definitely some dicey passes, but a good pace.

Also got to see the pfar on MVT!

I wonder if those were the same two guys I latched onto the wheel of last week. From the end of FMR to Shirlington, they carried me. I felt bad I couldn’t pull, but I did all I could just to keep up.

[NicDiesel]

@Terpfan 59519 wrote:

I wonder if it’s like this riding in the midwest.

This is probably confirmation bias, but I’ve never encountered so many aloof fools before in my life until I moved here. Considering I’ve lived in LA that’s quite a statement.

@Terpfan 59519 wrote:

Growing up around here made me realize the overinflated egos of 2/3 of the people in DC. I even catch myself sometimes being selfish and sit back to say why on earth would I hold myself up as somehow better than others. Ha, obviously we have hit my pet peeve.

Mos def. Speaking of pet peeves, Imma channel my inner Frank Cross here for a moment – “would you all please, for the love of g-d and your own personal safety, stop with the g-d damn headphones/earbuds and start calling your passes.” Twice this week I’ve almost been crashed into thanks to some clueless maroon (one on a CaBi, the other on a plastic bike) that didn’t hear me ringing my bell or loudly calling my passes like Paul Revere thanks to headphones/earbuds and that weren’t calling their passes or checking for traffic behind and beside them. I’ve got no problem if you’re at Hains Point doing laps and you’ve got them on, that’s a pretty forgiving environment for the distracted, or even on the W&OD where there are few pedestrians. But on the MVT trail or, and I can’t believe I’m typing this, in heavy TRAFFIC cranking up the Justin Timberlake to the point you can’t hear cars and others around you is a really terrible idea. I mean, if you want to be street meat have at it, just don’t take me down with your dumazz.

[dasgeh]

@Terpfan 59519 wrote:

I just don’t like the presumptiveness of the person shoaling. It’s them saying they’re better than you.

I have found that I am a much happier person if I assume the best about people. With shoaling, e.g., assume that the person shoaling has just gotten a call and has to rush home because , or assuming that this person normally is faster but something just happened with their bike, or that they think that you’re pulling over because you have a reason to ride slowly/stop instead of assuming that they think that you are some lowly lifeform that must be passed. Honestly, the shoaler probably isn’t even thinking of you, they just want to conserve momentum.

And really, if you’re faster than me, and there’s room, please shoal. It doesn’t make you a better person. You’re just faster today.

Maybe Cindi can teach us how to kayak to work… (I’d be down for a TR Island – Lincoln kayak convoy).

[americancyclo]

@cephas 59522 wrote:

I wonder if those were the same two guys I latched onto the wheel of last week. From the end of FMR to Shirlington, they carried me. I felt bad I couldn’t pull, but I did all I could just to keep up.

There were actually three dudes. One in USPS kit that was really fast and not with the other two who were working to keep up. Of the pair, one was on a black tommaso with HED Ardennes rims and the other guy was on a LOOK 586(?) They caught up to me at Columbia Pike and turned off the MVT at Crystal City.

[Terpfan]

@dasgeh 59532 wrote:

I have found that I am a much happier person if I assume the best about people. With shoaling, e.g., assume that the person shoaling has just gotten a call and has to rush home because , or assuming that this person normally is faster but something just happened with their bike, or that they think that you’re pulling over because you have a reason to ride slowly/stop instead of assuming that they think that you are some lowly lifeform that must be passed. Honestly, the shoaler probably isn’t even thinking of you, they just want to conserve momentum.

And really, if you’re faster than me, and there’s room, please shoal. It doesn’t make you a better person. You’re just faster today.

Maybe Cindi can teach us how to kayak to work… (I’d be down for a TR Island – Lincoln kayak convoy).

I will admit it, you’re a better person than me. I’m just a cynic, I think. But I will give it a try unless of course I pass them again, at which point I will ask them if they’re in rush why aren’t they going faster? I imagine that will satisfy both my cynical side and make me a slightly better person for at least giving them the temporary benefit of the doubt.

[KLizotte]

I viewed an exhibit about the Anacostia River at the Anacostia Community Museum a couple of weeks ago. One of the placards had a picture and write-up of a law librarian at the Library of Congress whose March-November commute is as follows: Bike to Bladensburg boat house from home, row a single scull to Anacostia boat house, pick up a second bike and ride the remaining 1.5 miles to the Library. Now that’s multi-modal!

[bobco85]

@KLizotte 59586 wrote:

I viewed an exhibit about the Anacostia River at the Anacostia Community Museum a couple of weeks ago. One of the placards had a picture and write-up of a law librarian at the Library of Congress whose March-November commute is as follows: Bike to Bladensburg boat house from home, row a single scull to Anacostia boat house, pick up a second bike and ride the remaining 1.5 miles to the Library. Now that’s multi-modal!

I hope they used a U-lock on that boat. Still, that’s a pretty awesome commute!

[Terpfan]

@KLizotte 59586 wrote:

I viewed an exhibit about the Anacostia River at the Anacostia Community Museum a couple of weeks ago. One of the placards had a picture and write-up of a law librarian at the Library of Congress whose March-November commute is as follows: Bike to Bladensburg boat house from home, row a single scull to Anacostia boat house, pick up a second bike and ride the remaining 1.5 miles to the Library. Now that’s multi-modal!

That’s awesome and exactly the sort of thing I was thinking about. And it’s a full body workout.

[Bilsko]

@KLizotte 59586 wrote:

I viewed an exhibit about the Anacostia River at the Anacostia Community Museum a couple of weeks ago. One of the placards had a picture and write-up of a law librarian at the Library of Congress whose March-November commute is as follows: Bike to Bladensburg boat house from home, row a single scull to Anacostia boat house, pick up a second bike and ride the remaining 1.5 miles to the Library. Now that’s multi-modal!

That makes me curious as to what the most multi-modal commute (that involves a bike) that someone consistently does is.

Bike–>boat–>ski-lift–>bike #2–>Capitol Subway system–>zipline–>bike#3 anyone?

[Amalitza]

Kayaking to work would be a lot of fun.

…kayaking home from work, maybe not so much…

[jrenaut]

@americancyclo 59546 wrote:

…One in USPS kit …

Considering the relationship between the USPS and DC bike lanes, I can say with 100% certainty that anyone wearing a USPS kit does not live anywhere near a bike lane.

My commute was lovely. Even though I woke up to a flat (my front tire valve has been funny for a while and I’ve been ignoring it, but I think it finally just gave up), then dropped my bike off at The Bike Rack for some adjustments and had to walk from Q to G before I got a CaBi, and then nearly got run over by some clown on a bike with $700 wheels (I didn’t turn around to see the rest) because he went to pass on PA Ave right as I was starting up at the green light (No call, thanks) and the guys installing the bollards or whatever are blocking the entire bike lane as if it’s not a major commuting artery for a huge number of people.

It was still lovely. This weather can stay as long as it wants.

[KelOnWheels]

Wooooooooooooooooooooooooo bike ride!

Either I have completely forgotten how to shift or my front derailleur has gone wonky. I keep dropping my chain to the inside and I CHIPPED MY PAINT! 😡

Dear Guy on Foldy Bike By Gravelly Point: Hope you didn’t mind me hanging out behind you for a while. It was too nice out to ride fast

Those bollard-installin’ guys are SRS BZNS. I stopped at the light next to their vans and one of the guys proceeded to very methodically sweep mud all over the side of an Audi that stopped too close to his nice new bollard hole. :p

I don’t think I saw a boat today though

[Greenbelt]

Lots of activity this morning.

First, went to fill the tires on the touring beast and discovered a broken spoke. Since the super bike is also incapacitated (broken wheel, checking to see if it’s under warranty before replacing), I had to take the cruiser/cargo/snow/stupid bike.

About a mile from my house, I noticed a familiar looking sandal on the main route into Greenbelt. So I picked it up. Sure enough, it turns out to be my wife’s — it must have dropped out of her pannier on her way home from work last night!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3391[/ATTACH]

[dasgeh]

@Greenbelt 59663 wrote:

About a mile from my house, I noticed a familiar looking sandal on the main route into Greenbelt. So I picked it up. Sure enough, it turns out to be my wife’s — it must have dropped out of her pannier on her way home from work last night!

More tales of the Good!

[Author]

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