what about Bob?

[Dickie]

So I finally met Bob! Who’s Bob you might ask? Well he is the gentleman that for six years has been riding towards me on my commute both in the morning and evening along the Custis and W&OD trail between DC and Fairfax. Bob has become a constant for me and brings a sort of calm to my commute. If I go a few weeks without seeing him I start to worry or panic…. did he move? Did he wreck? Was I imagining him? He is always smiling, or possibly grimacing, has an impeccably groomed beard and a perfect pedaling stroke, he generally wears red and always has sunglasses on. Without ever meeting him he managed to motivate me. The days I would bail on riding I thought to myself, “he’s out there, probably thinking I’m a lazy bastard for skipping my ride”.

Well a few days ago as we both waited in opposite lanes for a light to change I managed to get his name and say hello. Now I can say to myself “Bob is out there kicking my ass”… thanks Bob!

Oh… and if Bob is on this forum, I swear I am not stalking you!

So who is your Bob?

Topic

[Dickie]

I saw Bob this morning going incognito in blue- next time I’ll say good morning Bob (or something similar)… He’s easily recognizable- do you think that it would freak him out if out of nowhere everyone was addressing him by name?

No chance it would freak him out, like you said he’s pretty much built out of iron and crushes everyone trying to follow him… I would assume he can handle a few “hello’s” along the way…..unless he is in a witness protection program!

[baiskeli]

My Neighbor Down the Street
Recumbent Trike Lady Who Gets Off the Custis at Veitch
Guy On Hand Bike on the Bluemont Junction Trail
Ann, the Lady with a Disability Who Rides a Trike and Stops at Starbucks in Clarendon Sometimes, Who Rocks for Not Letting Her Disability Keep Her from Riding

[5555624]

@vvill 27044 wrote:

I don’t think I recognize anyone on my commutes, other than people from here I run into occasionally. I think my timing/route choices are too irregular.

That was my initial reaction, too, because my morning commute is too early for almost everyone. Five or so years ago, when my afternoon commute took me to the Custis Trail, there would have been a few.

Yesterday, however, on the way home, I heard, “You must have left early today.” I knew a cyclist was coming up behind me, as I headed over the Boundary Channel, but had not checked to see who it was. In the last six to eight months, he’s passed me two (maybe three) other times. We’ve exchanged greetings and I know he works somewhere in the Capitol Hill area. As we both said, yesterday, he’s usually ahead of me.

Usually I see him at a distance, which is why I didn’t think of him. Most often, I’m heading north on the MVT and starting up the Humpback Bridge, as he is approaching the north tunnel under it. (Like most people, he’s faster than I am and gets to the Jefferson Memorial, where our routes intersect, ahead of me.)

[Jason]

@baiskeli 27065 wrote:

My Neighbor Down the Street
Recumbent Trike Lady Who Gets Off the Custis at Veitch
Guy On Hand Bike on the Bluemont Junction Trail
Ann, the Lady with a Disability Who Rides a Trike and Stops at Starbucks in Clarendon Sometimes, Who Rocks for Not Letting Her Disability Keep Her from Riding

I didnt know her name was Ann. She is also one of my motivators. She lives across the street from me, I see her getting around on the trike all the time. I was sitting on my balcony with my wife (Pilates and cycling instructor for 15 years), and two of our friends from Finland who are international Karate champions, AND own their own crossfit Gym AND he is a physical therapist. I am certainly the least athletic of them all. We were all motivated by seeing her go in and out over two weeks while they were visiting. She must have more heart than 99.9% of all the other people I see out there.

My other Bobs are a big bearded dude who works for the park service who walks along the park nearly every morning. Not really a motivator, but he is out there. Occasionally I also see him biking in the other direction at the end of the day on a red rental bike. I give him a little nod.

Another Bob is a guy who seems to walk all the way from arlington into DC for his commute. Not sure why he isnt on a bike, guess he likes walking. He has all sorts of reflective stuff on his backpack. Must have been hit by an ELITE biker. I give him tons of space and a bell and a call so he knows we arent all *ouchebags.

[baiskeli]

@Jason 27138 wrote:

I didnt know her name was Ann. She is also one of my motivators. She lives across the street from me, I see her getting around on the trike all the time. I was sitting on my balcony with my wife (Pilates and cycling instructor for 15 years), and two of our friends from Finland who are international Karate champions, AND own their own crossfit Gym AND he is a physical therapist. I am certainly the least athletic of them all. We were all motivated by seeing her go in and out over two weeks while they were visiting. She must have more heart than 99.9% of all the other people I see out there.

Yeah, I’ve stopped and said hi a couple of times. All I know is her name is Ann, I see her bike outside Starbucks sometimes, and she works for Booz Allen.

[dasgeh]

In the mornings, I have a very wide range of when I leave, so I haven’t noticed any regulars (yet). In the afternoons, I leave basically at the same time every day, but I must not be that observant, ’cause I still haven’t recognized any regulars.

Except for the guy by the bench on the “not-Custis-not-MVT” just East of Lynn. I’m guessing he lives there. He seems nice and gives me a wave every afternoon. Sometimes he’s even there in the morning.

[DismalScientist]

@5555624 27126 wrote:

(Like most people, he’s faster than I am and gets to the Jefferson Memorial, where our routes intersect, ahead of me.)

Hey, wait a minute. Aren’t you the guy on Washcycle that claimed you wanted to lay down some pain on that old braggart claiming that he would stomp poseurs with their plastic bikes and lycra up the Rosslyn hill. The old braggart claimed to ride an old steel touring bike and wore street clothes. I believe that you were going to inflict that pain on a hardtail mountain bike.:rolleyes:

[5555624]

@DismalScientist 27170 wrote:

Hey, wait a minute. Aren’t you the guy on Washcycle that claimed you wanted to lay down some pain on that old braggart claiming that he would stomp poseurs with their plastic bikes and lycra up the Rosslyn hill. The old braggart claimed to ride an old steel touring bike and wore street clothes. I believe that you were going to inflict that pain on a hardtail mountain bike.:rolleyes:

You mean the ” I don’t wear Lycra to go fast, I wear it because I sweat like a pig — actually probably worse than a pig” post?

I was talking about a different kind of “pain”

The aforementioned “middle aged schlub” was commenting how he did not need to wear any “special clothing,” said he was going to ” lurk at the bottom of Custis hill” so he could ” dish out some pain.” My bike’s heavy, I’m fat, and the momentum I can build up by the bottom of the hill will inflict a lot of pain upon impact –not the pain he had in mind

[GuyContinental]

Thanks in part to to this thread I met one of my “Bobs” today- I was waiting for a riding buddy at the Brandywine Castle basketball court and up walked Ralph, my daily walker pass. We joked about how OCD we must be to pass each other in the same 400m section every day… now I know Ralph and can say hi, and Ralph has at least one cyclist who he can trust not to run him over in the pre-dawn hours.

Awesome.

I’m going to hunt down the rest of them over the next 12 months…

[eminva]

I guess it doesn’t count here if I have the same Range Rover passing me with about 4″ clearance on L Street every so often?

(Yes, I can tell it is intentional — I ride smack dab down the center of the lane and he or she has to straddle two lanes to get so close to me).

Liz

[baiskeli]

Oh, forgot a Bob! The lady who works at EPA who sometimes stops and sits on the bench to eat a snack before crossing the Mem Bridge. I passed her many times and started waving, and then one day I stopped and said hi.

[consularrider]

@dasgeh 27149 wrote:

…Except for the guy by the bench on the “not-Custis-not-MVT” just East of Lynn. I’m guessing he lives there. He seems nice and gives me a wave every afternoon. Sometimes he’s even there in the morning.

Yep, I believe he has a shelter just off the trail there.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@eminva 27275 wrote:

I guess it doesn’t count here if I have the same Range Rover passing me with about 4″ clearance on L Street every so often?

(Yes, I can tell it is intentional — I ride smack dab down the center of the lane and he or she has to straddle two lanes to get so close to me).

Liz

I learned in my scooter-riding days that cars’ side mirrors break quite nicely. No, I’m not making any overt suggestions.

[Terpfan]

In the mornings, I can usually tell what time it is (aka if im late or early) by the girl with the curly hair riding southbound on MVT and a guy with glasses usually wearing a yellow and red type jersey also heading southbound on MVT (southbound between 14th St Bridge and just souith of airport).

On the evening rides, I tend to notice one gentleman who I have given the mental nickname of skinny because he’s older, very skinny and has on the neon green vest every time. Usually wearing gray.

Otherwise, there are a few others I would say I see fairly regularly, but not every time. I don’t really say hello, although maybe I’ll try next week and see what happens.

[Terpfan]

I forgot “Good Moooooooooooooooooorrrrrrrnnniiing” man at McPherson Square. When I don’t see him, I wonder if he’s alright. Some people seem put off by him, but he’s always friendly and never asking for money, just a hello or good morning.

[Author]

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