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I kept thinking of that horrible Sting song about fields and then goose poop – fields of goose poop, it is on my leggings, I couldn’t get it out.

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My roundtrip is 22 miles from sorta-kinda-middle-of-Falls Church to Metro Center. It is an awesome ride coming in, especially with a tailwind, but regularly takes it out of me on the way home due to the hills. I ride pretty much every day, I had something like eight Metro (or as I call them “sad”) Days last year, which were mainly due to ice or illness.

Commuting was definitely something that took a while to perfect, you need to establish an infrastructure (clothes, bikes, wrenches), work on edurance, and balance out anything else you do in life. I have a REALLY hard time saying “no” to myself, which leads to things like putting on shingles in snow then biking the rest of the week with sore knees. But you need to know when to take a break, which means sometimes having an alternative commuting plan. In the beginning it might be good to pair up with someone, ask around at work, bike commuters have a tendency to try to avoid hanging their spandex out for all to see, except me, I hang that stuff anywhere I can.

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The fact that you are able to hone in on what set you off is pretty important, losing it without understanding the triggers is a pretty bad place to be. Disarming situations can be difficult in the moment, may I suggest:

1. The Understanding Father Figure: “Sorry my eyes are getting old.”
2. Captain Nice Guy: “I’ll look out for you next time, thanks for the heads up!”
3. The Flippant Sea Captain: “Whoa mixed up starboard with port.”

The fact of the matter is that if someone else is mad, they are probably looking for a justification for being mad, living in the moment. Distract them, prolong things, or disengage. In the end reacting to anger with understanding, compassion, friendliness or any combination therein will always leave you feeling good and probably make the angry-person-in-question reconsider why they are so angry in the first place.

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+1 for handy WABA form – lazy fingers are even more lazy at the end of the day.

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I can probably crank out about 12 of these things in a week – Astronaut paceline FTW!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=p9VEj-cmb6w

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Depressing statistics all around. The solution, at least from where I sit seems pretty simplistic: develop incentives for carpooling (how man single occupant cars do you see on Memorial bridge every morning?), “fix” Metro (actually management, real train control system), and subsidize alternative transport options instead of creating 8-lane roads.

That or jetpacks.

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@vvill 42949 wrote:

I had a hard time riding home today too. I was wishing I wasn’t on underinflated 32s (my fault), freezing fingers (my fault), and tired legs (my fault) but mostly it was the cold wind (not my fault!).

Last night was just brutal – I guess it was mostly the wind – but definitely would consider wrapping myself in a six-inch-thick layer of neoprene if similar conditions arise again.

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The W&OD from West Falls Church in to town was pretty doable with 700×23 – crunchy but doable. Custis had a few slick spots, but in the normally curvy spots. TR Island boardwalk was harrowing as ever.

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This is fantastic, exactly why I participate in this forum.

I don’t ride a fixie but I do ride the exact same route every day, not because I have to, I just like to – it gives me a chance to think and just be alone (ironic given that this post is about NOT being alone).

Like I said, I apologize for getting up on your wheel and can certainly understand how someone could be creeped out by that, albeit I don’t think I’m a particularly creepy guy. I really am sorry, like you said “you want(ed) to have your ride” and I messed that up for you.

Have an awesome ride and I hope that you didn’t suffer from sloshy derailleur as I did this morning.

Keep on trucking!

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@jnva 42779 wrote:

This sounds a lot like the angry guy I passed a few weeks ago. We need to come up with a name for this guy. He certainly does hate people behind him.

Next time I see him he is getting a big “On your left friend!”

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Metro is my anti-happy. If I can’t bike, I will usually telework. If all else fails then VERY RARELY, I will take the Metro.

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I felt superhuman coming in on the W&OD/Custis – it was like Warp 9, only that isn’t allowed anymore because of tears in the space-time continuum. FLAVIN

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You: Friend (but-you-don’t-know-it) on the blue road bike with white shirt
Me: The guy in the orange jacket absentmindedly drafting you after the Corkscrew of Doom

Sorry. I really am sorry that I drafted you. I didn’t mean anything by it, I got a new job today and was just pedaling along thinking about lots of other stuff, I should have been paying more attention. That was my fault, apologies.

I would have happily passed you, but your furious F-bombs-of-fury made me want to at least ask “How are you doing?” I don’t think your are a “stuck up asshole” as you said, rather, I think you are a guy who needs a friend, ear, and good ride.

I hope the rest of your ride went well, like I said, I hope civility wins out.

Keep on trucking…as if you would ever stop trucking

BEST!

PFUNKALLSTAR

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Earliest I can do is 3:30 – looks like I’m going to be getting a little wet.

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@Dickie 42422 wrote:

Complaints aside, I think the forum is a pretty marvelous place to waste time and be totally unproductive, even having to type in an answer is a better way to spend my morning than building some god-awful dining table for a client with no taste… I thank all the administrators for their hard work…

I do miss the quick reply button though

I don’t mean to be a curmudgeon, but this forum software is cantankerous enough without a random question captcha – it is like a healthy mix of Netscape Navigator 3.0, IRC, and MS Paint.

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