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My commute is super-short (1.6 miles each way), and I have good luck wearing a big loose cotton t-shirt: the wind gets underneath it and cools off my skin. The drag it creates wouldn’t be acceptable on a longer commute, but it doesn’t slow me down significantly.

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Hello Wanglung,

I ride in Montgomery County too, mostly around Rockville Pike. I’ve been using the sidewalks a lot (forum thread: http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?794-Newbie-in-Rockville-should-I-get-off-the-sidewalk). I looked it up, and riding on the sidewalk is legal in MoCo. I wonder why the police said it was illegal, then told you you should have been on the right-hand sidewalk. I’ve seen a lot of reports lately of police not knowing the laws pertaining to bicycles, but this is the first I’ve heard in Montgomery County. I don’t understand why they wouldn’t file a police report for a collision in the road. If it were in a parking lot that would be one thing, but in the road? I think you’d be justified in filing a complaint. I’ll be interested to hear what happens.

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@CCrew 4463 wrote:

Correct is what works for you. We’re not the fashion police here. Well, maybe, kinda, sorta…. :p

So, I’ll never make it into Cycle Chic. I’m OK with that.

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@CCrew 4463 wrote:

Correct is what works for you. We’re not the fashion police here. Well, maybe, kinda, sorta…. :p

So, I’ll never make it into Cycle Chic. I’m OK with that.

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My commute is short, so biking wasn’t really a hardship today or yesterday. This is my first year of bike commuting. It feels less terrible, actually, riding along with my big roomy t-shirt* catching a breeze than sitting, squinting, in my car, waiting ages for a left-turn signal.

*This is probably not correct cycling gear but it works for me.

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My commute is short, so biking wasn’t really a hardship today or yesterday. This is my first year of bike commuting. It feels less terrible, actually, riding along with my big roomy t-shirt* catching a breeze than sitting, squinting, in my car, waiting ages for a left-turn signal.

*This is probably not correct cycling gear but it works for me.

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My commute is short and offers some shade, so I’m going to try to stick with it. I’m going to switch out of wearing my work clothes, though, which probably means I won’t be organized enough to pull off the bike ride every day. Also, I’ll probably shift to going in earlier–on the way home if I get miserably messy I can always jump into the shower when I arrive.

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creadinger, I know what you mean about Silver Spring. The sidewalks there are a lot busier than the ones I travel on. And I am using mostly side roads, although even on those the traffic is cranky sometimes.

I guess I’m distinguishing between what I can reasonably to do make my own commute more sensible and what’s good for cyclists as a whole. In some cases I can see how it would be wiser to take the lane, and I do that. In reading this thread, I’ve figured out a way to simplify things by riding on the road in one stretch. I’m just not willing to put my body and my bike on the line for the sake of some principle, to blaze a trail for other cyclists. I’m not that brave, and the drivers around me are just not that cool.

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DismalScientist, the thing is that I’m not moving particularly fast, nowhere near the speed of traffic. If I were, I might be more comfortable riding in the road. TFTL; I’ll have to save it for later.

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Thank you both. Rockville is very different from the parts of DC where I used to live and where most of my friends cycle, so I’m just trying to use common sense as I figure out how to get around here.

Greenbelt, “salmoning” is exactly what I have to do in some places. Are you the Greenbelt with the videos on Vimeo? If so, love your work!

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riverain, I live right near you and you’re right, Rockville Pike is a tricky place to bike. I second the recommendation above of the Bethesda Trolley Trail. For the stretch of the Pike between the intersection of 355 & Veirs Mill and Twinbrook Metro, I find that Lewis Ave., immediately to the east of the train tracks, is a good bypass. From Twinbrook you can take Chapman Ave. and thread your way through parking lots to get to Montrose, crossing on Maple Ave. out of the Montrose Crossing center.

For times when I’m forced onto the Pike I find that the parking lots are much more comfortable to bike through than the sidewalk (I don’t even consider using the traffic lanes, way too scary). On the west side of the Pike, there’s always East Jefferson–>Executive Blvd to get you to the trail.

Good luck! I’ve noticed that the number of cyclists along and around the Pike is growing. Hope you’ll join us.

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