Ride Home 4/22

I left work a little early today and my boss said "oh, you trying to get out between the rain?" and I was like, "um, not really," but then I took him at his word that it wasn't raining. It was raining and I didn't wear my cap, so my head got wetter than I wanted it to be. I don't think he was trying to pull one over on me. The wet wasn't nearly as bad as the cold. Love when the inside of your exposed leg touches the top tube of your bike. I felt like I had been stabbed by a Ringwraith.
I think it's finally time to swap out my brake pads. I don't think I'll easily be able to forget the noises they made today. It sounded like someone was scratching a chalkboard with a dying robot squirrel. These pads came stock with the bike and have been through some nasty weather, so I have no problem swapping them out. I'll even try to do it myself. Only question about that is what bike shop I'll have to bring my bike to after I totally screw that up.
Few very people on the roads today, but cars and bikes. A confluence of joggers on M street decided to stop and discuss the need for gloves on account of the crummy weather. Whatever, joggers.
I decided to take the Custis the whole way home rather than ride on the streets. In weather like this, I figured that it was better to trade being exposed to the weather longer for the safety of the off-street trail. Something about rain just makes people act crazy and I'd rather not be on roads when I have a perfectly nice dedicated bike route that basically mirrors my road home. I'm grateful for this- if only every bicyclist had both an on-street and off-street option to get home. Man, that'd be something. Very few people on the trail coming in the opposite direction. A few hardcore super-biker types going out for training rides or whatever. Some joggers (ugh. This ugh is equally applied to the super-bikers). A few people who looked like they were just trying to get home.
I'm going to have to clean my bike this weekend. It's pretty dirty. About time anyway, but it's something of an onerous process. I'll clean the other one too and put it on craigslist. If you read this blog and want or know anyone who wants this kind of bike, email me. I'm not going to give it away, but I also want to make sure the price is fair. It's a good bike, but I just don't need it any more. Of course, if you read this blog, you're probably flush in bikes (but lack real entertainment options). Or you totally misunderstand what a sharrow is.
I don't think I'm going to, but maybe you'd like to participate in the Spice Ride. It sounds pretty fun.