Ride In 4/5

There are a few ways of dealing with inclement weather reports and the decision as to whether you should bike to work. My way, at least this morning, was not to check the weather report and just ride in. Mixed results there.
Leaving our building's driveway, I realized that I didn't have my lights on. I thought that maybe the fluorescence of my jacket would be sufficient, but since I had my front light in my bag anyway, I might as well turn it on. It's the same kind of logic I use with my helmet- if you own one, why not wear it? There's no harm in taking an extra precaution that's not really (to my mind) an inconvenience.

A gathering storm.

I decided that I would ride down Wilson instead of Key today for two reasons. One was to avoid the trees that line Key, just in case any branches were to fall. The second was to have ample buildings (read: Starbucks) in which to bail if the rain/wind got too much. I'm basically the Bear Grylls of bike commuting.
The weather started getting rough (the tiny ship was tossed?) by the time I got to the start of Clarendon Boulevard. A fellow cyclist pulled up behind me and we exchanged pleasantries.
Me: Morning
Him: Hey.
Me: How far you going?
Him: Just a few more blocks.
Me: Lucky.
Him: You?
Me: Up to AU.
Him: Think you'll make it?
Me: Don't know. Just want to get over the bridge before the gusts.
Him: Good luck.

Bike commuting to Mordor?

So, that was my goal- get over the bridge before it got really bad. I decided that that might take some effort. Motorists and pedestrians, on the other hand, must have collectively decided that they did not want me to succeed. Buses blocking bike lanes, drivers cutting me off to turn into parking garages, pedestrians stepping off curbs in my path, drivers trying to make left turns in front of me, pedestrians crossing against the light- it was just one big mess out there. Pedestrians I can forgive, since they'd be affected by the rain in much the same way as me, but motorists? Seriously. You've got a roof. Everyone just seemed a little crazy out there and it made me just a little bit chippy (the adjective, not the noun). I dropped my first f-bomb at a motorist who sped past me in order to cut me off to turn into a parking garage. Not cool. I said "come on- a little help here" to pedestrians crossing the Marriott entrance on Nash against the light, not fully realizing that they were unaware of the challenge I had set myself. Why would they give me help? Was I in danger? I reached my low point at the Georgetown head of the Key Bridge where I sarcastically clapped at drivers making illegal right turns on red. I'm not proud of myself.
From Georgetown on, it was hard rain. It felt like when you first turn on the shower and the water hasn't warmed up yet. Car traffic in GP and up New Mexico was fairly obliging and I had no real issues, aside from the whole wet thing, the rest of the way into work. At the intersection of Nebraska and New Mexico, I saw a tape measure that had been run over. I think this might be some sort of weird metaphor for local opposition to the recently filed AU campus plan. Or it just fell off the back of someone's truck.

What a busted tape measure looks like.