Ride In 6/10

Some advice for new bike commuters: if you can make it to Friday, you can make it through Friday. Even though I've commuted by bike for almost two years now, I'd be lying if I said that by the end of the week my legs weren't tired or that I don't feel fatigued. But that's ok!
I removed my lock mount and replaced it with a second water bottle holder. Now I have twice as many water bottle holders. This allowed me to carry twice as many water bottles, two.
I also wore bicycling gloves for the first time today. I don't think I derived tremendous benefit or comfort from them, but I'm certain their utility will be made evident on longer trips. I probably won't wear them for commuting. They also don't go well with my bicycling tuxedo. The Official Wife has a co-worker who wears bicycle gloves and suggested to her that they would be a superfluous addition to her bicycling wardrobe. She took this to mean that he thinks he's better than her rather than the more positive idea that he was trying to point out a needless accessory that she didn't need to spend money to buy. For the record, I don't think owning or wearing biking gloves makes me better than anyone.
Let's substitute some quantitative "analysis" for qualitative: I counted 26 bicycles on my way in today. This number pales in comparison to any count along the CCT, but for a route that skirts around the various business districts of Arlington and Washington, that's not terrible. All but two of the bicyclists appeared to be commuting.
Where does everyone go on Friday? Yo the beach? Does no one work in the summer? Does "driving kids to school" traffic make up a much larger percentage of cars on the road during rush hour than I've even imagined? (If car commuters wanted less traffic in the morning, they should really target their efforts and energy at the "driving kids to school and then going back home" crowd. Make it safer/easier for kids to get to school by any other means than personal car and I think that you could take down traffic by a significant amount, at least in the city. I don't know how much highway traffic comes from this. Here's some info on Safe Routes to School)
I know it's summer, but there's "going to work" dresses and there's "going out" dresses. I see a lot of the latter at a time I don't associate with "going out." Unless there's some DC AM party scene with mimosa bottle service and the thumping bass of Morning Edition emanating from wall-sized speakers.
After the third car passed me too closely this morning, I let fly my first "seriously" with accompanying head tilt of frustration. I think sometimes that the fewer cars there are on the road, the more lax drivers become and this manifests itself by more cavalierly driving past bicyclists. This is why I theorize that riding outside of rush hour is more dangerous than in rush hour: drivers just aren't as focused. I don't know if this contributed to the complete boneheadedness of the woman making a left turn from Embassy Park onto New Mexico as I rode up the hill. I don't know if she was looking past me or whether she just underestimated my speed (which wasn't fast, but wasn't slow either), but she only started her left turn when my front tire was no more than 4 feet away from her car. That got a "you've got to be joking" though ill-timed left turns make for horrible jokes.

Knock Knock.
Who's There?
Ill-timed left turn. 

See? It's not that funny. I don't think she heard my commentary and that's probably all for the best. When I say stuff, I'm mostly just grumbling to myself. I don't think that conversations that start with snide commentary resulting from a perceived slight tend to end very productively.