Ride In 7/11

I have a suggestion: cut a bike lane through the pedestrian island that separates the right turn-only lane on Quincy at Wilson from the other lanes. I don't like having to sidle up next to whatever vehicle happens to be there because frequently that vehicle is a rather large truck on account of all of the construction going on in the neighborhood. So, whenever they get around to restriping the lane on Quincy (all of it, not just the bit in front of Super Pollo), perhaps someone can bring a jackhammer along and make things a little nicer for bicyclists.
Programming note: the Official Wife and I met with a real estate agent yesterday, so god and interest rates willing, I'll be writing tales from entirely different sharrows by this fall. I'm just throwing that out there for anyone who is getting tired of reading about the same damn stretches of road all the time.
I was standing astride my bike in the bike lane waiting for someone to manage finishing their parallel parking when a woman approached me from behind and tried to squeeze between me and her car so she could open her door. Seriously? I'm sure I was just another example of one of those inconsiderate bikers waging a war on drivers and that the reversing minivan had nothing to do with it.
I need to stop salmoning. Is there a support group that I can join?
Our Lady of Affordable Housing is coming along pretty well and it's my hope that riding down 13th will become better as the majority of work on the project transitions from exterior to interior work. There's a lot of extra yellow stripes on the road now and it's kind of uncertain where each lane is.
I was faster down Key Boulevard than a Porsche 911. He must have stopped for gas or a latte or something.
Here's the deal on the police enforcing the bike light on the Custis this morning. Long story short: if you run the bike lights, you might get a ticket. Ride accordingly. In any case, I did what any sensible bike commuter would do when I saw the cops- I tweeted about it. I question whether the frequency of the police presence will impact the way anyone rides along the trail, but I'm doubtful. Anyway, real cyclists know that if they want to blow through traffic lights with impunity, they should stick to the streets.
Both sides of the Key Bridge need to be redesigned to better facilitate the safer movement of pedestrians. Chances of this happening: <2% (guessing). I see people cross every day to and fro with little regard to crosswalks, lights, oncoming traffic, whatever. Just FYI: in DC, on the Watergate side of the bridge, there's not a crosswalk until 34th street and there's no crosswalk that goes from one side of the bridge to the other. In VA, if you happen to cross on the "wrong" side of the bridge, you have to continue on that side until Lee Highway. Though the street view image below shows how well that works:

View Larger Map 

I think I'm getting better at four way intersections. I'm having much more success negotiating my turns with drivers. I'm probably just getting lucky in not encountering any maniacs.
Sorry for not cranking out a better post. Just low on artifice today. What else? Um, tonight there's an Arlington Bicycle Advisory Meeting. Also,  more from Justine. And at some point I'm going to get around to writing something up on bike parking at Arlington grocery stores. And then, there's  Hoogerland.