Ride Home 10/27

I suppose that I miscalculated when I said that I might not have time to type up my ride home this evening. Turns out that I started with ample time, then procrastinated a bit and then ate some dinner and now have less time than I need, perhaps, to write with the same level of detail and quality that you've come to expect from the 37th most popular DC bike commuter blog on the internet.
Leaving at 4 is pretty much the same as leaving at 5 as far as cars on the road is concerned. Leaving at 3 is a totally different story. 4 is rush hour, at least in the part of town where I ride. Funny that.
Let's skip ahead a little. Did you know that there's a cool new water hazard on the 15th street cycletrack leaf depository lane?

If you land in the water, don't take the drop. 

I'm up for making as much of life like a miniature golf course as possible (who isn't?), but I think that DDOT might be taking things a bit too far. I'm sure it's not their fault, their responsibilities limited to the terranean and not what's underneath) and at least there are some nifty safety cones there, but I'm still going ahead and give a resounding, resigned sigh in the general direction of this whole affair. It's not like it forces pedestrians to walk in the bike lane at the same point the lane narrows from two directions to one. Wait, that's exactly what it does. Here's hoping it stays above freezing. Be safe.
No caution tape and I rode through, noticing for the first time (perhaps because they've never been there before) the "Restricted Vehicle" signs at the entrance to Madison Place. I still asked the guard if it was cool. He looked exhausted with my very existence, but allowed me through. I sort of accidentally grazed my right brake lever on one of the security bollards. Clod.
What about biking the rest of the way home? Yeah, I did that. Light traffic, bicycle and automobile, for much of it. One question about cars. Do people realize how big they are? Like how absolutely massive an SUV is compared to a person? Because some cars are just huge and I have a hard time believing that the people who drive them have any sense of perspective on how many cubic meters of volume they're occupying with their vehicle, much less what it's like to be next to one while riding a bicycle. Seriously. It's just craziness. I'd love to share the road but I'm just not convinced that there's actually enough room.
If you see a Meshie and he's wearing soccer mesh shorts, he's a Euro-Meshie. I rode by one near the Capitol.
It was sunny when I got home. I didn't expect that. It's raining quite heavily now. I guess I got lucky. I planned on taking Bikeshare to my social event this evening, but I think I'm consigned to Metro. Alas, multi-modalism.