Ride In 11/14

My bike is filthy and I took no steps over the weekend to remedy that. As such, it remained filthy this morning. I took some remedial steps to lube the chain and I noticed that the rear fender was scraping against the tire and that the brake pads were gross and far more worn down than I expected them to be, but there was hardly any time to address these issues, much less dwell on them, because it was Monday and a leisurely weekend had already given way to a workaday workday. It was almost enough to put me on the other bike, the regular people bike on which I ride when I wear regular people clothes, but I had already changed into my irregular people clothes, namely those made of space-age materials cut into the patterns of athletic wear, which is different from sportswear or so Project Runway suggests. My desire to ride in regular people clothes must have been brought about by others desire to participate in the anachronistic escapist Tweed ride of yesterday, pictures of which can be found all over the interwebs. Perhaps on my morning dog walk (on which I walk a dog, not scamper like one) I inhaled some tweed particulars still wafting in the air, comingled with ironic cigar smoke and the the fumes of whatever hair product is needed to achieve the Depression-era dos (or don'ts) of the fashionable set. Early estimates estimate (writerly!) that upwards of 900 participants participated (double writerly!) in the ride and all accounts I've read so far indicate that it was a good time. You all looked splendid.
I remain an unwitting participant in the slow bike movement.
A man driving a car registered in Tennessee asked me today how to get to Pennsylvania Avenue. He was already on Pennsylvania Avenue and I told him as much. He asked if it was a one way street. I assured him it wasn't. And that's how I met Bob Corker. (Just kidding).
I encountered very few bicyclists before 15th street. Curious. Great day for cycling to work. You could even wear tweed if you wanted. And a newsboy cap. And deliver newspapers. I heard that artisanal, small-batch, ironic newspaper delivery is totally a thing now.
Briefly rode behind a guy on a Salsa Casseroll. He was wearing a backpack and his backpack was wearing a safety vest.Safest backpack ever.
I'm not going to talk about that thing I promised not to talk about any more (I won't even link back) but I will say that it's still among one of the most annoying things that someone can do on a bicycle in public that doesn't involve a kazoo and Ride of the Valkyries. When I'm appointed 'bicycle czar' in Mayor Alpert's third term, I'm going to try to get it banned. Not the kazoo thing, the other thing.
Ruder: to ride on the grass around pedestrians or to ring your bell and ask them to make way? I feel like off-path riding is ruder for some reason. It seems drastic and anti-social.
I don't know if you (whoever you are) know this, but the Secret Service has some not-so-secret police cruisers, one of which was parked on the sidepath along Massachusetts, presumably defending the Vice President from the man using a leaf blower.
For the last bit of my ride, I was thinking about the career arc of Kelly Clarkson. Not much to say about that.