Ride In 2/1: February Jones

Another gorgeous morning and another attempt to smile my way through my commute, which was complicated by consistently inconsiderate driving. A lot of the time inconsiderate overlaps with illegal, but I think that I'm much more dismayed by the former than the latter.
I feel like I never see the same bike commuters on East Capitol two days in a row. I don't get it. I leave at more or less than same time every day. I'd think it'd be more consistent. Maybe I'm just not paying close enough attention when I espy them. Perhaps I should tag them, like one days with a species in the wild. I'm sure that'd be a great idea.
Dillon's Bus Company. So many commuter buses from Maryland. And yet, still probably not enough. The driver of the  922 stops at the intersection of East Capitol and 2nd NE (I think), but rather than pull over, just opens the door and empties passengers into the bike lane. Awesome. I bet those passengers hate "bikers" so much.
I think I'm going to adjust my brake pads and hold off on getting new ones. I don't know to what extent this will work. I'd also like to make some cosmetic changes to my bicycle, all of which will be costly and do nothing to improve its utility or function. $110 fenders when I have perfectly good fenders? Sure. A new rack when my current rack if perfectly serviceable? New pedals that require me to get new shoes? Different, snazzier bar tape? A new saddle bag? I'd love to dapperize (not a word) my bike (have determined I'm not going to get a new one), but it seems a little bit foolish. Maybe a little at a time.
New signs to get bicyclists to the ball park. Though, I'm not really sure who the target bike audience is. They're on Penn by 4th, which I suppose would be useful for people coming from the Hill, but people coming from the Hill wouldn't go down to Penn to get to the ball park (or at least I wouldn't, but I live way out in Armory West). Maybe if you're coming from like the Met Branch trail? But then it still might make more sense to take New Jersey. Maybe it's exclusively for members of Congress biking from the Capitol? (I managed to type that with a straight face, but barely). I'm all for bike route signs, but I'm just not sure who the target audience is here. Also, here's a great photo essay about the intersection where the new Ballpark signs are and how those signage could/ought to be improved.
StopbiketheftDC.tumblr.com. Check it out.
Reader and friend of the blog (If you read it, I'm declaring you a friend of the blog whether you'd like me to or not), Kyle G. made the mistake of commenting the other day that he passes me on my ride in and identified himself by bicycle. Accordingly, I said hello when I passed him this morning, right by the White House security bollards. I feel like we should have stopped and shaken hands or driven a golden spike into the ground or something a bit more commemorative for the momentous occasion. Maybe tomorrow.
This bike is now locked up outside next to this bike:

Perhaps I should now esoterically take pictures of every single bike I see locked up outside along 15th street. I'm sure that will be fun for you all.
So many people on bikes today. Spring is going to be huge for biking in DC. Bigger than last spring. I can feel it in my bones. There were six of us stacked up at Connecticut and R. That's more than I've ever seen. Two of the bicyclists were a couple and they cloyingly kissed while waiting at the red light. Get a room, sickos. (Just kidding! Romance is great for some reason, I think, maybe)
I love the freedom of riding a bicycle. It's like being a bird. In a wheelchair. It's just great. I just wish we had a little more dedicated room on the roadways. Just so I don't have to worry about being passed to closely or having a car door opened into me. Is that really too much to ask?