Ride Home 5/11: "Blight Club" starring Doug and Lydia

I can't say that bike commuting is objectively the best kind of commuting, but I'm willing to go out on a limb (literally. I'm blogging from a redwood. Send for help) and write that it's subjectively the best of kind of commuting. I know that I'm totally within the "bike bubble" and in many cases, completely delusional, but I honestly don't know why more people don't do it. I mean, honestly, I do know, because I spend a lot of time reading about this and thinking about it and I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on the variety of factors that inhibit people from bike commuting, but I think what I'm trying to say (and failing) is that the joys of commuting by bike vastly outweigh their setbacks and if given the opportunity to try to commute by bike, I'd recommend that you stick with it for a little while and see if for you, it's likewise, the subjectively best kind of commuting. It takes a little while. The first couple of times you ride in might be dicey. You also might not feel so hot, either,  because biking is kind of like exercise and if you're not used to it, it could be taxing. But, and this is my bet, if you do it consistently enough, you'll fall in love with it. So, here's my offer: you want to bike commute and you don't or haven't and you live generally in or around DC, let me know and I'll ride with you and we'll see how it goes. I'm serious. [Maybe it's just all the excitement about BikeFest getting me, but as of now, yes, I'm serious. I'll meet you at your house or office and we'll do it.]
"Penny wise, pound foolish" is how I'd describe a lot of bicyclists and drivers, but it's more like penny foolish, pound foolish because, really, the way people think that they're going to beat the system through calculation and bravo and lawbreaking results in very little gain and, presumably, much frustration. I think I noticed it even more tonight since I was on a slower bike, and accordingly, biked slower. The weaving, the honking, the running lights, the searching for any kind of "advantage" vis-a-vis those around you- it's crazy. Your commute is only as stressful as you let it be. Life is about managing (your own) expectations. Life, the board game, is about I'm not totally sure what because I don't think I've played it for 20 years and even then my grasp on its subtleties was pretty tenuous. Life, the cereal, is relatively delicious. Life, the tv show, was short-lived and I never watched it.
"Read Dianetics. Ask Me" is not something that I'd want on a t-shirt. "Smith and Wesson" is not something I'd want on my bike frame . But the first guy was apparently a Scientologist and the second guy was definitely a bike police officer and both had chosen their personal brand and I didn't have much choice but to notice it. Perhaps they could collaborate on a "Read Dianetics or I'll shoot you" campaign, but thank goodness for the establishment clause or whatever. Establishment Claus is the guy who would bring presents at Christmas, but for fact that it's not allowed by the Constitution. Establishment claws would be what would happen if the framers were tigers.
Some people say that you should ride your bike as if you're driving a car but I think that you should ride your bike as if you're riding a bike. Bikes and cars are different.
This thing by the Capitol. I took a picture.

It's a sign that looks like a person

The sad part is that they've unionized and now it costs the government $25/hr.
In front (and by that, on mean on the east side) of the Capitol, there was a photoshoot for a woman wearing a sash that read District of Columbia. I don't know if she was Miss DC or Mrs. DC or Mr who looks like a Mrs. DC or Ms. [ethnic/religious/nationality group] DC, but I do know that I might be a blurry image in the back of her glamour shots, so I'm really sorry about that. Also, from the perspective of civic pride, I'm not totally sure that the Capitol, the symbol of our congressional overlords with whom we have no voting representation, is a proper one. I'll let you suggest the proper backdrop for the "nationalist" District of Columbia photoshoot.
Stopped along East Capitol to talk to Dave, who was out walking his dog. I love my neighborhood so freaking much. It's like a village. And much of its kisfalusiság (this is a made-up Hungarian word that connotes "small villagey-ness") is something I get to experience because I ride a bike and it's pretty easy to stop and talk to someone who want to stop and talk with.
On Massachusetts, I rode on the wrong side of the street to let a moving van pass me. I was turning left anyway, so it wasn't that big of a deal. It is, however, just a reminder of the order of things, in that I feel that it's my best interest to ride illegally and improperly just to let a driver drive without having to slow a little to accommodate me on my bike. Not a big deal, I guess. Live and let live, though it's more him that's letting me doing the living and not the other way around.
Haven't figured out how I'm getting to BikeFest tonight. I don't know whether I'm driving the Escalade or the Suburban. Either way, there better be free parking.