Ride In 5/22 and Ride Home 5/22: Sukiennice

Let's cut to the point and talk about money. It's quite obvious that there's a pecuniary advantage to becoming a bike commuter from a non-bike commuter, but there's also a potential pecuniary advantage in becoming a bike commuter advocate from just a regular workaday bike commuter. And here's why: any time a politician or a bureaucrat tries to make it more difficult or less likely for you to bike to work, he's trying to cost you money. For example, my marginal cost of commuting is $0. I get the pleasure of going back and forth from work without having to spend anything (and you get the pleasure of reading about it for the same price!). Were it made harder for me to do so and I had to start spending money on bus fares or car gas, that's real money and it's real money that I couldn't be spending elsewhere, like on Hummel figurines. And I've grown accustomed to a certain kind of lifestyle where I can budget a few hundred bucks a month for figurines and not have to worry instead about having to give that money to Metro or Exxon or METREXXON, who I imagine to be a terrifying robot shakedown artist. And thankfully, I can spend this money on Hummel figurines and were it the case that I was cash short, I'd be able to liquidate those figurines on eBay and maybe get some money back because I've used that money to purchase real assets with exchangable, though dubious, value. You can't sell used bus fares- it's a cost and there's no recouping it. So, here's the thing: if you bike to work and you like biking to work and you like spending $0 to get back and forth from what I imagine is a fulfilling and interesting job, then you need to make sure well that no politician will make it harder and less likely for you to do so. Because it will cost you real money, money that you might have budgeted for important stuff like rent or food or collectibles. So vote. And speak up. And on the local level, do it even more because the pool of constituents is even smaller. This is pretty much the only thing I thought about during my ride in, other than the fact that a Mercedes is a pretty wide car and it's highly unlikely that it will be able to fit into narrow spaces as might be called upon when its driver is attempting to squeeze between a row of parked cars and a row of moving cars in only the equivalent of half a travel lane.
Here's how the ride home went: fine. Except for maybe some other bicyclists, who might be trying to mess with me. Listen, I'm in no mood for this nonsense. I get it- DC is full of type-A yahoos who are super-competitive and think- nay, know- that they're better than everyone else at everything. But let's all relax and stop treating each light like it's the commencement for a drag race. It's annoying and even irksome and I'm tired of you bothering of me with your foolishness. Could I ignore you? Maybe. But it's hard to ignore someone who passes within inches and then lines up inches in front of you. Just cut it out, already. I'm exasperated.
When you take the lane, ride in the middle of the lane. It helps. It conveys the message that you're really in the travel lane and not just sort of in it by accident. Clarity is always a good idea. Claritin is a good idea if you have allergies. Claire de Lune is good if you're into Debussy. If you're allergic to Debussy, I don't know what you should do.
11th and then E across town. E works, but it's not my preferred route. A little too much car traffic and a few too many opportunities for drivers to cut across the bike lanes. Also, a few hills and one of the hills might be a result of having to drive over an urban expressway. I took E because I met a friend for drinks at the Dubliner, which is nearish Union Station. I drank beer, but not Irish beer. We were two gallants and then we left. No stealing though.
From there it was a quicksh jaunt down Massachusetts when whom did I encounter but none other than GAGA FAN. Proof (sort of):

If you squint, you can maybe make out the license plate. Maybe. It's the convertible. 

And what was GAGA FAN listening to? Train. Revoke the license plate.