10/3/12

Ride Home 10/3: Frequent Flying Buttresses

PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE DRINKING GAME IDEA: Each time bike commuting is mentioned, stop drinking. You've had too much and you're delusional. Also, stop drinking absinthe.

I think it's time to bring the bike in for a tune-up. It's been 20 months and my maintenance, while loving, has most likely been ineffective and it could use a look from someone who knows what she's doing. I'm a firm believer in pretending to know how to tune up my own bike, but since I suspect that parts need replacing and I'm not really confident enough to attempt that myself, I figure I might as well just skip the part where I ineffectually fiddle with things only to have to bring it to the shop later. Maybe tomorrow.

I took the new usual route home, following Massachusetts Avenue through Dupont Circle and then down 19th street. I stopped on 19th to pick up sandwiches [When you all put together my festschrift, I'd be really exciting to read the article titled "Corn Chips, Broccoli and Sandwiches: The Role of Food in Tales from the Sharrows."] and after I picked up the sandwiches, I put them in my bag and put the bag back on my bike and then I rode home. I was going to write that "I then rode home the sandwiches" but I didn't want to leave you the impression that I rode the sandwiches and not my bike. That would be a very different blog. Probably a better one.

Still no cycle track on L Street, but this might not be the case come November. While I do plan most of my commute routes based on the presence of bike lanes, I don't think the cycle track will become part of my normal routine. That's not to say that I'm not excited about it- I'd watch green paint dry- but it just won't really help my commute. Will it help your commute?

I saw Kenyan McDuffie starting his car in front of the JAWB. He looks like a nice guy.

Segway riders wear helmets and yet the sanitation workers who ride on the back of garbage trucks don't wear helmets. Just an observation.

2 comments:

  1. The L Street cycletrack will in no way help my commute, but I plan to use it on occasion just because it's such a long-needed piece of bike infrastructure and I wanted it used as much as possible so everyone sees how much we need more such infrastructure.

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  2. Excited about the L St cycletrack! I can definitely incorporate it into my bike commute.

    Yeah, I'm with you on the helmet thing. Wear one if you want, and I think you should, but if you don't, that's ok too. I mean, if anyone should wear a helmets it's motorcyclists, then people riding in cars. Have you seen the speeds at which those things travel?

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