Ride In 1/3: Astral Projectors

Only one day back and I already felt the desire to mix it up, heading down Massachusetts and up First NE to R Street before riding the usual route, which starts around 11th or 15th depending on which usual I mean. Some highlights of this first part of my ride included being passed two closely before Union Station, bouncing around on the crappy, ruddy, dug-up under-construction streets at Union Station, and then having to dodge some bystanders standing by the entrance to the fake Met Branch Trail after Union Station (it's a mixed use path, so I guess I shouldn't complain, but they don't adhere to the yellow line so it's not like it's effectively two ways) and then there were some trucks, parked next to Union Station, whose drivers also didn't adhere to the rules normally dictated by a double yellow line, and here's a picture of that:

You come at the King of Beers, best not miss. 

I only care about this issue because of two reasons, the more immediate of which is my being tired of nearly being run into by opposing traffic and the less immediate of which is that the someday existing First Street NE cycle track/fake Met Branch Trail extension will someday go here and I'd rather have drivers broken of their parking scofflawism before it's installed rather than after.

If/When/If they install the #MStreetCycleTrack, I'm going to take that instead of R Street. I have a love/hate relationship with the repetitiveness of my commute and especially R Street. In the love column:

• the chance to notice really small changes that happen on a day-to-day basis, like building construction and houses for sale.
• the chance to run into the same people, which makes me feel like part of a community
• the chance to sort of zone-out, knowing the patterns of the lights and the exact minimum speed and effort required to reach maximum enjoyability.

In the hate column:

• It's really boring. 

But, such is the way of the commute. Unless of course, I could hire someone to blindfold me and drive me and my bike to a different location every day, from where I'll have to rely in guts and guile to get me to work. But that sounds expensive with the high cost of blindfolds and gas and such. Also, super creepy. 

I took Massachusetts the rest of the way to work, noticing a number of drivers who felt compelled to turn on red, in spite of signs indicating that they oughtn't. To the best of my knowledge, no one was harmed as it appeared rather safe for them to turn red. I don't know why the sign is there. Maybe it shouldn't be. I think a lot about "traffic laws" and I think the thing that bothers me the most about "traffic laws" and the discussion around them is selective literalism. Sometimes signs mean exactly what they say (most normally for people who aren't you) and sometimes they're just suggestions, open to interpretation.