I didn't ride today, but I rode yesterday and I'll write about that.
The morning was charming and I took a route that I don't normally ride, following C Street NE to Stanton Park before crossing H on 6th NE and turned left on the sidewalk at M Street because M Street is a one-way street for some infuriating reason for the blocks from 4th NE to Florida Avenue. Who decides whether streets are one-way or two-way (or three way, which would be both dangerous and maybe scandalous) and what goes into this thinking? It's probably faceless government bureaucrats (the bureaucracy has always been a welcome home for people afflicted with facelessness as the private sector is much biased against them, probably), maybe in consultation with the neighbors or maybe in consultation with the paving companies or the United Nations or the Trilateral Commission or some other agenda-laden conspiratorially minded group. Generally, I'm opposed to one way streets and when I'm appointed Bike Tsar by Mayor RGIII, I'm going to seek to remove them whenever we can and when the street is amply wide to do so.
I rode on the Metropolitan Branch Trail to R Street. I love the Metropolitan Branch Trail and would like to see it completed. Our friends at The Assembly (no the Ikea furniture fan club, but the bike advocacy group) have arranged the Big Stinky Hill Climb Challenge to call attention to the MBT's unfinishedness and perhaps spur action to bring about it's finishedness. I'd like to call you attention to Jean Sibelius' Finnishness, as he undoubtedly proves the answer to any trivia question that starts "Which Finnish composer...?" His most famous work, Finlandia, was an ode to minor brand vodka I believe. In any case, when the MBT is finished, it will be difficult to believe that we'll have ever been without it. It's going to prove vastly important in the region's bicycle and pedestrians connectivity and, I think, soon rival the Custis Trail in terms of bike commuter impact.
R Street to Big Bear (not the constellation, but the coffee shop) where I saw Greg Billings of WABA and we chatted about bike stuff because that's sort of my deal. I meant to stop in at Big Bear to say some bikey things to CM David Grosso, who was holding a constituent open house, but I soon realized that I was very late (having left the house late on account of spending much time adjusting my front fender to achieve noiselessness) and I set off without getting a coffee or talking to anyone.
I can't remember much of the rest of the bike commute. I think it was nice.
Nor do I remember much of the ride home, except for being in a bit of rush. I took New Mexico again in place of Massachusetts and then through Burleith to R Street to 34th to M to Pennsylvania to L, and its cycle track. It probably would have been faster to stick with Pennsylvania, but I just really hate riding through Washington Circle. Just really don't like it at all. It's also still hard to resist the draw of a protected cycle track, both because of the novelty (there's only 2) and because I find the experience to simply be more enjoyable, even when it's less enjoyable that it should be on account of scofflaw and inconsiderate drivers. I still like it.
On 11th, at least two drivers turned left across my path in a way that maybe suggested that they didn't see me or maybe just didn't care to see me. Speaking of invisibility, I highly recommend the blogging of the invisible visible man and encourage you read it on your smart phone as you weave in and out of traffic and doing all of the other dangerous and illegal things that you do while riding your bicycle. Or, maybe when you aren't on your bike. Your call, really.
I followed some other cyclists down Penn and then up the hill and then I ended up in front of a guy on a CaBi and a woman on a Pashley and I think they rode behind me on East Capitol for some time. On the other side of the park, I hustled to catch a yellow before it crimsoned and I succeeded and it's very small and inconsequential victories such as this that make bike commuting fun.
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