Ride Home 6/17: Trastamara

At least summer is almost over. Wait, what? First major heat wave of what will assuredly be many this summer and there's no sense in getting too upset about it, especially when there are so many simple solutions that you can take to beat the heat. For example, you can remove your bike seat when you get to work and store it in the office break room freezer. Better yet, you can buy some kind of fancy ice cube mold and just make an ice saddle! Comfortable and cooling, at least for a little while. Hurry home. 

Got stuck between an SUV and the curb in Sheriden Circle and there was barely a foot between me and the car. It was unpleasant. The worst was slowly the whole affair unfolded. I was looking over my shoulder and I swear that I saw in the driver's face the exact moment he thought 'yeah, this maybe isn't a great decision, but I'm going go for it anyway.' Maybe I'm just projecting. After he got in front of me and I got over to the right lane, I raised my left arm in a kind of half-hearted 'why?' gesture of semi-resignation mixed with a desire to at least call to his attention that I knew he knew he wasn't doing something great. I mean, I know why. Waiting behind me for two seconds would've been the worst. The worst! I try not to let dumb stuff bother me when it doesn't result in anything other than my own temporary discomfort and frustration (and I highly recommend trying to do this), but this one rankled for a bit longer than I wanted it to. I blame the melted ice saddle.

Lots of wrong-way cyclists on 21st street. See this every day. Street is sufficiently wide for a contraflow bike lane (or even better, a protected two-way cycletrack). There's bike lanes on New Hampshire, which provide another northbound route not too far away, but people tend not to use these. Maybe we should treat 'salmon' like we do the desire lines that form dirt paths in the grass near walkways. After all, people aren't salmoning for no reason or just to piss people off. They're trying to get somewhere. Perhaps to spawn, like the fish salmon. It's probably to spawn. But it could be for other reasons. Maybe.

So, this is bad.

L Street east of Connecticut

It used to be a cycletrack bit and should return to being one when the construction is over. In the mean time, it's a construction zone and it's harrowing and dangerous. 

L to 15th to Pennsylvania to East Capitol. I feel like I bowdlerize these parts everyday, but, honestly, I just can't recall anything worth recounting. Or counting in the first place. Happy to be in from the hot sun, happy to be out in it again tomorrow.