Rides 8/15: ARTCRANK

I consider myself an artist. Mostly, a sandwich artist. [Screw you, Subway. I was making sandwich art at The Factory with Warhol well before you stole the term d'art. And what did we have with our sandwiches, which were primarily grilled cheese ones? That's right, Campbell's tomato soup.] Anyway, like I was saying, I'm basically the sandwich Matisse of bike commuter blogging and I consider it my duty to the artistic community, both the sandwich artistic community and the non-sandwich one, to share the information below about Artcrank, a bicycle-themed art poster show that is looking for DC arts types who don't work exclusively in gouda and liverwurst:

Artists who are selected for the show will be asked to produce one original poster design and provide:

• - 1 Display Copy (Becomes property of ARTCRANK)- 30 Sale Copies
• Artists are responsible for printing their own posters.
• Maximum size for posters is 20" x 26". Posters can be smaller than this, but not larger.
• All posters will be sold for $50 each.
• ARTCRANK takes a 40% commission on all poster sales, with the remaining 60% going to the artist.
• At the conclusion of the show, any unsold Sale Copies of posters will be returned to the artists.
• No artists selections will take place until after the Call For Artists closes on August 30 at midnight EST. The artist roster for the 2014 show will be announced the following Friday.

So, if this speaks to you and you'd like to participate, don't tarry! It's a great opportunity to share your bicycle art with the world and potentially make $900, which'd buy you 36 work week's worth of $5 footlongs. Go here fore more info on how to submit your work. Go here for more info on the Veggie Delite. 

As for the bicycle rides of August 15th, yes, I did those. The weather has been immensely forgiving and I think I've mostly forgotten what bad sultry oppressive summer days are like. I can't say I mind forgetting. The temperate weather has proved catnip to cyclists and would-be bike commuters have turned into has-been bike commuters. Wait, that doesn't sound right.

E Cap to Penn to M.E. Swing Co for coffee and from there G Street to Virginia Avenue. On Virginia Avenue this guy tried to pass me on the right twice, having not gotten my disapproval of this maneuver by my hurrying up and refusing to cede any space as we both approached a parked car blocking his path. This response is, admittedly, puckish at best and downright hostile at worst, and I should really find a more mature way to cope. Many bicyclists, for whatever reason, have issues with bicyclists passing them. This really isn't my case at all.  I'm in no particular rush to get anyway and couldn't care less if someone passes me- on the left. But on the right? It's just too much. It's madness. It's anarchy. A man must have a code.

Riding up Wisconsin, I noticed the cyclist in front of me had a prosthetic leg. His prosthetic clipped in (I think) into the left pedal, but other than that, I don't think there was any modification to the bike at all. I've seen riders with hand bikes a few times, but this is I think the first time I've come across someone riding with a prosthetic. I don't know how common it is, but this guy seemed to have it down. 

I rode home down New Mexico and Tunlaw, which eventually turns into 37th. It'd be nice if 37th turned into a road that didn't have so much ruts and divots and potholes. It's a pretty abysmal cycling experience. All you want to do is gently glide down the hill, but between the stop signs every 10 feet and a road surface that could best be described as lunar, it's very unpleasant.

I recommend procuring a bungee cargo net. It's not very useful until it's very useful. I don't use it a lot, but when there's an irregularly shaped thing you need to get home and your bag is otherwise full, it definitely comes in handy. I guess the thing doesn't need to be irregularly shaped. It could just be a square watermelon. 

L Street to 15th, where I saw the guy I always see who bikes with a small white dog in the 'kid' trailer behind him. This guy is my hero.