Rides 8/1

This is August. It's hot and muggy and hot'n'muggy, which is like a hip new way of saying that it's hot and muggy which is popular with the cool kids these days. There's no way around the omnipresent damp washcloth feeling that sits atop you with each ride, so you just have to ride through it. The morning was worse than the afternoon and we might have a tiny respite over the coming days, but it'll stay hot'n'muggy (sorry cool kids, I'm appropriating your slang) until October because that's just what happens. Got a late start to work, which resulted in a very quiet ride. I think the sports camp that took place at St. Albans is now over, so there's really no traffic there anymore. In the next few weeks, we'll get a lot more cars there and at Oyster-Adams down the road, but it'll be ok because parents dropping kids off at school are some of the most kind, observant and conscientious drivers out there. LOL. It's going to be terrible.

I think when I ride the folding bike cyclists in front of me compelled to ride faster. It might be because they don't want the apparent embarrassment of being passed by a guy on a folding bike or it might be that they wish to avoid the stain of being associated with a guy on a folding bike, but in either case, after two glances back (they never fully grasp it on the first glance back), you see the downshift and a little extra effort in the legs and the attempt at putting some distance between us. Can you unfold a broken heart? So lonely. Of course, the other side of this is a developed self-consciousness about passing people on regular bikes when you're on a folding bike and this afternoon I rode gingerly down the hill behind a guy I would have otherwise passed for fear of causing some slight slight.

Who feared causing no major slight was the bus driver who parked in the bike lane in front of the Wardman Marriott. Between the hotel, the exit from the Rock Creek Why Is There a Commuter Highway in This Park Parkway and the horrific Connecticut and Calvert intersection, my anxiety levels rise before crossing the Duke Ellington Bridge each day and then slowly dissipate through the rest of the ride through Adams Morgan. I wish there was a better way. I mean, there probably is and I guess I'll look for it tomorrow. It might involve following the signed bike routes (why must be always know how far it is to Mount Rainier, MD?). I'll give that a try.