Rides 9/15 and Rides 9/19

Let's be honest, no one remembers what I did on Thursday. I rode to work, I rode home. Details are pointless. I assume that everything went well, that the weather was the weather, and the drivers/bicyclists/pedestrians/pogoists all did the things they normally do that make the tableau of life rich and meaningful. Thursday was my last day of work last week. I took off Friday, biked downtown in the morning on the Brompton and then took Mr. Pink down to Mount Vernon in the afternoon via the Mount Vernon Trail. I have only ridden to Mount Vernon once before and that ride felt much longer than this one. That might have been because it was winter (was it?) or because the Cross Check isn't nearly as zippy as the Pink or because I had a few more miles in my legs than the distance required or perhaps because there was no real mystery this time about the land between Old Town and where George Washington once lived. The trail, unlike the W&OD does get more interesting the further it progresses. There's a windiness and a few ups and downs. Trees hug it in places and where trees don't, there's marsh and sometimes a river (or highway). Mount Vernon itself has a sign outside of it that says it costs $20 to enter and that's all I can tell you about Mount Vernon. Riding back, I stopped in Old Town for chili cheese fries, as George Washington definitely probably did.

I also rode recreationally on Sunday on a unofficial version of the Hills of Rock Creek ride. It was fun and I'd like to do an official version again some time.

Today I was back on the Brompton. I made it to work right before the rain started plus or minus 2 minutes. Ok, minus 2 minutes. I got 2 minutes of rained on. It was fine.

I'm sick and tired on drivers ignoring the right-turn-only lane at Calvert and Connecticut. I wouldn't mind it so much if I wasn't nearly run over through the blatant disregard for law, but getting almost run over a couple of times really tends to solidify your opinion about these things. Back to Woodley tomorrow.

I went home via the grocery store, filling my bag with the nightly supply of tomatoes and limes. Not everyone's a fan of marinara rickeys, but I've developed quite a taste for them. I followed Newark Street home, which has a nice curviness toward the bottom, which makes it moderately fun. Fronting the street are giant houses. I wonder how many more people could afford to live in DC if normal-sized houses lived there instead. But that's the point I guess.

I stopped in Bicycle Space to talk to a man about some tires. I declined to purchase these tires. This time. After that, it was down the rest of 18th and a left on T, around a stopped FedEx truck, and then one more right turn and home. Last Monday bike commute of the week. Glad to have gotten it over so early.