Ride Home 4/18

Two emails of note before leaving work today. First, from Arlington County about the Arlington Boulevard reconstruction problem that I had previous written about. It reads:

Hello Brian,

Thank you for bringing this error to Arlington County's attention.  The
website should state that "There will be a new trail along the south
side of Arlington Blvd between Pershing Drive and Rolfe Street, and the
existing north side trail will be improved and pass under the new 10th
Street bridge."  I will make this correction to our website ASAP.

So, yeah, two trails. Though it would still be better if they talked about it in east-bound, west-bound terms. Although I suppose doing it this way is a blow against auto-normativity? Anyway, goes to show what meddling and niggling emails can do. They can change the words on local government websites. And that's change we can believe in.
Second email. From official wife:

I meant to tell you [my co-worker] M. has a court date on Wednesday because he got a $70 ticket for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign while on his bike.  Feel free to blog about the injustice/organize a demonstration.

I wrote back:

Sucks for him. It's the law, but it's a crap law.

I won't be organizing a riot protest, but he really does have my sympathy. It's rare that I come to a complete stop at a stop sign (like most drivers). To get a ticket for it would really suck, but at the end of the day, them's the breaks. I'd probably just pay it, but good for him for going to court. Much like they'll do with Obamacare, I'm pretty sure that a judge can declare stop signs unconstitutional and throw it out, right? An "individual mandate for coming to a complete stop is un-American. That's what I read on World Net Daily at least. Let's just get an Idaho Stop and move on with our lives.
The stretch of 37th between Manor Place and T is a ruddy, bumpy mess and would really benefit from repaving. It's by far the bumpiest stretch of my ride home. Granted it's three blocks, but still, it's really bumpy. Boo.
Pepco van blocking the bike lane on 34th. Boo. Rode the sidewalk for a block. I guess that was bumpier than 37th. I don't get Georgetown. It's so tony, but those red brick sidewalks are just a total mess. I guess if you're only walking on it six steps from your porch to your luxury sedan, it doesn't much matter.
Hey, read that Ken Archer piece on "hipster urbanism" in Greater Greater Washington, if you haven't already. I've never seen someone bested by his own straw man before...
I rode through Arlington looking for CaBis. Zero CaBis. I have some serious doubts about whether people will bike uphill from the Rosslyn metro to Pierce or Rhodes. I think that Juan is going to be driving around a lot of bikes in Rosslyn.
Check out the window of Revolution Cycles.

Nothing says bikes are reasonable transport for normal people like an ElliptiGo and an old timey high wheeler. I think Bikes for the Rest of Us needs to stage an intervention.
I might have seen a 2011 Salsa Casseroll outside of the GMU law school. I didn't stop to confirm, but I've wanted to see this bike in person for awhile. By all descriptions, it's supposed to be a pretty cool bike.

Ride in 4/18

Happy TY 2010 filing and payment deadline everyone! A few things about taxes: if you don't owe money, your return doesn't need to be in today. You also don't need to file an extension. Of course, in order to determine that you don't owe anything (anything additional that is. Remember, your withholding is taxes already paid. It's a pay-as-you-go system), you probably had do at least do a little bit of your return, so you might as well just finish it. Plus, why wouldn't you want to get your money back rather than let those fat cats in Washington use it interest free? A big refund is a sign (in most cases) that you've badly miscalculated your withholding and you should probably submit a new W-4. Instead of the lump sum, you can get more every paycheck. Another thing with extensions- it's just an extension to file, not an extension to pay. There's no such thing as an extension to pay (at least not so far as my working five months on the Balance Due phone lines).  If you owe anything, it's due today. Otherwise, we're talking penalties and interest.
Anyway, this used to be a bike blog, so let's get back to that. I wanted to ride through Rosslyn today to see if any of the newly installed CaBis were in use. I saw two yesterday down by the intersection of the MVT and the Custis, but I was hoping to see whether any Georgetown-bound or Georgetown-from commuters would avail themselves of the new stations. On my way there, I rode behind a guy on a Trek Allant who was wearing a Notre Dame baseball cap. I passed him around Courthouse, but he was in front me of again on the Key Bridge. I passed him on M street, but he was in front of me again at Wisconsin and P. I guess he wasn't interested in taking a route that required stopping at multiple red lights.
So, number of CaBis in the wild: 0. That was a little disappointing. I was expected at least one crossing the bridge, but I guess not. It might take a few days before knowledge of their presence has been fully disseminated. They're going to be a pretty great alternative to the GUTS bus and I expect a pretty good amount of usage by students, but they're going to be very useful for anyone doing to the Georgetown-Rosslyn trip. I think I might CaBi to work some time this week.
I rode down M street to Wisconsin and Wisconsin to Calvert. Nothing better on a Monday morning than sucking in the exhaust of a 30s series bus. No CaBis going up Wisconsin either. In fact, I didn't see an active CaBi anywhere, so I should stop dwelling on it.
Onto Tunlaw, a road about which I learned an interesting fact this weekend. Many of you might already know this (on account of seeing The Shining one time too many?), but do you know that Tunlaw is a nonsense word that's just Walnut spelled backward? That's crazy! I thought Tunlaw was just some dude who was friends with Glover and Archbold. (Side note: is Tunlaw a bizarro version of Walnut Street? Perhaps some exploration is needed) I learned this from Erik, local factotum, at Bicycle Space and this marks reason 80,276 that this is the best bicycle store in Washington, DC and environs. Please frequent (frequently) this establishment. You might learn something, you might buy a Brompton, you might be served a baked good.
Confusing trip up New Mexico with lots of drivers doing lots of weird things. People stopping at green lights to yield to left-turning cars, drivers parking in front of driveways, many, many trucks unloading liquor, a bus turning right from the left-lane, just a whole mess of stuff that made it seem like everyone was a little bit out of it this morning. These things happen.

Ride Home 4/15

Riding home in your work clothes provides the major advantage of an even quicker exit on a Friday. Happy Emancipation Day indeed!
Instead of using my velcro strap, I decided to roll up my right pant leg a la annoying urban cyclist type. I might have overdone it and was about one more roll from being a never nude. But better that than getting my pants dirty.
At the bottom of New Mexico, I saw a bumper sticker that read "God has plans FOR YOU." Am I the only one who finds that to be menacing? If the goal is to be comforting, I'd say they missed.
I'm going to conclude that there's no such thing as "Mary Poppins effect" for men. I doubt there is for women either. People behave the same around bikes no matter how the cyclist dresses or behaves. That's both pedestrians and drivers. Cyclists need to stop pretending like our behavior is the prime determinant for others' actions. It's self-aggrandizing, but false. People are gonna do what they do and it's better to learn to deal with that than pretend like we impact it. Screed completed.
If you had April 15 in the "First appearance of Nantucket red shorts and blue oxfords," please collect your prize. It might be a whale belt. Remember your boat shoes!
Slow going on 34th street. When will DDOT finish striping the bike lanes? Not that it'll make a real difference- white paint hardly deters inconsiderate drivers from blocking the path. Nor do dirty looks. In any case, I was well to M street before any of the cars I passed at Reservoir, Dent, Q, Volta, P, O or N street. Bad news guys. Not that M was any better. Total cluster down Canal and multiple buses coming off the bridge succeeded in thoroughly mucking up car travel. I jaybiked a little, but since no one was going anywhere, I didn't feel especially concerned.
Rode up the Custis behind a guy on a serious road bike. Granted he was in mile probably 700 of his commute and was carrying a three ton messenger bag, but I pretty much was able to stick with him. I also served as his "bell man," dinging for him as needed. I think pedestrians were grateful, but that's just self-aggrandizing and false.
Why is the bike rack at Escuela Key School Escuela School a million miles and a whole playground away from the school? I wouldn't want to lock my bike there. Put it right in front of the school and maybe more kids will bike there. Maybe there is one, I don't know, but the one that I saw is hella far away (hella is not a word I normally use and I apologize to anyone and everyone).
Lots of bikes on Fairfax Drive. Good job.

Ride In 4/15

Two decent days in a row. What's going on here?
A combination of not having to bring anything into work (I did not eat my soup from yesterday, but instead had a Starbucks blueberry scone and some Reese's peanut butter cups. Kids: don't do this) and the weather being temperate helped me decide to ride to work in my work clothes, which consist partly of jeans since it's Friday. I also took the Haul- there's only one way that saddle is going to soften.
There's a fairly significant breeze today and I felt like I was a taking the brunt of it, especially on Fairfax Drive. It was like parasailing, but in a not fun way.
Get this: it's possible, even likely, that one can travel down Wilson Boulevard from Ballston to Rosslyn in the same overall amount of time as someone on a Vespa. I know this because it happened. I wasn't even scofflawing. I'm surprised that more people here don't ride motor scooters (aside from the ridiculous name. Just say motor scooter aloud and try not to laugh). I have a few theories why, but you can read them on my other blog: dclackofscooterusage.blogspot.com
And now it's time for some super -pecific advice about riding a relatively short stretch of road and negotiating its trickiness. The road is Tunlaw Road, NW. My concern is stop signs. The problem is being safe. My suggestions are as follows:

• At the intersection of 37th and Tunlaw, coming up 37th. I recommend riding on the right up to the stop sign and stopping directly next to it. Look at the oncoming traffic. If there is a car next to you (on your left), start riding when that driver goes. Let the driver get in front of you and merge behind their car in the center of the traffic lane. Move back to the right after you get through the intersection. If there is no car next to you, wait until the driver at the stop sign across 37th goes. Make sure the driver coming down Tunlaw is turning right and not going straight. When the car from 37th is in the middle of the intersection, start riding. Be sure to make eye contact with the driver (if there is one) now stopped at 37th street. Use your left hand to signal that you are heading left up Tunlaw. This shouldn't be totally necessary, since 37th is one way, but it'll let the driver across the intersection from you know that you'll be turning across his/her path. This should hopefully stop him/her from trying to get across the intersection before you start your turn.
• On Tunlaw at Benton Street. There is a stop sign here. At this point you are traveling up hill. I recommend that (if possible) you take the lane and wait/roll through the stop sign from the center of the travel lane. The reason I recommend this is because on-street parking begins on Tunlaw after Benton. This means that you will need to move over to the left (or you will bike into parked cars) eventually and it's safer to do it at the stop sign than afterwards.This is because drivers accelerate from the stop sign and the road also narrows here (on account of the parked cars) and since you're going uphill, you'll be traveling too slowly to merge in an optimal way.
• At the stop light at Calvert Street. If you don't want to take the lane, stay to the right but (if there's no pedestrian) get your bike into the cross walk. You want to be out in front of car right turning cars so they don't try to fish hook around you. Also, there are parked cars on the other side of the intersection, so being in front gives you a little more space to merge over into the travel lane if need be. I recommend lining yourself up so your path is exactly straight (slightly to the inside of the parked cars on the other side of the intersection)- this means pinching from the far right a little bit.
• Tunlaw and 39th St. Ride to the right. I don't think there's any need to ride in the middle of the travel lane here. However, after this intersection, you might want to start biking in the center of the travel lane to increase your visibility to cars turning from and turning onto Fulton Street. If you ride too far to the right, someone turning from Tunlaw to Fulton might be more tempted to try to make the turn. 
• At 42nd St. Ride to the ride. Be careful here because it's a four way stop and cars are pulling out of the driveway as well as up from 42nd St.

So, there's are my inexpert recommendations. Just be safe, I guess, is my overall suggestion, and do what feels right to you. 

Ride Home 4/14

My eyes always tear up when I'm riding down the New Mexico hill. I'm not sad to be riding home and I'm pretty sure it's not the gift of tears. It even happens when I wear sunglasses, which I didn't today. Between the cyring and my furrowed brow and worried look of consternated concentration (cars pull out from a lot of different directions and I'm probably going too fast to stop very well), I don't think I'm doing a very good job "selling" the joys of bike commuting.
A minivan and I both yielded to a pedestrian at 42nd Street. He actually thanked me. With a considerable amount of sincerity and conviction. It's hard out there for pedestrians.
I rode alongside a car with the DC license plate 03. I sorta hoped it was the official Toyota sedan of Mary Cheh, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't. The car didn't even look "partially loaded."
On the Key Bridge, I was stuck behind a dawdly group of teenagers who looked too young to be college students but who were traveling in one of the those freshman year packs of eight, in which maybe not everyone is everyone else's friend but for fear of offending or for sheer amicability because everyone lives on the same floor, they all bunch together to go anywhere off campus. Anyway, the dawdly group was split into two groups of four and I slowly inched my way past the back group after one of them realized that I was behind them and shuffled the remainder of the group a little bit over. However, once I passed the back group, one of its members decided to shout not "hark friends, a cyclist approaches. yield to him lest we may all share the ample space of the bridge," but instead the far less helpful "WATCH OUT!" Keep in mind that if I were biking any slower at this point I would have been moving backwards. Highly unwarranted. The "WATCH OUT" led one of the girls in the first group to jump stop, and while I appreciated her demonstration of basketball fundamentals, it was a wholly superfluous maneuver. I rode by the group on the left as the jump stopper turned and dished the rock shouted "You scared me!" to the screamer. Teenagers. Ugh.
I took the Custis to Veitch to Key. I love that street so much. I think what I like about it so much is that there's always people walking on it. There was even a guy running with his (leashed) golden retriever in the street. It's a street used by people and not exclusively by cars and that it's solely residential makes that fact even better.
I stopped at Harris Teeter on the way home. Here's a picture of their crap bike parking:

Complain about this. 

If you can wedge your bike in past the propane tank, be sure that the front wheel doesn't hit a broken shopping cart. I think I'll get over my inertia and write a letter to the manager. So many more people would bike to this store if the parking were better. Right?
I bought pierogies, two pints of cherry tomatoes and some white button mushrooms. The automatic checkout asked if I qualified for a senior discount. It doesn't normally. Does the automatic checkout guess if you're old based on your groceries? Is this profiling?
When I got back to my bike, look who I saw:

The Green MF Goblin

If it's an employee, his/her shift must start around 6. Probably got there early on account of not having brakes.