3/22/12
Ride Home 3/22 will be posted tomorrow, if I remember or have time
In lieu of that, you can read about my trip to through the Cherry Blossoms last year.
Ride In 3/22: How many pints in a bushel?
The highlight of the spring season in Washington, DC, America is looking at trees, specifically the cherry trees that George Washington didn't chop down after we beat the Japanese in World War II. My history might be a bit fuzzy on that, but it doesn't change the fact that this time of year makes all Districtians (the collective name for those of us who live in the District of Columbia, I think) exorbitantly arborphilic and angry at outsiders who dare come into our territory with the same affliction. So, rather than head to the nearest Chili's, I took in my preferred awesome blossoms, by bicycling southwesterly through the Capitol Hill/Eastern Market/Capitol Hill region via South Carolina Avenue, which was fine, but a bit bumpy. Perhaps as an homage to its namesake state's overall anachronism and backwardness, SC Avenue is not paved with asphalt, but have an old school brick finish, which as I just wrote, makes for a bumpy bike commute. Glad today wasn't "Bike Your Faberge Egg to Work Day," and I'm equally glad that's not a real thing.
South Carolina left me on E Street SE and then I ended up at a park and staircase that I mounted took my to New Jersey Avenue. Perhaps there's a more ADA compliant way to reach NJ Avenue, but I didn't bother looking for it. On NJ Avenue, I saw some police and their bomb sniffing dogs sniffing (the dogs, not the police officers) around some parked tour buses, presumably for bombs, but maybe also for random chicken bones left on the ground. At least that's what Ellie the Poodle tends to sniff for, and abscond with, when given the opportunity. But then again, Ellie the Poodle is not a trained K-9 unit dog and that decal that I've stuck to my car indicating as much is wildly inappropriate and maybe even fraudulent.
While there are other ways to cross the blossoms from chez nous (namely along M Street to Water to Maine), I wanted to take New Jersey to I to check out the new bike lanes. I parallels M and both would arrive me (is arrive transitive?) at the Waterfront, where I coulda been a contender, but instead would just be a bike commuter.
The I Street bike lanes are perfectly serviceable or at least would be were they not so blatantly ignored. First blocked by construction and then blocked by some parked construction vehicles and then blocked by parent drop off at a school, they aren't exactly "respected," assuming one can actually respect the space between two white stripes. To add insult to insult (for there was no injury), my coffee mug flew out of its holder after I hit a bump on the west side of South Capitol, careened a bit, landed in a puddle, and emptied most of its contents (coffee) into the puddle (brackish water). I worried that the mug was broken, but upon later inspection, it appears not to be. A little scratched around the surface and a little dinged, but otherwise ok. Stopping to pick up my mug allowed me to notice that the I Street bike lane stops for about 20 feet on the west side of S. Capitol before picking up again. I don't know why, but it might have to do with the width or the road.
7th to Water Street to past the fish market. I would've taken a picture of the Fish Market, but elected not. Any picture of the Fish Market would look like it's been put through the Instragram filter for "dingy." Oh well, that's some local character. A few bicyclists heading along the path and a few joggers, but the volume of people didn't pick up until the other side of 14th street, where the blossomage begins.
Kids, don't try this at home, most because your home doesn't have cherry blossoms to film while biking past. No idiots trying to take video with their phones were injured during this taping.
Fun fact: soundtrack to first cherry blossom video includes my half-whistling Ke$ha! (This makes me a terrible human being!)
Now you don't have to come here. Also, if you want to see what the Memorial Bridge looks like in the morning fog, here's a picture:
After the blossoms, it was a quick trip up the Rock Creek trail, past the Kennedy Center and over to K Street. K Street to Wisconsin and then uphill. Man, I love that Wisconsin climb. It's rare that this happens to me on a commute, but I got into one of those rhythms where my legs just felt really good and I was just churning through the climb and didn't feel tired or sluggish and wasn't really thinking about anything except how good my legs felt as I worked my way uphill. This is why I bike. This isn't:
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| A line of stopped cars |
It's just not fun to get stuck in car traffic. For anyone, really.
At Wisconsin and Mass, I saw a campaign worker holding a Shapiro sign, trying to get drivers to honk. No one honked. So, I think that means Biddle, huh.
I don't think I'll be posting tonight, though I will be riding home. I've got a meeting at which I (amongst others) aim to foil a plot by a corrupt politician and evil billionaire from destroying our neighborhood. It's very epic and whatnot. It also involves a offensively named sports team and an Armory, presumably in which is stored armor. More info here, if you care to know. Otherwise, see you all tomorrow. I mean, in a way.
3/21/12
Ride Home 3/21: This won't be long
I rode home tonight via the BicycleSpace Bikesnob Ride of Mayhem and this took me through downtown and past the White House and Lincoln Memorial and up to the top of a parking garage next to Nationals Park and the whole thing was a little surreal, since I'm normally not commuting surrounded by a pack of 100 other bicyclists. It was a good time and I saw some people that I know from the #bikeDC twitter and some other people I know from real life and met at least one person that I hadn't met before, so that was good. I also did talk to the Bikesnob and the one thing I said was both lame and factually inaccurate. So, that was my brush with a famous bike blogger. Regular posting will resume tomorrow.
Hugs and kisses,
#TFTS
(Remember when I did this those other times? Yeah, it's still awkward.)
Hugs and kisses,
#TFTS
(Remember when I did this those other times? Yeah, it's still awkward.)
Ride In 3/21: Unlimited Toppings for $9.99
My commute this morning left my misty eyed, not so much from wellsprings of emotion, but from the mist, which was abundant, getting in my eyes, which were open. I couldn't tell if it was actually raining or just very muggy (both, I think) and in any case, I wasn't wearing a jacket and didn't have my lights on, didn't bring coffee, and even forgot my helmet. The time change, even though it's been around for a while, is still reeking wreaking havoc on my morning preparedness and I could barely leave even ten minutes later than usual in a manner that even came close to resembling coordinated and thought out. At least I remembered my bike. My advice to would-be bike commuters includes: remember your bike, but also remember your other stuff, like a change of clothes if you need them or a lock. I think if I got to work and forgot to bring my lock with me, I'd turn around and go home. Some things aren't meant to be.
I rode behind some sportier looking bicyclists today, she in blue and he in a bright yellow and lycra shorts, but with beat-up gray sneakers in place of beat-up bike shoes, which is what I would've expected. We stuck together most of the way down Penn, before she turned and then it was just me and bright yellow shirt guy. Most of his bright yellow shirt was obscured from view by a large backpack, to which was affixed his lock and a cord and a bunch of lights. I always like to notice how people transport their locks (note: I'm lame). I tend to throw mine inside of a bag, but some people stow them underneath seats and others allow them to dangle from handlebars, which scares the crap out of me. Some suggest that you store leave your lock at work, so as to avoid having to carry it around, but that precludes stopping somewhere on the way home and I frequently make trips to the store/bar/ostrich farm and I need to be able to lock up my bike to shop/drink/look at ostriches, so that doesn't really work for me. Easy, impromptu stopping is one of the best things about bike commuting.
Witnessed a curious interaction/altercation at the intersection of H street and Madison Place, at the White House security bollards. I was riding north, past the security guardhouse and through the metal bollards and two cyclists were riding through the bollards in the opposite direction. Another guy, riding on the sidewalk and not through the bollards, shouts over "But you didn't answer my question. I want to know if this is an authorized vehicle or not." His tone sounded a bit angry, so I feel like he was trying to prove some sort of snarky point, but maybe it was just because he was yelling and it sounded a lot meaner than it actually was meant to be. The conversation was prompted no doubt by the sign on the H Street side of the security bollards that says something like "Authorized Vehicles Only," which in all likelihood probably doesn't mean bicycles. But, so what? My general opinion about bicycling through places is 1) try to follow the law concerning the directions of traffic flow (as in don't bike the wrong way dow a one way street) and 2) assume you can bike somewhere until someone actually tells you that you can't. If the guards didn't want people biking through there, they'd say something or put up caution tape, like they used to. But in the absence of that, unless they tell you otherwise, just assume that biking there is fine. At least that's what I do.
More bikes on 15th than I would've expected. Getting a little congested. Bike congestion is a problem like too many puppy snuggles is a problem.
I think I saw a homemade bakfiets, outside of the Ross Elementary School on Q. The basket was a big rubbermaid tub and it was in the back of the bike rather than the front. I'm not sure if children were supposed to go in the tub or maybe it was for storing sporting equipment or something. I've noticed more bikes outside of the school lately, which I think is a great thing because maybe it means the likelihood of my getting clipped by a careless parent driver during kid dropoff time is slightly diminished. I'm sure I've written this previously, but I suspect that the greatest violations of bike lanes come during parent drop-off or pick-up time. Or maybe during National Ignore the Bike Lane Day, which is a really stupid holiday that we ought to abandon. Next year I'm so not gonna get a AAA calendar.
I like the spring time because it means more drivers have their windows open and I can listen to what they're listening to on the radio. I also don't like the spring time for the same reason. It's rare that I'll sing along or dance, mostly because of those things would make me seem crazy/like I'm having a seizure, but I would encourage the more talented/whimsical of you all to try it and let me know how it goes. If it goes well, we can call it the Kelly Clarkson Effect and I'm sure we could get the whole velosphere writing about how drivers treat you better if you treat every ride like it's an American Idol audition. It'd at least be good for a few posts here.
Some guy might have tried to race me up Massachusetts, but he did it from the other side of the street, so I can't say for sure. I've noticed more bike traffic on Mass coming from the direction of Ward Circle to Wisconsin, including a bunch of people on CaBis and a number of other commuter types. I haven't noticed any additional bike traffic along Nebraska, but this is fairly unsurprising, since the part of Nebraska I ride parallels a big parking lot.
I rode behind some sportier looking bicyclists today, she in blue and he in a bright yellow and lycra shorts, but with beat-up gray sneakers in place of beat-up bike shoes, which is what I would've expected. We stuck together most of the way down Penn, before she turned and then it was just me and bright yellow shirt guy. Most of his bright yellow shirt was obscured from view by a large backpack, to which was affixed his lock and a cord and a bunch of lights. I always like to notice how people transport their locks (note: I'm lame). I tend to throw mine inside of a bag, but some people stow them underneath seats and others allow them to dangle from handlebars, which scares the crap out of me. Some suggest that you store leave your lock at work, so as to avoid having to carry it around, but that precludes stopping somewhere on the way home and I frequently make trips to the store/bar/ostrich farm and I need to be able to lock up my bike to shop/drink/look at ostriches, so that doesn't really work for me. Easy, impromptu stopping is one of the best things about bike commuting.
Witnessed a curious interaction/altercation at the intersection of H street and Madison Place, at the White House security bollards. I was riding north, past the security guardhouse and through the metal bollards and two cyclists were riding through the bollards in the opposite direction. Another guy, riding on the sidewalk and not through the bollards, shouts over "But you didn't answer my question. I want to know if this is an authorized vehicle or not." His tone sounded a bit angry, so I feel like he was trying to prove some sort of snarky point, but maybe it was just because he was yelling and it sounded a lot meaner than it actually was meant to be. The conversation was prompted no doubt by the sign on the H Street side of the security bollards that says something like "Authorized Vehicles Only," which in all likelihood probably doesn't mean bicycles. But, so what? My general opinion about bicycling through places is 1) try to follow the law concerning the directions of traffic flow (as in don't bike the wrong way dow a one way street) and 2) assume you can bike somewhere until someone actually tells you that you can't. If the guards didn't want people biking through there, they'd say something or put up caution tape, like they used to. But in the absence of that, unless they tell you otherwise, just assume that biking there is fine. At least that's what I do.
More bikes on 15th than I would've expected. Getting a little congested. Bike congestion is a problem like too many puppy snuggles is a problem.
I think I saw a homemade bakfiets, outside of the Ross Elementary School on Q. The basket was a big rubbermaid tub and it was in the back of the bike rather than the front. I'm not sure if children were supposed to go in the tub or maybe it was for storing sporting equipment or something. I've noticed more bikes outside of the school lately, which I think is a great thing because maybe it means the likelihood of my getting clipped by a careless parent driver during kid dropoff time is slightly diminished. I'm sure I've written this previously, but I suspect that the greatest violations of bike lanes come during parent drop-off or pick-up time. Or maybe during National Ignore the Bike Lane Day, which is a really stupid holiday that we ought to abandon. Next year I'm so not gonna get a AAA calendar.
I like the spring time because it means more drivers have their windows open and I can listen to what they're listening to on the radio. I also don't like the spring time for the same reason. It's rare that I'll sing along or dance, mostly because of those things would make me seem crazy/like I'm having a seizure, but I would encourage the more talented/whimsical of you all to try it and let me know how it goes. If it goes well, we can call it the Kelly Clarkson Effect and I'm sure we could get the whole velosphere writing about how drivers treat you better if you treat every ride like it's an American Idol audition. It'd at least be good for a few posts here.
Some guy might have tried to race me up Massachusetts, but he did it from the other side of the street, so I can't say for sure. I've noticed more bike traffic on Mass coming from the direction of Ward Circle to Wisconsin, including a bunch of people on CaBis and a number of other commuter types. I haven't noticed any additional bike traffic along Nebraska, but this is fairly unsurprising, since the part of Nebraska I ride parallels a big parking lot.
3/20/12
Ride Home 3/20: Hex Nuts in my Bridge Mix
Another night, another dream, but always you. That's not a related in any way to bike commuting, but instead it's a lyric from German eurodance hitmakers of the early 90s, the Real McCoy. I'm tempted to end this post now and just walk away, self-revoking my blogging privileges forever.
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But I'm not actually going to do that. We must press on, sort of like those guys in World War I, who went over the top of the trenches, knowing full well that they would be gunned down by machine gun fire or mustard gas or ravenous attack squirrels or maybe only the first couple of those things. I don't know in this analogy whether I'm the machine gunner and you, the nine readers, are the cannon fodder or whether it's the other way around, but what I do know is that once this was a bike commuter blog and I've drifted rather far away from that in these opening paragraphs and asterisks.
I saw a license plate on a jeep that read IMCUJO, as in "I'm Cujo," as in Cujo. I didn't know he knew how to drive. It is far too easy to get a driver's license in this country. First Cujo starts driving and then Cujo starts getting "confused" about red top meters. It's a slippery slope and if you're anything like me, you'd rather not have an evil ass nightmare dog slipping down this slope in your general direction.
Speaking of slopes, I'm inclined (get it?) to mention my ride down Mass, which saw me, briefly, riding behind another bicyclist for the first time in a long time. He seemed ok about the whole thing, except when we got towards the bottom of the hill, he veered into the right-turn only lane and seemed confused as to what to do next. I took that opportunity to decide to ride around him, then found myself on the sidewalk and then found myself trying to get off the sidewalk, then found myself back on the road and then found myself cut off by a minivan. I guess I found myself a lot of places, but I hadn't realized that I had been so lost, especially considering it's the same ride I always make. Another night, another dream, or something like that.
Profusion of bicyclists out. I tend to notice them more when they're about to inch out into my path. There's nothing, in my opinion, wrong with a bicyclist making his way to the front of a queue (of traffic, not like, at Wendy's or something) in order to be more visible and maybe get a jump on traffic. All within reason. It sometimes becomes precarious when the "jump" on traffic is the same as the "jump" into the approach of other oncoming traffic, so I don't like that part very much. Exhibit good judgment.
I ended up behind one of those guys that people "know" that they're faster than and choose to shoal, but I shoaled not, lest I be shoaled, like it says in the Bible maybe. Speaking of the Bible, I'm pretty sure if Saul were driving on the road to Damascus, he probably would've just thought it was sun glare. Anyway, I, rode behind this guy for a block because there wasn't enough room between cars to move out of the bike lane to pass him and it turned out that it was completely fine because it added roughly no time to my actual commute and I'll never understand for the life of me why people do rude things like shoaling and passing people within the bike lane. Seriously. Get a stop watch and time it. The amount of time you "gain" will ne negligible, if it exists at all. Empiricism. (I believe Empirical waists are really big in experimental fashion. I'm not an expert.)
Some problem on 11th. Many police cars and an ambulance. Only one automobile, which makes me think there was a pedestrian involved. The road was blocked to cars, but I rode through in the bike lane and no one seemed to mind.
Gather around everyone and hear the tale of the epic battle of superbiker vs. breakaway sweat pants. Gather in a metaphorical sense, whatever that means. Superbiker first passed me between 9th and 7th. I dawdled, since I don't like to pedal whenever I see a red light. The color red makes me lethargic. For example, I've never been able to eat a bag of Skittles without falling asleep. Not only was this guy clad in superbiker attire, it was team superbiker attire and he must've been on his way somewhere or nowhere because really, I never know these things. People don't give me their bike itineraries before they go places because bike commuters are not like small aircraft and I'm not the FAA. Not yet at least. Anyway, after the light turns green at 7th, I slowly push down on the pedals, superbiker already out front a good ways, before a guy, from this point forward known as "breakaway sweat pants," on account of, you guessed it, hisshirt breakaway sweat pants, passes me and moves to pass the superbiker. On the right. Superbiker keeps pace, obviously, for he is super, but then drops behind the guy as he has to leave the opposite direction bike lane in which he was riding for some reason. So, sweat pants is in the lead, and it's one of those race-but-not-a-race-but-really-a-race sorts of things and he's stays in the lead through 3rd street, before a red light stops them both. Between 3rd and the Capitol, superbiker catches up and he's back in front going into the circle in front of the Capitol. You can tell that this "race" wasn't especially fast since I was able to keep pace, but still. Superbiker takes the path, breakaway sweat pants takes the road, but superbiker starts to open up some distance, even though he's slowed by the pedestrians and tourists and emu. And superbiker makes it to the top of the hill and defends the honor of superbikers everywhere and breakaway sweat pants guy goes I'm not sure where because he never reappeared on East Capitol, which is where the superbiker and I were headed. I saw the superbiker pass a woman on a Segway (not a tourist) and then I don't know where he went. With that story, I've managed to, once again, lower the bar for epic.
Speaking of bars, I'm wondering what the most appropriate post-bike commute beer is. Not the best beer, which we all know isn't a beer at all, but Tonic & Soda, a curiously non-alcoholic beverage that tastes terrible, but the one most appropriate to consumption after a bike commute, a bike commute being a physical, but relatively mundane, task that you do every day that isn't exactly super special, but requires some deal of minor exertion. So, not the beer that you would drink after a Century or a long ride, but the workaday beer of midweek, job-well-done-but-not-a-big-deal-but-still-good-for-you-for-doing-it tasks. I guess this beer could also taste good or be quenching in some way.
I went to the store, as is my wont, and bought a bunch of vegetables and some vanilla yogurt. Onion smoothies for dinner! Or not really. I should be good for blogging tomorrow morning, but I might be taking the evening off on account of Bikesnob ride at BicycleSpace. If you're attending, I look forward to seeing you there. If you're not attending, I look forward to seeing you through my palantir. Or maybe some other time.
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*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
But I'm not actually going to do that. We must press on, sort of like those guys in World War I, who went over the top of the trenches, knowing full well that they would be gunned down by machine gun fire or mustard gas or ravenous attack squirrels or maybe only the first couple of those things. I don't know in this analogy whether I'm the machine gunner and you, the nine readers, are the cannon fodder or whether it's the other way around, but what I do know is that once this was a bike commuter blog and I've drifted rather far away from that in these opening paragraphs and asterisks.
I saw a license plate on a jeep that read IMCUJO, as in "I'm Cujo," as in Cujo. I didn't know he knew how to drive. It is far too easy to get a driver's license in this country. First Cujo starts driving and then Cujo starts getting "confused" about red top meters. It's a slippery slope and if you're anything like me, you'd rather not have an evil ass nightmare dog slipping down this slope in your general direction.
Speaking of slopes, I'm inclined (get it?) to mention my ride down Mass, which saw me, briefly, riding behind another bicyclist for the first time in a long time. He seemed ok about the whole thing, except when we got towards the bottom of the hill, he veered into the right-turn only lane and seemed confused as to what to do next. I took that opportunity to decide to ride around him, then found myself on the sidewalk and then found myself trying to get off the sidewalk, then found myself back on the road and then found myself cut off by a minivan. I guess I found myself a lot of places, but I hadn't realized that I had been so lost, especially considering it's the same ride I always make. Another night, another dream, or something like that.
Profusion of bicyclists out. I tend to notice them more when they're about to inch out into my path. There's nothing, in my opinion, wrong with a bicyclist making his way to the front of a queue (of traffic, not like, at Wendy's or something) in order to be more visible and maybe get a jump on traffic. All within reason. It sometimes becomes precarious when the "jump" on traffic is the same as the "jump" into the approach of other oncoming traffic, so I don't like that part very much. Exhibit good judgment.
I ended up behind one of those guys that people "know" that they're faster than and choose to shoal, but I shoaled not, lest I be shoaled, like it says in the Bible maybe. Speaking of the Bible, I'm pretty sure if Saul were driving on the road to Damascus, he probably would've just thought it was sun glare. Anyway, I, rode behind this guy for a block because there wasn't enough room between cars to move out of the bike lane to pass him and it turned out that it was completely fine because it added roughly no time to my actual commute and I'll never understand for the life of me why people do rude things like shoaling and passing people within the bike lane. Seriously. Get a stop watch and time it. The amount of time you "gain" will ne negligible, if it exists at all. Empiricism. (I believe Empirical waists are really big in experimental fashion. I'm not an expert.)
Some problem on 11th. Many police cars and an ambulance. Only one automobile, which makes me think there was a pedestrian involved. The road was blocked to cars, but I rode through in the bike lane and no one seemed to mind.
Gather around everyone and hear the tale of the epic battle of superbiker vs. breakaway sweat pants. Gather in a metaphorical sense, whatever that means. Superbiker first passed me between 9th and 7th. I dawdled, since I don't like to pedal whenever I see a red light. The color red makes me lethargic. For example, I've never been able to eat a bag of Skittles without falling asleep. Not only was this guy clad in superbiker attire, it was team superbiker attire and he must've been on his way somewhere or nowhere because really, I never know these things. People don't give me their bike itineraries before they go places because bike commuters are not like small aircraft and I'm not the FAA. Not yet at least. Anyway, after the light turns green at 7th, I slowly push down on the pedals, superbiker already out front a good ways, before a guy, from this point forward known as "breakaway sweat pants," on account of, you guessed it, his
Speaking of bars, I'm wondering what the most appropriate post-bike commute beer is. Not the best beer, which we all know isn't a beer at all, but Tonic & Soda, a curiously non-alcoholic beverage that tastes terrible, but the one most appropriate to consumption after a bike commute, a bike commute being a physical, but relatively mundane, task that you do every day that isn't exactly super special, but requires some deal of minor exertion. So, not the beer that you would drink after a Century or a long ride, but the workaday beer of midweek, job-well-done-but-not-a-big-deal-but-still-good-for-you-for-doing-it tasks. I guess this beer could also taste good or be quenching in some way.
I went to the store, as is my wont, and bought a bunch of vegetables and some vanilla yogurt. Onion smoothies for dinner! Or not really. I should be good for blogging tomorrow morning, but I might be taking the evening off on account of Bikesnob ride at BicycleSpace. If you're attending, I look forward to seeing you there. If you're not attending, I look forward to seeing you through my palantir. Or maybe some other time.
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