Category: #bikedc

To the Trestle and Back

Today I had the day off for Veterans Day. I still kind of like the original name, Armistice Day, the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, and all that.  It’s a decent Paul Simon song too. No disrespect to Veterans, mind you. My father was an amused Veteran. He used to tell the story that medical school students were drafted and left in school. The army would take them out to a base on Long Island and march them around. My father said they were pathetic, skinny, pale, uncoordinated. Gomer Pyles but with brains. My father stayed in the reserves through the Korean War. All this was before my time.

Having the day off, I decided to do one of my favorite rides, from my home in Mount Vernon Virginia to Bethesda, Maryland with a stop at Rock Creek Trestle. The temperature was in the mid-50s when I left with a strong northwest breeze, a headwind. You don’t get many windy days in the DC area when its warm so the breeze was a portent of many cold windy days to come.

I rode my Cross Check on the Mount Vernon Trail to Old Town Alexandria. The trail was covered in leaves and I was fearful of slipping and falling so I was extra careful. Once in Old Town I decided to leave the Mount Vernon Trail and head through most of Alexandria on a couple of newer bike trails. I picked the first trail up just off of West Street and rode it to the Braddock Road Metro station. There I zigzagged to get on the new trail that runs several miles, nearly all the way to Crystal City in Arlington. No lights. No stop signs. No obnoxious ticketing by Alexandria Police.

I rode through Crystal City and hit every traffic light on the green. This NEVER happens. My route took me on Boundary Channel Drive along side acres of Pentagon parking. Then I rode through Lady Bird Johnson Park, under the GW Parkway, up and over the Humpback Bridge, onto the 14th Street Bridge and across the Potomac River.

During this part of the ride the rear fender of the Cross Check became disengaged from its frame mount for what must have been the 20th time. I re-attached it and decided it was time for a permanent fix.

Once in the city, I rode the the K Street Bicycle Space store where a mechanic did what mechanics do and soon I had a fender that would not fall off. Knock wood. During the repair, I noticed that Paul, the mechanic most likely to play Doc Brown in Back to the Future IV, was working on an HP Velotechnik Street Machine. This is a recumbent to die for. The owner and I talked about the bike. He bought it from a Canadian for $1,500 Canadian. New this bike costs 2 – 3 times as much. The owner, who looked to be in my age cohort, rode it across the country. Dang! Bike envy!!!

Another customer came in to get her bike ready for Saturday’s Cider Ride. I didn’t have a chance to talk to her but maybe I’ll see her during the ride.

From Bicycle Space I headed up Sixth Street to check out the church whose congregation is upset by the possibility of having to share the street with a protected bike lane. Sixth Street is WIDE. I don’t see the problem here other than selfishness.

Beach Drive
Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park

I wended my way through town and up the protected 15th Street bike lane at Meridian Hill. This short hill is quite a bitch, I must say. I recovered by doing a slow lap in the park. On weekends the park is a hive of activity but today it was nearly deserted. I checked out the view of the water cascade and then headed through Adams Morgan to Rock Creek Park.

On weekends and holidays, Beach Drive, the main drag in the park, has limited car access. I rode north on the windy road, wind in my face, sun on my shoulders. It was a mighty fine ride. I made my way to the Georgetown Branch Trail and to the Rock Creek Trestle. The view from above the treetops is one of my favorites.

RC from Trestle
Rock Creek View from the Trestle
RCT and CC
The Cross Check Takes a Breather on the Trestle High above Rock Creek Park
GBT
Georgetown Branch Trail Heading West from the Trestle

After taking some pictures I headed west on the trail to Bethesda. I could tell that my body was not feeling it today. I still haven’t recovered from Sunday’s hike. I slogged on stopping only to refill my water bottles when I should have stopped to eat.

In Bethesda I picked up the mostly downhill Capital Crescent Trail and a tailwind. Ahhh.

Normally I be bombing along this trail at 20+ miles per hour but not today. I was suffering from insufficient junk food syndrome or IJFS. Don’t get this. Eat you donuts, people!!!

On the way home I rode past the Lincoln Memorial. I expected the place to be mobbed with Veterans checking out the nearby Vietnam, Korean, and WWII Memorials. There were plenty of people, many obviously veterans, milling about but I think whatever festivities there were had concluded hours earlier.

I made my way to the 14th Street Bridge and retraced my route to the south end of Old Town. Not wanting to ride the Mount Vernon Trail for the 400th time this year (a guess, but not too far off), I took Fort Hunt Road and Sherwood Hall Lane home. This is a pretty hilly route and I had nothing left in my legs so the going was slow.

Long story short:I managed to ride 55 1/2 miles on a sunny November Day. Not half bad.

A Bicycling Hostile City – Again

Once again the police of Alexandria Virginia are singling out bicyclists by means of excessive enforcement of traffic laws on the streets of Old Town, Alexandria. The primary points of enforcement are along Union and Royal Streets which coincide with the Mount Vernon Trail. The usual reason for the enforcement (sometimes euphemistically referred to as educational efforts) is not an increase in bicycle-pedestrian crashes, but rather the cranky complaints of a handful of residents. Admittedly sometimes these complaints are justified. An example is when Walter Mittys in lycra go zooming through the streets with no regard for any other road user. These people are obnoxious and deserve whatever tickets they get.

Generally speaking, however, most of the people that get ticketed are the bike commuters who probably average about 10 miles per hour during their time in Old Town. In the morning these bike commuters (like me) are riding on a virtually empty street. Personally I’d rather be focused on delivery and garbage trucks than some overzealous police officer trying to teach me a lesson.

The fine for rolling through a stop sign is $91. And cyclists get tickets for these infractions even when their transgressions have absolutely no impact on public safety. Yeah, I know the argument goes that if you obey the law you won’t get a ticket. Well, how many people who use that argument go below the 55 mile per hour speed limit on the Beltway? Now suppose I called the State Police to claim that red Toyoty Camrys are speeding on the Beltway. And then the State Police strictly enforced the speed limit only for red Toyota Camrys. “Sorry,sir, the speed limit is 55 and you were doing 57.”

While driving 57 in a 55 is technically in violation of the law, it’s almost certainly safe and is probably more safe than driving 54 (as is rolling through a stop sign at slow speed. See my first example below.) I can only imagine the traffic court judge who has to deal with scores of red Camry drivers who show up to contest tickets for going 2 miles per hour above the speed limit. He’d throw them out and reprimand the ticketing officers.

The fact is that cars on Union Street are far more of a public safety threat than bicycles. Here are three recent incidents from my evening commute.

  • One evening last week, I was being paranoid and came to a complete stop at all the stop signs. It was dark. I even put my foot to the ground. (This makes me a sitting duck to any vehicle coming up from my rear.) A Honda CRV came up behind me swerved into the left hand lane and blew through the stop sign without breaking. The car was going what looked to me like 15 to 20 miles per hour. From personal experience, I can tell you that if that car hit a pedestrian at that speed they’d be out of work for at least 3 months. Because that is what happened to my wife three years ago. The driver continued south on Union, blowing through a second stop sign before pulling over near the beach volleyball court in a park at the south end of Union. As I rode past, I noticed the driver was fiddling with her cell phone.
  • Last night I was riding south on Union when I came to a stop at the intersection at King Street. It was dark. A pedestrian wearing a reflective belt across her chest was about to walk across the street in the crosswalk. She had to stop because a car came through the intersection heading north on Union with only its parking lights on. The driver never saw the pedestrian. The pedestrian looked at me and shook her head in disbelief.
  • Two blocks later I was blinded by a northbound car with its high beams on. This blast of light backlit three pedestrians dressed in dark clothing walking across the street in mid block. Had I been going anywhere near the absurdly high 25 mile per hour speed limit I’d have hit them for sure. After I passed them, still in the glare of the high beams I spotted two more mid street pedestrians who were obscured by the intense back light.

If you think I may have contributed to this consider the following set up. I have two rear facing red lights one of which is attached to my helmet with a reflective yellow band. I have four rear facing reflectors. I was wearing a reflective vest. My sidewalls are made of reflective white material. My shoes and pedals have reflectors on them. I have one forward facing reflector and a 500 lumen light on my helmet. If you can’t see me, you obviously don’t belong behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.

My short term remedy to avoid this harassment is to use other cross streets in Old Town. Some bike commuters have suggested just riding down Washington Street, the very heavily traveled commuter route to and from DC. I honestly think we should give this serious consideration. The traffic back ups from this would be epic.

My medium term remedy is to do a study of crashes involving pedestrians and vehicles in Old Town. How many are there? When do they occur? What injuries occur? How many days of work are lost? (Wanna bet who would come out on the short end of this study?) Then use the data to enforce the traffic laws rationally.

My longer-term remedy for traffic safety in Old Town: reduce the speed limit to 10 miles per hour. Sorry drivers you’ll have to use that pedal in the middle of the floor. Replace every other stop sign with a yield sign. Enforce the traffic laws without harassment, including ticketing drivers. Problem solved.

And while we are at it, give parking tickets to the homeowners on North Union street who park perpendicular to the street blocking the sidewalk and the bike lane. I routinely see the parking enforcement patrol ignore these violations.

Impermanent Signs of Deja Vu

Advent in a bar

Forgotten first encounter

Out of the blue soup in hand

Wit texts by the fuck ton

Prepare with the pod people

A drink can last four hours

Ribs crushed by gratitude galore

Right and proper repeat

The general strikes a pose

Down the road, a bird in flight

Peanuts in an aerie

Sign your name in the park

Teach a child the score

Noodles and laughter in the middle of the road

Out of the blue brew in hand

Forgotten third wheel

Alone in a bar

Fancy Pants Bike Parking

My office building in Rosslyn has been showing some love to bike commuters. First they removed the dim florescent bulbs in the garage and replaced them with LEDs. Now I can ride into the garage with my sunglasses on. In fact, I might even need them.

This week we got a peek at the new bike parking facility. It’s activated by the same card key security system as the rest of the building. You have to register with building management to get your card upgraded for access to the bike room. It has space for 20 bikes, 18 hanging and two on an inverted U rack on the floor. It also has a bike pump and tools.

The old bike parking was lame. (At my previous job the bike racks were the same as my elementary school’s. I went to that school in the 1960s. I am not entirely sure if the racks at my current office are any better.) A bike commuter had her Cannondale road bike stolen earlier this year. Here’s what it looked like. (That’s Little Nellie on the right.I took the pump off the frame because someone stole a similar pump off The Mule earlier this year.

Bike parkingThe new bike room is more better. Here you can see one half of the hanging bike rack and the U rack on the floor. The pump is on the lower right.

Bike Room

There was an opening day card key problem. Once they activated your card for bike room access, they deactivated it for access to the gym and showers. I’m sure they’ll get it all sorted out soon.

And the Winner Is…

Nobody guessed my baseball celebrity so I’m going to buy myself a beer.

We had some really guesses that were creative though.

  • Jason Werth (left fielder and Beltway record holder) – lives in Northern Virginia and owns a dog the size of Trigger
  • Max Scherzer (starting pitcher extraordinaire) – I have no idea why
  • Jonathon Papelbon (relief pitcher) – bought a house about four miles from my celebrity sighting. For the record, the dog my celebrity was walking didn’t have a choke chain.
  • Thomas Boswell (Washington Post baseball writer extraordinaire) – I have no idea why
  • F. P. Santangelo (Nats TV color commentary dude) – I have no idea why especially since he lives around the corner from Nationals Park, about 15 miles from Fort Hunt Park

The celebrity was Nationals’ General Manager Mike Rizzo. He was wearing a lightweight vest with the zipper all the way down. Beneath it was a gray Nationals t-shirt with a big red curly W on the front. He said hi to me. I did
n’t realize who it was until I was past him. My fusiform gyrus still needs some work.

If you don’t know who Mike Rizzo is, well, tough taters to you. He assembled the Nationals over the last five years. He had to fire a whole bunch of people last month when the Nats didn’t make the playoffs. He’s had a crappy couple of months. I hope he enjoyed walking the dog.

Celebrity Cycling Quiz

One of the really fun aspects of living in DC is serendipitously spotting famous people while you are out and about. Easily my biggest get was President and Mrs. Reagan. My younger sister had come to DC for the first time. Reagan’s limo came down Constitution Avenue. We ran to the edge of the street and stood alone as the small motorcade came by. My sister waved like a lunatic. Reagan spotted her, pointed at her, and waved back!

Lesser sightings occur about once per year. Earlier this summer while drinking a beer outdoors at a DC brew pub with Katie Lee, I spotted Colin Powell standing about 50 feet behind her. He and his wife Alma were posing for a picture. We traded stories about celebrity sightings. She shopped in a liquor store next to a Supreme Court justice (I forgot which one). My wife and I shopped for a TV with Dick Gephardt, former House Majority Leader.

Once in Boston my sister and I were seated at a restaurant. Sitting behind my sister at the next table was Red Sox right fielder Dwight Evans. I didn’t tell her he was there because she would have gone berserk. He had recently been beaned and was having a miserable time regaining his ability to hit. (He ultimately became a follower of the Charlie Lau/Walt Hriniak batting system and saved his career.)

I’ve also seen Stephen Stills (at Disneyland – oddly not seeing any Disney characters on a rainy day), Hillary Clinton (nearly tripped over her at a play at my daughters’ high school), Steve Case (of AOL, who took French next to me at my daughters’ Back to School night) former Senator Trent Lott (walking across Pennsylvania Avenue in front of me as I waited for a red light on Big Nellie), George Will (at a high school baseball game), sports announcer Dick Stockton (in my cab in Boston during college), Red Auerbach (in front of Boston Garden – he passed my cab up), Archibald Cox (in the Harvard subway station), Caroline Kennedy (in Harvard Yard), John Kennedy Jr. (at Brown, several times), Dan Rather (on a DC to NY shuttle flight in the seat in front of me), basketball great Willis Reed (at my high school where he was providing motivation to a misbehaving student who’s mother was a friend of Reed), Gemini and Apollo astronaut Michael Collins (on the C&O canal towpath), and Tom Hanks (riding a bike past me while filming a movie in DC before he became TOM HANKS).

There are a many others but I know them personally so they don’t really count. Also, I can’t count the head of my government agency or other celebrities who came to events at work.

So today I was out riding my bike in my neck of the woods in suburban Northern Virginia. I was riding laps in Fort Hunt Park when I spotted a man walking his dog. He was wearing a Washington Nationals t-shirt. As I rode by I said hello and he said hello back. Only then did I realize that this man is something of a DC-area celebrity. (Okay, you have to be a baseball fan to know who he is but still I thought it was pretty cool.)

Can you guess who he is?

25 Percent Is More than Half

I am told that 25 percent of cyclists in the DC area are women. I doubted this until I did a count on my rides home from work a while ago. Perhaps the reason I doubt it is that the women I know in Bike DC are badass. Here’s a sample from this weekend.

Megan went to Tampa to do a 70.3 mile triathlon. I watched her running her last tune up running race last weekend. Suffice it to say, that Megan kicked butt in Tampa. Congratulations.

A change of plans meant that Lisa would have to work later in the day on Saturday. Undaunted, she drove over an hour to get to the Great Pumpkin Ride in Warrenton Virginia and squeezed in the 30 mile route. Well played!

Last year husband Robert had a mess of trouble with cramps during the Great Pumpkin Ride. Undaunted Reba and Robert went at it again this year. They both finished the 48-mile route in fine fettle. Maybe the beer at the final rest stop had something to do with it. Cheers.

Training, schmaining. Rachel stayed up late, watched Goldfinger, and tweeted about it instead. Then she got up early and rode a cyclecross race. You don’t expect me to finish do you. No, we expect you to die. She finished!

Michele has been training her butt off for this weekend’s cyclecross races. She has become a cyclecross maniac. And her intensity and preparation paid off with two top-ten finishes. Dang!22457806292_f315becfb7_z

Linel was between jobs so she decided to hop on a train to Cumberland Maryland with her Surly Long Haul Trucker. She rode back to her home in Northern Virginia, a 200-mile excursion in four days. On the way she was passed by Nelle, riding outbound from DC on an overnight bike excursion. Linel was rewarded with perfect weather and peak foliage. Bravo.

Mary, Queen of Caffeine, had really gotten into running this year. As a retired marathoner, I can say that running two marathons in a season is really hard. Two marathons in a month is crazy. Today she finished the Marine Corps Marathon (her fifth MCM) just two weeks after running a marathon in Shepherdstown WV. Double Dang!

So by my math:

Megan + Lisa + Reba + Rachel + Michele + Linel + Nelle + Mary >>>>>> 25%

First Freeze for a Buff-less Wonder

I knew the cold was coming. A few days ago I foraged around the house for my cold weather gear. My favorite piece of cold weather clothing is a tube of light-weight fabric called a Buff. The damned things are remarkably versatile and they are perfect for late fall and early spring weather. They also have one annoying characteristic. They disappear like odd socks in the laundry. And so my remaining black buff was nowhere to be found.

So I ordered three of them from Buff world headquarters in ironically warm Santa Rosa, California and hoped the package gods would smile down upon me and get them here before temperatures dipped into the freezing territory.

Hope, as they say, is not a plan.

Today, buffless, I did battle with the first frost of the season. I am happy to report that I emerged victorious. No noo-noos were frozen. The only discomfort came during the first three miles from home as by body heat became trapped in the three layers I wore on my upper body. In fact, the only parts of me that remained at all uncomfortable were the lower half of my face and my neck. This is where the Buff normally does its magic.

Despite my cold face and neck, I fell into a comfortable trance on the way to work, my legs fresh from having not ridden yesterday.

Temperatures rose about 25 degrees during the day making for a more comfortable ride home. There must be something about cool dry air that allows my brain to shut down into a meditative state. Or maybe it’s just the fact that the summer nimrods (who make long stretches of my summer commutes on the Mount Vernon Trail a sort of slow-speed bike slalom) were nestled all snug in their Metrobuses.

Somewhere near the airport someone headed for DC said hello. Being in my trance the voice didn’t register in my brain for several seconds making responding politely futile.

The rest of the ride home happened. I know because when I ca22326715851_78b3e50773_zme to I was putting my bike away. Somewhere in there I lost about 45 minutes of my life. There must be a wormhole just south of the airport.

At my front door was a big envelope. Inside were my three new Buffs. This time I bought them in an array of colors so they won’t blend in with all my other black outerwear (like tights and arm warmers and gloves).

So I suppose you can say my next bike commute will be in the Buff.

Beautiful Ride – Ugly Reality

The day began with crisp fall air. I was ready for it as I pit on my vest, arm warmers, and head band. Dressed perfectly, I headed north on the Mount Vernon Trail bound for DC and Friday Coffee Club. The ride in went so smoothly that as I rode onto the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River I had that strange how-did-I-get-here sensation. A tailwind and fresh legs (I drove to work yesterday) probably helped.

Coffee Club was crowded. It was good to see some faces that I haven’t seen in over a month. This definitely eased my recent feeling of social ennui.

I rode to work on the narrow side path on the Teddy Roosevelt Bridge. I stop for DC-bound cyclists because there just isn’t enough room to pass on the fly. One of them asked me if the bridge was one-way. He was new to DC and he couldn’t believe the trail was so narrow. I assured him it wasn’t. Welcome to the land of improving bicycling infrastructure.

I left work and head for home, once again assisted by a trail wind. It was a similar vibe to the morning. No discernible effort involved. I barely broke a sweat. My delight in this wonderful autumn commute came to an end. I stopped to take a picture of this sign posted next to the trail north of Old Town Alexandria just after the Slaters Lane turn off.

21608175353_450b7c6fd4_z

It’s a sad reality to the women of this area that enjoying area trails comes with this risk.

Not 100 feet after starting up again I was passed by an on-coming woman running. She had earbuds in her ears.

Every safety expert I know warns against doing this. I know it sucks and it’s unfair but you are responsible for your own safety. Whether you are trying to avoid a potential human assailant or a garbage truck you need to hear what’s going on around you.

Speech over.

The rest of the ride was thankfully peaceful. For me at least.

Be careful out there.

Hiking the Gold Mine

The thought of riding my bike just didn’t work for me today. So I decided to drive up to Great Falls and revisit the Gold Mine trail. I put the windows down and drove up the river with the windows down. As much as I hate saying adios to summer, I find driving with the windows down on a 65 degree day one of life’s pleasures. The fall foliage near DC is not quite ready for prime time. There are some yellows here and there and the occasional red tree but green continues to dominate. The GW and Clara Barton Parkways made for a lovely ride nevertheless.

Last fall I hiked the Gold Mine Trail in Great Falls Park in Maryland twice. The first hike was my way of coping with a tragedy. The second was my way of coping with the end of autumn. Both times the Gold Mine Trail did the trick.

I drove past the free parking lot near Old Anglers in. I had no need for it since my friend Kirstin convinced me to by an annual National Parks pass which gives me free admission to the park which otherwise costs $10. (Counting today, I have already used it four times.)  The parking lot was full. I was expecting to see lots of people on the trails. As it turned out, they must have been on the C&O Canal towpath or taking in the views of the falls.

21925735488_edd0e676cd_z

I began my hike along the River Trail. This trial is about one mile long and completely flat. It goes along the river bank north of the falls. It is the perfect place to get into the hiking vibe. After a mile, you hike back to the start on the towpath.

Warmed up, I headed uphill on the Gold Mine Spur Trail. For all those cars in the parking lot, the trial was surprisingly empty. During the course of my hike I encountered about ten other groups of hikers. The less said about the two groups of  LOUD talkers who don’t get the concept of a contemplative walk in the woods the better.

The spur trail leads to the Gold Mine Loop Trail. This trail rolls up and down over a modest ridge line. The footing is mostly smooth with only few hundred yards of small rocks to slow the pace. This means that you can enjoy the woods, listen to yourself breathe, and zone out. Which is what I did.

After completing the circuit, I hiked back down the spur trail. Mission accomplished. During my hike the temperature never broke 75 degrees and the humidity was low. I arrived back having barely broken a sweat.