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.

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.

Two Hikes near Harper’s Ferry

A friend of mine used to hold health retreats near Harper’s Ferry. If the weather was good, she’d take her guests for a hike. I honestly don’t know where she took them but when I started hiking I search for hikes near Harper’s Ferry. There are two hikes that are very popular. They each include an overlook with spectacular views of the Harper’s Ferry area.

I began at the Harper’s Ferry train station. My year pass for all national parks allowed me to avoid the $10 parking fee. Thanks again, Ultrarunnergirl.

Off I hoofed across the railroad bridge from Harper’s Ferry to the C&O Canal towpath, all the while looking at Maryland Heights across the way. I am going up there? I headed northwest along the path for a half mile, crossed the empty canal, and a two-lane road and the climbing began on the Maryland Heights hike.

Up, up, up. This trail is relentlessly up. And steep in some sections. I was breathing pretty heavily until my lungs caught up with my legs. I took a side path to what I thought was the overlook but it was just an old battery. The Heights were strategically important in the Civil War. There are batteries and a fort along the trail.

Up some more. The trail began to narrow and become rockier. I hate rocks in a trail but that’s what most of the trails in this area are like.

I crested the hill and now found myself winding back down to the overlook. More rocks. The leaves on the ground made footing slippery. Soon I was at the overlook. Well worth the effort, especially on this beautiful fall day. A young couple was canoodling so I decided to take a couple of pictures and head back up to the main trail. On the way up I must have passed 20 people coming down. So much for canoodling in peace.

Back on the main trail I took a right to climb to a ridge line. It was really steep and rocky but I just kept at it. Soon I arrived at an old stone fort. I would have hate to have had to build this thing. There’s no structure to the fort, just stone walls.

During my hike I twice was passed by a group of ultramarathon runners. Essentially these people are speed hikers. How they managed to move so fast without turning an ankle is beyond me. They were apparently doing and out and back run because I saw them again about 30 minutes later.

I headed back down on a mercifully smoother trail paralleling the ridge. Judging from the number of people coming up, this must be one of the most popular trails in the area. I was grateful to have arrived before the crowds.

Back on the towpath I headed south east for about 3 miles. The views of the river were magnificent and the sound of the water rushing over the rocks was incredibly calming.

I was now on the Weverton Cliff hike. This also the Appalachian Trail. I ate my apple and watched a parade of 20 fully loaded hikers coming my way as I walked to the steep trail to the cliff. This sucker is tough going. I would not want to do it with a full backpack. The backpackers that I saw were pretty scruffy but they moved with deliberate speed. Not fast, exactly, but they were relentless and focused.

Across the railroad tracks, up a side trail, under a highway, up some more trail, across a street and the real fun began.

Up into a seemingly endless series of switchbacks. The bigger trees had all dropped their leaves but the undergrowth was bright yellow and orange in the slanting fall sunlight. It’s good to have pretty when you are suffering.

On the Maryland Heights descent I fell when the leaves gave way under my feet. I just landed on my butt and slid. As I climbed up to the cliff and woman did the same thing right in front of me. She just laughed it off.

Switchback after switchback then finally a sign pointing the AT to the north and the overlook to the south.

I had to hike down a few extremely hundred yards to the overlook but the view was really excellent. The sun had come out and I basked in its warmth for a few minutes as I watched the sunlight glittering over the Potomac River.

I dreaded the hike down but found it to be surprisingly easy. I passed a woman who looked to be well into her seventies. I sure hope I am that fit when I am her age.

I made it back to the towpath in good shape and headed for Harper’s Ferry. At this point I was wishing I had brought more than one apple. I was hoping I wasn’t going to hit the wall. I started following a guy with a backpack on. He didn’t seem to be putting any effort into his stride but I still could not keep up with him.

So I looked at the sunlit yellow leaves, watched a bunch of vultures soaring next to the rock face of Maryland Heights and enjoyed the final two miles as much as my tired body would allow.

If I were to come back to Harper’s Ferry I think I’d park at the base of Weverton Cliff, hike up to the overlook turnoff and take the AT north. Despite all the rocks, it was a pretty damned nice hike. Maryland Heights was just as hard but the crowds would put me off a return.

My Flickr page has all the pix I took.

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.

The 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.

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.

October by the Numbers

I didn’t cover nearly as many miles this month as last. Of course, last month I was on a plane going around the world and rattling about Australia and Asia. This month I rode 594 1/2 miles. 331 1/2 miles were aboard Little Nellie, my Bike Friday. Another 88 1/2 miles covered while riding The Mule, my 1991 Specialized Sequoia touring bike, to and from work three times. The rest of the mileage was from weekend rides aboard my new Cross Check.

I rode to work 14 times and did one 67-mile event ride, the Great Pumpkin ride.

I also did two hikes: one in Great Falls Park in Maryland, the other in Prince William Forrest Park in Virginia.

For the year, I have ridden 6,263 1/2 miles. About half that total was on The Mule. Another 2,500 miles were split between Little Nellie and Big Nellie, my Tour Easy recumbent. My Cross Check now has 541 miles on it. I’ve done 135 bike commuted for a total of 4,127 miles.

I’m trying to pace myself. Honestly.

I Bike and I Vote

Today was a pretty nice day to be a bike commuter. On the way to work Little Nellie asked me to take her picture at Dyke Marsh. So I did.

I don’t remember much about getting to work. That’s a good sign though. It means I was in my trance.

My body hasn’t adjusted to standard time yet. I woke up at 5:25 and my body said, “Let’s get going.” This meant that I could leave work a little early. About a mile from the office I spotted the Washington Monument bathed in a faint red glow so I stopped and took another picture.

I wasn’t planning on voting today. I am really, really sick of politics. And my area of Fairfax County is so Democratic that most of the local election results are a fait accompli. During the day, however, I read Bree’s blog post about biking to the polls. It’s important for everyday cyclists like me to show up at the polls, not so much for our vote, but simply to wave our political flag. This year it was a way to demonstrate my support for the brand new bicycle lanes on Parkers Lane which happens to be where the school that houses my polling place is.

One nice residual effect of the bicycle lanes is that drivers are going a lot slower. Unfortunately, one driver, apparently afraid he wouldn’t get to vote, came flying into the school parking lot as I was leaving. My vote won’t matter a whole lot to me if I am dead. It’s going to take more than bike lanes to change the culture in Fairfax County.

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?

The Sartorial Perils of Bike Commuting

Like everything else in life, bike commuting involves risks. You just don’t know what’s around the corner. It could be a runaway garbage truck, a dog off its leash, a cop with a ticket book, or any number of other dangers. One risk does not present itself until after you arrive at work: the sartorial shortage.

Over the years I have forgotten my underwear, my shirt, my belt and my socks. Today I forgot my socks. Since my biking socks were mostly black and I didn’t have any meetings to look presentable for I just used them. I didn’t have to because I have a sartorial back up plan.

I have stashed a change of clothing in my office. Since I am only going to wear this stuff once or twice a year they are not my finest threads but they’ll do in a pinch. So think ahead. You don’t want to go to that big meeting with your client. She might frown upon your lycra business shorts.