Category Archives: Biking

DC by Bike — Cycle Track and Tour de Fat

Prior to my arrival in DC, Natalie’s husband, James, had mentioned something about a bike-related event hosted by New Belgium Beer (that also included music and beer) on the Saturday I would be in town — the Tour de Fat.  My friends and I weren’t making solid plans at the time, so I filed it as a possibility for later consideration.

Despite not having all that much information about what it entailed, other than some kind of costumed bike parade, followed by various musical performances, we decided to check it out.

On Saturday morning, after a quick early morning bike outing for pastries and toilet paper (I carried the latter lashed to the rear rack on the bike), I once again hopped on Chrissy’s bike and joined James, a regular DC bike commuter for the ride down to the riverside park area near Navy Yard.

I’d planned a route using 13th Street (a nice road with two lanes of traffic in each direction and no bike lanes) to connect to Pennsylvania Avenue, where I was going to check out (i.e., cautiously ride in) that center bikeway.  In the name of flexibility, I ditched those plans to go with James’ suggested route (something he knew well as part of his regular commute), which involved using the 15th Street cycle track.

DC cycletrack image from velotraffic.com
DC cycletrack image from velotraffic.com

This was my first time encountering a cycle track as a cyclist, and, while better in some ways than a standard door-zone bike lane, I didn’t feel particularly comfortable there.

General thoughts on the cycle track:

  • Not sure how much bike traffic this particular cycle track sees at peak times, but I could see it feeling claustrophobic.  The “lane” in each direction was certainly not roomy.
  • What the heck would you do if you needed to make a turn from one of these things?  Certainly not anything that follows the normal rules of the road and/or normal traffic flow.  I guess the safest option would be getting off the bike and crossing the street as a pedestrian?
  • The cycle track poses many of the same risks as other forms of edge-riding behavior, especially right hooks and left crosses.
  • I attempted to be very vigilant at each and every intersection, but that’s really a poor substitute for riding in a visible position as part of the normal flow of traffic.

Anyway, I obviously survived my cycle track experience and a bit of sidewalk riding as well (not in any hurry to repeat the latter).  We made it to Navy Yard in time for the Tour de Fat bicycle parade, and, despite the promise of a slooooow five miles in high temps with midday sun (and our lack of awesome costumage), we decided to join the parade.

It was fun, despite the excessive UV rays I absorbed.  I estimate that somewhere between three and five hundred cyclists took to the streets of DC for the parade. I soaked up the energy and enthusiasm of the group, which included great costume inspiration for future rides, cute kids on their parents’ bikes, and people pulling bike trailers rigged with big speakers to provide tunes for our ride.

We ended back at Navy Yard and met the rest of our crew to take in the various festivities: drum corps, various musical performances, food trucks, and a live, bicycle-themed recording of The Moth radio show.

I did snap a few photos on my phone’s not-so-great camera (the real camera was in Florida, capturing this), but they’re really not worth posting, especially since you can check out this nice, photo-heavy recap.

Thus more or less ended my DC cycling experience, since we used the Metro to get home after the event.  I’m not sure when I’ll be back, but I’ll definitely be up for more biking!

DC by bike — Part II

So somewhere between running two miles on pavement in Five Fingers (after having not run at all in several weeks) and walking around our nation’s capitol last Thursday, I developed shin splints.

As I walked to meet Chrissy for dinner at Mandu (a Korean restaurant) that evening, I winced with every step and wished I’d ridden her bicycle instead (I chose not to due to lack of night time riding gear, i.e., lights, reflective vest, etc.).

A note on the food front — I’d scoped out veg-friendly restaurants ahead of time, making note of some that sounded interesting (and affordable) and were not too far from my friends’ apartment.  Mandu was the only one on my list that I actually visited on this trip.  I ordered the vegetable mandu (dumplings) and a noodle soup-type dish — both were okay, but not particularly noteworthy.

We made it back to her apartment after dinner, with me looking longingly at the bicylists that passed by, where I began plotting a bicycle excursion for Friday.  My friend Natalie, who has almost zero experience cycling on the streets of DC, had agreed to accompany me (with lots of experience cycling in StL, but zero experience cycling in DC) on an adventure.

She was nervous about cycling, period.  I was nervous about heading out on unknown streets (apprehension applicable to both driving a bike or a car in an unknown, traffick-y urban area).  I knew we could have a good experience on my familiar StL roads, but what would happen in DC?  I desperately wanted it to go well and be a positive experience for Natalie.

From my time walking around DC, I’d already seen a variety of bicycle infrastructure “improvements,” including the standard door-zone bike lanes, as well as some variations, including a two-way segregated bike lane (on 14th St. NW, I believe) positioned between the sidewalk and a lane of on-street parking and the two-way bikes lane right smack-dab in the middle of Pennsylvania Ave.  DC felt like a veritable hodge-podge of cycling facilities.

Armed with a DC bicycle map, I plotted our route with a very specific and simple goal: avoid streets with bike lanes!  I picked Rock Creek Park as a destination, and chose a straightforward route to minimize turns (less to have to remember).

On Friday morning, I pumped up my adopted bicycle’s tires (it was lonely, ahem, Chrissy) and rode to pick up Natalie.  My short solo ride did a lot to boost my confidence that riding a bike in DC is not so different from riding a bike in StL, and that our excursion could, indeed, be a positive experience for my friend.

We rode south on 6th St. NW, and then headed west on P St. NW, which took us to the south end of Rock Creek Park.  On our way, we navigated the slightly crazy traffic circle at Logan Circle and opted to become pedestrians and walk around the very crazy DuPont Circle (having experienced it that way, I was all prepared to bike through it on our return trip, but it was so congested, we decided walking would be faster).  The trickiest part of the entire ride was figuring out how to connect with the trail in Rock Creek Park, which we rode north for a bit to the zoo.

We retraced our route back to Natalie’s place for some much-needed cooling, refueling, and rest time (temps in DC were in the low 90s the whole time I was there, making most every endeavor — walking, biking, sitting — a sweaty one).

With that, it looks like we’re working on a three-parter here, since my Friday riding left me wanting more.  And more there was!

DC by bike (and foot and Metro) — Part I

After a few solo days in StL last week, during which time I clearly had a bit too much time on my hands (as evidenced by a blog post ev.er.y day for seven days in a row), I skipped town and headed to our nation’s capitol for a much needed mini-reunion and ladies’ weekend with some fabulous college friends.

I was on the fence about the trip, but the direct (non-stop) Southwest flights from StL to DCA (Ronald Reagan International Airport) sealed the deal.  (Southwest offering flights to DCA is a relatively new thing — exciting b/c DCA is much closer to central Washington, DC, i.e., much more accessible by transit.)

Natalie met me at the airport with a spare SmarTrip [transit] card, so I didn’t even have to navigate the Metro by myself (it was actually fairly straightforward).  After dropping off my bags, and picking up our friend Jennifer, we walked to Sweet Green, a DC-area made-to-order salad restaurant.

Having overdosed a bit on lettuce in the days leading up to the trip, a salad place might not have been my first choice, but the combination of close, fast, healthy, and affordable kept me from voicing any hesitation.

Fortunately, they had some base options other than just lettuce, and I chose a combination of kale (one green which has been missing from my life recently) and warm grains.  I was excited to see that many of their ingredients were sourced locally, including the kale, [hard-boiled] eggs, and homemade spicy pickles that I chose for my salad.  Tasty and a fun twist on a “regular old salad.”

I was up early on Thursday morning, so I headed out for a short run, destination Bicycle Space, a local bike shop that carries Yuba bicycles.  (The day before I left StL, I had the brilliant idea to find a Yuba dealer in DC so I could take the Mundo for a test ride.)  The run turned into a bit of a scavenger hunt, as the shop had moved, and the address I had was their old location.  I tracked down their new shop, knowing they would not be open that early, but planning on some window shopping.

I returned from my run with my brilliant plan in jeopardy, having not seen any Yuba bicycles in the shop.  I waited until opening time to call the shop, where an employee confirmed that they did not have any Yuba Mundos in stock, but they were expecting a shipment soon.  Not soon enough for this visitor, but they helpfully directed me to a different bike shop in the DC-area.

Natalie graciously offered to drive me to The Green Commuter, in the near suburb of Takoma Park, MD.  Ironic that my one car-trip of the visit was to ride a bicycle, especially given the name of the shop.  But there it finally was — a Yuba Mundo in real life!

The shop employees were great, adjusting the bike for me and letting me take it for a spin, knowing that I was from out-of-town and wouldn’t actually be making a purchase from them.  So, yeah, no photo evidence, but I finally rode a longtail (and one of the bikes we are considering).

After driving back into DC, we grabbed a quick lunch and hopped on the Metro to the National Mall area, where we spent the afternoon walking, browsing museums, etc.  It was super hot, but I somehow resisted the temptation to cool off in the fountains that we passed.

I’ll pause there for now.  Check back later this week for DC — Part II, which includes much more biking than just a test ride (as well as the limited number of photos I took on the trip)!

On the bike: Promoting civility and good will

I last left you with a tale of a less-than-pleasant transaction on the road.  While these encounters are noteworthy, they are also rare.  On some level, I interact with every motorist with whom I share the roads on a given ride, and most times these are neutral encounters (though a neutral encounter is a good encounter in my book).

I prefer to make note of the good encounters, which seem to be on the rise of late.  Case in point, several blocks after the aforementioned negative encounter, I noticed a motorist behind me as I approached a red light.  I was to be the first person in the queue (going straight), and I noticed that the motorist had on a right turn signal.

Given the limited space on the street we were on, I knew that she would be less than a foot from my body when she made her turn.  I was perfectly happy to move left to let her pass, but I wanted both of use to come to a stop first, to facilitate a slow, safe pass.

I signaled my intention to stop (something I’m doing a lot more of these days) as I looked back and made eye contact with the driver.  Once I was stopped, I intentionally shifted a bit farther left and motioned for her to proceed with her turn.  She made her right turn on red, and after a couple of minutes, the light changed and I headed on my way.

A few blocks later, I approached a stop sign (again signaling my intention to stop), and noticed a vehicle coming up beside me.  I was bewildered and, at first, a bit annoyed that the driver couldn’t stay behind me and take her turn, until I recognized the woman from the stop light.

She rolled down her window and proceeded to praise my biking, noting the good communication (through the use of hand signals) and thanked me for embodying the idea of “sharing the road” (unlike many other cyclists she’d encountered.  Talk about affirmation — she took the time to backtrack and find me just to thank me for following basic rules of the road and observing basic courtesies!

I thanked her in turn for her courteous driving and handed her a CyclingSavvy card, explaining that I ride what I teach.

——

This post seems like a good note on which to end Bike Month.  It also marks the seventh day in a row that I have posted, something that certainly has not happened since Gabriel was born!  So on that note, I’ll take a little break.

On the bike: To honk or not to honk?

It was a quiet Sunday on the roads as I headed home from church at midday.  Nearing home, I was riding a stretch of curvy road, approaching a four-way stop.  Less than one hundred feet from the intersection, I noticed a motorist on a fast approach from the rear.

Something told me that passive discouragement through lane control (i.e., riding toward the left) was NOT going to discourage an unsafe pass.  I added the arm signal for “stop” indicating my intention to stop at the intersection, followed by active discouragement.

The young man behind the wheel chose to ignore all my attempts at communication and sped by me, cutting me off at the stop sign (where he kind-of, sort-of, maybe stopped) before gunning it through the intersection.

Fortunately, there was no oncoming traffic at that moment, but I was quite irked by the fact that he felt justified putting me and other [theoretical] road users at risk in the name of gaining ten, maybe fifteen, seconds.

And so I honked.  I have this horn, which I wrote about a long time ago.  My riding mentality has changed a bit since I wrote that post, and I’ve questioned Matthew’s assertion that a loud horn is a “necessity.”

I use mine rarely these days, most often if I’m approaching an intersection where I have right-of-way, or an alley with an exiting motorist, and I am unsure whether the motorist sees me (despite my highly visible roadway position).

I try NOT to use the horn in situations like the one described above, where the motorist clearly saw me but chose to operate his/her vehicle unsafely anyway.  In those situations,  a blaring honk may give me a bit of satisfaction, but it rarely does anything to change the behavior of the motorist or create a civil interaction.

Sure enough, the motorist continued his reckless driving after passing me (and very emphatically giving me the finger), making a high-speed left turn into a narrow alley half a block after the intersection.  I was through the intersection at that point, and close enough to hear some kind of a shout.

When I drew even with the alley, I was horrified to see a family assembling on bicycles outside their garage.  The motorist in question must have very nearly mowed them down, likely the cause of the startled [and angry] exclamations.

Seeing what had nearly happened to an innocent family, I couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty.  Had my unnecessary honking fueled road rage and exacerbated his poor driving which almost ended in tragedy?

In the end, I know that I don’t control other road users’ behavior.  Giving this motorist’s previous behavior, there’s a decent chance he would have made the turn too quickly regardless of my actions.

However, the event reminded me why a loud, attention-getting horn is not always a good thing, as it can escalate situations that would be better ignored, increasing hostility and incivility on the roads.  I’m thankful that, at least in this instance, the motorist’s poor choices didn’t injure anyone.

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The ride actually ended with a VERY positive motorist interaction.  Stay tuned for that post later in the week!