Although the official Errandonnee ended earlier this week, today was such a beautiful day that I went out and did a lot of random errands on both my bikes. Three different trips below:
- Ace Hardware, Whole Foods (3.3 miles) - I ride to Tenleytown and Friendship Heights, and come home with a plant
- Neighborhood Bikeway Recon, Pete's Apizza (aborted) (2.5 miles) - I ride along DDOT's planned bikeways for 2014, 41st St. NW and Jennifer St. NW
- Bethesda via Little Falls Park Trail (5 miles) - I check out a potential route for my commute, and convince my cousins I can ride home in the dark
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| Post shopping trip |
Trips were broken up by returns home; observations are included for each.
1. Ace Hardware, Whole Foods (1.3 + 1.2 + 0.8 = 3.3 miles)
1. Ace Hardware, Whole Foods (1.3 + 1.2 + 0.8 = 3.3 miles)
The main reason for going to Ace was to grab a new daylight spectrum light bulb. This is part of my larger project in which I try to raise plants despite living in a low-light studio. I was down to my pothos, since I figured it was kinder to the jasmine and the amaryllis to have them live with D, and I couldn't manage to keep two peace lilies alive. Even the pothos is looking sad after its first year in DC, but last week we got a small lamp clamp, and the nice folks at Ace said a plain compact fluorescent bulb would be okay. I didn't quite believe them though, so I resolved to get a better light.
Another reason I wanted to go to Ace is that I wanted to check out the soon-to-be neighborhood bikeway on 41st St. NW (more on that below). So off I went on my Globe, with both a basket and pannier because I figured I would go grocery shopping as well. A short and slightly bumpy ride later, after giving iffy directions to a prospective American U student and her mother ("keep going on Nebraska until you're in the middle of a campus" and "there's a weird roundabout"), I was at Ace with bulb in hand (for the curious, the difference in spectrum is 2700k for your standard CFL vs. 6500k for the daylight CFL). The box was the length of my head! This was probably not going to fit the lamp clamp I already had, but lucky for me there was a one large clamp left--the last in the store, and possibly Ace's local stock, per the checkout guy. I also decided that I might as well get another plant, a philodendron which called for partial but not direct light. One of the employees saw me standing there with plant and light/lamp in hand and said, "That will keep it alive." He was also nostalgic about the philodendron, telling me how he had grown up with it, how it would sit next to the TV. Apparently philodendrons are from Hawaii ("like Obama"), though my plant was actually Canada-born. Ace employees are very chatty.
Observation: I sometimes tell myself that running errands by bike (as opposed to by car) curbs any impulse shopping on my part, but this is clearly not true because I have really great cargo options.
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Although most of my purchase was unplanned, the plant fit right into my bottle basket, and the lamp clamp was secured in my front basket. I almost went home because I wasn't sure what I was going to do with my stuff while at Whole Foods, but I still had my pannier and I really wanted to get milk because my morning cup of tea is not as enjoyable without it. Plus I wanted my bottle deposit.
Observation: You can leave a philodendron unattended on your bike at Whole Foods for ~15 minutes and it will still be there when you get back. Not exactly a good target for a crime of opportunity, I guess.
Anyway, two miles later I made it home with plant and lamp clamp and milk (and meat and veggies) intact, though I may have lost some dirt along the way. I looked pretty loaded down (some guy who saw me going up a slight grade commented that I must have strong legs), but the bulk was mostly from strangely-shaped objects .
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| Giving in to my pack mule tendencies |
I put everything away and set up the daylight spectrum light. It's now clamped to one of my bedside tables, where in addition to keeping the philodendron alive, I will also turn it on in the mornings to shock myself awake. I suppose I could have stayed home at this point, but why would I when it was such a beautiful day, and also if I stayed home I'd have to put away the laundry.
To me, going up on Jennifer St. from Nebraska to where it crests a little before 39th St. NW is not an insignificant hill, though it's much better than taking 36th St. NW (which Google Maps marks as bike route, and that's just wrong). What bothers me more about this route is this intersection where the cross traffic doesn't have a stop, but the angle of the road with the trees in the way really limit the visibility, and there doesn't appear to be anything to slow people down. Looking north/northwest, you can't really see incoming traffic, and they can't really see you:
Anyway, I think DDOT should put a four-way stop or other traffic calming intervention at this intersection in the process of turning Jennifer St. into a neighborhood bikeway, especially if it's supposed to be a low-volume low-speed route safe for children.
To get to Pete's I had to be back on 41st St. NW again. As I said above, the ride was bumpy--the road is currently in horrible condition. There are several more of these along the bikeway stretch:
I'm hoping DDOT will patch these up, because I still much prefer taking 41st to taking Wisconsin, and to me it's a better candidate for a bikeway than Jennifer St. The road is fairly wide, the traffic is low volume, and there are four-way stops all along the entire road (plus 2 stop lights) to slow the traffic. It also makes for an easy route to Pete's Apizza from my house. Unfortunately as soon as I locked up my bike, I realized that I didn't have my wallet and had to ride back home.
Observation: Having panniers with lots of pockets is great, until I forget to check one of them for my wallet.
3. Bethesda via Little Falls Park Trail (3 + 2 = 5 miles)
Since I was already hungry, I figured that I would go out again to get food. Instead of returning to Pete's, I went the other way to see the terminus of the 41st St. bikeway at Western Ave., as I figured I could make a run to Trader Joe's. I had walked/jogged part of this route before earlier this year, so I wanted to see it by bike. And, I also wanted to do a little scouting trip to see if this would be a good route to do part of my commute through Bethesda. I knew generally that there was some sort of path if I kept heading east, so I decided to go the long way and rode until I found it.
Observation: The key to having a good sense of direction is not being afraid to get lost. It helps if you're okay going up a hill every now and then.
After a rolling hill I ended up on Little Falls Park Trail; the route was scenic, but the path itself was not so great, even riding at a leisurely pace. Another woman passed me but she was slowed down as well, so much that we were able to comment to each other on the terrible state of the path. It made for difficult riding, and by the time I made it back on the street trying to go uphill again my legs were not feeling good, plus I was hungry.
Earlier this year the Washington Area Bicyclists Association (WABA) posted that the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) had published its proposed bike facilities for 2014. I recognized on the map that two of the roads were near me; according to the list, 41st St. NW and Jennifer St. NW were slated for facility type "neighborhood bikeway." I didn't know what this meant, so I did a little Google searching: here's a link to a short factsheet on the concept, and here's a link to more detailed plans. I was already familiar with these two streets from commuting and biking around the area, though surprisingly Google Maps doesn't typically make use of them in bike route options. Hopefully that will change soon.
Although the short factsheet states that pavement markings and signage were scheduled for Fall 2013, I knew that as of last October there was nothing to denote those streets as particularly bike friendly. So I decided I would do some scouting to see if there was anything in the works. I took the Brompton this time since I wanted to stop and take pictures (like I'm somehow less noticeable because it's a smaller bike, even though I know from experience that it's actually much more conspicuous than the Globe).
I'd actually already ridden almost the whole length of the 41st St. NW slated bikeway during my trip to Ace, so I decided I would make my way down Connecticut and check out Jennifer St. NW., on the way to Pete's Apizza. Here I am one block from the start of the bikeway, because I wasn't willing to go further down the hill:
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| Jennifer St. NW and Chevy Chase Parkway |
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| Jennifer and Reno facing Northwest, click to enlarge and see incoming car |
Looking south/southeast is a little bit better, but I feel like I have to turn my neck more than just a glance to the left to check for incoming traffic:
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| Jennifer and Reno facing Southeast |
To get to Pete's I had to be back on 41st St. NW again. As I said above, the ride was bumpy--the road is currently in horrible condition. There are several more of these along the bikeway stretch:
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| Bumpy streets near 41st near Fessenden |
Observation: Having panniers with lots of pockets is great, until I forget to check one of them for my wallet.
3. Bethesda via Little Falls Park Trail (3 + 2 = 5 miles)
Since I was already hungry, I figured that I would go out again to get food. Instead of returning to Pete's, I went the other way to see the terminus of the 41st St. bikeway at Western Ave., as I figured I could make a run to Trader Joe's. I had walked/jogged part of this route before earlier this year, so I wanted to see it by bike. And, I also wanted to do a little scouting trip to see if this would be a good route to do part of my commute through Bethesda. I knew generally that there was some sort of path if I kept heading east, so I decided to go the long way and rode until I found it.
Observation: The key to having a good sense of direction is not being afraid to get lost. It helps if you're okay going up a hill every now and then.
After a rolling hill I ended up on Little Falls Park Trail; the route was scenic, but the path itself was not so great, even riding at a leisurely pace. Another woman passed me but she was slowed down as well, so much that we were able to comment to each other on the terrible state of the path. It made for difficult riding, and by the time I made it back on the street trying to go uphill again my legs were not feeling good, plus I was hungry.
I eventually found a restaurant, and since I was basically across the street from my cousins I called them up. Long story short, we ended up going someplace else altogether, and the nice thing about a folding bike is you can leave it at someone's apartment while you go out to dinner. I actually never made it to Trader Joe's, but hanging out with my cousins and eating good ramen were worth it. By the time I was ready to go, it was dark, and my cousin's wife strenuously objected to my riding home. But I prevailed, because I have great lights, it's only a couple of miles, it's all downhill, it's fairly safe (as my cousin said, "It's Bethesda!"), and I actually really enjoy night riding (even though it's best when I'm with D).
Lighting: A 220 lumen flashlight (gift from flashlight maven D) on my handlebars, a red blinky light on my helmet, and a red solid light on my seat post.
Thus ended my would-be errandonee, on a nearly perfect riding day. I wore a skirt and slip-on shoes for the first time in months, and had to take off my light jacket halfway through my first ride. It was the kind of day that makes me love living in DC.
Lighting: A 220 lumen flashlight (gift from flashlight maven D) on my handlebars, a red blinky light on my helmet, and a red solid light on my seat post.
Total: 10.8 miles
Thus ended my would-be errandonee, on a nearly perfect riding day. I wore a skirt and slip-on shoes for the first time in months, and had to take off my light jacket halfway through my first ride. It was the kind of day that makes me love living in DC.
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