What's the opposite of drafting??

I slept in a little yesterday, which meant that I left for work about a half-hour later than I have been the past couple of weeks. I wouldn't have thought that it would make a big difference, but the traffic along the Millennium Trail was noticeably busier. The part of the trail I ride is right next to a road with a 40mph speed limit, so in the mornings I'm going in the opposite direction of the cars next to me,  and I can feel the "headwind" as they pass by. The worst part is this long stretch starting at the bottom of a bend and going up to an overpass; I don't enjoy going uphill anyway, and adding wind resistance to that--I guess it's a good workout. Here's a picture of the general area (although this was taken in the evening, when it was much more placid):

In the mornings I head in the direction of the green arrows,
while cars are speeding next to be in the direction of the red arrows 

I actually remember dealing with the cars last year since I used to leave later, and I disliked it so much that I found some alternate routes for the first stretch of my morning ride. What is this called, anyway? Not even D could tell me, and he's my go-to source for bike knowledge:

I do know about D's drafting! I don't really mind though because I have calves of steel

I definitely plan on keeping my AM departure early to avoid this unnamed phenomenon!

Riding in the Rain For the First Time (On Purpose)!

Last year when I would do my multi-modal commute, I usually avoided inclement weather and took the shuttle from campus to the Metro. Today, I decided I would go for it, and went for my first real ride in the rain! Not that I haven't ridden in rain before, but that was usually for two reasons: 

1. I'd get unwittingly caught in a storm, or 
2. I had no way of avoiding the rain, but needed to be somewhere, so I'd suffer through it. 

I'm actually almost always prepared for the rain. My bag is built to be waterproof, my bike has fenders and mudguards, and my leather seat is usually covered; I keep bright lights with me at all times; I even pack my rain coat on days when there's any chance of rain, which is often in the summers here. I think what made the difference this afternoon was that I finally have a route that I like, so riding in the rain didn't seem like adding insult to injury (which is how I would have described a rain ride on last summer's route).

So, I set off into these conditions (right around the green line at the top, between the two thunderbolts):

I'm pretty sure I experienced the green, the yellow,
the orange, and a little bit of the red

The ride was actually enjoyable, in part because it felt like an adventure. I don't actually ride this route often in the afternoon, but it was pleasant, with minimal time riding with traffic. The worst part of the ride was getting my glasses wet, but that didn't impede my visibility as much as I feared. There was one potentially worrisome point when I was climbing, so I clutched my grips instead of my barends and watched out in case my foot slipped off my pedals; nothing bad came to pass.

My gear held up as warranted. I had never ridden with my coat in such heavy rain, but it performed well given that I had the vents and the top unzipped so I wouldn't overheat--the parts of my shirt that were completely covered stayed dry enough for me to wipe down my glasses. Everything in my bag stayed dry as well, including the items in the rear detachable pockets. In fact, I think the only equipment "fail" I had was the battery on my front light dying, but I had a spare so I was able to replace it (though the battery may be having re-charge issues). 

Anyway, I made it to the Metro and eventually back home, feeling unreasonable proud of myself the entire way.

Rain riding bona fides

Of course, one thing I hadn't considered was how to manage a wet bike in a studio apartment. I usually leave my Globe locked in the bike room, so this hadn't been an issue for me before. I had wiped down my bag and my helmet, and was starting on my frame when I remembered I had my winter boot tray hidden away--it's the perfect size for a folded Brompton! I did a little more drying (though probably not adequate post-rain maintenance, which I should probably figure out at some point), then stored my bike back in its usual corner.

Re-purposed, now a bike tray

Observation: The most reliable forecasters around here are the guys who put down the rain carpets in our elevators at work. I saw the carpets this morning and scoffed--little did I know!

Return to Bike Commuting!

Even though I'm all about errand/transport riding during the weekends, I have to admit that I hadn't really done any work bike commuting until this week. Long story short, I stopped taking the Metro/shuttle and started driving sometime in January, and I had been driving since. I'd been making noises about getting started with multi-modal commuting again, but I hadn't really committed until recently, when my cousin in Chicago started looking into getting a bike (his first as an adult). He asked my advice, got a bike last week, and was riding everywhere! And it just made me think, I can do it too!--which I knew, but I needed that push.

Though I hadn't been commuting, I was thinking about different routes to work. After a few dry runs, I had three-ish options:

• Short bike commute: Last year I only rode between the Metro and work as part of a multi-modal commute, which is a "short" bike commute in the sense that it's the shortest distance riding (though longest overall in distance and time, if you include the Metro ride). There are actually several ways to go, so I did a lot of experimenting, and settled on a route that I like earlier this year; while it's the longest distance, it's the most pleasant ride, and I don't really lose much time because it has less long lights.
• Long bike commute: I have this dream of riding the whole distance from work (~15.5 miles), so earlier in Spring I did a dry run (chronicled here). While I survived the ride, I'm not quite ready (mentally or physically) to do this during the work week. There's always next year though! 
• Intermediate bike commute: I'd been toying with trying this route as an option that was longer than my "short" commute, but more reasonable than my "long" one. It's also multi-modal, where ~4.5 miles are done on my bike, while the rest is on the shuttle between main campus and the satellite campus where I'm located. I had issues finding the route the first time I tried it, but I worked it out over the weekend (described here). I made some slight modifications to the dry run, so I think this is going to work very well. 

Of course, now that I'm getting back into the game, I've got this hot hot weather to deal with!  

More than an hour after my ride, and it remains sultry out

Although I was worried the past couple of days, I've ridden home during what feels like the peak of the heat, and I've survived! (D laughs at me for being surprised.) I've even figured out the combination of routes that I like for the morning and afternoon. I know it's only been a couple of days, but I'm feeling pretty good, plus it's nice to know that I can change it up in the future if I really want to.

What's funny is that over the weekend, before I actually rode to and from work, I was thinking that none of my options were ideal. I was wishing for a bike-friendly street running parallel to either Wisconsin Ave. or Connecticut Ave., and thinking enviously of those #bikeDC commutes through the monuments or along the Potomac or on the nice bike lanes downtown. But today on the road, I really did feel like I had a great ride. I was surrounded by trees for most of the time, and had long and uninterrupted stretches of road almost to myself. Even the segments of my ride that I shared with cars weren't that bad--I've definitely ridden along worse, even when there was a supposed bike lane.

So, my goal is to keep this up for the summer. There are aspects of the bike commute I enjoy less, but that's for another blog post. Right now I just want to enjoy my bike commute high!

Observation: Riding along six lanes of traffic is never going to be pleasant, irrespective of whether there is a bike path/lane.

The Real Deal: Intermediate Commute

Despite my misgivings yesterday evening about the new route I was testing, today I went for the real deal and my ride was actually pleasant. It helped that I made a slight modification to my route to remove one of the neighborhood cut-throughs. The other cut-through was navigable even with my big front bag on my bike (so much so that a guy on a scooter follow me up the path). Also, I got the worst part of the route out of the way early--there's a stretch as I'm getting off campus where I have to ride on the sidewalk before I can turn into the first neighborhood.

I was surprised that there weren't as many people on bikes during the ride home, not even on the Capital Crescent Trail, but I guess I'm comparing it to a decent weekend when a lot of people tend to be out (I even had a double Brompton sighting yesterday!). There were long stretches in the neighborhoods when I didn't have a lot of cars to contend with, and it was really to nice take my lane and go at an easy pace (though I still made good time).

My morning commute was good too. I took a longer route than usual to get around the problematic areas, but the quality of the ride was much improved. The only sort-of issue was when a work truck came up onto the multi-use path right as I was going down it--that really woke me up!

Anyway, after today's rides I've feeling better about my bike commute options generally. It took me a while to get here this year, but I hope to be able to sustain it.

Total miles: 8.94 (.9 + 3.6 + 4.44)

Observation: When I'm riding on a sidewalk without a treelawn next to it, I feel like I'm riding next to traffic anyway.  

Dry Run 2: Intermediate Commute Home (in which I discover theneighborhood "cut-through")

After a failed dry run in early May, I finally managed to try out my "intermediate" bike commute route. Basically I'm trying to get from Upper NW DC / Chevy Chase to the NIH campus area, where I would be able to catch a shuttle; the ride gets me 1/3 of the way to work.

If I were to drive, getting to the campus would be pretty straightforward. However, I'm not willing to take the lane and ride along Wisconsin Ave./Rockville Pike or Connecticut Ave., so I try to go along neighborhood streets. The ride itself is fine, but I get tripped up by--for lack of a better term--the neighborhood "cut-through" (or maybe there is a better term and I just don't know it?).

I'm defining neighborhood cut-through as a little path that connects two streets (or sometimes trails) at a point where there is no other nearby street to connect them. The entrance to these paths can be hard to spot if you are going too fast, as they look like they might be leading to someone's backyard. I made the mistake of thinking this during my first attempt at this dry run, and ended up turning around because I was afraid I'd be trespassing onto someone's property. It was only after some careful study of Google Maps Street View that I realized I there was a path between some overgrown bushes (see image below).

Cut-through from adjacent street to Capital Crescent Trail

If I had to guess, I would say that the intended function of these neighborhood cut-throughs is to serve as pedestrian shortcuts in neighborhoods with irregular street designs, where people would otherwise have to walk several blocks out of their way if they wanted to go "straight" through the neighborhood. This is great for walkers, and in theory it could be great for bikers--the route I planned was definitely the most direct one for what I was trying to accomplish. In practice, however, it was not a great bike route: as I said, I missed the first one when I tried my dry run in May, and then today I missed another, as entrances tend to be hidden among houses and lawns. When I did manage to find the cut-throughs, I usually had to dismount and walk my bike through the gravel and mulch. Even if I attempted to ride, they were often narrow, some of them have barriers which I have to navigate slowly to avoid scraping my legs against them. Then the cut-throughs open abruptly onto the street and sidewalk, where walker and drivers aren't on the look-out for a biker bursting through the bushes.

Anyway, on the route I tried today, there are no less than four cut-throughs (see image below), two of which are ways of entering/exiting the Capital Crescent Trail. It's a ride of about five miles, and I'm not going fast by any means, but these cut-throughs slow me down even more. On the way home I tried another way that was marked "Bike Route" and there were just as many cut-throughs (so maybe someone thinks they're bike appropriate, but I disagree).

Orange arrows indicate cut-throughs along route
Yellow arrow other cut-throughs in the area I've tried

As I'm not a big fan of these cut-throughs, I'm not sure what to make of this commute route. I don't know that I have very many other options because I don't want to ride on a busy thoroughfare. I've tried riding through downtown Bethesda to get from the NIH campus to home, but that was miserable in a different way. So I guess I may have to keep trying, but for now it's a viable option, even if it's not an ideal one. And I haven't even mentioned what a pain it is to cross Rockville Pike to get to campus!!

Observation: There are a lot of standalone basketball hoops on driveways in the Bethesda neighborhoods between Jones Bridge Road and East-West Highway.