TGIF - 1/13/2012

Yesterday was gorgeous - sunny, light breezes and almost 60 degrees.  My training schedule had me off for the day but it was just too much to let the opportunity go.  The boy was super supportive, making sure my lights and SRM were all charged up and that my bike was ready to roll when I arrived home.  Since I've been unable to shift my working hours as of yet, I've been stuck doing the horrid 5pm commute with the rest of DC/NoVa but I (temporarily) accepted it ... I was going to ride in the out-of-doors on a weekday in January!!

I managed to leave the office by 5:15.  Flew through the Rt 7/Chain Bridge road intersection - honestly, I couldn't believe my luck as that area is usually a disastrous time-drain.  I took the left onto Chain Bridge road and noted that it was a little heavy around the 66 exit but didn't think much of it.  Just past that exit, things got really ugly.  It was a parking lot.  The traffic light ahead was taunting us by turning green every two minutes or so but we weren't moving.

Ok, maybe it wasn't quite THIS bad...

As an added bonus, it was either amateur hour or "let's see who can pull the dumbest move" day.  People were jamming up lanes to make U-turns, driving on the shoulder or in the grass if there was no shoulder, squeezing in between cars where there was no room, thereby blocking both lanes until someone let them in ... you name it, I saw it last night.  The absolute highlight was when a police vehicle (an unmarked SUV) decided to shove through a 2 lane, stand-still parking lot on Chain Bridge road.  There are no shoulders to speak of and I believe most of the drivers were paralyzed - what does one do to get out of the way of the police when there's truly no place to do it?  By this time I had given up on frustration and simply watched with humor as the people around me played bumper-cars.

I finally turned off at Military Road.  Close to home, but not close enough.  There was a jeep in front of me FLYING down the road.  I exchanged humor for anger as I watched him whip around corners, straddling the bike lane all the way down.  Thank goodness there were no brave souls out doing recon for the Tuesday Night Ride course.  It's a bike lane, people, it's not for your wanna-be NASCAR driving.  If you were really a race car driver, you wouldn't need the extra lane anyway!

Speaking of Bike Lanes - well worth the 3mins to watch this if you haven't already seen it!                              

I finally arrived home a right around 6:40.  A solid hour and a half to go 12 miles.  The boy was sweet and understanding as I methodically pulled on my riding gear and announced that I needed to go, no matter how dark or late it was, because I needed to get this out of my system.

I was happier the moment I clipped in, and happier still as I charged up the hill into Clarendon.  I made it down to HP in record time and enjoyed the fact that I was just a smidge over-dressed.  My iPod was shuffling a good mix and I was on my bike.  At that very moment, that's how it needed to be.  I had one NCVC guy pass me as I was spinning on the front-side of the course but aside from that, I didn't see another soul on the bike.  I hoped it's because everyone had already been out to enjoy the temporary warmth.

I can't take credit for this gorgeous shot - click on the link for more photos from ArtBoredom/CycleBoredom

Two laps around HP and it was time to go home.  For that blissful hour and a half, though, the world was all good and I was simply content to play on my bike.