Bike to Work Day

Friday was the Official Bike to Work Day, which I got to participate in for the first time ever. I was worried about the crowds initially, and I almost decided not to do it. Crowds and I don't get along so well. But I know the route pretty well, and Kevin assured me it wouldn't be too bad. Sure enough, it wasn't significantly more crowded than a typical day. Things got a bit backed up at intersections and pit stops, especially the Gallows light, which takes four minutes to cycle through, but other than that it wasn't bad.

Well, that's not entire true. One of the pit stops was a bit of a disaster in the morning. They'd blocked off one of the small roads that the trail crosses, which I initially thought was nice. It removed a stop sign at the bottom of the hill that's usually more annoying than anything else. But as I got closer I saw the traffic cones they had set up. They had made a weird, zig-zagging course across the road that was only wide enough for one bike at a time. We had to take turns crossing from either side. If that wasn't bad enough they rang cowbells and blew kazoos at us while we were traversing the cones. They were probably trying to cheer us on, but it felt more like mocking.

Thankfully the other pit stop I passed held off on the cow bells and just offered water and snacks instead.

The ride home was better because Falls Church pit stop had removed the cones from the road. They still had the cow bells, but I was able to speed through the intersection. However, people seemed unusually angry in the afternoon. A lady leaned out of her car window to yell at a biker crossing the street. Another guy yelled at a guy for having a blinking headlight on his bike and then either stopped or turned around to pursue him, because he fell off the trail after that. Kevin says people get angry like that a lot. I guess I just saw more of it because there were more people around.

The whole thing was mostly fun, especially since the weather was perfect. I didn't get a t-shirt, because I would never wear a t-shirt, but I got to bike to work and pass a lot of people who don't normally bike to work. And now I'll keep biking until it gets too hot and/or humid to do so. Here's hoping summer holds off for a while yet.