The perils of not riding a bike

Remember how I said I would blog about biking?  Well, here's my first blog post about biking--actually, this is more about not biking.  And why not biking sucks.

Here are the reasons why, when it is raining, you should not look out the window and go, "Bleh, it's raining.  I think I will ditch my bike."

1) Once you're used to biking, walking is so slow.  So say, if you're walking to an event after work that's "only" a mile and a half away (from L'Enfant to Union Station), that mile and a half will feel more like a day and a half.  Especially in the rain.

2) Waiting for the bus for 20 minutes when you could've walked home in 20 minutes just doesn't make any sense.

3) Bethesda Metro Station at morning rush hour = hell.  Except for that guy who plays the trumpet in the tunnel.  I really like that guy, and if I carried cash on me once in awhile, I would totally give him a few bucks.

4) Biking is free.  WMATA is not.  Even for old people--they even make them pay.

5) I have a raincoat and rain pants for a reason, and while they do look superbly dorky, I will not melt.  It's just water.  If it were precipitating hot, sizzling oil or balls of lead, however, that would be another thing.

6) Being a pedestrian is scary.  I feel like I'm even less visible on foot than I am on a bike.  Would it be totally ridiculous to walk around wearing bike lights all the time?

So even though the Metro DOES drop me off basically in front of my building both ways, and even though I can be a lazy slob from time to time and I enjoy passive commutes where I get to read, biking really trumps all.

For the record--this is my bike.  Her name is Vancouver.  Don't mock.

Just so you don't think I'm a COMPLETE lazy slob, however, I should mention that I did bike around the entire District of Columbia this past Saturday with a friend.  That's right--the whole gosh darn thing.  And while it's "only" 43 miles, have you SEEN Southern Avenue?  It's pretty much careening hills the entire way with little to no shoulder.  Had I been thinking harder about it, I would have taken more photos and blogged the experience, but because I'm not in tremendous shape, I was busy trying not to die.  As proof, here is a photo of me at the intersection of Southern and Eastern Avenues.

 And there's the route.  As intense as WAGBRAD?  No, but pretty darn cool all the same.  I should also mention that the route we took had us on US-50 (New York Avenue) for about a half mile, and the calories I burned from the adrenaline of sheer panic caused by crossing over exit/merge lanes with cars zooming along at 65 MPH was easily (easily!) worth the seven extra miles of the "actual" WAGBRAD ride. 

I was also really surprised at the conscientiousness of drivers along the route.  You always hear that "Oh, drivers outside NW aren't used to cyclists, so it's really dangerous to bike there." Or maybe you don't hear that, but I do.  I'm going to make a bold leap and say that's a claim largely supported by anecdotal evidence.  There is that video of the guy getting harassed and hit (in SE?), but I am SURE similar things have happened in the "safe" part of the city.  Maybe people just say that because those areas are poorer and more "dangerous"--I dunno.  I bike through Bethesda all the time, and it's full of assholes behind the wheel.    

Anyway, My traveling companion and I did not get honked at once.  We got a lot of stares, sure, but we did look pretty funny trundling along around DC with our light touring gear.  And I got hollered at a couple of times, but that's the unfortunate side effect of having a blond ponytail sticking out of your helmet and cycling tights that make it WAY too obvious that you're a girl.  My favorite were the couple of times when people rolled down their windows to shout encouraging (not nasty) comments...that was pretty nice.

I guess the moral of the story is to be careful wherever you bike and to not make snap judgments about the safety of this or that area based on socioeconomic conditions.

Actually, speaking of crazy bike rides, a co-worker of mine, avid cyclist, writer and bike mechanic Matt Wittmer, recently put out this awesome book entitled Where to Ride?.  He spent a lot of time researching good routes around DC, and it's a really nice compilation.  Full-color illustrations, route notes, maps, advertisements for great cycling organizations, etc. Totally worth your money even if you're a veteran DC cyclist!

It's supposed to be pouring again tomorrow, so we'll see if I heed my own advice.  Heading to Bethesda tomorrow night, however, and the Capital Crescent Trail in the dark and the rain kind of sucks...oh, the dilemmas.