In which I ramble a lot

Since I was working at Union Station yesterday, I got to bike downtown for the first time in about 2 weeks (3 weeks?) and it was glorious.  I rode out of the cereal bowl that is Glover Park with great gusto, and soared down Massachusetts Avenue with the wind in my hair and the sun on my face.  Actually, to be fair, I kind of creeped up Wisconsin then trundled down Massachusetts, my very rattly lock shaking to and fro in my rack, but whatever.  It was fun.  The only real obstacle was the few pedestrians near the Dupont Farmer's Market.

I have a bad habit of singing songs to myself as I ride, and usually there's one stuck in my head for no reason at all--yesterday morning it was "Oh Atlanta" by Alison Krauss.  Lord knows why.  I'm not even Southern. Generally, I only know about half the lyrics, so I sing a small part (usually the chorus) very loudly, then I make up words about what I'm doing to kind of fit the song ("I am crossing...thruuu this reeedd liight...because...there are no ca-aars") and the like.

While Massachusetts would have taken me all the way to Union Station, I despise that road past about 11th Street, so I cut over to Pennsylvania Avenue.  On the 15th Street cycle lane, I passed a group of guys in chef pants who were leisurely talking, laughing and making their way down the road.  I think they got offended that I passed them, though, and they quieted down and tried to race me.  Those situations are always a little awkward--I just chose to ignore them.   Anyway. It was a fun ride down Pennsylvania, and if you've never ridden downtown early on a Sunday morning, I highly recommend it.  It's a sense of freedom to be able to, say,  shift lanes and turn left onto Louisiana Avenue without anyone honking at you or being practically mowed down by a tour bus.  There were quite a few other bikers and joggers out, I assume because the weather was beautiful.  Who would know it was January?  In fact, on Saturday, I read a book on my roof deck.

On the way back, I took Mass Ave into Glover Park (I loooovvee Observatory Circle because it avoids the worst part of the hill...), passing a gentleman with a super bright vest and 3 blinky back lights.  Sir Blinks-a-Lot, I dubbed him.  He was very well-equipped for the dark--certainly better than me, as I only have a single red LED on the back of my helmet. 

From Glover Park, en route to Friendship Heights, en route to Bethesda, I noticed on 45th Street a sign that said "BEWARE OF DOG" posted on the fence of a yard with a small white terrier.  He/she barked (or more accurately, yapped) at me.  Sometimes when a dog gets all freaked out that I'm passing on my bike (or even just walking by), I bark back or stare it down...I resisted that urge yesterday because there were people around, which was probably a wise decision.

I took Wisconsin into Bethesda, because unfortunately, the other options all suck equally.  You have to be really, really careful along that road at night because there are massive potholes and uneven pavement close to the curb, and the streetlights become non-existent for a short stretch going into Bethesda.  I usually plant myself as close to the middle of the lane as I can....fortunately cars usually have enough room to go around me. 

There's a new pizza place opening on Wisconsin Avenue, just past the Bethesda border.  I think it's going to be called Haven, probably as in New Haven style pizza (apizza?)....it's close to Stromboli, which has my loyalty, so this newcomer will have to be pretty damn good and also cheap to live up.  But yay, pizza!

ANYWAY.  All told, I think I rode about 18 miles yesterday, which was a nice change.  My thigh muscles started twitching at work yesterday, as if they were being woken up.  I need to find other weekend excursions beyond biking to one of my places of employment....