More weather induced bliss

Another glorious commute. Oncoming cyclists and pedestrians returned my "good morning"s and Bike-to-Work guy -- I wish I could remember his name! Dave? Doug? Craig? -- hailed me as we crossed Ruritan Circle in opposite directions. Maybe tomorrow I'll holler out "I'm sorry, I've forgotten your name!" Too many syllables, probably.

I remembered to wear wool gloves this morning and my fingers didn't freeze. My chambray shirt, cotton tank, jeans, and boots kept me comfy without overheating me. I'm still working on keeping my speed down when riding Beatrix to work. As I sloooowly approached a jogger, I thought to myself that I could've blown past him on Lily. But Beatrix deserves a gentler pace. I do wish I'd caught up to the cyclist at Waxpool and Smiths Switch, though. I just missed the light.

Traffic was again gentle on the two lane surface road section of my commute and heavy but considerate on the four lane section. I've been too chicken to dive into the left turn lane into the campus ahead of cars and have instead turned right onto a dead end and then dashed across all four lanes when there's a break in traffic, which is something I've rarely done on Lily or Circe. I guess the less aggressive posture of Beatrix makes my riding in traffic less aggressive.

Something else I've been doing is whipping off my helmet once I enter the campus so that my hair will dry some while I still have a bit of a breeze before parking in the garage. So far, so good, and I feel like a rebel. Rawr.

More damage

To me. The bikes are fine. In fact, it took Scott longer to put the bike on the back of the truck than it took for the bike mechanic to shift the horn/brake assembly back into position on the side portion of the handlebar. Apparently, the actual metal part of the handlebar was completely unscathed. I had no idea that the horns could bend so much! Now I just need to take a Sharpie to the edge of the brake handle and Circe will be back at 100%.

Friday night I rode my hybrid over to B's house and then rode the trails around her house with her. It would have been a faster trip to her house, but she's getting used to riding again and is on a hybrid so I took the slower bike with new combo platform/SPDs. These SPDs are pretty tight as I discovered when I lost momentum going up a hill, lost my balance, and couldn't unclip before falling sideways into a ditch full of thorn bushes.

Good times.

B. pulled my bike off me and then hauled me out of the thorns. She also kindly pulled a couple of thorns out of my upper arm. I washed off the blood and we resumed our ride. I felt fine when we got back to her place and decided to ride back home. The traffic was kind of heavy for a Friday night, but I've gotten pretty comfortable around cars. I amused myself by hitting and maintaining the 25mph speed limit on a residential street which meant that the car behind me couldn't (well, not legally anyway) pass.

I hopped on the W&OD in Old Town Herndon for the trail leg of my trip and ran into a bit of trouble when the trail was CLOGGED with teens who were ignoring the concert happening on the green behind City Hall. I slowed way down but when a girl darted out in front of me, I went down hard on my right side.

The kids around me were horrified and helped me up, gathered my belongings which had fallen from my basket, continually asked if I was okay, and apologized again and again. I thanked them for their help and told them that I was very nearly a professional faller and I was okay. One of the boys said, "In that case..." and began to clap. I bowed, we all laughed, and I hopped back on for the final leg.

When I got home, Scott was horrified to see the bloody scratches on my left arm and leg, fresh bruise on my right arm, and streaks of blood from knee to ankle on my right leg. He's looking to develop a line of cycling clothing made of bubble wrap for me. I think I may simply need to go back to wearing leggings over my cycling shorts. I never got banged up like this when I was fully clothed.

Due the cuts and bruises and stiffness and soreness, I stayed home from the group ride today. I was disappointed to make that call this morning, but as of tonight I've realized that was the best choice. Scott and I will take our own trip out to Purcellville and back tomorrow. Oh, and he's going to loosen the clips on my pedals a tiny bit so I can yank my feet out more easily and not escalate injuries.

Muahaha

Hey, guess what! I experienced my first near run-in with an aggressive driver this morning. A FedEx box truck sped up behind me, horn blaring, and wouldn't pass in the clear left lane. I'd drifted over to the far side of the right lane but that, and the aforementioned clear left lane weren't enough. S/he sped past with a foot or two to spare.

Hey, guess what else! My dad has worked for FedEx from the time the company was still located in Little Rock, Arkansas. I made note of the exact time and location of the incident and phoned him with the particulars. Unfortunately, I did not get the license plate number but the powers that be can track exactly which truck (and driver) was on that route at that time.

Oh, how fun!

Update: Received a call from the managing director for this region who says they are investigating the issue and that he appreciated my bringing this to the company's attention. He won't be able to share any disciplinary actions as they are company confidential, but he says they will determine who the driver was and take steps from there. I want to make sure this driver doesn't threaten or hurt another cyclist or a pedestrian.