Sadly, my plans were foiled as there was some kind of construction on the Wilson Bridge that shut down the sidewalk. I don’t how I could have possibly foreseen this, since there didn’t seem to be any information online about the closure, and I’m not sure if I’ve ever been as annoyed as I was when, after riding ~18 miles, I could not get to my destination. Just kidding, I was even more annoyed 5 minutes later when I discovered that bikes were not allowed on the ferry across the river and that there was no good place to lock my bike on the Alexandria side of the bridge.

This obstacle aside, this was one of my favorite rides in the DC region (maybe one day I will do a post with all my favorites, although some of them are gone now that the Capital Crescent Trail is offline). It is iconic in every way (except for the leg through Brentwood/Mt Rainier after leaving the Metropolitan Branch Trail) and hits most of the best parts of biking in the area. This route can easily be extended further south to Mt. Vernon.

Notes on route and photos below:

– Ride full off-street length of Metropolitan Branch Trail to protected bike lanes near Union Station.

– Ride along National Mall to Jefferson Memorial

– Cross 14th Street Bridge, ride down Gravelly Point and connect to trail parallel to the GW Parkway, sadly I don’t have pictures of the cool boardwalk or marina that you get to ride by

– Amazing ride for miles to the Old Town waterfront, followed by amazing views from the Wilson Bridge (and option for a detour to Jones Point)

on-street bike lane in Old Town Alexandria

I think this is a water treatment plant or something

you get to ride by many murals

Jones Point!

I felt very safe on the Wilson Bridge, unlike other bridges in DC that are too narrow to pass cyclists and pedestrians comfortably

being directly in the National Airport flightpath is another fun part of this route

you can see DC from the Wilson Bridge on a clear day

I wish I had been able to ride this more times. I hate driving in National Harbor but even I cannot hate on sitting by the water there. A great option for a nice day, no intense elevation, 10/10 would ride again.

I had nearly forgotten about my application a few weeks after I submitted it, when I was telling a friend about my issues at church, and he told me out of the blue that he’d known my friend Katie (he’d read the post linked above). I had an odd feeling that I’ve only had a few times – the phrase that comes to mind is “somebody walked over my grave” – and sure enough, the next morning, I woke up to an email from the Unitarian Universalist Association informing me that I’d received a scholarship making it possible for me to go to General Assembly. If this wasn’t enough of a sign to stay put at All Souls, the day following, I heard from my colleague, L, in Columbus: she was coming to DC and wanted to meet, so, I didn’t even have to contact her first to ask her about staying at her place!

I was so happy to be able to meet L for the first time in person. Working with her as a client was such a thrill – I could always sense that a person of immense curiosity and intellect, who shared my passion for libraries, was on the other end of the line when we used to have our weekly client phone call, but she is even kinder and more generous and funny than I could have imagined. Here are my favorite pictures from the first time we met IRL, when we did the cocktail flight at BarMini.

I’m glad that I have put in the time at the church. I don’t know if Unitarian Universalism figures into my spiritual path long-term, but in the meantime, it has brought me some wonderful things. I’ve attended IAF community organizing training for a second time, met some very nice people, and have been able to observe different leadership styles and group dynamics than I am used to. Navigating small conflicts within the young adult group has made me a better listener, less inclined to gossip, and more inclined to give people the benefit of the doubt.

I had a nice time at the Service of the Living Tradition, and loved seeing my friends from All Souls on stage singing under the direction of our church’s musical director.

I’m very grateful for the opportunity to spend some time in L’s apartment, too. Being around a new friend who has been so kind has made it clear who in my life isn’t reciprocating the good vibes I try to put forth in all my interpersonal relations.

I am so lucky to have a friend like L. Girl makes me want to raise the bar on hospitality to guests.

I was disappointed to miss two attractions in Columbus that weren’t on my radar until it was too late to visit: first, the significant collection of Dale Chihuly glass at the Franklin Park Conservatory (I really love the Chihuly chandelier in the Renwick), and second, the Lustron House that is permanently in the Ohio Historical Society after a three-year visit to MOMA. Getting to Columbus is pretty cheap, so I’m hoping to make one more trip back there before L moves.

I loved going to see the Columbus Clippers with L’s brother and his wife, and their friends Toast and Stove.

I only go to minor league baseball when it’s PGCMLS/Summer Reading night at the Bowie Baysox, so it was really a treat to go to a game smack in the middle of downtown! Here are some pictures of the stadium, and Toast and Stove’s family and friends.

The main library branch in downtown Columbus reopened just in time for my trip, too. That deserves its own blog post over at the library-specific blog I’m trying to force myself to update. First, though, I want to rave about Columbus’s coffee scene. The city (which has an adorable downtown visitor’s center) distributes little passports for participating coffee shops and craft breweries, and gives you freebies if you bring your completed book back downtown. (Unfortunately, they don’t let you keep the book as a souvenir, but the t-shirt they give out is pretty nice!)

How cute is this, though?

The coffee shop that stood out most for me was the Roosevelt, which plugs back into some social causes and serves Destination Doughnuts, which were SO GOOD.

Something that really struck me was how much SPACE a lot of these businesses had. It was wild having the places go on and on once you got inside. Can’t recall the names of everywhere I went, but man, all the places on that coffee passport were great!

I also enjoyed going to Columbus Fest in the awesome park near the convention center.

Jenni’s ice cream was kind of overrated, but the central market in Columbus was nice. I rode the bike share a lot and loved it.

Thank you to everyone who made this such a great trip, especially to the new friends I met from All Souls and to the loveliest of hostesses, and the loveliest of lemurs.

Well, why stop there? There’s a very active Women & Bicycles DC-centric group on Facebook….

WABA’s Trail Ranger Coordinator, Ursula, replied quickly. WABA was already on it:

but Ursula got them to play along when I pointed out that the #bikepool hashtag wasn’t super-convenient (librarian skills at work!)

@WABADC we need a hashtag to get this trending. #wmatabikepool ?

— Anita, librarian (@Anitalifedotcom) March 15, 2016

My friend and former DDOT coworker Stephanie got the party started:

@WABADC Mt Vernon Triangle to Navy Yard, I'm there for you. Shoot me a note if you're aiming for a 8:30 ETA #wmatabikepool

— Stephanie Dock (@PlannerOnTheGo) March 15, 2016

Within an hour, a WTOP reporter had picked it up:

it's official #wmatabikepool is a thing…lots of meetups being planned right now. Are you planning on a little early #biketoworkday ?

— Kate Ryan (@KateRyanWTOP) March 15, 2016

And, I guess it made the Post’s local blog, too. So cool!

Love, too, that Takoma Park’s excellent La Mano coffee shop gave it a shout (promotions from local businesses are my favorite!):

Calling all those going from #Takoma or #takomapark doing #wmatabikepool Stop by for a 10% discount on food or drinks Wed AM starting 7am.

— la mano coffee bar (@lamanocoffee) March 16, 2016

And, full-circle, Nelle Pierson, Deputy Director at WABA, gave me some love back home on Women & Bicycles.

So fun watching this unfold on social media – can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings! My roommate and I will be hanging out looking for stray cyclists at the Lamont Street bikeshare station (free 24 hour memberships!) at 8am. I’ll probably try to take some photos of folks on bikes before starting my telework day back at home!

Ride safely, everyone!

It was warm enough for my Pearl Izumi 3/4 length tights, my Dominators (toe covers on chillier mornings), light padded gloves, and various long-sleeve jerseys. The Performance store brand ones are fine on warmer days but the Pearl Izumi thermal jerseys are warmer (comfortable for 5-10 degrees colder) and worth the extra money. If it’s anywhere between 40-55 degrees this is what I’m rocking:

February 2014 (photo credit: Mama Kinney)

I went with some friends to Kitty Hawk for the 4th of July. There was a hurricane, it did not hit us. I went on a bike ride that I did not Strava because my phone was dead, but I think it was probably about 20 miles.

I found another great bike shop: Kitty Hawk Cycles. Really enjoyed talking to the proprietor about how his business model has shifted into the bike rental space, and the vagaries of bike fitting. There’s a lot of good information online about biking along the OBX, way more than on the eastern shore. I had a much easier time figuring out where we were going than I did in Maryland, and it does seem easier to get around to different kinds of things, because the Outer Banks seemed a little more compact, and there were more quiet roads that you could cut through.

It’s obvious that Dare County has invested a lot in the bike infrastructure there, there are a lot of really nice off-road paths through woods and neighborhoods, and an awesome few along the water:

note to self: switch pannier to other side for glamor shots

thanks for letting me use your phone, A

There was a lot more traffic in North Carolina than in Maryland, and I think maybe less to look at, too. It was definitely a normal beach town – no old fishing stuff to look at, just dunes/wood stairways over the dunes, lots of people and typical beach-type stores. One attraction is the Wright Memorial, which, as a Brazilian, is not of great interest to me since everyone knows that Alberto Santos-Dumont flew the first successful fixed-wing airplane. However! There are sweet views to be had from the top.

I have lost some weight since this photo was taken

Did you know that the “Wright Gate” at Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia is also named for the Wright Brothers, who tested airplanes there? Kind of funny that my daily ride also includes a little aviation history.

Bring a lock on this ride – bikes are not allowed up the hill. The bike rack here is one of those awful ones where if there are more than two bikes you can only lock your wheel, if I recall correctly. So a bigger u-lock is better – can’t remember seeing anywhere else to lock up. Also, a change of shoes if you can’t stand the sound of your cleats on cement.

Something cool about this ride: there is a tiny airfield beside the hill, and you can watch the planes take off, like a miniature Gravelly Point.

I think I preferred our ride in Maryland, though: the scenery was more varied and the seafood was aces.

About a week after my birthday, I had a tremendously upsetting bike accident of the kind I only wish on seriously evil people. It turns out that Arlington County actually is the worst about bike lanes*: despite several miles of designated bike lanes and Capital Bikeshare stations along westbound Wilson Boulevard, the bike lanes abruptly end, and within a quarter mile (right after Randolph Road in front of the Ballston Mall), the right lane of the road is completely replaced by subway vents that are SLIPPERY WHEN WET.

Needless to say, it was raining and I wiped out. Thank goodness the car behind me stopped in time, and there was an adorable young man working the frozen yogurt store who offered to carry me inside. (I declined, but did use his phone charger instead of rummaging through my panniers to find mine. If you ever eat it, I hope you do it outside a frozen yogurt stand. Holding the cold cup made my hand feel just the slightest bit better and eating some raspberries and crushed up Reeses Peanut Butter Cups didn’t help but at least gave me something to focus on other than the crippling pain. I swear the first text I sent was to my EMT friend asking how to tell if my hand was broken.)

It was heart-stopping to have this happen before my application at my new insurance company had been processed (happy 26th birthday to me! Also, thank you Obamacare), and I wound up spending about $150 out of pocket to have my hand x-rayed at the hospital the following day. Fortunately, the antibiotics from the CUA student health center were free, and so were the 2 visits I had with nurses there. (Can I say, too, that having a nurse in your place of employment is awesome? I definitely checked in with the nurse at the National Archives a few times. I feel like all big offices should have a nurse around.) I didn’t have to pay for the sling or the 2 Ace bandages, either.

Most of the right side of my body looked like a zebra, or like someone had thrown me on a barbecue. For some reason the cut tag on WordPress isn’t working as it should, so I apologize for these awful pictures:

I’m back on the bike, but am definitely taping my wrist/hand to commute. Getting old is the worst!

* I need to actually go back and photograph this section of Wilson Boulevard to back up my recollection that there are no signs – although maybe there need to be signs painted IN THE ROAD warning cyclists to use the sidewalk, or something. Arlington County: not THAT bike-friendly.