How Was Your Commute Today?

[7rider]

Well....we got our first "Code Orange" air quality day today.
So, I'll be taking it easy on my ride home today. This morning, it was super sticky. It's like someone threw a switch, and the humidity ramped up over the past weekend.

----
Issued by The National Weather Service
Baltimore/Washington, MD
5:40 pm EDT, Tue., Jun. 1, 2010

... AIR QUALITY ALERT IS IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM EDT WEDNESDAY UNTIL 9 PM EDT WEDNESDAY...

THE METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS HAS ISSUED A CODE ORANGE AIR QUALITY ACTION DAY WEDNESDAY FOR THE DC METRO AREA.

A CODE ORANGE AIR QUALITY ACTION DAY MEANS THAT AIR POLLUTION CONCENTRATIONS WITHIN THE REGION MAY BECOME UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS. SENSITIVE GROUPS INCLUDE CHILDREN... PEOPLE SUFFERING FROM ASTHMA... HEART DISEASE OR OTHER LUNG DISEASES... AND THE ELDERLY. THE EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTION CAN BE MINIMIZED BY AVOIDING STRENUOUS ACTIVITY OR EXERCISE OUTDOORS.

[divingbiker]

Well....we got our first "Code Orange" air quality day today.

Aw, did you have to tell me that? Now I'm going to be gasping all the way home.

[e.e.cummings]

We just had terrible smog here past Monday due to raging wildfires east of Montreal (apparently caused by lightning). I had never seen it that bad. My son said the school would not let the kids play outside at recess, it was so thick. I read that it had drifted to New England, possibly as far as Washington. We had lots of rain yesterday, which must have helped the fires. We are used to reading about wildfires in hotter places like California, it is so rare to see it here.

[redrhodie]

I read that it had drifted to New England, possibly as far as Washington.

I had to close my windows on Monday because of the smoke from those fires!

Today's commute was just okay. I had a weird incident where a jogger tried to push me into the road to give her more room. I wasn't close enough for her to reach me but I assume I was "in her space" . As I was about to pass her, I looked behind me and saw cars coming in the traffic lane, so I stayed just to the inside edge of the white line (we were both in a bike lane/shoulder, and she was running toward me, so she saw me coming for a while). Until she tried to touch me, I had no idea she had an issue. She also told me to "move over". I thought she was really rude. Really, the safe thing for her to do, if she was uncomfortable with my passing distance (which seemed perfectly safe and reasonable to me) would have been to move further away from traffic, not try to push me into the road! Good grief.

When pfunk was pushed by a pedestrian a while back, and I remember thinking that people can be jerks. I'm still thinking that. At least my jerk missed me .

[lph]

As I was about to pass her, I looked behind me and saw cars coming in the traffic lane, so I stayed just to the inside edge of the white line (we were both in a bike lane/shoulder, and she was running toward me, so she saw me coming for a while).

Wha...? That is bizarre. If you were riding with traffic in a bike lane, wasn't she running the wrong way? Not that that is a huge deal when you're a pedestrian, but certainly not a place to be bossy.

[redrhodie]

Wha...? That is bizarre. If you were riding with traffic in a bike lane, wasn't she running the wrong way? Not that that is a huge deal when you're a pedestrian, but certainly not a place to be bossy.

That's how they run here, towards traffic. I suppose that's so they can see and get out of the way of oncoming vehicles, or push said vehicles into the road .

I ride that route several times a week, and haven't seen her before. I'll give her more space if I see her again. She's obviously a loose cannon. Better just stay out of her way.

[lph]

Heh, I suddenly realized that I "almost" ran a cyclist down this morning because I thought he was a pedestrian... I didn't actually get anywhere near him, but I was in full flow along the very busy bike path that every morning hosts the local "Tour de Finance", and had to switch sides from left to right, crossing the path of a couple of pedestrians walking towards me with plenty of space to spare. But just as I check my back and swing out to switch sides I see a blur in front of me. I just have time to think "Whoa, THAT'S not a pedestrian!" and swerve back.

Just goes to show, when making split-second decisions it's not always easy to see what's what, and it's especially hard to judge the speed of someone heading toward you - the same way many drivers misjudge the speed of cyclists.

[HillSlugger]

Aw, did you have to tell me that? Now I'm going to be gasping all the way home.

I didn't like the heat or humidity, but at least the air didn't seem to be troubling me too much.

[e.e.cummings]

On my commute home, I was riding behind man with a tiny child in a little seat attached to his bike. He had been going fairly slow for some distance before we met a corner underpass. Before that, I was just taking it easy, much slower than my normal pace, and I would have passed him, but I waited until we were past the corner and all was clear. At one point, he looked around, so he knew I was there. After clearing the underpass, I started to pass him - and he decided to gun it as I was right beside him like he was refusing to be passed. We were on one of those bike paths that is 'poled' off during non-winter months, and if you go off it, you are in the traffic.

Had it not suddenly become a race, I would have passed with plenty of time for the oncoming in the other direction, but now, it was split-second decision time, I either had to fall back (not knowing if there was someone behind me who would be alarmed by my slowing down) or race ahead of him so not to encounter an oncoming cyclist who was riding at a pretty fast clip. It alarmed me that a man with a very young child on board would ride so fast and be so blatant about not wanting to be passed. You never know what people will do, or what they are thinking.

[Fredwina]

ee. i'm not sure what to say.
Looks like I may to temporarily retire from commuting. Caltrans is reworking a freeway interchange on my from work to the train station(I take a shuttle bus) - I was about an hour and a half late and just got home