Yesterday's ride was "educational," as Marty McFly would say. I decided to use my D.C. bike map and for once, actually ride in the city that I claim to live in. (Which, in reality, is Arlington, but "DC" sounds so much cooler.)

The only problem I could foresee was how to get downtown without getting mauled by an errant MetroBus driver. Unfortunately, this required riding on some sidewalks (after the Rock Creek Park trail ended and required me to cross the RC Pwky), which was NOT fun as the monuments were crawling with tourists. Silly me, I thought it being a holiday would mean people were spending all day in church! Apparently not, and I felt like a complete tool for having to ride on the sidewalk until I hit Jefferson Dr.

Being on the New Bike, I didn't have a bell, and I was a bit worried I'd run down some toddler or old person. (That leash law I talked about earlier would help out a lot here.) For some reason, either no one hears and/or understands me if I say, "On your left" when I'm trying to pass someone. However, I noticed a lot people didn't need a verbal warning. New Bike has Campagnolo components, and true to Campy fashion, the freewheel is super noisy… so whenever I coast, my bike emits this loud zizz-zizz-zizz-zizz sound and people turn around and go, "What the…?" — as if some gigantic bee is about to land on them.

Anyway. My turnaround point was RFK Stadium, and I figured I'd give my friend Bobby a shoutout by taking a photo of me with his old 'home' in the background.

I originally intended to head back through the Mall and past the Washington monument as before, but instead I figured I'd risk the [surprisingly minimal] traffic and go down Independence and then cut across the Tidal Basin. (Yes, my bike rides on water.)

Actually, I just did the sidewalk thing again. Which turned out to be worthwhile, as I spotted a giant, black furry dog wearing sunglasses. (Turns out they're Doggles.) Back across the Arlington Memorial Bridge, then around to the Mt. Vernon trail, where I stopped and took this photo:

One of many large clusters of daffodils planted along the trail (marked on the map below). I passed on taking a photo with the Lincoln Memorial in the background, as the smelly shores of TR Island were in the way.

Cyclometer says 24 miles ridden — the map isn't entirely accurate, as I'm not going to point out where I live, so the start point isn't right. You just, just in case there's actually someone reading this and feels the need to egg my house.

I'll try to make this brief, as I have a bunch of use cases to write up for… well, I can't tell you what since I'll get killed by the DoD if I do, but either way they're time consuming.

Yesterday was the first snowfall of the season down here in the DC area. When I was a little kid growing up in New England, any snow was great because it usually meant at least a delayed school day or cancellation. There was also sledding and skiing to look forward to on weekends. However. Now that I'm all grown up (ha!), snow means having to deal with moronic drivers.

Down here in "NoVa," the annual accumulation of snowfall averages to about 16.6 inches, whereas in Hartford, it's around 49 inches. Basically, I'm used to a lot worse. The low frequency of snow plus the large amount of imported Southerners and West Coasters equals horrific driving conditions when it actually DOES snow… due to the drivers, not the weather.

Around here, as soon as a flake falls from the sky, people freak out. Yesterday's commute to work was NOT fun. At that point in time, it had only just started snowing and wasn't sticking to anything that was above 32 degrees. Snow not sticking on warm road = no accumulation, no ice - just water… you know, the stuff that drops from the sky while it's raining. However, everyone on 66 decided this was just too dangerous and felt the need to go 25 mph. It actually could have been a lot worse - a co-worker driving in from MD had a 3 hour commute yesterday. Yikes.

Going home was a little different. Cass got the day off, as I had to stay late at work and it was down to 25 degrees and still snowing… so I found myself doing my least favorite chore: shopping at the mall. Sadly, I wasn't able to find the perfect gift for my mother OR father (hey, if you're reading this, please drop some hints as to what you want… I can't face the humility of gift cards), but walked out with some new stuff for my own wardrobe. Oops.

(That reminds me - I'm looking forward to the day that this "tunic top" fashion goes out of style - what is this crap? I look like I'm wearing a freaking maternity shirt - clearly not the intention when I'm out at bars/clubs.)

Heading home, the roads were a bit slushier, but not nearly enough to cause any real alarm to my Yankee self. I've got to say, though - Arlington County, the whole purpose of snow maintenance is to plow, THEN salt. Not just "salt salt salt."

Opponents of an elevated rail line through Tysons Corner have sued the U.S. Department of Transportation, contending that the agency violated federal law by failing to seriously consider the idea of placing the track underground.

"Elevated-Line Foes Sue U.S." - Washington Post

Are.you.kidding.me…?!! :twitch:

Good lord, these Tysons Tunnel people will stop at nothing to get their precious tunnel built!

Don't get me wrong, I'd much rather have an underground metrorail going through Tysons, but it ain't gonna happen - and with this lawsuit, the whole project may not happen, either. The tunnel is preferred by many people who live/work in the Tysons Corner area, Though the Fairfax Board of Supervisors voted 8-2 against it - and for good reason!

However, this lawsuit stymies the overall goal - to lessen traffic and provide a viable means of public transportation to the ever-growing Fairfax/Loudoun counties… plus give us po' folk who have to fly out of Dulles a way to get there without having to take 3 different bus lines. (Just kidding about the po' part… plane tickets from Dulles are frequently more expensive for me than ones out of National. Go figure.)

Anyway. To say the lawsuit doesn't have merit would be to label myself as one of those people who thought the Halliburton contracts were "perfectly fine!" I find the news about the no-bid contracts a little disturbing, yes, but let's face it - the more monkey wrenches thrown into this metrorail extension development process, the less likely it's actually going to get done. Annnnnd, from what I've read - there are some allowances when it comes to non-competitive bidding:

1. the existence of an unusual and compelling urgency, and
2. the public interest.

Granted, #1 states that "that the Government would be seriously injured unless the agency is permitted to limit the number of sources from which it solicits bids or proposals." That's a little exaggerated, but if anyone has ever sat through the clusterf*** that is Route 7 during rush hour, they may think differently in that building this extension IS an urgent matter to be addressed. And #2 is self explanatory.

The second part of the lawsuit, has to do with the actual tunnel itself:

Tysons Tunnel and Ratner allege that DOT violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to carefully evaluate the proposal for a tunnel, especially in light of new "large bore" tunnel-building technology. They say the new techniques, which use machines that can build tunnels wide enough to accommodate two tracks, would have fewer adverse environmental impacts than an elevated line and reduce the cost.

Uh huh. I noticed they failed to mention that digging a tunnel would preclude us from receiving a TON of money from the government (nearly $1 billion) to subsidize the project. The tunnel project "may" cost less to build, but honestly, I doubt it would. So, the longer this project sits, waiting to be implemented, the more likely it is that we'll lose that money… and, as a result, the entire extension project will probably die. I honestly would rather deal with a little traffic diversion from building the above-ground rail than be stuck in decades more gridlock on the roads due to a no-longer viable project.

Squish the lawsuit and let's build this rail before I succumb to road rage and have to be institutionalized. (Kidding.) Seriously, I think enough is enough, and the Tunnel advocates need to accept their defeat and allow for the expansion to actually be implemented… eventually, it'll make life easier on all of us.

So - instead of doing my usual Thursday night "ride Cass, battle traffic, get home, then collapse on couch and watch girly TV" deal, I spent much of it on the Metro and standing outside in 40 degree weather. And why? Wellll, I met about 98% of the DC United Team last night, which was way cool and totally worth the hour-plus I stood in line for it. If you have the opportunity to meet your local MLS team, I highly recommend it - one, the players are incredibly kind and grateful to their fans (could be the lack of $5 million contracts that promote this), and two, they're effing HOT. And nice. Did I mention hot?

Despite DCU not making it to the MLS Cup (despite a gallant effort, they lost 3-2 on aggregate from Chicago Fire), there were a ton of people there. I'd say the median age of the fans there was, oh, 7, and I stuck out like a sore thumb… I was afraid of being mistaken for someone's teenage daughter, or worse, the mother of the rambunctious boys both behind and in front of me in line. Thankfully neither happened - I think the former attributing to my declining the signed player cards. (I'd probably lose them.) Somehow the coach (Tom Soehn) shoved a signed one of him in my hands, and my reaction was, "Uhhh… thanks?"

Anyway, my absolute favorite person of the night was Ben Olsen - the kids absolutely love this guy, and for good reason - he's an awesome soccer player, and totally goofy around them. I have to say, all the guys were in good spirits despite having sat signing various pieces of equipment (some dude brought a DC United trash can… ) for 3 hours. My last encounter with pro athletes was at the Tour de France in '04 - not exactly the best venue for celeb interaction, plus the environment wasn't exactly, uh, relaxing for them - which meant basically a bunch of Europeans cyclists who had dropped 8% of their body fat in the past two weeks and had 500 more miles to go… yeah. Autographs would probably be the last thing I'd want to deal with. I guess my point is that it was cool to see all these kids meet their idols and get some inspiration. (And I quote, from Tom Soehn: "Do your homework.")

Vamos United! Next year!

Oh, and P.S. the Fire lost to New England Revolution yesterday. Jerks finally got what they deserved…

Va. HOT Lane Project to Start Early Next Year

For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past year, HOT means "High-Occupancy Toll," a sort of spin-off of HOV, aka "High-Occupancy Vehicle." Instead of have 2-3 people per car in order to use these special lanes (which usually equate to faster travel as it seems 95% of DCers travel alone), people pay a toll to use dedicated lanes for express travel.

Having seen the gridlock that ensues on the Beltway around Tysons (and thankfully, I haven't had to sit in it), the idea seems like a good one, since cars will be a little more spread out as each car that goes into the HOT lane means one less on the regular 4-lane highway. I doubt it'll make a huge difference in the traffic flow among the normal lanes, but any sort of effort should be considered a good one. In addition, HOV-3 vehicles travel free along with buses (which actually haven't had routes along the Beltway in a long time due to the incredible traffic).

However, this quote worries me:

State officials said that all Beltway lanes will be kept open through rush hours and that road closures will happen only at night and on weekends. But they conceded that drivers will face delays… the Beltway project will profoundly affect traffic into the retail and office destination of Tysons Corner.

This means that traffic may be pushed over onto Routes 123 and 7, aka the only way to get in and out of Tysons, aka major parts of my commute to work and the barn. :twitch: To give you an idea of what's expected in terms of travel, another article from the Post is titled Five-Year Forecast: Get Ready, Set . . . Sit.

Some critics who initially scorned HOT lanes as "Lexus lanes," saying that they favor the wealthy, have come around based on studies showing they are used in other states by people of all income levels.

Funny, I'd say we already have "Lexus Lanes" in place on 66 and the 95s - they're called HOV lanes, and the price of admission is (1) Hybrid car. For the rest of us who aren't so lucky, guess it's time to invest in an XM Radio subscription for having to wait.

On a more serious note, since bus routes along the beltway may be reopened, I'd rather spend my money on that (and also get one less car off the road) than the estimated $5-$6 to use the lanes. It's bad enough the Greenway is owned by the Mafia and has consistently ripped off the public ever since it was built by charging a flat rate of $3+ one-way… let's hope people don't get too focused on the HOT lanes and forget about the Greenway's plans to hike the rate in the coming years.