Yes, DC has many cyclists commuting, and there a decent number of paths. Maybe, they will get around to bike lanes throughout the city.

Welcome to the herd! :) I commuted by metro for a few years before I started bike commuting last year, so I know exactly where you're coming from on that. I, too, am glad I've made the switch, even on days like today... when the rain comes down in buckets, and my feet are still a little wet well over an hour after getting to work (of all days to forget to throw in a change of socks!!!) Looks like after today's rain, though, we're in for the nicest strecth of commuting weather since sometime in the spring, I'd imagine... 50s AM and 60s-70s PM for as far out as the NWS can see.

dcb23, crossing the Hill and then coming down to Foggy Bottom should be a nice ride. Enjoy the scenery. I think sometimes it's easy for us DC area folk to take for granted that we're riding past sites daily that people spend good money on vacations for to come see. I know I'm often guilty of that... i.e., Jefferson Memorial... meh, see it twice a day. White House/Washington Monument/WWII Memorial? Ditto.

Of course that's another of the perks of the bike commute. You actually see some of that stuff and not just the pitch black tunnels of the metro. ;)

Welcome, dcb23. It's always great to know more people are taking up cycle commuting.

Pleasant ride in today, but a bit chillier than the last few days at 4C/39C. Seemed a little breezy heading north, too. Saw a couple other cyclists out in the 'burbs this morning, which is rare.

Woke up to unexpected rain this morning. Also decided not to let it stop me from riding to work even though I haven't installed my fenders yet. It was a light rain and stopped about 30 min into my commute. My jacket was a little damp and my legs had a little road splatter on them but it was really no big deal. I'd bagged my electronics in my pannier just in case it rained harder. Looks like it scared away some of the other commuters. Definitely saw a lot fewer out today.

On they way home yesterday, I tried out a different route. Normally I take some back streets, head through a park and then travel through neighborhoods on the east side of downtown. So I tried just heading right down Peachtree St. all the way through midtown and downtown to Edgewood, then took a left. Peachtree was actually fine. The only weirdness I had was a bus that wouldn't pass me on the right, even though I moved over one lane to the left so he could do so. Edgewood is a hot mess though. More steel plates and loose gravel than pavement. I might try this again, but cut over sooner, like on JW Dobbs.

50F, grey

It suddenly takes me 10 more minutes to get to work. I had a great ride, a bit cool because the weather guy said it was 54 and it was really 47. I feel good and had a nice ride, just slow. The rides home have not slowed down much, might even be faster.

Had a good ride in for my 20km. Weather was cooler than it looked. 1x9 chain derailed going over train tracks. I'm thinking a chain keeper\guard might be needed as I run over those same tracks everyday. Been slower on the commute in everyday this week for some reason. Otherwise, nice and I love riding compared to driving in or taking transit.

Rode in with the kids again. I think I may try to rearrange my schedule so I can do this the rest of the fall semester.

Fall Commuting
 

Now is when the morning commutes are especially rewarding.
Temps are perfect and the colors are becoming more prevailing. Us Minnesotans are privliged with some very good riding weather right now.
The challenge of course is the expected layering that we will be doing in a couple months.

With the recent flooding had the opportunity to alter the standard route and it proved a bigger challenge than desired but the preceding weeks of riding had me prepared. Yes, I am new to commuting and loving it.

Hooked up the TAB and brought my son to Daycare on the way to work this morning. Passed another father/son team on their TAB heading West as I came onto Wayburne. That put a smile on my face! Heading up Burnaby Mountain Parkway I caught another commuter and decided to take it easy and hang back behind her. The TAB makes me a little long and passes are harder.

Overall a nice ride. I think my son was cold, so I'll have to bundle him up more or put him in a higher gear so he can work on the flats.

54F and clear skies. The stars were beautiful. Too early to see the sunrise though. I'll be glad when we're back to standard time, I much prefer the dark in the evening.

Although I almost hit a pediastrian. He was in all dark clothes, nothing reflective, and walking almost directly on the fog line. The area is heavily wooded and very dark, and I actually heard him before I saw him.

Its getting to be that time of year where there is huge temperature difference between the morning and afternoon ride. Today 1C / 34F for the morning ride and 22C / 72F in the afternoon. I prefer the cooler morning temperature, but not the riding directly into the sun.

Saw the golden BB yesterday. :(

Some punk in a Jeep Wrangler driving like an idiot came flying up on a car that slammed on the brakes as they came up on me in a curve. Actually happy that the driver of the car was funtionaly ******** driver and couldn't figure out how to change lanes before catching me on the inside of the curve. Jeep locked it up for a couple seconds and got out of shape enough to get his head lights pointed right at me for a second and hearing the locked tires right behind at the same time I thought my number had just come up.

I think if the car has got passed me the speed the punk was going in the jeep he may have clipped me.

Raining this morning so I pussed out.

Thanks for the kind words everyone!

I was a laughable sight this morning....rain suit made for fishing, waterproof boots, reflective vest, and giant out-of-date helmet. But if I can make it in in this rain I think I'm good to go for most other weather. Really understanding the need to be aware on the street.

Nice, windy and pretty fast ride home.

That happened to me this week too (the van speeding up to cut me off on the turn). I yelled at him.

40s, grey, and drizzling for the last two days. Fall has arrived. Now come on, Winter!

Golden BB?

I watched an SUV almost flip itself doing the same thing to me about a week ago. Fool was cornering so fast (he'd accelerated to beat me to the turn) that he was squealing tires and drifting all the way into the oncoming lane, which was (lucky for him) empty. Dingbat almost clipped the cars that were parked on the other side of the street that he was raging into. Some people have no patience, other have no brains. This fool had neither.

Breezy, but dry. Almost like yesterday afternoon's ride home. I believe that this was the rainiest week, I have had this year.

The old right hook! This happens to me probably 1-2 times per week commuting into DC. It is so incredibly common that I've come to anticipate it (as you probably have) and I don't even really get too angry or worked up about it. It's just a factor of life commuting by bike.

As much as an advocate of bike commuting as I am, I am extremely patient with cars and rarely display anything outwardly toward them. Most DC drivers would be quick to point out that if they had a video camera on their dash they could probably at least once per day record some jackass cyclist doing something incredibly stupid right in front of them.

Keep the video rolling because you never know when it might be useful -- but being right-hooked to the degree shown in the video probably wouldn't be grounds for pressing any charges of any kind.

If you had some super-aggressive idiot doing something though.....

After two days (and 3 out of the last 4) of torrential rains, we are finally getting a break in NC today. The roads were still wet this morning with a little light mist, but it's supposed to clear off by noon. The winds have already kicked up, and I'll be fighting them all the way home, but that's better than pouring rain. Cycle NC -- the week long cross-state tour -- was this week and people are calling it the Cycle NC Rain Fest. I pity those poor people, especially the ones camping out.

Wet! 40-days-and-40-nights wet! I needed outriggers on the Trek, which is aptly named, "Liquid." :D

58F, which (for me) is too warm for a rain suit, but I wore it anyway, and didn't ride as fast as normal. Still got to work uncomfortably steamy but at least my underthings were dry. I saw no other cyclists.

Supposed to be raining all day, but not so hard this afternoon.

Fantastic commute this morning...I have a 17 mile mostly rural ride. I've noticed traffic is much lighter on Fridays and the moonlight was groovy this morning. So I switched off my headlight for about 5 miles....no cars...no wind... just me and my bike in the moonlight....it was a great change of pace. Once I got to more heavily traveled roads I turned my headlight back on...reluctantly.

Windy, cool, and finally not rainy and also marked two weeks straight of bike commuting. I have never, in my 41 years, used a bike for this many consecutive days.

Still trying to figure out how best to set up my luggage for my commute through downtown DC. Really really want to avoid another "hmm...forgot to pack my boxers" moment like I had yesterday. The comments on this board are extremely helpful. I am trying to do my best to not aggrevate the drivers, and I am also trying to keep my cool as well. Yesterday a woman jogging--in the bike lane--up on Cap Hill was almost hit by a car...she was pushing a baby in a stroller. I let out a loud "oh my God!" I think that freaked more people out.

Windy, cool, and not rainy anymore as dcb23 says. Temps back into the low 60s, rain clouds off and away over the horizon. Was worried parts oy my commute near creek and river would be flooded, but lucked out and was able to take the regular route. North winds 15 gusting to 25 = morning headwind. They're not supposed to change direction during the day, so I think I'll be flying on the way home. I could easily be testing out the upper limits of my bike's speed now that I have only 44 teeth on the big chainring with my new crankset with the headwind and a slight downhill run I've got on one part of the commute.

Last night there were a couple of fast cyclists on the trail. One guy in particular riding a hybrid - he was maybe 100 yards ahead when I hopped on the trail, but it took me over a mile to catch up and pass him. I think he must have really been givin' 'er and ran out of steam, because he dropped off pretty quickly after I got by. I don't know if he knew I was chasing him or not.

Got off to a late start this morning due to an errand I had to run, so it was another ride into the sunrise. It wasn't too bad on the roads, but on a trail it got pretty bad in one spot. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I suddenly heard a "Good Morning!" on my left from a pedestrian walking towards me on the trail. Thanks to the blinding sun, I had not seen him until he said that and was about 3 feet away. Freaked me out. Bit of a chilly breeze; 4C/39F.

Edit: 5 for 5 again this week. Doesn't happen often for me (only 4th time this year?) but it's nice when it does.

That bike lane is dangerous and is part of the problem. Move over into the straight through lane or slow down to let the traffic through first.

Rode with my son on the TAB and dropped him off at daycare again today. I dressed him a little warmer and loaned him my skull cap. He was happier when we got there. Pretty uneventful getting to work, no other commuters on the climb up the mountain this morning. Managed to beat my time from yesterday, but I'm not sure whether that's just from knowing the route better, or getting fitter.

Had a morning thing at my kids' school today, and a lot of work, so put my bike on the rack to catch a ride w/ my wife to her office and then bike from there. 1.49 miles according to the computer (1.46 miles according to the gps on my phone).

Nope. I had the right of way. That's pretty much cut and dry.

The travel lane (diamond lane) is 45 mph (most drive upwards of 60) and certain death should I move into it. The van needed to simply wait behind me to make the safer exit off of the expressway instead of swinging in front of me at the last possible second. And of course he/she didn't even signal.

And my ride today...

Effortless.

Oh wait, I drove.