Our very first Joyride

Our first ever Sunday Joyride was a success! Kyle, Liz and Steve joined Cody, the little dude and me last Sunday for a nice, leisurely ride from Again Street Park, down Again to West to Ash to Flat Branch.

Here we are at Again.

Heading down West. Or maybe that's Again. I don't remember. These neighborhoods are really great for bike riding.

We chose to do our Joyrides on Sundays because downtown can be so crazy on Saturdays. Not every business in The District is open on Sundays, but the ones that are have a nice steady stream of customers without ever seeming too crowded. We came to the Flat Branch for the patio and the bike racks, which were both pleasantly crowded but not impossible to get into.

We all had some deliciousness.

We shared some war stories. Steve here said he was waiting (legally) in the lane of traffic to make a turn when a big truck drove up on a lawn to get around him. Liz said she was waiting to make a similar turn downtown and got yelled and honked at.

There are plenty of irresponsible cyclists out there that need some education, but we think it would be worthwhile to post street signs educating drivers to the fact that cyclists are supposed to merge with vehicular traffic at intersections. I found this communal kvetching to be particularly enjoyable.

Then we biked back to the park. We took the little path from Flat Branch Park over to Stewart, then up to West and back to Again.

It's easier to take the lane when there are five of you to take it. Power in numbers!

We're having another Joyride this Sunday. Meeting up at Again Street Park, um again, at 2. Probably we'll take a longer ride this week since the rain has kept us all cooped up All. Week. Long.

Anyway, hope to see you all at the park on Sunday! Cody and I each have multiple bikes so if you think you'd like to start bike commuting but don't know what kind of bike you want or if you want to see how you feel about urban cycling drop us a line. We'll be happy to lend you one of our rigs for the Sunday Joyride.