Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Commute Adventure

The other day I was enjoying a leisurely drive home from work...you know, heavy DC traffic makes for a "leisurely" drive. My typical commute home includes navigating the nightmare that is the Capital Beltway, or 495/95, whatever you wish to call it. It is my joy every day to drive on the Beltway right into the Woodrow Wilson Bridge bottleneck. For those of you who do not live in the DC area, the Woodrow Wilson Bridge spans the Potomac River, linking Maryland and Virginia. Because this bridge is so vital for people traveling in and out of DC into Maryland on their daily commute, it has inevitably become a huge traffic "problem area". They are expanding the bridge to allow traffic to flow more freely through this area. I'm quivering with excitement for the bridge to be completed...if it does really help out with traffic, that is.

As I was saying, the other day I was relishing my daily jaunt home from work, and what did I see on the congested Beltway but a man on a BICYCLE. Yes a typical bicycle commuter, complete with rolled up suit pants, helmet, sporty backpack, and a tie flapping in the wind. He was just biking along, as if it was his daily routine to bike on the expressway around DC.

Does this man have a death wish?

Yeah, sure, traffic goes pretty slow during that time of day, but COME ON. Semi-trucks, crazy businessmen, soccer moms, snipers...anything can be found on the DC Beltway, so why the hell would you ride your BIKE on it?

I happened to be on the phone with my friend EB at the time, and mid-conversation about her holiday party I cried out, "There's a business man on a bike on the beltway! A BUSINESSMAN, ON THE BELTWAY, ON A BIKE!"

We laughed about it a bit, but I soon passed him (strongly resisting the urge to swerve out of my lane to run him down). I continued my convo with EB in the stop-and-go traffic. I had finally reached the bridge, and once again, I saw the man on the bike.

I cried into the phone, "There he is again! The business biker! ON THE WOODROW WILSON BRIDGE!"

Not only was traffic so slow that a man on a BICYCLE was beating me home, but he was bicycling on the BRIDGE. There is no bike path! Crazy man.

For your reference, I have skillfully recreated the scenario using the latest in Paint technology:




Now, you must understand that this photo, while it generally shows the current state of bridge construction, it DOES NOT demonstrate the amount of traffic that is on it during rush hour. I'm talking bumper to bumper, jam-packed the whole way across the bridge. And this genius was riding his bike through it.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love your drawing...best part of that blog :)

BrokeInDC said...

kj: yes, thank you, it was a labor of love