summer is going
Fri Oct 4 21:30 EDT 2019
I'm glad I've been carrying a rain jacket. I needed another layer tonight. It was 73°F/22.8°C when I got home last night, and 58°F/14.4°C tonight. Tomorrow's forecast high is 66°F/19°C; warmer again Sunday/Monday. It's been unseasonably warm lately, and we haven't had much rain.
Monday 00:32
I didn't do any riding this weekend. Saturday was cold, and Sunday was warmer, but threatening rain. ☹
Monday could be wet.
Monday 02:55
My butt has been feeling thinner lately. There is less padding on the bike seat, that padding being flesh. Benches are feeling harder.
I tried on some old pants that I think I was still wearing in college. I couldn't get into one pair, and I was nowhere close to fastening another pair. But I am less overweight than I was in college. I think the explanation is that I wasn't finished growing in college. (Late bloomer?) I suppose it's also possible that my legs are just more muscular now (from the cycling). But I can't imagine ever being thin enough to get into those pants again. (Unless I lose the kind of weight some people lose with debilitating, near-fatal diseases.)
Monday 22:55
Chain Bridge, part of my preferred commute route, was closed this afternoon. But they let bicycles through. ☺Chain Bridge reopens after crash involving overturned dump truck
This was a huge dump truck, over on its side, with broken cinderblocks (its recycling cargo) strewn across the road. The cab was smashed up, and I saw another, smaller truck smashed up. The news report has a much better scene photo than mine. Things were cleaned up by the time I came home, after 21:00. [The bridge was open for evening-rush traffic.]
There was light rain again tonight for my ride home.
Tuesday 08:14Chain Bridge Reopens After Overturned Dump Truck Scene ...
BREAKING: Truck Overturns, Blocks N. Glebe Road at Chain Bridge
Chain Bridge reopens five hours after an overturned truck ...
Chain Bridge Reopens After Overturned Dump Truck Cleared
Overturned dump truck closes Chain Bridge Road; evening ...
Chain Bridge Reopens After Truck Overturns - patch.com
Overturned truck shuts down Chain Bridge | FOX 5 DC
I've found more news reports about yesterday's overturned dump truck. None has an explanation of what happened. One said the truck came down Glebe Road. That's a steep, curving (left, then right), narrow road where I exceed 30mph (48kmph) coasting on my bike. Not a good place for a large, heavy truck with a driver who doesn't know the road. At the bottom of the hill you can turn left on to the northern end of Route 123 to go to McLean, VA, or continue straight across the bridge to DC; at the DC end of the bridge you must turn right onto Canal Road going toward Georgetown. The first possible turn off of Canal Rd is Arizona Ave. I doubt that a load of construction debris would be heading into DC.
Maybe the truck's load shifted on that last, sharp right curve (10mph (16kmph) warning sign) and the truck went teetering through the intersection before tipping over. There's a traffic signal at the intersection, so you really have to be able to stop. (You can't see the signal before the curve, hence the 10mph warning.) There would have been oncoming traffic also, frantic to avoid the truck but not having any options for manoeuvring. (The bridge is 3 lanes wide; 2 lanes into DC for the morning rush, 2 lanes into VA the rest of the day.) The pickup truck with a trailer would not have been nimble.
The other road coming in there (Route 123) is also steep and narrow. Some places just weren't meant for roads and traffic and people. Extreme seasonal flooding and/or ice jams have washed away several previous bridges here. (The present Chain Bridge is not a "chain" (suspension) bridge.)
I'm going to be a lot more concerned about whatever's behind me when I come down that hill.
Chain-bridge photo taken earlier than my commute: https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/100719_chain_bridge.jpg
[This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/1093151.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]
I'm glad I've been carrying a rain jacket. I needed another layer tonight. It was 73°F/22.8°C when I got home last night, and 58°F/14.4°C tonight. Tomorrow's forecast high is 66°F/19°C; warmer again Sunday/Monday. It's been unseasonably warm lately, and we haven't had much rain.
Monday 00:32
I didn't do any riding this weekend. Saturday was cold, and Sunday was warmer, but threatening rain. ☹
Monday could be wet.
Monday 02:55
My butt has been feeling thinner lately. There is less padding on the bike seat, that padding being flesh. Benches are feeling harder.
I tried on some old pants that I think I was still wearing in college. I couldn't get into one pair, and I was nowhere close to fastening another pair. But I am less overweight than I was in college. I think the explanation is that I wasn't finished growing in college. (Late bloomer?) I suppose it's also possible that my legs are just more muscular now (from the cycling). But I can't imagine ever being thin enough to get into those pants again. (Unless I lose the kind of weight some people lose with debilitating, near-fatal diseases.)
Monday 22:55
Chain Bridge, part of my preferred commute route, was closed this afternoon. But they let bicycles through. ☺Chain Bridge reopens after crash involving overturned dump truck
This was a huge dump truck, over on its side, with broken cinderblocks (its recycling cargo) strewn across the road. The cab was smashed up, and I saw another, smaller truck smashed up. The news report has a much better scene photo than mine. Things were cleaned up by the time I came home, after 21:00. [The bridge was open for evening-rush traffic.]
There was light rain again tonight for my ride home.
Tuesday 08:14Chain Bridge Reopens After Overturned Dump Truck Scene ...
BREAKING: Truck Overturns, Blocks N. Glebe Road at Chain Bridge
Chain Bridge reopens five hours after an overturned truck ...
Chain Bridge Reopens After Overturned Dump Truck Cleared
Overturned dump truck closes Chain Bridge Road; evening ...
Chain Bridge Reopens After Truck Overturns - patch.com
Overturned truck shuts down Chain Bridge | FOX 5 DC
I've found more news reports about yesterday's overturned dump truck. None has an explanation of what happened. One said the truck came down Glebe Road. That's a steep, curving (left, then right), narrow road where I exceed 30mph (48kmph) coasting on my bike. Not a good place for a large, heavy truck with a driver who doesn't know the road. At the bottom of the hill you can turn left on to the northern end of Route 123 to go to McLean, VA, or continue straight across the bridge to DC; at the DC end of the bridge you must turn right onto Canal Road going toward Georgetown. The first possible turn off of Canal Rd is Arizona Ave. I doubt that a load of construction debris would be heading into DC.
Maybe the truck's load shifted on that last, sharp right curve (10mph (16kmph) warning sign) and the truck went teetering through the intersection before tipping over. There's a traffic signal at the intersection, so you really have to be able to stop. (You can't see the signal before the curve, hence the 10mph warning.) There would have been oncoming traffic also, frantic to avoid the truck but not having any options for manoeuvring. (The bridge is 3 lanes wide; 2 lanes into DC for the morning rush, 2 lanes into VA the rest of the day.) The pickup truck with a trailer would not have been nimble.
The other road coming in there (Route 123) is also steep and narrow. Some places just weren't meant for roads and traffic and people. Extreme seasonal flooding and/or ice jams have washed away several previous bridges here. (The present Chain Bridge is not a "chain" (suspension) bridge.)
I'm going to be a lot more concerned about whatever's behind me when I come down that hill.
Chain-bridge photo taken earlier than my commute: https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/100719_chain_bridge.jpg
[This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/1093151.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]