getting outdoors
Tue Apr 7 16:33:38 EDT 2020
I made a facemask using a handkerchief, two shoestrings (27"/68.5cm, but the one around my head needs to be longer), and three small safety pins.
I rode my scenic commute route to the office again today. I stopped a lot to take pictures. And there were turtles basking; I hadn't seen any for weeks.
I glimpsed this chimney in the woods between the trail and the river on my way to work 5 or 6 weeks ago, before our lockdown, while the trees were bare, but I was running late that day so I didn't stop for a good look or photos, and I didn't notice any reference points for its location. It is amazing that I have been coming this way for years and I had not seen it before, but leaves in the summer would hide it well, and in the winter it would look like another tree trunk in the forest unless you happened to look right at it; my attention was probably on the condition of the pavement and passing other trail users. I didn't manage to spot it again until today. Given its height, I'm wondering whether it was part of a 2-story house? It's a terrible place to site a house, since the Potomac floods occasionally. I'm surprised that something that tall (and apparently old) is still standing. I'd expect the ground there to be too soft and yielding to keep a tower upright.
DC street traffic is very light. And a lot of the drivers don't seem to know where they are going - being on the wrong side of the road for the turns they are signaling (and not taking), almost turning onto one-way streets the wrong way, not noticing lights turned green. There's always confused drivers in DC (because there's always people from out of town, and our streets do "interesting" things (a grid, with diagonals and circles, and interrupted by monuments and parks)), but they seem to be a larger portion of the traffic now.
With working from home, the bike trails are as busy as the streets, but have much less space - the equivalent of a car lane, with cyclists (all ages), joggers, walkers, and baby strollers all trying to get past each other. If you don't mind waiting for red lights, the wide, empty streets are a good place to bike now. There's pavement problems, but some of the trails have pavement problems too.
I'd say 10% of the people out exercising had facemasks. Fewer than that for the other people (not exercising) who were out. Wearing a facemask made me breathe through my mouth instead of my nose. It seems that would be worse for spreading droplets. It also means I'm losing water faster, making me thirsty. I can probably learn to breathe through my nose. Another problem of masks is that people can't see smiles. Maybe they show some in the eyes, but a lot of us are also wearing sunglasses. (Take that, face recognition!)
Oh yeah, the iPhone uses face recognition. So I have to take the mask off to see what the phone is making noise about. ☹
I got caught in the rain coming back. ☹ I was soaked. It stopped raining just as I got home. But I couldn't wait it out, since I should have been home already for work.
Friday 00:47
I think I can do the handkerchief facemask without the safety pins next time. Just the shoestrings.
I haven't managed to go for more midday rides because we've started having meetings at 13:00 - although it turns out Thursday's meeting was moved to 14:00, and I didn't need to attend. (And my cellphone connection typically at 1 bar makes it difficult to participate.)
Friday's forecast is only 53°F/11.7°C. I've missed some nice biking weather. (Thursday was really windy, though.)
Saturday 18:12
I managed to go for a bike ride today, 30.56mi (49.182km) out the W&OD trail to Reston and back. There was some wind, and it got up to 70°F/21.1°C. The trail was very busy/congested from Falls Church (where I got on it) out past Vienna. It thinned out after that, but got a little busier in Reston.
I'd say mask use is below 10%, going out, away from Washington, DC.
My butt is sore, so I wonder whether my butt is (still?) getting smaller and I need to adapt to the seat. I haven't been tracking my weight, but the "covid 15" is probably not among my worries.
Sunday 18:44
I rode 22.9mi (36.9km) today. We're expecting rain all night, probably starting around sunset. The trail was not as busy as yesterday, probably because it wasn't sunny, and it looked like it would rain any minute. It was a little warmer than yesterday. Getting a late start limited my distance, but it also missed some of the wind.
Mask usage maybe getting to 15%?
Monday 13:54
Darned forecast - it's sunny outside now, not raining. I could have gone for a ride before work.
The cell phone woke me with unimportant "alerts" at 11:00, which was not enough sleep.
I hadn't made the connection last night, but this would be the same storm that spawned tornadoes in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia yesterday (Easter).
The forecast is clear overnight, so I may try for my first covid night ride tonight.
I don't know how that's going to work with eating dinner - before the ride?
Ride hungry and eat after? No, that's not good. (Probably OK under 10mi/16km.)
Eat dinner while I work? Typing one-handed is a severe handicap.
Should be about 50°F/10°C - long tights, light jacket, full-fingered gloves.
Monday 15:00
A thunderstorm has come through. That ride that looked good an hour ago would have been a soaker. [This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/1136547.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]
I made a facemask using a handkerchief, two shoestrings (27"/68.5cm, but the one around my head needs to be longer), and three small safety pins.
I rode my scenic commute route to the office again today. I stopped a lot to take pictures. And there were turtles basking; I hadn't seen any for weeks.
I glimpsed this chimney in the woods between the trail and the river on my way to work 5 or 6 weeks ago, before our lockdown, while the trees were bare, but I was running late that day so I didn't stop for a good look or photos, and I didn't notice any reference points for its location. It is amazing that I have been coming this way for years and I had not seen it before, but leaves in the summer would hide it well, and in the winter it would look like another tree trunk in the forest unless you happened to look right at it; my attention was probably on the condition of the pavement and passing other trail users. I didn't manage to spot it again until today. Given its height, I'm wondering whether it was part of a 2-story house? It's a terrible place to site a house, since the Potomac floods occasionally. I'm surprised that something that tall (and apparently old) is still standing. I'd expect the ground there to be too soft and yielding to keep a tower upright.
DC street traffic is very light. And a lot of the drivers don't seem to know where they are going - being on the wrong side of the road for the turns they are signaling (and not taking), almost turning onto one-way streets the wrong way, not noticing lights turned green. There's always confused drivers in DC (because there's always people from out of town, and our streets do "interesting" things (a grid, with diagonals and circles, and interrupted by monuments and parks)), but they seem to be a larger portion of the traffic now.
With working from home, the bike trails are as busy as the streets, but have much less space - the equivalent of a car lane, with cyclists (all ages), joggers, walkers, and baby strollers all trying to get past each other. If you don't mind waiting for red lights, the wide, empty streets are a good place to bike now. There's pavement problems, but some of the trails have pavement problems too.
I'd say 10% of the people out exercising had facemasks. Fewer than that for the other people (not exercising) who were out. Wearing a facemask made me breathe through my mouth instead of my nose. It seems that would be worse for spreading droplets. It also means I'm losing water faster, making me thirsty. I can probably learn to breathe through my nose. Another problem of masks is that people can't see smiles. Maybe they show some in the eyes, but a lot of us are also wearing sunglasses. (Take that, face recognition!)
Oh yeah, the iPhone uses face recognition. So I have to take the mask off to see what the phone is making noise about. ☹
I got caught in the rain coming back. ☹ I was soaked. It stopped raining just as I got home. But I couldn't wait it out, since I should have been home already for work.
Friday 00:47
I think I can do the handkerchief facemask without the safety pins next time. Just the shoestrings.
I haven't managed to go for more midday rides because we've started having meetings at 13:00 - although it turns out Thursday's meeting was moved to 14:00, and I didn't need to attend. (And my cellphone connection typically at 1 bar makes it difficult to participate.)
Friday's forecast is only 53°F/11.7°C. I've missed some nice biking weather. (Thursday was really windy, though.)
Saturday 18:12
I managed to go for a bike ride today, 30.56mi (49.182km) out the W&OD trail to Reston and back. There was some wind, and it got up to 70°F/21.1°C. The trail was very busy/congested from Falls Church (where I got on it) out past Vienna. It thinned out after that, but got a little busier in Reston.
I'd say mask use is below 10%, going out, away from Washington, DC.
My butt is sore, so I wonder whether my butt is (still?) getting smaller and I need to adapt to the seat. I haven't been tracking my weight, but the "covid 15" is probably not among my worries.
Sunday 18:44
I rode 22.9mi (36.9km) today. We're expecting rain all night, probably starting around sunset. The trail was not as busy as yesterday, probably because it wasn't sunny, and it looked like it would rain any minute. It was a little warmer than yesterday. Getting a late start limited my distance, but it also missed some of the wind.
Mask usage maybe getting to 15%?
Monday 13:54
Darned forecast - it's sunny outside now, not raining. I could have gone for a ride before work.
The cell phone woke me with unimportant "alerts" at 11:00, which was not enough sleep.
I hadn't made the connection last night, but this would be the same storm that spawned tornadoes in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia yesterday (Easter).
The forecast is clear overnight, so I may try for my first covid night ride tonight.
I don't know how that's going to work with eating dinner - before the ride?
Ride hungry and eat after? No, that's not good. (Probably OK under 10mi/16km.)
Eat dinner while I work? Typing one-handed is a severe handicap.
Should be about 50°F/10°C - long tights, light jacket, full-fingered gloves.
Monday 15:00
A thunderstorm has come through. That ride that looked good an hour ago would have been a soaker. [This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/1136547.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]