Melodrama, well I really had the scariest bike ride ever on Rock Creek Parkway recently, not withstanding my earlier escapade where I was on the Parkway (which is very illegal--I noticed while driving one day). I decided at 8 PM to bike from Foggy Bottom all the way up to Tenleytown, surely the quickest would be the parkway ... until it got dark, and quiet, and the path weaved a bit a way from the road, and the cars were coming too fast to notice a bicyclist flitting through the trees, furiously peddling, hoping the boogey man, or serial rapist murder lurking in this metropolitan oasis would not be fast enough to lurch out of the shadows, under the bridges, by the sinisterly calm trickling creek to slam me to the ground and perform unspeakable horrors on me.
Eventually I found a jogger who told me how to get out of the park, because I literally couldn't find a way to exit. Although his directions were still scary, something to the effect of, 'go over bridge, go up steep dirt path to the right' ... I think my thoughts were thinking, uh? through brambles bushes, the forest of evil?!?! Apparently this was my only hope for finding well lit, trafficked, pedestrian filled lively streets lined with shops and eating/drinking establishments. It was either that or risk getting on the Parkway, enduring the cars that suddenly believe they are missiles when not confronted with a stop light every 50 meters, or bike an exit ramp the wrong direction uphill in serpentine fashion, and probably not well lit. I decided on the dirt path. Luckily it did not involved delving into the Forest of Shadows but happily onto Calvert which brought me into the heart of Cleveland Park. From there I took the metro to my destination in Tenleytown. On the way back, I opted to take advantage of my friend's newly bought overhead bike rack on his shiny four-wheeled vehicle.
No comments:
Post a Comment