TNS (Thursday Night Swill) Ride

Photo by Rickyd

For a guy who doesn't ride through the city much, DC streets take on a whole new character when seen from the saddle of a fixed gear bike. Cars that used to buzz by you at the intersections when you were a mere pedestrian seem like they're frozen in time. You weave through the traffic, oblivious to everything but the rhythm of your spin and how it dictates what you will do next. A car stops suddenly in front of you, but with the pedals at 12 and 6 o'clock, you can't skid. So you swing left and accelerate hard through the red light dragging your fingers lightly across the door and hood of the car you just passed, just because you can. You're in total control, and yet somehow you're not. Not more than twenty feet away, the cops look on but let us pass without incident. They know they have better things to do. After three or four more of these encounters with DC's finest we're at the city limits and on the W&OD heading back to the cars.

Well, that in a nutshell was my first ever Thursday night swill ride through DC and points West. I gotta thank Stoner and RickyD for making it interesting, but what else would you expect?