Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Ride I Go!

The UBC is back! Now with a salary. That's right, yours truly has landed a gig in Germantown, MD, and now has a multimode bike commute once again. And brother, I hit all the modes. I leave DC on bike, ride to one of several Metro Train stations, and head up to Shady Grove--the end of the line and the end of what can be stretched to "DC-ish". Then it's on board (thank God), an express bus. Yes, this rare beast of the urban jungle; bypassing stops, hitting the HOV lane on a nightmarishly backed-up I-270, and generally whumping its way to within a mile or so of my office in fifteen sprightly minutes. Then it's un-rack the bike and hit the lonely office park road to my dead-end job. Wait, that didn't come out right. Un-rack the bike and ride to the dead end of the office park drive and go to work. That's more like it!

Speaking of bike racks on the front of Maryland Ride-on buses, here's a tip: in winter, when the bus has been washed the prior evening, the rack can freeze. The release handle won't budge, and if it does, sometimes the swing arm that goes over the front tire won't come out of its warren for fear of the cold. Thank the Gods again--this time for my folding bike. One driver suggested I "take the next bus" when the rack failed to work properly due to being more frozen than tomorrow's Big Macs, but he changed his tune when my Bike Friday halved itself and he accommodatingly allowed me to bring it on board! Thanks Mr Driver man!

Oh, and speaking of Driver Man, if you are a fan of the Violent Femmes, take a listen to their whimsical song about NYC buses. It goes:
You got the mother and her kid
you got the guy and his date
we all get mad, we all get late
Looks like somebody forgot about us
standing on the corner, waiting for a bus...
Hey Mr. Driver Man, don't be slow
'cause I got somewhere I gotta go.
Hey Mr. Driver Man, drive that thing fast
My precious time is slipping past...
Delays aside, the bus rides have been rather pleasant, other than the one surly driver who, as I sprinted with my bike to make the bus, serenaded me with: "you better get that piece of contraption up on the rack so we can get on outta here". I make new friends all the time. Ain't cycling great!