It's been almost 5 years since I moved to the suburbs of DC (collectively known as the DMV), and almost 4 years since I moved away. I won't get into the reasons why, but for the most part, I don't miss it, and it's no surprise as such that I haven't ventured back there since. Until yesterday, that is...
Wash Cycle has operations in DC, and up until recently I really had no reason to venture to our southern location. However, since I'm now tasked with furthering our business growth, it would probably behoove me to see what goes on day-to-day down there, right?
I took an AMTRAK train early yesterday morning (also a first for this nomad, believe it or not). I found myself outside DC's Union Station around 9 yesterday morning, knowing I was a couple miles from anywhere "concrete" involving work. You can ask me about my opinions of the WMATA some other time (hint: they suck so bad that I linked to their Wikipedia entry, not their website), but basically Capital Bikeshare proved to be the best option to get from point A to point B:
I guess anything is better than capital punishment...
You've seen bike share on this blog before, several times. They all look pretty much the same, but there are subtle differences. These guys happen to be operated by the same company that operates CoGo in Columbus, which I visited just last month. It was easy to spot because the bikes look the same:
And for only $8 a day, I won't complain about the 3-speed transmission
It was a surprisingly quick ride from the station to U Street, a corridor which I know well (more on that later). Long story short, I had booked an earlier train to save on fees and aggravation, knowing I would have time to do other work in the meantime. In one stark reminder of why I sometimes don't miss living in the DC area, I found myself paying 11.95 for a coffee and a buffalo tempeh sandwich:
At least the WiFi was free
All things considered, it was worth not going hungry for a few more hours...I also found out that there's a 9 1/2 Street:
Because DC wasn't already confusing enough...
I went to our garage to pick up one of OUR bikes, which unfortunately had a flat. After fixing that with the new DC commercial cyclist, I headed back up to Mt. Pleasant to meet up with our DC GM. I observed a little bit and we talked operations before we set out on a trek to explore commercial laundry opportunities. This included the H Street corridor, site of the much maligned DC StreetCar. I'm used to seeing these tracks in Philly:
The red is the bike lane. DC HATES YOU, CYCLISTS...(not really)
This "thing" still seemed foreign to a lot of people I saw whilst riding past, but like I said, it's commonplace to us Philly dwellers:
Except for the fact that it's ugly AF
It's basically an ugly modern trolley. I support the idea if they make the promised improvements. Until then? It's an ugly beast that's basically doing what a bus does with a little bit better access for disabled individuals. Anyway, we rode on.
One of the reasons we (as a company) picked DC for an expansion city was its bike-ability, which is evident all over the greater downtown area. For example, this two-way bike lane on 15th St:
Not pictured: pedestrians who don't know it's not a sidewalk. Baby steps...
This particular stretch included dedicated traffic signals for cyclists (which all happened to be green when I rode through, so no sense stopping, right?). In fact, two-way bike lanes were frequent in my brief travels in the district:
We logged about 8 miles before meeting up with our new cyclist to discuss more ins and outs of marketing and such before adjourning. I feel really good after seeing things in person, putting names to faces, etc. I guess that makes one of us because our DC GM mentioned to me how out of shape I made him feel haaa (I'll never hesitate to pat myself on the back). I still coerced him to finish off the day with a few beverages and some food at one of my former favorite watering holes, The Saloon:
It's got such an aura and a reputation and no website, which only furthers the charm. Basically it's your average downstairs bar with a few unique rules: no standing, no TV, no cell phones, and during peak hours, no music. It's basically the anti-modern bar, and this act of forcing people out of their comfort zone has led to many memorable experiences (even though I think I'd only been here 3 times before) as a result. They're also a non-profit (that's right!) that donates their proceeds to building schools in third world countries and other charities. Great stuff.
After nearly a few too many, I made my way back to Union Station after quite the productive day, most of it spend on a bike. It was...strange to be back in that city and specifically that neighborhood. I used to live and hang out in the DC area 5 years ago and I grew to hate it. Yesterday, I rather enjoyed myself. Perhaps it's because I was very much a visitor experiencing the romantic feelings of a "new" place. Perhaps if I had started embracing bike culture a bit earlier in my life (like when I lived down there), I may not have hated DC so much. One will never know...
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