Thursday Evening Commute - 200

Good afternoon

• As part of the organized Rock Creek Deer Hunt, "roads in the park will be closed between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. over the four nights of the hunt, officials said. They are: Beach Drive north of Broad Branch Road, Ross Drive, Wise Road, Grant Road, Sherrill Drive, Joyce Road, Morrow Drive and Bingham Drive NW." They should bring back wolves - y'know and avoid all the controversy. BTW, I startled a fox during my run along the Anacostia yesterday. That's only the second time that I've seen one in DC. 
• Jameel Alsalam of the DC Bicycle Advisory Council, is trying to guage interest in a guerilla bike counting project using this handy little device currently looking for funding at kickstarter.com. If interested contact him at jalsalam(at)gmail(dot)com.
• I missed this obit until recently "Alex Moulton, a British automotive engineer who created a small-wheeled bicycle that fired a trend in the 1960s and became the forerunner of the collapsible, portable bikes of today, died on Dec. 9 in Bath, England...His idea was to create a more efficient, all-purpose vehicle, suitable for errands and commuting at least as much as for recreation. He wanted it to have substantial carrying capacity, to be maneuverable in traffic, to roll smoothly and to be pedaled easily."

Comments

[Lyon]

I've seen a fox at Hains Point 2 or 3 times, and twice in Cleveland Park. And I scared the sh!t out of a raccoon on the CCT. Poor thing was startled as I sped past and it actually fell over. I felt pretty bad, actually.

[ken]

In the little stretch of my commute that is within CCT (from Dorset to Bethsda) in the morning this winter I have often 'met' deer on the trail and I was glad to see they were not particularly scared or cared - they didn't even seem concerned. Perhaps it is my slow riding.....

[Greenbelt]

I saw a turkey this morning. A wild one, I mean. He (I think) tried to get directions at the Berwyn Height police station: http://bikearlingtonforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2615&d=1364478137

[JeffB]

On the CCT I had a fox come up and run alongside my bike. At first I thought he was going to attack me but he was as tame as could be.

Perhaps he was hoping I would scare up a rabbit? Smart fellar!

Another time I came down the hill at dusk and made a high speed turn onto the trestle bridge. I then had to slam on the brakes as hard as I could because right in the middle of the bridge was a big buck with a nice full rack.

We had a brief stare down before he gave in and turned away.

[tour guide]

My tourists saw a fox at the Lincoln Memorial last night.

[Michael H.]

I've seen the Hains Point fox a few times too. I've startled a couple rabbits while riding on neigborhood streets near Clarendon.

On the Mt. Vernon Trail, a frog or toad actually jumped up one day and smacked into the side of my bike shoe. He should have looked before he leapt.

The worst near-encounter was when a huge deer jumped out of the bushes next to the W&OD Trail a couple summers ago. Fortunately I heard a lot of rustling before he jumped out. If I had hit him, it could have been ugly. He must have been over 500 lbs., which is a lot heavier than I am.

[Read Scott Martin]

One night biking home I saw the fox hunt for rats at night in the shrubbery in front of the Korean War Memorial. While driving a car in traffic near Reno Road and Military Road in NW I shared the road with a buck who scampered through traffic at 11 in the morning. I will take the fox sighting every time.

[Kolohe]

agree with RSM, I almost ran into a buck one late afternoon last fall rolling down Branch Ave where it crosses the Fort Circle path between Penn & Alabama.

[contrarian]

I once collided with a bat riding at night on the CCT. That wasn't pleasant for either of us.

[washcycle]

Maybe his tags were out of date?