Rowing the Anacostia River is just one part of Gabe Horchler’s daily commute.

The Anacostia River is the District’s most often forgotten and overlooked river. Beyond being smaller than the Potomac River it eventually joins forces with, it is significantly more polluted and has been more often associated with the demographic divisions in the District.

That’s why Gabe Horchler’s story is so impressive. Not only is he a fan of the Anacostia, but it forms part of his daily commute to the Library of Congress from his home in Cheverly. As he tells it in the video posted below, he rides his bike to the Anacostia, where he gets in a boat and rows down to a boathouse in Southeast D.C. After that, it’s another bike ride to work. On the way back, he takes the Metro to Cheverly and rides a third bike back home. The next day, he’ll repeat the whole process, and he’s been doing it for 14 years. (In 2007, Fox News even did a feature on him.)

In the video, he speaks of his appreciation of the river:

The river is full of contrasts. Even the name Anacostia evokes contradictory feelings — crime, poverty and urban blight — unfair accusations since there are many stable neighborhoods and stunning views in that part of the city. I, however, associate that name “Anacostia” with the mystery and the lure of the waterway. The variety of wildlife is astonishing.

Horchler isn’t a wild-eyed optimist, though — he fully recognizes that the river has a long ways to go, and he speaks on an unnamed “slime” that regularly ends up on his boat. He does say that the river has improved over the last 14 years, though, and that he regularly sees high school and collegiate crew teams training on it in the morning.

The video is below; watch it for your daily dose of stuff you may not have known about D.C.