TheWashCycle

Monday Afternoon Commute - Chuck Norris crosses that bridge before he gets to it

Good evening

• A bill was introduced in Maryland that would create an exception to prohibitions against driving a vehicle on the left side of the roadway in a no-passing zone for a driver who is making the minimum adjustment necessary under specified circumstances to facilitate the provision of the 3-foot clearance for overtaking and passing a bicycle.
• Reminder: Capital Bikeshare on the Mall is on the March 1 agenda for the National Capital Planning Commission. Also, the CaBi newsletter is here. 
• A bicycle-pedestrian bridge between Slovakia and Austria might be named after Chuck Norris. Because Chuck Norris flosses with bicycle chains. 
• Occasionally, work sends me to Titusville, FL and on my first trip I noticed an old railbed that I thought would make a nice bike trail. I'm not the only one. "The Volusia County Council invites all residents to join them in celebrating a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the first 5.7-mile trail segment of what will eventually be one of the longest rail-trails in the state, covering 50 miles between Enterprise to Edgewater, in addition to a 10-mile leg through Brevard County to Titusville."

Wednesday Afternoon Commute - 4 feet

Good afternoon

• This isn't really related to cycling, but while looking at where Young Elementary School was in relation to the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail, I saw this aerial photo of the RFK parking lots. The thing I noticed was that you can see all the dirt in the parking lot that's runoff from the construction in the NE Corner. That's all.
• Falls Church bike store Bike Club is temporarily closed to address some building safety concerns by the City of Falls Church. It expects to reopen in two months. 
• Pennsylvania may soon have a 4-foot safe passing law. The law would also make it illegal to "turn right into the path of a cyclist." But "He doesn't know of any research showing a link between safe passing laws and a drop in bicycle accidents or deaths, and concedes enforcement will be a challenge."
• Biking is "more reliable."

That is not three feet.

B.M. writes "The photo is Strasbourg, France during it's liberation in November 1944. Liberation was swift and unexpected and citizens were going about their daily business when French Sherman tanks burst into the city. Even diehards had to admit it was not wise to take the lane in a warzone."

I'll add that if you think riding in the snow is tough, try it with a tank on your back wheel.

Wednesday Morning Commute - Moonbeam

Good Morning, and welcome to bikesharing Alexandria (more on that later).

• Feet in the Street is on Saturday. 
• The Post had several people talk about what to do with RFK Stadium and the land around it. Ellen McCarthy's thoughts are similar to mine and include more space for biking. Bob Murphy and Frederick Rothmeijer throw out the idea of a velodrome.
• The Purple Line (and it's changes to the Capital Crescent Trail) has cleared another hurdle and MTA can begin preliminary engineering. If you think those changes are an improvement to the trail (as most cyclists do) then that is good news. If you think they make the trail worse, then it is probably bad news. "While there are alternatives for the alignment of the Purple Line, there is no alternative for a 20-acre park inside the Beltway." Sure there is. Turn the Columbia Country Club into a park. That golf course is at least 20 acres. 
• California Governor Jerry Brown joins Rick Perry as the only governors to veto the 3-foot passing law.  The CA law required 3 feet or slowing to 15mph to pass. It was the second part he opposed because he thinks it might be dangerous for drivers to slow down that much. So now they'll either not pass (and slow down to roughly the same speed), or pass more closely. That's safer how?