TheWashCycle

Friday Morning Commute - Mission Accomplished

With the Iraq War now over I just want to take a brief moment to thank all the men and women who served their country over there. Welcome home. This does not include my friend Rick who met his lovely wife there and considers the war the best thing that ever happened to him. He's gotten plenty out of it and doesn't need any thanks.

• The Whole Foods project that surrounds a future section of the PG County Trolley Trail is stalled. "Riverdale Park officials said in a letter to the Planning Board that it can support the zoning change under several conditions. Those include: ... improving the hiking and biking trails..."
• COG will consider reapplying for a TIGER grant to make walking and biking to transit stations easier when the next round of money is made available next year. 
• 10 surprising facts about Arlington cyclists.
• Respect the troll.
• USA Cycling has narrrowed the list of cyclists who can make the Olympic track cycling team.

Monday Afternoon Commute - Room for bike trails

Only one link for today

• Riverdale Park, MD officials commented on the proposed Whole Foods development along Route 1. The development straddles the streetcar ROW that further north is used for the College Park Trolley Trail. Plans are to extend it south along the development.  In their draft letter to the Prince George's County Planning Board "Riverdale Park officials recommend approving the zoning change, but only if dozens of changes are made to the development plan, such as trimming large swaths of surface parking and leaving room for bike trails and other transportation to access the development in the future."

Thursday Morning Commute - Phobos

It's the 134th Anniversary of the discovery of Mars' Moon Phobus. Which was discovered by Asaph Hall right here in DC. As a result, I always thought Phobos would be the great name for a DC bar (you can have that one Joe Englert). 

• It seems there are no bike racks at the MLK Memorial. Now I have a dream.
• Capitol Police already made an arrest in the bike theft that John Kelly reported on yesterday. "Thomas F. Goode, 40, of Southeast Washington was charged with second-degree theft and receiving stolen property. In the end, it wasn’t a security camera that led to the man’s arrest. It was a tip."
• In the same article was something that seems to have validated a story I heard. "There was a rash of bike thefts from the employee bike racks a couple of months ago when about 7 or 8 bicycles were stolen. Apparently some people weren't locking their bikes up at all because the racks are in the garages and there are Capitol Police officers who are stationed right next to the bike racks. Capitol police investigated and caught a U.S. House employee who had an apartment full of bicycles that were apparently stolen. Sadly it's just another example that you can never be too careful when it comes to locking up your bike." I contacted Capitol Police back then, so that they could brag a bit, but they didn't contact me back. John Kelly has what I assume are the details. "In June, the Capitol Police arrested Dana J. Wright and charged him with the theft of 10 bicycles. They were recovered by the Capitol Police and returned to their owners."
• Every week the Smithsonian gives details on one of the 137 million artifacts in their possession. This week it's the Shire Velocipede. "In the late 1860s, the forerunner to the bicycle was the velocipede, which originates from the Latin words for 'swift foot.' The velocipede had pedals on the front wheel but no drive mechanism, such as a chain on a bicycle. The velocipede was a stepping stone that created a market for bicycles, which led to the development of more advanced and efficient machines."
• There was another car crash on the GW Parkway at the crossing between Memorial Bridge and the MVT. Same as usual, cars stop to let trail users pass and get rear-ended. Maybe this will encorage NPS to find the money to build a tunnel. The Lynn Street tunnel was estimated at $1.3M, and that's for a longer tunnel.
• Greater detail on the various plans for the Cafritz project that straddles the Trolley Trail. The trail is basically the same in all of them, but the older ones are better.
• The MoCo Epic is a supported mountain bike ride connecting many of the major parks in Montgomery County. More than 80% of the ride is on singletrack. All proceeds benefit MORE.
• A guide to various bike facility types, though I don't think a "road" is technically a bike facility, I get where he's going with it.
• Helmets, they aren't just for biking anymore. "Helmets while riding a bike or playing football are good, reasonable precautions to take. Wearing a helmet while learning to walk? Now that’s just ridiculous." Is it?
• A judge dismissed efforts by a group of Brooklyn residents to remove the cycletrack installed by the city on Prospect Park West, claiming that the case was filed outside the statute of limitations.
• Markets in Everything

Wednesday Morning Commute - Dead Man's Curve

If you haven't seen Barney's Version, I just saw it and it was pretty good. So I guess that's a recommendation.

• The DC State Fair is having a bicycle accessory contest. You have to make them yourself. 
• A woman had her bike stolen at the U.S. Capitol. That's bold.
• As previously reported, BicycleSpace is losing its space. Now to be known only as Bicycle or perhaps Bicycle Cougar Mellencamp.
• Tourmobile might be losing their license, which might be illegal which might open the Mall to Capital Bikeshare. Maybe.
• Borderstan advocates running in the bike lane, which is illegal and, as I've said before, probably unsafe - though I'm open to being proven wrong on that. They don't advocate running against traffic, which is good, but they do say "Bikers - Cities weren’t designed with you guys first in mind." Believe us, we know. But we're going to fix that. 
• Cyclist crashes into police car that was heading to scene of bike-car crash. This along the Custis Trail.
• The Post had an editorial about the Cafritz Project in College Park. Maybe you like the project and the Whole Foods it will bring. Maybe you dislike all the parking. But it will include a section of the College Park Trolley Trail from Albion Road to Tuckerman St.
• This month's Spokes Magazine has articles on the UMD human-powered helicopter team, a proposed 5,000 square foot mountain biking skills area at Rockburn Branch Park in Howard County, and the zigzag stripe experiment along the W&OD trail.
• Vienna's Bicycle Advisory Council to present results of a recent survey. 
• The Brunswick Bicycle Festival is back. This year it includes a race. "The “Dead Man’s Curve” event will start with cyclists at the base of a hill on Park Avenue, who will then race up the hill to the intersection of Park and 9th Avenue. Riders will be disqualified if their feet touch the ground, and the fastest cyclists will win prizes, likely in the form of downtown Brunswick gift certificates, Kay said. Both the uphill race and the five-mile leisurely ride are free, and cyclists will also be able to ride along the C&O Canal Towpath."
• Giant Bridge for $1. Hello new Anacostia crossing.
• Someone is putting tacks, box cutters and glass on popular Colorado bike trails and routes. Someone's getting nothing for Christmas.

Thursday Morning Commute - High School Mountain biking

Good Morning

• The executive director and development director of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association,  will visit Washington, DC on July 7, as part of a six-day, five-stop tour to enlist new state leagues. The current development aim for NICA is to establish mountain biking as a high school sport coast to coast by 2020, and the purpose of this east coast tour is to gain foundational support in the region. The meeting will be 7pm at The Saloon at 1205 U Street NW.
• RAAM will wrap up it's 2011 race tomorrow in Annapolis. It's not very competitive on the Women's side.
• Parking your bike to a tree is often illegal (if it is below 10 inches in diameter) and is always bad for the tree. "Locking a bike to a tree can stunt a tree’s growth and even kill it. If you can’t find a rack, please contact the Mayor’s Citywide Call Center by dialing 311 to request one. If you are a business located in the District and would like one, please contact goDCgo at 202.299.2186."
• GGW has coverage of Arlington's Columbia Pike Bike Boulevard meeting. Rather than make Columbia Pike more bike friendly the goal is to make 9th and 12th as appealing alternatives. Back When Mrs. Washcycle was just Girlfriend of Washcycle, I used to bike to and from her apartment out that way a lot. I started out trying to use 12th but at rush hour, I couldn't cross Walter Reed becasue there was never a big enough gap in both directions - so I biked the Pike. This new design hopes to fix that. It include adding sharrows, crosswalks, HAWK crossing signals, raised medians, curb extensions, and widened medians (including one 12th and Walter Reed). They also plan to widen the trail in Doctors Run Park, remove some stop signs for better bike flow and change some roads from one-way to two-way. Some people oppose it and others feel like this is being rushed through (it isn't). 
• If you use the 11th Street Bridge regularly, be prepared for off-peak closures of the bike lane on 11th between now and September 1. 
• A new study from Australia shows that head injuries for cyclists dropped by 29% compared to other body injuries after their mandatory helmet law went into effect. A competing researcher doubts that, but thinks they may reduce head injuries by about 15%. That actually is a number I can believe. Much better than the 87% that is often quoted in the media (from a 1998 study). "He conceded there was probably a drop of about 15 per cent in head injuries from helmet laws but said that benefit was outweighed by the general disincentive to cycling of compulsory helmet laws" Here's a link to the paper in case you have $42 you'd like to spend to read it. I like how this article shows a photo of someone on a motorcycle. My biggest questions are what kinds of head injuries went down (skull fractures, concussions, cuts, bruises) and are the people who stayed away post-helmet law more likely to injure their heads? If kids quit biking in larger numbers than adults, as the article implied, do they have a higher head to arm injury ratio than adults? I think that could be a Simpsons paradox situation, right?
• Cyclists are happy to see a stoplight coming to the Trolley Park Trail crossing. "The red light, which is currently under construction, is expected to be functional at the crossing this summer, said Prince George’s County Councilman Eric Olson (D-Dist. 3) of College Park. The red light will replace a flashing yellow light, which walkers, bikers and runners push to cross the street."

Deer along the College Park Trolley Trail

It was closer, but moved away when I took out my camera. Must be shy. A few minutes later I saw a rabbit. It was like a Bambi reunion out there.

New Trolley Trail crossing

This is where the Trolley Trail crosses Paint Branch Parkway just west o fthe College Park Metro. The lights and signals are all covered for now, but it shouldn't be long before they're operational.

Monday Afternoon Commute - 10 minutes

So much that I decided to break it up today

• More coverage of the PG County Trolley Trail. '"Because it was an abandoned railroad’s right of way, in the county records, it doesn't recognize anybody owning it, so we have to establish ownership” through the quitclaim deeds, Nivera explained.'  This doesn't sound right. It wasn't a railroad, it was a streetcar, and should be owned by WMATA or PEPCO or whoever took ownership when the line was shut down. Oh well.
• An announcement about CaBi expansion in Arlington could come as early as today.
• "Imagine yourself on the road with no traffic, and you pull up to a light, and you sit there for 10 minutes," said Cannon. Taking off would be a serious traffic violation.
• Allen Muchnick received an award for his bike advocacy at the Arlington County Civic Federation’s annual dinner and awards program. Congratulations.
• Two out of four Vienna Town Council candidates - for three seats - list bike/ped safety among their top goals. Howard Springsteen "Continue to improve pedestrian and bike safety by building more sidewalks where residents express a need" and Carey Sienicki "encouraging pedestrian/bicycle-friendly links within the town to support health, environmental and unity initiatives"

Prince George's County priority bike trails

The Prince George's County proposed 2011 Priority Projects list for the FY 2011-16 state Consolidated Transportation Program was recently released and it includes a list of 18 trail projects. Now as the letter from County Executive Baker points out, there have been a lot of budget cuts and deferrels so none of these projects are a sure thing to be built - or even designed - any time soon. Other projects, like the WB&A bridge over the Patuxent River still need to negotiate land deals before any construction can begin. Nonetheless, below the fold is a map of the proposed trails. The green lines represent so-called "on-road" trails (which is sort of an oxymoron), and the purple lines are park trails. This network would make my commute easier.

One trail that shows up on both lists is the Bowie Heritage Trail. This trail would connect the WB&A trail, Bowie the MARC station and Bowie State together. There would also be a spur to a proposed town center development. The trail would really tie together Bowie's railroad history, from the old electric rail line east of town, to the historic railroad museum and the current Marc station it would run alongside the current rail lines for much of the way. A screenshot from the Toole Design presentation is above.

Other trails included on the list are the Potomac Heritage Trail, MD-193, Oxon Hill Road, US 1 in College Park, MD-233, from the New Carrollton Metro to Seabrook, bike lanes on MD-450 east of the BW Parkway, the Prince George's County Connector, Folly Branch Trail, Piscataway Creek Trail, Oxon Run Trail and extentions of the Trolley Trail, Paint Branch Trail, Henson Creek Trail and the WB&A (both north and south of what currently exists from one end of the county to the other).

It will be fantastic - if they ever get it all done.

Friday Morning Commute - The CSI theme song

I lost my cellphone and was asking strangers if they'd call it on their phone for me. You'd be surprised how many people I had to ask before someone agreed (thank you lady who called it). And the rudeness. One woman (who was holding her phone) just said "no" very sternly and when I said, "I don't need to hold your phone..." (because I know that is a scam to be on the lookout for) she replied "I said no." I did find it thankfully.

I just needed to vent.

• A couple of articles about the Prince Georges County Trolley Trail. The first is from last summer, and mentions that construction on the section between Tuckerman Street and Farragut Street in Hyattsville might start this summer (though now that is pushed back to fall). They were having trouble determining who owns the land. The second, from this week, mentions that "The group still faces some potential conflicts with property owners whose land overlaps with the current trail design, as well as with the location of some PEPCO lines and storm water management." They hope to secure permits by mid-summer. The trail will be 11 feet wide and made mostly of asphalt, "One break in the trail due to previously developed lots, however, would send cyclists through a parking lot and pedestrians along a sidewalk before meeting up with the paved area again."
• FABB testifies before the Fairfax Board of Supervisors. "We asked for funding for the bike program, which was cut last year and was not restored this year, and we asked for a phasing out of kiss and ride lots at schools. At a time of very limited funds, the school system is spending millions building kiss and ride lots at renovated schools, helping parents drive kids to school who already have a seat on the bus or could walk. We also pay teachers and administrators to direct kiss and ride traffic before and after school."
• Hey, the Navy Yard Promenade opens today. Skip work and check it out. Take photos and add them to the washcycle flickr pool. 
• A new bike commuter describes her experience.
• This may be the worst article ever.
  
• More coverage of Street Smart below