A look at why doping is so prevalent in cycling. "Doping is so effective in cycling because the sport is almost entirely a test of endurance. A basketball player can increase his endurance and strength through cheating, but it’s difficult to improve shooting technique with drugs. The same goes for such other high-technique sports as tennis and soccer." Of course, there is cheating in every sport - even chess. And Scrabble. And Poker. And figure skating. Let's face it, when people really, really want to win. Some of them will cheat.
An interview about winter biking with FABB Chariman Bruce Wright. I'd rather ride in the summer, because it seems like it's always difficult to get temperatures right in the winter.
The blog's favorite Energy Secretary (Oh, you heard me Hazel O'Leary) dispels rumors that he rides his bike everywhere “Sometimes I’ll run up the stairs [at DOE], but I don’t go on my bicycle up the stairs.”
"Under the new standards, vehicle sounds
would need to be detectable under a wide range of street
noises and other background sounds when a vehicle is traveling slower
than 18 miles per hour. At that speed and above, vehicles make
sufficient noise to allow pedestrians and bicyclists to detect them
without added sound. ...NHTSA research estimates that this proposal, if implemented, would
result in 2,800 fewer pedestrian and cyclist injuries over the life of
each
model year of future hybrid cars, trucks and vans and low speed
vehicles, as
compared to vehicles without sound." Each model of car can have a unique sound.
And while I'm filtering out these stories now, Abraham Olano Manzano still hasn't won the 2000 Olympic Bronze medal in the Men's time trial. Also Lance claims that in 2009, when he came in 3rd in the tour, he wasn't doping (or in 2010).
If you want a bike friendly DC, getting involved in the DC's effort to create a comprehensive transportation plan will give you a chance to make that happen. "residents who support improving transit, walking, and bicycling will have to speak up. We'll have to participate at the February 9 meeting and at future events in person and online. "
CaBi is options: “I’m looking forward to the bike share coming to Bethesda,” he said. “Then I don’t have to deal with the delays of the Red Line. I’d rather pay bike share than Metro. At least I can get to work on time.”
One BRAC transportation success: the construction of new bike paths and sidewalks. "I know that doesn't sound like much but it is a lot," Montgomery County BRAC Coordinator Phil Alperson says. "There are hundreds of people who are now commuting to the Navy by bike or walking who didn't do that before."
The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is hosting a public meeting to share plans for a federal transportation planning study that will focus on pedestrian safety for residents and multi-modal transit users at the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue, SE and Potomac Avenue, SE. The public is invited to attend and hear about the details of this study and future plans for this area. Representatives from DDOT and the project’s technical team will be on hand to answer questions.
Using a phone app and organizing themselves on the Washington Area Bike Forum, local cyclists create a winter biking contest called "Freezing Saddles".
More on the recent bicycle fatality in DC "According to investigators, the victim had a barbecue grill tied to his handlebars using a piece of twine. As he was riding, investigators say, part of the grill and a piece of twine got entangled in the wheel, causing the front wheel to lock up....While Alvarez-Benitez was found with a helmet, police say, it is not known if he was wearing it when he was thrown from the bike." [See a video below the bump]
Assualt with a bicycle. I've actually written before about how difficult this is to do and how it puts the cyclist at such high risk (falls can kill as the prior link shows), but I guess people out there are still stupid enough to try (and awful enough to commit hate crimes).
Politco has a story on funding Capital Bikeshare, but it's behind the paywall. "The red blur of a Capital Bikeshare bicycle whizzing by has become a Washington fixture, and now the company and others like it are taking a harder look at advertising revenue to keep it that way. After getting off the ground with federal and local dollars, Capital Bikeshare sees ad revenue as a way to move toward greater independence and sustainability. “If you can be independent and sustainable, then that’s the dream,” said Tim Blumenthal, president of the cycling advocacy organization Bikes Belong. Caitlin Emma has the story for Pros:"
I will second the notion that biking to the inauguration is the best way to deal with the crowds (for those for whom this is an option). Though you'll probably be better off with your own bike, being stranded by CaBi would make for a good excuse to have a refreshing beer or seven (and then take Metro home). But, will inauguration day break CaBi's one day record? "Several Bikeshare stations will be closed or removed altogether. Six
in Northwest Washington will be removed this week because of the parade
and will be reinstalled next week. They are the stations at 10th and E
streets, 10th Street and Constitution Avenue, 14th and D streets, 15th
Street and New York Avenue, 14th and G streets, and 14th and H streets.In
addition, the stations on the Mall in front of the Washington Monument
and the Smithsonian Metro entrance will be shut down until 5 p.m.
Monday."
"WABA will not be providing a staffed bike valet this year, as we have
done in the past. The 2008[sic] valet was enabled by significant sponsor
support and donations of bike racks and equipment that are not available
to us this year without substantial cost."
Bicycle Action Day in Richmond to lobby the state legislature is January 29.
As another defenseless road user, I find this a little disturbing "Weaver put a realistic rubber turtle in the middle of a lane on a busy
road near campus. Then he got out of the way and watched over the next
hour as seven drivers swerved and deliberately ran over the animal.
Several more apparently tried to hit it but missed."
Profile of local professional cyclist Joe Dombrowski.
To the "cyclists don't pay for roads" argument, neither do drivers (in state at least). "He said he is working on legislation that he thinks all sides might agree to. It would increase the gas tax but reduce income taxes, effectively only raising taxes on drivers passing through the state. To make up for the general fund money that would be lost with the income tax reduction, Albo’s legislation would include corporate income tax changes that would raise taxes for out-of-state entities that make money in Virginia, he said."
From the comments - "they hate us for our freedom". "The motorist is born free, but everywhere he is in queues. The courier burning through a red light, even the quiet law-abiding cyclist like me who only rides very slowly through red lights, demonstrates the freedom that car drivers have traded for comfort."
There is a 1.2 mile long bike tunnel under the Bay, but most of us will never get to ride it " a 1.2-mile-long, six-foot-wide underwater tunnel through which workers bicycle to get from shore to the receiving dock"
"Federal Realty is one of nearly a dozen developers with major plots of land in the 430-acre White Flint section of Rockville Pike, nearly all of which coalesced around a plan to replace strip shopping centers with more-dense development, create a new grid of streets and add new public transit, sidewalks and bicycle lanes."
"I enjoyed and profited from my association with Lance when he was on top..." but if you want more about Sally Jenkins on Lance Armstrong I'll point out that she's complaining about due process - an issue which the courts have already weighed in on and that there was cheating in cycling before Lance...so she's not willing to accept his own guilt in all of this. And she's OK with him cheating, because no one is a saint.
David Alpert on scapegoating bike lanes "certainly, bicycle facilities are not the top priority for most in [Ivy City]. But remember that such infrastructure is dirt-cheap compared to other transportation infrastructure. More importantly, the neighborhood’s own plan includes these bicycle lanes, which is ironic given that some critics have tried to turn bicycle infrastructure into a symbol of apathy toward Ivy City. In two recent columns,Courtland Milloy suggested that bike lanes directly crowd out other investments, such as job training...., blaming bicyclists lets off the hook those D.C. leaders, including on the D.C. Council, who aren’t especially interested in spending money on the real needs of our most vulnerable residents, or in making transportation changes for residents’ health that interfere with shopping trips to Maryland. Instead of really solving problems, it’s much easier to scapegoat one of the cheapest and chronically underfunded transportation programs."
Maybe I'm getting too close to DDOT, but I think this article (and especially it's headline) is a little over the top. The gist is that some lights on the MBT are not working. This is bad and DDOT should be working to resolve this. And it sounds like they are. " There are, again, more lights out and we have submitted this information to the company", Heather Deutsch (who manages these things) reports. She concedes that they are having trouble with their vendor. This is unfortunate, but not entirely DDOT's fault. At some point they might have to sue, which would also be unfortunate. It sounds like this was an experiment that didn't work out. That will happen and the alternative is no more experimenting, which isn't really good either. As for temporary lights under the bridge - I think that was found to be pretty expensive (there's not a good electricity source there and it would be constantly getting in the way of the bridge work). Cyclists should have headlights - even on lit trails. I'm all for lighting trails as I think it invites night time use, and improves safety (though as I read it, not security) and I think the District needs to find a near and longterm solution to this problem, but going after someone for response on Facebook - without following up with them - is a bit unfair. And the claim that DDOT said riders were on their own is completely false. She said that DDOT is working with the vendors, but if you want to do more than alert DDOT about something they already know about and are already trying to fix, you can contact the vendor. That's different.
The DC Velodrome is dead because of real estate issues. "The site at Buzzard’s Point was a problem from the start First, it took forever to get a lease signed. Then along the way we found out they wanted rent of $30,000, which we didn’t have. The parking area we had been promised became subject to additional rent payments," explained David Butterworth, a driving force behind the velodrome." It's a crying shame they can't just set this up in the RFK parking lot.
Grace Episcopal Church in Georgetown is upset that 3 parking spaces in front of their church were removed for a CaBi station, but Topher at Georgetown Metropolitan points out that the CaBi station serves 171 trips a day and that it's unlikely that three parking space match that.
Bicycling is on the agenda Monday at DC's Environment, Public Works and Transportation Committehearing at 11am. Agenda: Bicycle infrastructure, pedestrian and bicycle safety. (Of Course on Wednesday you can stick around to talk about Topless Bars, if that's something you're more interested in). Update: the bicycle hearing has been postponed.
The Springfield Mall is being redeveloped and part of that project includes "improved pedestrian and bicycle connections to the Franconia-Springfield Metro and Virginia Railway Express station." A trail system centered at the Metro station could follow the railroad south to Newington, east from there along the abandoned railroad to Ft. Belvoir and then to many locations following the power lines in the area. And from Springfiled Mall it's not far to Lake Accontik which has trails too.
"The District’s long-planned expansion of Capital Bikeshare this fall has hit a snag because the city has been unable to get all of the needed equipment from its supplier, officials said Monday" 54 stations were supposed to be installed this fall, but most of them won't be. The problem is with Bixi. They've been receiving numerous large orders and simultaneously dealing with financial woes. "It’s unclear wether the demand from cities such as New York and Chicago could slow down expansion of Capital Bikeshare."
Or "Sunnyside Avenue in PG County to get Bike Lanes." Another advantage of the new higher bridge is that it would make it easier to extend the Indian Creek Trail past Sunnyside Avenue. I suppose it could eventually go as far north as Ammendale Road. But still, it is hard to understand the reason for the shoulders.
Recent Comments