Fenty likes to ride his bike

The Post recently ran a couple of articles about Mayor Fenty's love of exercise and his parents shoe store. They both ran on the same day. What a coincidence. The first suggested that some think the Mayor should be doing something else with his time

It was shortly after noon, and Fenty was ready to join D.C. Velo, a competitive cycling team, for its training session through Rock Creek Park.

Fenty regards these sessions as strictly private, although some of his critics might wonder what the city's top elected official is up to during those four hours each week.

According to mayoral aides, Fenty doesn't even tell them what he's up to when he heads off to cycle around Hains Point.

The mayor invites anyone who can keep up to join his morning runs. But the cycling group consists strictly of D.C. Velo teammates, and Fenty was initially reluctant to allow a reporter to observe.

After departing from Shawn Fenty's house, the pack made its way across 13th Street, left on Arkansas Avenue, about seven miles through Rock Creek Park, then out to a three-mile loop around Hains Point, where it filed into a larger group of about 50 cyclists. Fenty, though a novice by competitive cycling standards, kept up with the pack, which traveled up to 30 mph.

Fenty, 37, who has been running competitively since high school, took up cycling a few years ago after joining Shawn on a training ride during a family vacation.

"He had a ball," Shawn, 43, said. And he invested in an expensive, carbon-fiber Cannondale.

Still, I haven't seen this translate into an aggressive pro-bike transportation agenda a la Chicago, Portland or New York. Maybe he figures T.Wells and Dan T. have it covered.

Comments

[Grendel]

"Fenty, though a novice by competitive cycling standards, kept up with the pack, which traveled up to 30 mph." Someone should remind them the speed limit in the District is 25.

[Danny]

Any list of cycling mayors who have done good for their city would be remiss to leave out Columbia, Missouri's Darwin Hindman. It's a small city but Hindman was nationally recognized for being a pro-cycling mayor -- before it was cool.

(Only throwing it out there because it was where I went to school)

[Jean Stanula]

I'm really interested in DC's progress the last few years--you think its way behind the other cities you mentioned? Why do you think we are getting SmartBike over these other cities? What would an aggressive pro-bike agenda include? I'd love to learn about this--Jean Stanula jastanula@gmail.com