TheWashCycle

League of American Bicyclists Annual Meeting

Stupid bike lane sign

CommuterPageBlog points out a new nominee for dumbest bike lane. It's the bike lane to nowhere on the downstream Theodore Roosevelt Bridge.

Coffee Cup Bike Rack

Coffee Cup Bike Rack
Originally uploaded by wittco.gmbh

Active Transportation Town Hall Meeting

On Wednesday night Rails-to-Trails with help from WABA and input from DDOT hosted an Active Transportation Town Hall Meeting.

Keith Laughlin, President of RTC spoke first. He talked about RTC and all they've accomplished - 15,000 miles of rail to trail conversions since 1986, help in getting Transportation Enhancements in the Transportation bill, and the addition of $100 million in active transportation for 4 pilot programs in 4 cities. Their goal in the upcoming transportation bill is to double federal investment in trail,s biking and walking to $9 billion over the next six years.

They would like to expand the active transportation program to 48 cities including D.C. with the goal in D.C. being to have every resident live within a mile of a trail.

They went through the litany of advantages to active transportation that we've all heard, and they've done some qualitative and quantitative analysis - thought they only included vague numbers.

Their plan would:

Avoid 70-200 billion miles of driving
Use billions fewer gallons of fuel
Avoid tens of billions of tons of CO2
Save tens of billions of dollars
Increase public health

They included the graph at the right that showed the correlation between increases infacilities and increases in bicycle use.

They had a poll of how Americans would allot funding (37% Roads, 41% Transit and 22% bike/ped) and what really happens (79% roads, 20% transit, 1% bike/ped).

They talked about synergies between bikes and ped with traffic - almost all of DC is in the bicycle 'catch basin' for metro (what Richard Layman calls the bikeshed). 

And they advised everyone to join RTC and WABA, sign up for alerts and let your political representatives know that active transportation is a priority for you.

All in all a good little case for more funding.

Jim Sebastian of DDOT talked next about what DDOT would do if they had more money. He showed plans for 2010-16 now as compared to what they would try to do if they got the extra money.

Without (Skipping ped only projects)
Metropolitan Branch Trail
Anacostia Riverwalk Trail
Rock Creek Trail rebuild
50 miles of bike lanes
150 miles of signed bike routes
M Street SW/SE cycletrack
15th Street NW cycletrack
100 racks a year
Expand to 50 SmartBike stations with 600 bikes
Bike education for 5000 students at 8 schools per year
Two week enforcement waves per year
$100,000 for Smart Streets advertising

With (in addition to everything above)
South Capital Street Trail
Oxon Run Trail rebuild
Fort Circle Trail
50 more miles of bike lanes
50 outdoor maps
10 miles of cycletrack and other innovative street designs
100 more bike racks a year
Workplace parking and showers
Another bike station

Double the SmartBike program listed above (Full build out as planned now)
Double the Bike Education listed above
Hire DDOT traffic control officers to enforce bike/ped violations (by all users) full time
Another $100,000 for StreetSmart with DC specific ads

In addition he mentioned the projects they're trying to get stimulus funding for - Met Branch Trail, Rhode Island Avenue Bridge, SmartBike and more sidewalks (DC has 100 miles of sidewalk gap apparantly).

Here's the presentation (pdf)

This was followed by a Q&A where people mostly asked Jim Sebastian and new Acting DDOT Director Gabe Klein - who showed up as well - questions.

Some highlights. Director Klein was open to the idea of a DC Summer Streets program. Jim Sebastian was reluctant to give any specifics on SmartBike (they met with ClearChannel yesterday) but said expansion should happen this year. The bike station should be finished by the end of March, but no idea on when it will be available for use. The next section of the Met Branch should break ground in March. The intersection of Columbia and 18th should be redesigned soon - and when Eric Gilliland mentioned closing 18th in Adams Morgan on weekend nights it got a big applause. Gabe Klein likes the idea of congestion tolling, but it may be restricted by the Home Rule agreement. DDOT is working on a regional tolling plan which should be more palatable to our overlords in Congress.

So, that's a lot to take in. I hope I didn't miss anything.

Put down that Cinnabon

Seems that biking, even a lot of it, doesn't allow you to eat anything and everything you want. I'm sorry to be the one to bring you the bad news.

"You're trying to eat 5,000 to 8,000 calories a day," he added. "That's not so hard if you're eating a Big Mac -- or 12. But you'll pay for it later. The key is consuming all those calories and eating healthy, too. For a competitive cyclist looking for an optimum performance, you need to watch what you eat."

The right timing of meals and the right combination of food and drink may mean the difference between a podium finish and a spot back in the pack.

In the past decade, cycling nutrition has become increasingly scientific. Each professional team relies on doctors and nutritionists to help its athletes get the most out of their muscles.

"Cyclists definitely need a significant amount of calories, but it's not just the quantity but where they get those calories," explained Braun. "Typically, they're eating very large portions very frequently, and every food they choose packs something into their bodies."

It's not unusual for a pro cyclist to down the whole box of cereal at breakfast (with fruit and yogurt, too) and four sandwiches for lunch.

NYPD cop resigned, was not fired

According to a correction in the Post.

Future security clearance question

"Have you ever punched a cyclist in the face?"

Former CIA agent and #3 at the CIA Kyle Foggo was recently convicted of bribery. According to the story:

In court papers, prosecutors describe how Kyle “Dusty” Foggo was investigated in the late 1980s for punching a bicyclist in a traffic dispute...
In the late 1980s, when Foggo was a young CIA agent, a foreign government filed a formal diplomatic protest following a traffic encounter involving Foggo. According to an affidavit from Jim Olson, a former CIA counterintelligence chief who was Foggo’s supervisor at an undisclosed location, Foggo’s car was blocking a bicycle path and an upset cyclist smacked the car’s trunk. Foggo responded by pushing the man off his bike, punching him in the face and driving off.
    Foggo claimed the incident was fabricated by local authorities as part of a shakedown; Olson said he found Foggo’s explanation “entirely unrealistic and implausible.“ But Olson said he lacked the authority to interview local police about the incident, and could do nothing more than refer it to CIA headquarters for possible disciplinary action.

Arlington Bike Share details

Some MSM coverage of Arlington's proposed bike share program.

The program would encourage one-way rentals intended for trips under 5 miles, with the first 30 minutes given for free. Rides beyond 30 minutes would increase incrementally in cost.

Members also would pay a fee to join the program — about $50 annually or as little as $2 a day.

Ideally the program would have 1,400 bikes to meet a ratio of one bike per every 150 residents, DeMaio said. But the first phase of the project calls for about 100 bikes, then adding 100 more each year.

It would begin with bike racks in the Rosslyn-Ballston area, then expand to Pentagon City and Crystal City with the goal to be countywide in five years. The program has enough money from a state grant it won about three years ago to start the first phase, Hamilton said.

Photo of Milan's BikeMi by Boccalupo

Biking at the Clarendon Mardi Gras Parade

Biking in the Dark
Originally uploaded by M.V. Jantzen

Part of the Walk Arlington/ Phoenix Bikes contingent. A cyclist bikes past Minh's, a Vietnamese restaurant selling beef noodle soup. Clarendon Mardi Gras Parade. 2500 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA.

Film student looking for subject

Mike Kurec, a local film student, is doing a film on bike commuting. He's looking for someone who's never done bike commuting but is going to start. If you are such a person, or know of one - willing to be interviewed, please contact him at mike(dot)kurec(at)gmail(dot)com