Saturday Morning Ride - Hallowed Ground

A somber anniversary today

• On Oct. 16, the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership is hosting its first annual bicycle tour in Loudoun County - the 2010 Fall Bike Classic - where riders can see up-close why this region is known as “Where America Happened.”
• Virginia has job openings for the state bike and safe routes to schools coordinators. 
• The Wakefield Bike/Ped Bridge is open
• Georgetown MBA students participated in a Build-A-Bike workshop, which resulted in new bicycles for 36 children from a branch of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington.
• MTA's presentation on the future Capitol Crescent Trail should include plans for how it and the Met Branch Trail will move fit into the under-construction Silver Spring Transit Center
• I have a dream of winning the lottery and opening a bar/restaurant on the W&OD trail just east of Lee Highway (oh, who are we kidding, just a bar). Maybe this development will beat me to it. Has this had any impact on the trail - positive or negative? Talk about a bike commuter's dream. They will have an "oversized" bike room btw.
• Not what we had in mind.
• FABB has recommendations for the draft Virginia State Bicycle Plan
• Richard Layman says the Baltimore County Bike Plan compares favorably to Nashville's award-winning bike plan.
• A report on Marvin Gaye Park. You should check out the trail there some time. It's nice.
• The unopened ICC will have a 5km walk/run on Oct 17 on part of the highway that has been paved. Maybe they could open it to cyclists for a while too - we like to support the Special Olympics. [If you bike it clando at any time, please send photos].
• Becky Johns' parents want the driver who hit her to know they forgive him and hope he moves on.
• Local cross-country cyclists find California more bike friendly than DC. "I thought D.C. was pretty biker-friendly, but in the 100-mile stretch around Folsom, Sacramento and San Francisco, you really feel biking is a way of life," Hae-Chan said. "They have bike lanes on main streets, and the commuter trains have bike cars so you can easily get on and off with your bike and do your entire commute with a bike."
• WABA asks members which laws they bend/break. All the usual ones are there - except no one mentions biking trails that close after dusk. I do that everyday throughout the winter. Most Maryland trails have a curfew as does the W&OD trail. 
• FABB has coverage of the WABA annual meeting. 
• Maryland is working with the LAB to make bike-safe rumble strips.
• Next week is Bicycle and Pedestrian awareness week.

Comments

[Richard Layman]

I said the recommendations compare favorably. The Nashville plan is better in terms of the facilities recommendations, because they had more people, more resources to do the job, not just because it was for a larger area, but more resources generally.

(The Baltimore county plan was done by me and a GIS analyst, with supervision from our boss -- probably, and an advisory committee. Our boss probably did max. 20% time, we worked 4 days/week.

[Michael H.]

I ride past that Crescent Falls Church property frequently, if it's the building next to the Econo Lodge. I didn't know the property hadn't been finished yet. It looked complete to me. I guess not.

Thanks for the note about the ICC 5K. I may have to sign up for that run. While I still like cycling a little better than running, I'm starting to enjoy running more this year, now that I'm not getting injured from it all the time like last year.