Wednesday Morning Commute - Directly to Sin

Good Morning

• Registration is now open for Bike to Work Day 2011. Sign up at WABA. They're trying to get to 10,000 participants this year. Also, it looks like there are going to be significantly more pit stops than in previous years (9 in DC alone).
• Rob Pintingolo at GGW uses American Community Survey data to create a map showing bike commuting by Census tract.  It should be no surprise that NW and Capitol Hill are the heavy areas. 
• The Post on the new book How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way). 'A true vehicle of social change, the bicycle went from oddity in 1878 to commonplace by 1895, affecting the place of women in society in ways that were debated by men and women alike. Some, like the crusader Charlotte Smith, sought to protect women's morals, saying bicycle riding lured "young girls into paths that lead directly to sin." Others cited the benefits of vigorous exercise, fresh air and greater freedom of movement. As the wife of a New York City minister put it, "A girl who rides a wheel is lifted out of herself and her surroundings.'
• NPS has denied Bike DC's permit request to use the GW Parkway for the ride. WABA is looking into options. Just when I was starting to say that NPS was changing for the better....Oh NPS.
• Want to help make Arlington more bicycle friendly. Get involved with the BAC. "The BAC meets monthly to review and comment on Arlington County projects that will have an impact on cycling in Arlington. While their recommendations aren’t binding, Arlington County staff have regularly modified and revised county plans in response to input gathered through the committee. Every BAC meeting is open to the public, and meeting summaries are posted at the BikeArlington site. The next BAC meeting – at 6:30p, Monday, March 7 at the Central Library – is geared specifically to making more people aware of the role that the BAC play in addressing the concerns of cyclists in Arlington."

Four Mile Run bicycle path opening, 1967

Comments

[MrM]

BikeDC reps will be at the ANC2C meeting tonight with DC Councilmember Jack Evans, maybe he can add some influence to the fight. http://tinyurl.com/473zmff

[darren]

NPS is turning me into a Tea Party sympathizer. Don't Tread on BikeDC

[mike]

Its a National Park and we can't stop the cars for several hours on a weekend so thousands of people can ride bikes through the park. This makes no sense.

[darren]

Also, just *thrilled* to see AAA Mid Atlantic subsidizing the war on drivers by sponsoring Bike to Work Day again.

[Chris]

I plan on biking to work on bike to work day, but it seems like the pit stops all open very late. I try to get to work before 7, so I can be showered and working by 7:30. That means leaving around 5 a.m.

If I don't leave that early, traffic gets too bad, and the trails fill up too.

Plus, how can there be no stops anywhere around Rock Creek Park?

[satan]

as seems usually the case, where is the *reason* that NPS denied the WABA ride? who can we call?

we have no meaningful democracy in the usa in 2011, on so many metrics, across almost every area of quotidian life. the creation of an economic aristocracy is the most malignant of these expressions of anti-democracy.

[CyclingFool]

How do I always manage to poorly plan my vacations?!?!I'm going to be out of town on Bike to Work Day. I ride to work every day anyway, but I'll miss out on the fun and the swag on the "official" day. The Old Town Alexadndria pit stop was fun last year. Oh well...

[Contrarian]

I used to live in ANC2C and I wish the BikeDC reps well. At least back then it was famous for its dysfunction. Its finances were a mess and it would go 6-7 months at a time without meeting because they couldn't get a quorum. I remember at one point there was a bit of a kerfuffle because the city had granted several liquor licenses without consulting with the ANC, and one commissioner was quoted in the paper saying, "Why would anyone want to come before use, the way we carry on?"