Wednesday Morning Ride - Unofficial Cyclovia

Two starting comments: First of all, I failed to note and it went largely unreported that Sunday was the 50th Anniversary of the end of fixed-wing flights in DC. "On July 1, 1962, the last fixed-wing flight departed Bolling AFB, a C-54 carrying 33 passengers & 6 crew members,bound for nearby Andrews AFB." Since then, no takeoffs and no legal landings. Also, today is the best day of the year for biking around the Mall. Most of the roads are closed to cars and it is wide open for the taking. Think of it as an unofficial cyclovia [I actually think we should make it official and program it more, but there are probably safety concerns. There are always safety concerns.] And CaBi will have a bike corral on the Mall.

• A driver, Thomas Dunkel, 62, was convicted of "a number of felony charges, including charges of assault with significant bodily injury, assault with a dangerous weapon (car), assault with a dangerous weapon (bike)" stemming from an altercation two years ago.

According to prosecutors, Dunkel was driving his Toyota SUV in the 100 block of Massachusetts Avenue NW, near Union Station, when he encountered a 22-year-old bicyclist who was driving his bike down the middle of the road. Dunkel began honking his horn and yelling at the cyclist to move. He then, prosecutors said, struck the cyclist with his SUV. After the cyclist moved his bike out of the road to the sidewalk, the two began arguing and fighting. At one point, prosecutors said, Dunkel grabbed the bike and threw it at the cyclist. Dunkel then began punching the cyclist again, knocking him to the ground with his fists before bystanders intervened.

The cyclist required surgery to have a skin graph taken from his thigh and transplanted to his foot, prosecutors said.

Bike as a deadly weapon? That's a first for me. Sentencing is in September.

• GGW asks if scooters are bicycles or motorcycles. Answer: Motorcycles. I agree with the statement someone made in the comments "DC needs to do more to accommodate the legal parking of scooters in DC, regardless of how they're licensed." But they don't belong in bike lanes.
• MetroBike is hiring a bicycle planner here in DC.
• DePillis writes in perhaps her last City Paper article "Meanwhile, GSI is wary of infringment on its territory. While it decided to forfeit its right of first refusal in offering a Bikeshare-type program on the Mall, it warned the Park Service not to get any other big ideas. Last August, Verner emailed Park Service concession specialist Steve LeBel an article about a company that offers tours on electric bikes. “This shows the problem when the camel gets its nose inside the tent,” Verner wrote."
• Support the Washington Blvd Trail Phase II which is under attack by a local community group. 
• There will be a public meeting on the SW Ecodistrict on July 19th. 

Comments

[MF]

Here's hoping that Thomas Dunkel get a doozy of a sentence in September.

This is the first I've heard of an assault with a deadly weapon charge for a driver who intentionally struck a cyclist in DC. Excellent news.