Monday Morning Commute - Anniversary

Just found out that a friend of mine was hit by a bus while riding her bike here in DC. She's OK, but shaken up. Scary stuff.

• It's the blog's 7 year anniversary (or it was yesterday). Back then there was talk of some sort of computerized bicycle rental program. 
• On the repairs to Memorial Bridge. "The temporary pedestrian and bicycle bridges on both sides of the bridge are in place to allow pedestrian and bicycle use while repairs are underway.”
• Must-read article out of the Tidewater region. Covers the topics of cyclist-driver relations, the expanding effort to make roads safer and consider cyclists and, of course, who is most often to blame in crashes. In about 1/3 of crashes a ticket is issued "About 58 percent of those tickets went to drivers, according to the data. Cyclists received the rest." Of course, in a hit and run, no ticket is issued. 
• Baltimore adds bike parking near the stadiums.
• "Yes, there are studies that show that if you fall off a bicycle at a certain speed and hit your head, a helmet can reduce your risk of serious head injury. But such falls off bikes are rare — exceedingly so in mature urban cycling systems. On the other hand, many researchers say, if you force or pressure people to wear helmets, you discourage them from riding bicycles. That means more obesity, heart disease and diabetes. And — Catch-22 — a result is fewer ordinary cyclists on the road, which makes it harder to develop a safe bicycling network."

Comments

[bikesnick]

congratulations on five years! thank you.

[Terpfan]

If anyone lost a set of keys this morning on 15th St Cycletrack please go to Bike Arlington forums and message me.

[Kolohe]

congrats on the anniversary. Speaking of bicycling endurance http://bicycling.com/blogs/thehub/2012/09/28/100-year-old-man-sets-100-kilometer-cycling-record/

[washcycle]

bikesnick, is that like when someone at a 20-year wedding anniversary thanks their wife for the best 7 years of their life?

[SJE]

Congratulations on the anniversary. You have brought so much to the cycling community in DC, especially among the casual users and commuters.

I was surprised, however, that your first post didnt mention hoverbikes, jet packs and androids. I thought all "way back when" articles had jetpacks.

[Eric_W.]

Congratulations! Thank you for your energetic and tireless work. What a commitment!

[Joe D]

I read through many of the comments on the Tidewater article, and one stuck out more than others as verifiable: a complaint about a woman riding about 5:30 every day (sounds like a commuter) on a particular 35 MPH road (Elbow Road between Salem & Indian Head) with no shoulders, especially near a blind curve. Well, friends and neighbors, a trip up Google Maps reveals the "sharp dogleg curve ahead, 15 MPH max safe speed" sign. So it's somebody who just doesn't want to take care. (I'd have posted there, but I can't be bothered to create a login.)

[Anonymous]

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! Thank you for hard work, this blog is the best!

[freewheel]

Congrats on your blogiversary!

Great 1st post on bikeshare. Now you should tell us what we can expect to see 7 years from now.

[BlooEyedDevil]

Congrats! Many more to come, yeah?

[JeffB]

Happy Anniversary! Cake?

[Greenbelt]

Sorry for your friend -- buses no fun to share the road with. Thanks for all your hard blogging.

[Riley]

Thanks for all your hard work slaving over a hot computer all these years maintaing my favorite DC bike read - after the WABA forum of course. ;-)

[PdE]

Congratulations. Always thoughtful & intelligent commentary. The best bike blog out there.

[Bikesnick]

My bad. Congratulations on *seven* years!

[MG]

Happy Anniversary, WashCycle! Thanks for the consistently good and informative information you aggregate and share with us!

[Jim Titus]

Thank you for being the source of about 3/4 of what I know about bike planning and policy.

For people willing to spend a bit of their spare time on bicycle advocacy, WABA and this blog are the two resources that make it possible to accomplish something.

[Crickey7]

You da man.

[Michael H.]

Happy anniversary, Wash. Things have changed quite a bit since 2005. Among those changes: I actually ride bikes now. In 2005, I hadn't ridden a bike in many years. Now I ride them all the time, my own and the Capital Bikeshare bikes.

Let's hope everything continues to improve, not just in the D.C. area but nationwide. Worldwide too.

[Jonathan Krall]

Congrats on the seven years! And thanks. This biking thing has changed my life for the better and this blog has been a big part of that (In fact, a conversation at a Washcycle-celebrating happy hour convinced me to start bicycling full time).

[CyclingFool]

Happy belated Blogiversary! Five years of amazing stuff. I've been full-time bike commuting about three and a half of those five years and reading this blog religiously as well.

It's hard for me to imagine a world without TheWashCycle! Thanks!

[CyclingFool]

I meant seven years. (I'm a walking incarnation of the holy hand grenade scene in Monty Python this morning...)