Thursday Afternoon Commute - You'll be hated for 6 months, then they'll love you

Good afternoon

• The New Belgium Tour de Fat comes to DC on June 1
• Cyclists helping each other on the W&OD Trail
• MWCOG considering a Green Streets Policy which has as a goal making biking easier. 
• "Sharing is for commies, and so is cycling." CaBi should sell a T-shirt that says that. I'd buy one. 
• Urban Delivery seeks to revive messenger culture. Needs more Bacon (Kevin). 
• More on NYC, Citibike kiosks and controversy."Jane Browne, 42, who initially supported the program, said she had recently seen mice scurrying in the “corridors of trash and water” that formed between a nearby bike station and the curb." And to tie it in to DC: “Washington had at least one fistfight at a community meeting,” he said. “We haven’t had that.” (An official with Washington’s Transportation Department said she did not recall any contentious community meetings or significant opposition to the program.)" I think they're referring to this - which seems so bizarre now - and is so eloquently reduced to “Why is everybody so mad about this? Why is everybody so crazy?”
• The Boston Cyclist Safety Report. That's no typo, cyclist were cited for speeding more than twice as often as drivers. And on the helmet issues, between 44-53% of cyclists in EMS response crashes wore a helmet. "It is unknown how the relatively low rates of helmet use among cyclists involved in Boston EMS incidents relates to the overall rate of helmet use in Boston. Convenience sampling of Boston cyclists observed at selected sites throughout the city by Boston Bikes and other researchers has yielded average helmet use rates ranging from 48-72%, although observed rates were significantly lower in some neighborhoods." Earlier in the study they cite the 72% rate as coming from a peak-hour study. This means primarily bike commuters. I suspect commuters are more likely to wear helmets, but I could be wrong.

Comments

[MLD]

Vistaprint here I come; totally ordering a whole sheet of those "sharing is for commies" in sticker form.

[Purple Eagle]

The "sharing is for commies" blog is so over-the-top it's hard to tell if it's satire or serious . . .

[Zach]

Purple Eagle, I was thinking the same thing. How long has that been around? Is it for real?

[LMB]

The Spare the Road blog is ridiculous! How have I not seen this before? People never cease to amaze me.