TheWashCycle

Register for the inaugural Phoenix Derby!

Registration is open for Crystal City's signature urban cyclo-cross bicycle race, the Phoenix Derby -- A Garage Race and Fundraiser. On Saturday, May 17, 2014, 2:00-6:00 p.m., an underground parking garage (1851 S. Bell Street) will be transformed into a dynamic, urban cyclo-cross racecourse and spectator event, including a lounge and bar. Admission is free for spectators, but registration is required to participate in the races, which include a speed race in the cyclo-cross format, team relay, courier-inspired challenge with checkpoints and obstacles, and a kids' race. Visithttp://phoenixderby.kintera.org/home to register and find additional information.

 

Phoenix Bikes (www.phoenixbikes.org) is producing and managing the event and will be the sole beneficiary of funds raised. The Crystal City Business Improvement District (BID) and Vorndo/Charles E. Smith are also event partners. 

 

Phoenix Bikes is in the midst of a major capital campaign to raise funds that will allow construction of a permanent home along the W&OD multi-use trail at Walter Reed Drive for expansion in Barcroft Park. The nonprofit focuses on preparing local youth for the future by teaching them real-world skills and education through bike repair, mechanics and sales. 

 

Volunteers are needed to make the race a success. Contact Executive Director Henry Dunbar, [email protected]or 703-517-5017 if you'd like to help. 

Explore DC’s Lesser Known Monuments and More by Bike!

You can sign up for these classes at the website

Wanted to explore DC’s lesser known monuments or the city infrastructure by bike? We’ve got quite a few unique bicycling experiences lined up for our 10th session this May that we wanted to share with you! We expect around 60 course offerings open to all DMV residents at no charge.

Knowledge Commons DC is a free school for thinkers, doers, and tinkerers – taught anywhere, by anyone, for everyone. The community-powered organization  brings people from different walks of life together through high-quality free classes. This session, you'll see classes (for those who like getting around on two wheels) like:

• Lesser-Known D.C. Monuments, Memorials, and Landmarks

• Liquid Assets Bike Tour

• More Than a Purple Sputtering Glow: Streetlights and City Planning in D.C.

More classes will be appearing on our website soon!

A full class schedule and descriptions are available on
our website. Rolling registration opens starting April 27th. As always,
all classes will be hosted throughout the District with a focus on 
accessibility and exploring new neighborhoods.

2014 Air Force Cycling Classic is June 7th and 8th

In addition to their usual reaces, they're having a race between Congressional Republicans and Democrats. Like NASCAR, Americans will be rooting for crashes:

The Air Force Association Cycling Classic (AFACC) is posing a fun new challenge to Republicans and Democrats! Capitol Hill’s cycling enthusiasts and novice riders will have the opportunity to challenge each other for a good cause - to ride for bragging rights for their political parties during this year’s USAA Congressional Challenge which benefits the AFA Wounded Airman Program. The Congressional Challenge is a part of the AFACC’s Challenge Ride and will allow any member of Congress and their staff to sign up and compete as individuals as well as for their party’s bragging rights. The Challenge will count the laps of each individual Hill participant, and at the end, the total laps of individuals from both parties will be tallied for each party – creating team scores. The party with the highest team score will be declared the winner.  

“We are delighted to present the USAA Congressional Challenge for the first year,” said Brian Conklin, vice president of federal government relations for USAA, a financial services company that serves members of the military and their families.  “We are looking forward to this friendly competition for a good cause.”

In addition to bragging rights for the winning party, each participant will also be eligible to earn a medal in the AFACC’s Challenge Ride: a gold medal by completing six laps in less than three hours, a silver medal for riding four laps, and a bronze medal for two laps in that timeframe. Registration for the USAA Congressional Challenge is now open through the events website: www.CyclingClassic.org.

This year’s Air Force Association Cycling Classic events begin on Saturday, June 7, with the Air Force Association Cycling Classic’s Clarendon Cup Pro/Am races. Then on Sunday, June 8thcyclists of all abilities will be able to participate in the non-competitive Air Force Association Cycling Challenge Ride. Men’s Pro, Women’s and amateur races will complete the day’s schedule. Saturday and Sunday’s races will again be part of the prestigious USA Cycling’s National Criterium Calendar. A portion of the funds from the AFACC will benefit the AFA Wounded Airman Program, the event’s sole beneficiary.

More about the Air Force Association Cycling Classic:

 

WHO:	Professional and amateur cyclists of all ages and abilities
WHAT:	A two-day cycling event featuring Pro races, a non-competitive cycling challenge and a kids’ ride
WHEN:	June 7-8, 2014 Full schedule of race start times to be announced
WHERE:	Saturday, June 7th – Clarendon Metro Stop Sunday, June 8th – 2100 Crystal Drive, Crystal City
HOW:	Registration for all events is now open online Online registration closes May 31st, 9 p.m. PST
QUESTIONS:	Members of the public that have questions should call 202-966-0346. More information also available on our website.

Opportunity at the southern end of the W&OD?

The W&OD trail ends in Shirlington, but the railroad went all the way to the Potomac Yard railyard in Alexandria. The last bit of it makes up the SW edge of the Oakville Triangle. The owner of that industrial triangle is planning to redevelop it, which is where an opportunity comes in. 

But before it gets started, Alexandria has decided to replan the area over the next year. The first meeting of the nine-member community advisory group is scheduled for Tuesday.

The advisory group work plan includes land use, open space, connectivity, transportation and community amenities, illustrative principles and building design and massing.

“It’s finally getting some attention,” Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille said last month. “Property owners/developers are eager to redevelop this Oakville Triangle portion, but rather than coming in and saying ‘Here’s what we want to do,’ staff is suggesting that we put together a comprehensive civic advisory group.”

It's hard to see it, but there is a railroad berm right here, and a rail bridge used to cross Route 1 at this point. By building a new bike ped bridge in this location and replacing the Mt. Jefferson Park Trail along the old berm, Alexandria could make a safer connection between the development, the bike lanes on Commonwealth Avenue and the trails built as part of Potomac Yards. 

Gearin' Up Bicycles Grand Opening - Saturday, May 3

Gearin' Up announces:

We are proud to announce the Grand Opening of Gearin' Up Bicycles, a nonprofit community used bike shop, on Saturday, May 3. We are located at 1200 Bladensburg Road NE (close to the National Arboretum). We will be open for business with giveaways and free bike safety checks from 12-7pm. At 7, shop closes and the party begins! There will be drinks, giveaways, and raffle prizes with an outdoor screening of *Breaking Away* at 8:00pm.

For more information, check out the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1411660582430637/

Be sure to share with your cycling friends & we'll see you at the shop!

Improved crossing of Walter Reed possible for Columbia Pike Bike Boulevard

Capital Place, a new development along 11th St. S. between Walter Reed and S. Edgewood St in Arlington, will include a new section of 11th Street as part of that project. Arlington County is viewing this as an opportunity to move the 12th Street Bike Boulevard closer to Columbia Pike.

For two blocks from S. Highland St. to S. Cleveland St., the Bike Boulevards will move from 12th St. S. to 11th St. S.  This will allow for the use of the 11th St. S. and S. Walter Reed Dr. intersection, which is signalized.  12th St. S. at S. Walter Reed Dr. intersection will no longer have a HAWK Beacon or turn restrictions but will still be improved for safer crossings. 

Once the project is complete, the County will be installing sharrows going eastbound, a 5’ contraflow bike lane going westbound, and bike signal detection to complete the section of 11^thSt. S. 

County staff is currently visiting each community at the following meetings to go over this and other updates to the Bike Boulevards and answer questions. 

 

·         Penrose – April 15

·         Columbia Heights Executive Committee – April 23

·         Alcova Heights – April 24

·         Arlington Heights – May 13

·         Douglas Park – June 17

Help count cyclists on May 8th and 10th

From the Alexandria Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee

Counting people who are cycling, walking and running on or along Alexandria streets and trails helps demonstrate the need for trails, sidewalks and bike facilities.  Volunteers are needed for these counts on Thursday May 8th (5-7pm) and Saturday May 10th (12-2pm).  More information at BPAC’s website: https://sites.google.com/site/alexandriabpac/home?pli=1. Please contact Randy Cole  ([email protected]) and Randy Dingwell ([email protected]), 2014 Count Coordinators, Alexandria Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee with any questions

Might I suggest borrowing some ideas from Arlington...

ABC's of Family Biking Returns to DC on Saturday, May 3

Kidical Mass DC, DDOT and the Washington Area Bicyclist Association are delighted to announce the return of “The ABC’s of Family Biking.” This free event, now in its third year, celebrates the joy of biking with children and introduce local parents to the tools, skills and equipment that can help them start biking with their kids. This year, we're introducing some competition to our event, with balance bike races for the littlest cyclists and a Fiets of Parenthood http://bikeportland.org/2012/09/17/family-biking-skills-on-display-at-fiets-of-parenthood-77402-style family bike race for experienced cargo cyclists. 

Held on Saturday, May 3rd from 11:00am – 2:00 pm at Capitol Hill Montessori School at Logan, “The ABC’s of Family Biking” will offer: 

A Show & Tell to talk to area parents who bike with children of all ages Bicycles and equipment available at local bike shops to help parents bike safely with their children Free Youth Bike course with WABA instructors to teach basic riding skills to children. Parents & Kids Riding class to help parents bike alongside their kids, either alone or in a “bike train” group. Balance bike races for our youngest riders A cargo bike obstacle course where interested parents can test demonstration bikes and experienced family cyclists can pits their skills against one another in the East Coast’s first-ever “Fiets of Parenthood” competition The opportunity for parents to “Swap or Sell” their gently used family biking equipment Free bike repair clinics from The Bike House 

The event will also provide a chance for families to practice their bicycling skills in advance of National Bike to School Day which will be May 7, 2014. 

For more details, registration information, and full event schedule, visit the ABC's of Family Biking pagehttp://kidicalmassdc.blogspot.com/p/abcs-of-family-biking.html on the Kidical Mass DC websitehttp://kidicalmassdc.blogspot.com. 

To inquire about volunteering or exhibiting, e-mail Kidical Mass DC's organizer, Megan Odett, at[email protected] mailto:[email protected] 

Better headline: Great Capital Crescent Trail will cost more than a modest one

The Post has a story on how rebuilding the CCT with the Purple Line will cost about twice as much as previous planned, with the headline "Costs rise to rebuild Capital Crescent Trail along proposed Purple Line route" which makes it seem that the cost of the trail is just going up. Only way down in the text do you find out that one reason why the cost has gone up is that the county wants to make the trail better than they had previously planned. 

Some of the higher costs stemmed from county requests to widen the trail from 10 to 12 feet to provide better emergency vehicle access and add lighting, officials said.

So yeah, when you decide to buy something better than what you had budgeted for, it will usually cost more. Furthermore

Berliner and Erenrich said county officials considered the previous trail estimate to be a budget placeholder that would grow as engineering progressed. The MTA has now designed about 30 percent of the project.

Gabe Klein on WAMU talking about Capital Bikeshare

If you missed today's interview of Gabe Klein, you can listen to it online or read the transcript. It's really a very good interview and Klein knows as much as anyone about the issues. There's not much that's new in there about bikesharing, but it's a pretty good recap of everything from SmartBike through the start of Capital Bikeshare, with discussions of Divvy, Citibike and the future of bikesharing.