TheWashCycle

Monday Afternoon Commute - instinctively Neanderthal reaction

Good afternoon

• In 1903, a bicycle race track called the Coliseum, opened on A Street NE, between 14^th and 15^th Streets. "The name was a bit of a misnomer, as it consisted of two short sets of stands at right angles at one corner of an oval course of 1000 ft. Nonetheless, it was considered one of the finest tracks in the country.....The crowd that evening was treated to [Elkes] traveling around the 1/5 mile track 5 times in 1 minute and 39 seconds, indicating a speed of 36 mph – this at a time when the top speed for a production automobile was something like 20 mph...Elkes would die almost exactly 2 years after his debut at the Coliseum when his tire burst during a race in Cambridge, MA."
• "If the purpose of bollards is to deter motor vehicles from accessing pedestrian and bicycle facilities, they should only be located at points where trails and streets intersect. This makes particular sense at points where a driver may mistake a trail for a street. There aren’t too many of these situations in Arlington, but the W&OD near Bluemont Park is no stranger to SUVs driving to the picnic pavilion. And I can imagine how bored teenagers might find it fun to try to drive up the access bridge from the Roosevelt Island parking lot. So yes, bollards do have their place."
• How Montgomery County should sign bike routes. 
• Once, when we were going to an art opening of an acquaintance of mine, my friends and I planned ridiculously over-the-top comments we could make about the art to complete strangers. One that sort of struck a chord and been repeated often was, "This work is all the more terrifying for its repulsive brilliance." It is praise I would bestow on this letter. 
• "Bicycle advocates in Washington are worried that the path to a possible deal in Congress on a transportation spending bill this week will involve throwing them under the bus."
• The US Census Bureau's "Profile America" feature (who knew?) focuses on the development of tires, inlcuding the invention of balloon tires by a Scottish veterinarian in 1884.

Monday Morning Commute - Group

Good morning

• DCist put together a handy listing of free, weekly group bike rides in the DC area. 
• Cyclist in San Francisco to be charged with felony manslaughter after a fatal crash with a pedestrian. "Some 4,834 cyclists and 59,925 pedestrians were killed by motor vehicles in the United States between 1999 and 2009 (the most recent year for which figures are available), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cyclists killed just 63 pedestrians, or about six a year, during the same time period." And one letter writer to the Post thinks that last week's fatal trail crash should serve as a warning to pedestrians. [I'm actually unclear on the letter-writer's point. Are they actually trying to warn pedestrians, or just complaining about cyclists?]
• I think Congress should fund biking and walking programs, but I've come to believe that we should probably retire the word "war" except for those cases where we're actually blowing things up and killing people. This is especially true at a time when we're actually at war. A better headline might be "Republicans want to defund biking and walking."
• The reason Hincapie didn't make the Olympic team? He asked not to, as did three other cyclists associated with Lance Armstrong.

Thursday Morning Commute - “All signs from my case are pointing to the fact you can be assaulted on the road”

Good morning

• CaBi will be having a two-millionth rider celebration on Monday at the Blind Dog Cafe.
• WABA's full testimony at yesterday's hearing.
• Also from the hearing comes news that John W. Diehl, the driver who - in a highly publicized incident - was recorded intentionally hit a cyclist with his car,  has not been prosecuted "because the man has not shown up for court and has not been arrested on the outstanding bench warrant issued in the case. Reached on Wednesday by phone, 56-year-old Mr. Diehl said he had no idea he had been summoned to court and denied being involved in the accident. 'This is all news to me,” he said. “I never hit anyone. If I had a bench warrant, I would turn myself in.'" Put me down for skeptical.
• Last night, DDOT had a pre-construction meeting on the U St. Streetscape project. There are no bike lanes planned, but I also don't see mention of more bike parking. 
• Hurt is now calling CaBi bikes "dirty with disease-spreading handlebars." But when he says "I think it is awesome you want to ride [them]" I don't think he's telling the truth. I don't think he actually thinks it's awesome. Then there is a bunch of "stop spending my money on things I don't want" stuff in there. Look, we could all point to things that government spends money on that we wish our money didn't go towards. [For me it's the American Embassy in Canada. I don't want anything to do with those people.] But that's the price of living in a democracy. Welcome to being a grown-up Mr. Hurt.
• On the US Transportaton bill: "There has been next to no indication of where House leaders like John Boehner or Eric Cantor stand on Cardin-Cochran."
• "Of the four services I tested, Google is the only to offer bicycle directions. It's different from walking directions in that cyclists must respect one-way signs. Bike routes also favor bike lanes and shun steep hills when possible."

Wednesday Afternoon Commute - Duryea Motor Wagon

Good afternoon. Tulsa is going to make a bid for the Olympics. I don't know if it's winter or summer, but I give either bid about an equal possibility of being successful. 

• At a meeting last night, DDOT formally presented plans for the 1st Street NE cycletrack. "The cycletrack will be 8 feet wide and separated from automobile traffic. Plastic bollards will handle that duty from the circle to K Street. From K to M, a 2-foot-wide precast concrete barrier will keep automobile and bicycle traffic separate. This barrier will be the same height as a standard curb."
• The Hunt opinion piece on CaBi isn't just stupid, it's sexist too.
• The SuperNoVa Survey for northern Virginia transportation is still taking comments. 
• How times change "The first recorded automobile accident involving two vehicles occurred on this date in 1896 in New York City.  Henry Wells of Springfield, Massachusetts, was driving a new Duryea Motor Wagon, the first automobile to be made and sold in the U.S.  Unfortunately, he collided with Evelyn Thomas of New York, riding a bicycle.  Thomas went to the hospital with a broken leg, and Wells spent the night in jail."
• The father of Beto O'Rourke, the new Democratic nominee for Texas' 16th Congressional District, was killed in a bicycle crash and now has a hike and bike trail named for him. Police seemed to blame the sun instead of the driver for driving too fast under dangerous conditions. 
• Ray LaHood "And we’ve put our actions behind those words with grants for complete streets initiatives, better sidewalks, and more bike infrastructure like bike-sharing programs, bike lanes, and off-road paths. The Federal Transit Administration has made it easier for commuters to access transit service by bicycle."