TheWashCycle

Monday Morning Commute - Wiggins

Bradley Wiggins became the first Briton to win the Tour de France. It was quite a day for Great Briton, with Brits Christopher Froome coming in 2nd and Mark Cavendish winning the final stage. American Tejay Van Garderen became only the 3rd American to ever win the White Jersey for the Young Classification (best rider under 25) and George Hincapie set the record for most Tours participated in at 17. 

• New bike parking at the Brookland Metro. DDOT urban forestry maintains the Met Branch Trail. Better parking in buildings. All at RPUS. 
• WABA now has office hours EOTR. 
• Longtime anti-nuclear war protester's 31 year vigil interrupted after she was hit by a taxi on her bicycle and broke her clavicle.
• Wolf Trap, now easier to get to, but still with cruddy bike parking. [Maybe they should hire Richard Layman]
• The city of Richmond, VA will buy land owned by a cement company and use the rail line that accesses it to build a section of the Virginia Capital Trail from Williamsburg to Richmond. The cement company will lease back the rest for two years and then will vacate. "The trail also got a boost last week from the Commonwealth Transportation Board, which awarded a $7 million contract to Henderson Inc., a Williamsburg firm, to design and build the New Market Heights trail section. That segment of trail will extend more than 10 miles from Kimages Road in Charles City County to Long Bridge Road in Henrico.Construction already has begun on the Sherwood Forest segment of trail from the Chickahominy River to Charles City Courthouse." Meanwhile, the Cannon Creek Greenway that connects to the Capital Trail got help from the National Guard. The Guard cleared more than a half-mile of trail for the greenway as part of its Innovative Readiness Training program.
• Rails vs. Trails in the Adirondacks (answer: both?)
• Help Rails to Trails win $30,000 from Pacifico.
• "Vulnerable user law" not being enforced as expected in Oregon. 
• Bicycle infrastructure from Vancouver. 
• Tyler Hamilton may have his gold medal from the Athens Olympic games stripped because of his doping admission. Bobby Julich would move up to Silver as a result.

Friday Morning Commute - Nobody told me

Good morning

• Herndon Town Council discusses the Fairfax County Bicycle Plan and in so doing, obsses over keeping cyclists out of the way of cars and pedestrians. Meanwhile the public is focuses on safety, connectivity and more options. 
• While WABA and Arlington BAC haven't taken a position on the Columbia Pike streetcar tracks, they are concerned about the potential they have for causing bike crashes - as the tracks on H Street NE in DC already have. Personally I support streetcars, but I also worry that the bicycle boulevards won't perfectly address this issue. “If you basically take a piece of roadway that’s a major regional connector for cyclists, and you make it somehow unsafe for cyclists, you’re actually going to be discouraging ridership,” said Farthing. “It’s a challenge that needs to be worked out. You don’t want to invite crashes and hazards, or decrease ridership.”
• More on the controversy over expanding the Washington Boulevard Trail. "Unfortunately, the project has recently encountered a bit of opposition from local civic association members and Arlington’s Urban Forestry Commission. Some of the civic association complaints are the same as those frequently heard about transportation projects in general – “Nobody told me!” And I’ve certainly got some sympathy, as someone who tries hard — yet frequently fails — to keep up with local transportation projects. But that’s simply not a valid complaint in this case. The project has been on the books for years and, heck, anyone who has driven down Washington Boulevard for the past few years has seen an actual sign announcing the project’s future."

Wednesday Morning Commute - Canopy

Good morning

• Montgomery County Planning: "What could make your experience better on the Georgetown Branch Trail? Join planners on a Greater Lyttonsville Trail Run/Walk on Thursday, July 12 at the Stewart Avenue Trailhead on the Georgetown Branch Trail. Show us what works – and what doesn’t – on the trail" @ 7pm
• Steve Offut writes about the Washington Blvd Trail extension in Arlington County and the concern by some that the tree loss will be too high a cost. "The entire project may present a terrific opportunity to create an even more beautiful canopy as well as improve habitat.  By working with arborists and urban forestry experts, perhaps an even better canopy could be created in harmony with the trail." I too am hopeful. As Offut writes, many of the trees are non-native and there may be room to add enough trees to balance off the loss. The proposal to move the trail to the east side would also remove a lot of trees, while creating a more circuitous trail cut off from many possible users. 
• Bike education at Long Branch Elementary School.
• American Teejay Van Garderen is currently in the Tour de France's White Jersey for the top rider under 25. He's been in it for most of the race so far. "The 23-year-old cyclist from Montana, who many think will one day contend for the yellow jersey, finished fourth in the ninth stage and moved up to eighth place in the overall standings....Only two Americans, Greg Lemond and Andy Hampsten, have won the Tour’s white jersey."
• I suspect she'll make more money over her lifetime because she quit her day job. Olympian probably looks good on a resume.

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. 

Friday Morning Commute - Helicopter Landing Area

Good morning

• The Arlington Urban Forestry Commission, at their May 24th meeting, decided to send a letter to the County Board asking that the Washington Boulevard Trail in the Penrose neighborhood be built on Courthouse Road instead of along Washington Blvd. If not possible, they suggest that the trail be narrowed, built on a raised platform and built with more curves to avoid large trees. Building the trail as planned  will require the loss of 174, mostly native trees, and impacts to another 125. In addition some people in the Penrose neighborhood don't want the trail. The commission will also recommend that the County approach the DOD about putting more of the trail near Towers Park. The project is 80% designed and now needs the Board to approve the contract for construction.
• Bicycle theft is way up at Metro stations. Up from 18 to 47 in the January to March period of the last two years.
• Unhappy with a trail that connects his neighborhood to the Indian Creek Trail (part of the ATTS), a local man built his own trail. "Li said his goal was to get the county to build a paved pathway, and he won’t have long to wait. The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission is slated to begin construction this summer on a bike trail — part paved path and part boardwalk — to connect Nevada Street to the Indian Creek Trail. The new trail will not go over Li’s trail, but will reroute bikers and pedestrians to another section of the Indian Creek Trail."
• A new AASHTO Bike Guide is out. "this 200-page publication has undergone extensive revision and expansion since it was last released in 1999. It includes guidelines to design, build, modernize, and preserve bicycle facilities, signage, and bicycle parking facilities that can accommodate daily commuters and recreational users."
• The improvements to the Columbia Island area Mount Vernon trail crossings start today (See Video below). 15mph speed limit on the roads in the area? Who knew?

Thursday Afternoon Commute - How can you have a five-foot shoulder on a 55 mph highway and bring your grandchildren with you?

Good afternoon

• A cyclist was hit by a WMATA bus and the driver drove away. The cyclist tried to contact WMATA and were told that there was no way to find out which bus it was and WMATA did not take any responsibility.
• VDOT tries to reroute the Virginia Capitol Trail away from Route 5 to make it more appealing to recreational riders. The locals are not happy. "Concerns included safety and traffic control, loss of property to the trail, and the use of taxpayer money to redesign, build and maintain the trail."
• A student, riding his unicycle to school, was ticketed for riding a bike on the sidewalk. But he argued that a bike is defined as having two or more wheels. 
• Bicycling stamps are available today.

Monday Afternoon Commute - "The bicycle has changed everything"

On Saturday I was driving down North Capitol and saw an electric car (plugged in to one of the row houses across from McMillan) with about 8 identical, newish looking bicycles attached to it. Another 6-10 of the same bikes were in the front lawn. Seemed like a weird place for all that. Maybe they could have used one of these. 

• JDLand was right. The new 11th Street Local Bridge will open soon - as in Wednesday. I plan to go by and check it out, but I'm not sure what it means for bike/ped users.
• The Rock Creek Conservancy is going to be hosting some events on National Trails Day - June 2nd, including a bike hike with NPS. 
• The budget for the City of Manassas was approved without money for the Winters Branch Bike Trail. 
• Indian officials had noticed that "the high school dropout rate soared when girls reached the ninth grade. This was primarily because there are fewer high schools and girls had to travel longer distances to get to school." Guess what the solution was? And the addition of a bike to households has created opportunities for the whole family, since the girls can carry siblings to school or use it to run errands after school. 

Tuesday Morning Commute - Wetlands Bridge Open today

Good morning. Noticed the headline yesterday "Secret Service Scandal Widens". Has there every been a headline "Scandal Narrows"? Probably not. They might as well have used the headline "We're still talking about the Secret Service Scandal, so you know what that means."

• The St. Elizabeths East Campus Transportation Network Environmental Assessment is out. it would remove a barricade east of the river, but not do much more. 

Alternative 1 and Alternative 2 would open the campus’s roadway network to cyclists, providing alternative bicycle connections to Alabama Ave. and Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave. The low-speed nature of the proposed street network on the East Campus would accommodate cyclists with safe and attractive facilities, providing a parallel network to the primary facilities mentioned above. Both of the alternatives provide on street bicycle lanes  along 13th St.Improving bicycle facilities would make cycling a more attractive option and contribute to a mode shift away from single-occupancy vehicles

• VDOT's list of 2012 Tentative Enhancement Allocations includes $190,000 for the Potomac Yard - Four Mile Run Trail Connection which will construct a paved connection between the Four Mile Run Trail and existing bicycle / pedestrian facilities in Potomac Yard and $80,000 for the translation of a statewide pocket safety guide for bicycle/pedestrian/motorist safety into an additional language, create an electronic version, and fund local safety classes.
• It also includes money for part of the following projects
  • bikesharing at the University of Virginia*; the conversion of a ca. 1881 bridge in Bristol for use as a bike trail
  • construction of a bicycle/pedestrian trail system to connect the historic sites of Belmont, Chatham Manor, and Ferry Farm
  • construction of an asphalt, bicycle and pedestrian trail connecting Pierce Elementary School to residential areas in the Town of Remington
  • construction of a multi-use trail from Occoquan Regional Park to the Laurel Hill Greenway
  • Construction of a multi-use trail on abandoned Chesapeake and Ohio right of way from the City of Covington to the Town of Hot Springs
  • Construction of Virginia Creeper trailhead facilities; a connector trail linking the Virginia Creeper Trail and the Overmountain Victory Trail
  • Construction of a multi-use trail along abandoned Norfolk Southern right of way from the Town of Appalachia to the Town of Big Stone Gap
  • Construction of an extension to the New River Trail from its existing northern terminus in the Town of Pulaski to Randolph Park
  • Construction of a multi-use trail through the communities of Roanoke County
  • Construction of a multi-use trail throughout the communities of the City of Roanoke
  • Construction of the Tobaco Heritage Trail, a multi-use trail throughout the communities of the City of Roanoke
• Arlington installed two new CaBi stations yesterday. One at 20th & Vietch and the other at Veitch & Key near Courthouse.
• Park Police are ticketing cyclists at Hains Point, but they're saying things like 'you don't have to unclip or anything, but at least slow down. You just blew right through it and turned right, so I had to stop you." which seems reasonable. 
• Manassas Trail Meeting on Thursday. 
• Fairfax County students to participate in National Bike to School.
• New Bicycling postage stamps coming this summer.  

*I believe this is in Rep. Eric Cantor's district, which is interesting because he opposed and belittled bike sharing in DC. 

Saturday Evening Ride - We'll leave the light on for you

Hello

• DDOT has installed 4 miles of bike lane and 1 mile of shared lanes so far this year. That makes up for 2011. Now they only have 10 miles to do in 2012. "The new bike lanes are on 4th Street, SW; I Street, SW and SE; Columbia Road, NW, New York Avenue, NW; Tilden Street, NW; and Upshur Street, NW....In addition there is a combination of new bike lanes and sharrows on R Street from Florida Avenue, NW to the Metropolitan Branch Trail in NE; and there are new sharrows on Oklahoma Avenue, SE."
• There were 164,911 trips on Capital Bikeshare in March. That's a one-month record (though is won't last long) as well as a 60% increase from February and a 157% increase from last year.
• The High Bridge is open. But based on the name, they really should have waited until April 20th. "It is the final link in connecting 31 miles of linear state park. It is the most prominent of numerous cultural and historic areas connected by the park. Efforts are still ongoing to extend the park into Burkeville on its eastern end and Pamplin to the west."
• What you, and I, missed on the Down the Tubes ride hosted by WABA and DC Water. Seriously, this is the kind of thing I could've really geeked out on. 
• "Virginia’s state parks will designate areas for cyclists to camp even when campgrounds are full, to ensure that long-distance touring cyclists will always have a place to stay."
• According to a new report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group "In 2009, 16- to 34-year-olds as a whole took 24 percent more bike trips than they took in 2001, despite the age group actually shrinking in size by 2 percent.” And that's only going to go up when they hear about High Bridge.
• The covered bike parking at the University of Michigan is really nice. 
• In Seattle, a coffee shop asked the city to install a bike rack and the city declined. So they asked a local art group to build one, which they have installed and gets used all year long. But now the city is complaining that it isn't permitted and is too big for the space where it has been placed. They've offered to move the site up their list for installation.

Tuesday Afternoon Commute - Jesus would have been a cyclist

Good Afternoon. Don't forget to vote (unless you live in Virginia, then you're too late or too early).

• A 3rd CaBi station opened on the Mall yesterday, near Smithsonian Castle. The other two Mall stations have consistently been among the top 15 busiest. "The Mall stations are most heavily used by casual users, not long-term subscribers. That means more money for the system, which already has made enough to cover its operating costs in the District. So far, data show, casual users have outnumbered subscribers at those stops by more than two to one."
• More about the Daily Rider bike shop on H Street. 
• New CaBi stations are also being installed on the R-B corridor - along with more bike parking.
• Bike sharing is feasible in Reston. 
• "The first span of the pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the Dulles Toll Road at Wolf Trap Farm Park was installed last night." The final span will be installed tonight. 
• Bike Snob's latest book reviewed by the Post. 
• Another article on the public perception of cyclists.