TheWashCycle

Monday Afternoon Commute - Good cops, bad cops

Good afternoon

• Driver hits two cyclists in bike lane, and once he notices that the collision damaged his car, he called the police who promptly cited him for illegally changing lanes into traffic. 
• The Washington Monument repairs could start this fall. It will require closing off the sidewalk along the south side of the Monument for 12-18 months, which should be no more than a minor inconvenience to cyclists.  
• "Frederick police are cracking down on skateboarders and bicycle stunt riders in the downtown historic district" If stunt biking and skateboarding had been against the rules in my hometown, then I would've had to take up another hobby - like huffing paint. 
• Would a BART-style "bikes on during rush hour" pilot program work on Metro Rail?
• Don't approach the Olympic Torch security bubble. 
• Lance Armstrong takes his doping case to the courtroom. Also "The agency says it has...along with blood samples from 2009-10 that are "fully consistent" with doping." If the 2009-10 blood samples are the ones that do him in, that would make his the worst comeback decision of all time. 

Wednesday Evening Commute - Doping

Good afternoon

• "The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency brought formal doping charges against former cyclist Lance Armstrong in an action that could cost him his seven Tour de France titles, according to a letter sent to Armstrong and several others Tuesday."
• Meanwhile 2010 Tour de France Champion Andy Shleck has pulled out of the race due to a spine injury he sustained earlier this year. Contador is also not competing this year because of his doping scandal.  
• Most CaBi trips appear to be faster than their comparable transit trips. 
• CaBi bikes along the route of the Air Force Cycling Classic.
• Biking is fun. 

Monday Morning Commute - Buffalo Soldiers: the first mountain bikers

Do you think Bruce Banner qualifies for medicinal marijuana? I mean, if anyone does...

• WABA needs volunteers
• Group of five kids in Columbia Heights surrounded a cyclist and stole his bike. Chase ensued and two of the kids were arrested.
• Bike Maryland on helmetlessness.
• No money for biking in Fairfax county.
• Safe Routes to School is in jeopardy.
• "many positive projects have resulted from a growing relationship between the Park Service and the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA)—a nonprofit group that advocates for landscape conservation, trail access, and above all else, good trail etiquette. “IMBA has shown through hard work and cooperative attitudes that they share our passion for protecting and enjoying our nation’s parks,” said Park Service Director Jon Jarvis in a press release. “Bicycling helps draw new visitors—especially younger people—and gives them fun, memorable experiences in the national parks.”
• I'm not sure if this is too late, but you might be able to ask Sec. LaHood a question.
• The American Taylor Phinney won the Giro d’Italia’s first stage, a 5.4-mile individual time trial in Herning, Denmark.
• I know what got the headline, but this part is more impressive "The top woman was Canada's Angela Naeth, who won in a course-record 4:28:12 despite peddling the last six miles of the bike leg with a flat rear tire."
• Some guy on a bicycle outruns police at crazy highway speeds.

Saturday Morning Ride - Biking the Promenade

Good morning

• One reader writes "DC authorities and development agencies are presenting this Riverwalk as great for biking, but today when I tried to use it I was told by two uniformed policemen from the Navy Yard that it was prohibited to bike along the Navy Yard stretch of the path. I can't see one good reason for this and the excuses I was offered were pretty weak: "water hazard" (as opposed to traffic hazard?) and "this is a base" (only it is outside of the main base and separated by a fence). If the Navy Yard upholds this policy, it will really diminish the use and potential of the Anacostia Riverwalk. It will also severely limit the utility of this recently developed stretch." That it's a base is indeed a weak excuse - people can and do successfully bike on military bases all around the world. I was aware that biking was not allowed on the Navy Yard Promenade, but this is the first I've heard of it being enforced. I'm hopeful that the Navy will waive this rule as they did the closures at certain times, but does anyone have a strategy to make that happen? It would seem especially important with the new bridges (Wetlands and 11th Street) opening soon.
• DC, it's not just for biking anymore.
• There are a lot of options for taking your little ones (or someone else's) on your bicycle with you.
• More data for Capital Bikeshare for March 2012. Trips per bike per day was up at 4.23, which is well above March 2011's 2.44. They also set a record for mileage for a month (187K miles) and likely hit 2 million miles total in early April.
• New York's velodrome will SOoooo much better than ours. "The field house is to be giant — 115,000 square feet near Pier 5, with a 200-meter inclined cycling track with up to 2,500 seats and a 22,000-square-foot infield that can accommodate other sports, including basketball, tennis, volleyball and gymnastics."
• CNN's Sanja Gupta will be doing a story on CNN about cyclist injuries in NYC this Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 a.m. ET. There's a teaser story online now and it has a lot of good stuff in it.
  
  • "There were no legal repercussions for the driver whatsoever, because the NYPD chose not to investigate the hit-and-run," Matson said. "It blows my mind that this is even possible ... people get in worse trouble for double-parking."
  • "Cyclists and pedestrians are being killed and seriously injured all over our city, once every 35 hours in fact," New York City Councilman and Public Safety Committee Chairman Peter Vallone said at a hearing this year. "And the drivers are literally getting away with it."
  • Cyclists who think police are biased against them are fueled by another statistic: In 2011, the NYPD issued 10,415 criminal court summonses to truck operators. During the same year, 34,813 summonses were issued to bicyclists.
• "As a bike partisan myself, I think it’s great that my congressman likes to ride his bike and wants to make riding bikes safer and more convenient. But even after teaching constitutional law for 38 years I can’t pinpoint Congress’ constitutional authority to promote bicycle transportation." It's the same place where they have the power to build highways. 
• Beijing Bicycles seek to reclaim roads from autos. 
• “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” author Stephen R. Covey is recovery from a single-bike crash that has left him in the hospital. "Covey was wearing a helmet but still suffered a head injury."

Friday Morning Commute - Gateway Drugs and Tissue Thin Leotards

Good morning

• GGW endorses former Bicycle Advisory Council member Jacque Patterson for Ward 8 CM. As did the Post.
• LAB interviews Matt Wittmer, author of “Where to Bike DC.” I have a copy of this book that I got at Interbike, but like everything Interbike, I haven't blogged about it yet. 
• One advantage of offering the homeless access to CaBi instead of transit "the Bikeshare memberships -- which DDOT is offering the nonprofit at a discount -- are much cheaper, saving the nonprofit about $7,000." The idea, it turns out, came from a homeless participant. And CaBi is doing more to encourage the needy to use the service - including offering monthly fees instead of annual.
• Senator Cardin of Maryland was honored yesterday at the Bike Summit. "Senator Cardin’s leadership was instrumental in crafting a creative solution to maintain funding for Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to Schools in the Senate’s transportation bill and to ensure that cities and counties continue to have a voice in how federal dollars are spent on these important programs."
• Pump track as bicycling gateway drug. 
• NYU just expanded it's bike fleet, but it should be focused on getting the city-wide bike sharing on campus.
• Bike shop for the famous."Lady Gaga has been to the store, and true to form, Mr. McCorkell did not know who she was — even though she was dressed in little more than spike heels and a tissue-thin leotard." Same outfit I commute in actually.
  
  • The relationship between film stars and bicycling has been well established. Steven Rea, author of “Hollywood Rides a Bike: Cycling with the Stars” said that in the 1940s and 1950s, movie studios “essentially had bike-share programs up and running that would make Toronto or Paris envious.” He said workers used bicycles to “wheel from one side of the lot to another, from dressing room to cafeteria to soundstage.” He said many actors also cycled between takes, like Jimmy Stewart, who took breaks from filming “Rear Window” on a bike.
• One way to be seen.
• Reply.

Saturday Night Ride - Big brother to the rescue (not the TV show)

Good Morning

• A possible solution to violations in Downtown DC's bike/bus only lanes. "San Francisco, with its long-running (if imperfect) "transit-first" policy, has come up with a way to address all these problems at once. By early next year the city's entire fleet of 819 buses will be equipped with forward-facing cameras that take pictures of cars traveling or parked in the bus and transit-only lanes. A city employee then reviews the video to determine whether or not a violation has occurred — there are, of course, legitimate reasons a car might have to occupy a bus lane for a moment — and if so the fines range from $60 for moving vehicles to more than $100 for parked cars."
• Montgomery County's Met Branch Trail funding could be saved by the county council, a meeting of stakeholders or both. Of course, there would be plenty of funding if the county just deferred some highway expansion not needed until 2025. 
• Route 450 in Bladensburg could be more bike friendly in the future (which is a low bar to cross). 
• Gail Tait-Nouri, the bicycle coordinator for the Montgomery County Department of Transportation, has retired. Except that now, she's working for WMATA, which is an odd retirement, but good for cyclists. 
• Local business delivers healthy snacks by bike.
• Gas is Expensive $3.50 edition part III (parts I and II). But this one has a lot of local shots and cyclists. 
• US DOT on why transportation enhancements matter, and Bikeleague on stopping the mandatory sidepath rule.
• Indy Bike Hub lockers look sweet. 
• Mountain bikers in Milwaukee are soft.

I hope unicyclists don't think I ignore them

Bike DC by minxx

If this were DCist someone would comment "no unicycles in Ward 8".

Wednesday Afternoon Commute - IKEA

Good afternoon

• Dan Reed salutes you Suburban Cyclist. 
• Frederick, MD is considering making biking (trick biking I assume) and skateboarding on city property a criminal offense rather than a civil infraction.
• IKEA is building a whole city in London devoted to walkability "The neighborhood will include many car-free zones, and cars that do enter the area will be stowed in an underground parking lot, out of sight." Of course, you have to put it together yourself.
• A Connecticut cyclist was injured after hitting a hole in the road. She attempted to sue the state for her injuries and though she notified them in time, she didn't state the problem was a hole, but rather "the defective condition of the pavement." A court ruled that this did not comply with the standard for notification and the state was then able to claim sovereign immunity.

Ward 8 Mountain Biking

Ward 8 Mountain Biking by I Coleman

Tuesday Afternoon Commute - critic

Good afternoon

• A Takoma Park resident gave up biking for a month. They report that they "Saved no time because I spent more time sitting in traffic, driving around looking for parking spaces, driving further than I would have walked, and returning so fatigued from coping with traffic I was less productive the rest of the day."
• Obama signed the recently passed bill that "cleans up language written in the National Forest Ski Area Permit Act of 1986 in order for resorts operating on federal land to receive permits for activities other than alpine and Nordic skiing." One of these activities is mountain biking. Does anyone know if this will include any east coast ski resorts?
• A New York Times art critic rides a bike in NYC with JSK with an eye on the aesthetics. "The resistance of New Yorkers to new transportation ideas harks back, as Ms. Sadik-Khan likes to point out, to protests against the introduction of the IRT subway a century ago, and to the implementation of the grid street plan a century before that. Progress can be hard to accept."