TheWashCycle

Tour de Links - Freakish accident

New York City - Renderings of the Hell Gate Randall's Island Pathway are available, and it doesn't look much like the gate to hell. I should know, I've been to Shreveport. This trail will run under the Amtrak trestle.

Also, the police performed a controversial sting on deliverymen because they're believed to often ride stolen bikes. On the one hand, I have little sympathy for someone who agrees to buy a stolen bike, but on the other, I get how it feels like a test of one's moral fiber. "About a week after Mr. Lopez-Velazquez was arrested, his own bicycle, a clunker, was stolen from the bike rack in front of S’Mac, he said." Sometimes, nothing goes right.

Mount Pleasant, NY - A cyclist was "dinged" in the leg when a when police officer shot a sick raccoon near a park's entrance. The cyclist was 170 feet away and separated by a fence. Police are calling it a "freakish accident." Only if this is how sick animals are supposed to be euthanized.

Boston - Boston started its bike sharing program last week.

Cleveland, TN - A cyclist sued the city and state because she was injured when her front wheel fell into the open slots of a metal drainage grate, throwing her off the bike and hitting her face. The grate was of the "old" variety that was no longer used because it is not bike friendly and the road was a bike route. She lost her initial trial, but won on appeal.

The plaintiff argues that the proof shows that the old style grate was a hazard of which the State had been aware for many years. The State simply decided, according to the proof, that it would not deal with the hazard until later. She further argues that if this Court affirms the trial court, "the State would never have an obligation to remedy known hazards if the State merely decided not to as a matter of practice." Although the argument is not presented in exactly these words, the thrust of the plaintiff's argument is that the trial court improperly granted the State immunity for a "category" of activity for which the State does not have immunity under Tenn. Code Ann. § 9-8-307. We agree with the plaintiff.

Florence, AL - More adults are biking

Pasco County, FL - Man mirrors the Tour de France mileage by logging 100 miles a day every day.

Miami - Miami's bike sharing program isn't making as much ad revenue as it had hoped.. There have been 180,000 trips taken in the first four months, but "It is currently limited to selling advertisements on the baskets of its bikes, charging $100 per bike, per month.  But [Colby Reese, chief marketing operator of DecoBike] said that the baskets are a hard sell and potential advertisers are turned off by their irregular size and shape." DecoBike receives no public funding.

France - Great photos from the tour.

Saturday Afternoon Ride - I've missed out on so much

Good afternoon

• On Monday at 7pm, ANC1C will discuss DDOT's planned bike lanes on Columbia Road. Please consider attending.
• Some people are really worried about CaBi riders without helmets - despite no reports of skull fractures among riders. In fact, the story makes clear that all the available data shows that neither injuries nor fatalities have increased since CaBi hit the streets. It's a pretty reasonable story - making clear that helmets aren't the end all be all for bike safety, but they can be helpful in a crash.
• On a related note, I heard Tom Sherwood on Kojo yesterday talking about the Harriet Tregoning crash (he's a big cyclist) . He said "it reinforces the idea that bike riding is a dangerous thing in the city, and that's why the city is aggressively trying to put in bike lanes....And people should wear helmets." I'd have preferred a different lesson - one about drivers and red lights.
• Finally, another story from WAMU, on Tommy Wells' ride across the Douglass Bridge.
• The Bicycle Film Festival is coming.
• Grant money will help to improve the mountain bike trails in Fountainhead Park. "Phase one will involve Jack Rabbit Run, a long ridge top downhill trail that does not take advantage of any of the surrounding side slope. The enhanced trail will shift the existing tread from the fall line to the sides with slope and include banked turns and whoops for a fast and swoopy trail ride experience."
• One idea to improve the intersection of Reston Parkway and Sunset Hills Road is to extend more roads across the W&OD trail. It doesn't say if those are at grade or not, but too many and the trail risks getting a tunnel-like feel.
• The Onion on LA's new cyclist harassment law.

Mountain biker or pilot

The Peleton and Caravan Laws

Montgomery County's promise to crack down on cyclists riding more than two abreast on MacArthur Boulevard has me thinking more about peleton riding. From an advocacy perspective, large group rides are troubling. Traffic law is oriented around the idea of operators acting as individuals, not as members of a group. In fact, some states even have laws that prohibit motorists from acting as a group. Here is what the Florida motor vehicle code says:

Motor vehicles being driven upon any roadway outside of a business or residence district in a caravan or motorcade, whether or not towing other vehicles, shall be so operated as to allow sufficient space between each such vehicle or combination of vehicles as to enable any other vehicle to enter and occupy such space without danger. This provision shall not apply to funeral processions.

This section doesn't apply to cyclists, but if you were to strike that first word "motor" it would apply to all vehicles and therefore cyclists -- and it would then make peloton cycling illegal. At first blush it hardly seems like an unreasonable thing to include all vehicles in a law like this. Obviously the intent would not be to have cyclists follow the law -- a pack of 30 with 50 yard spacing would cover nearly a mile -- but to discourage large group rides altogether.

Tour de Links - the honor system

Maillot Jaune: New Mexico's Governor might run for President. And like so many others, he's also a cyclist. "On one visit [to iowa], Mr. Johnson pedaled the 472 miles of the Des Moines Register Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa." Meanwhile, CEO's and military leaders say driving alone helps terrorists.

Podium: One school in Maine tries an honor-system based bike sharing system. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't really work.

Podium: Maybe they should only write stories about pro cyclists who aren't accused of doping. It would be more efficient.

Maillot Vert: A Massachusetts State Senator says that bike trails are part of a holistic approach to health care.  Sen. Jamie Eldridge, the bill's sponsor, said a major goal of the legislation is to encourage communities to take into account everything from bike trails to open space when crafting new zoning plans.

Maillot a Pois Rouge: A Nevada bike trail plan tries to negotiate a difficult spot. If planners take the trail around a large rock feature, they'll go through land sacred to the Washoe Tribe. If they follow the highway through the tunnels, they'll have to close a lane to automobile traffic. "State highway officials believe it would not necessarily be unreasonable to close a lane in one of the tunnels."

Maillot Blanc: The rise and fall of the American paperboy at How We Drive. I didn't have a paper route, but my neighbor did and when he was out of town my parents let me deliver his papers for a fee. The year I was going to be "old enough," by my parents summation, to take on a route myself, the local paper shut down it's afternoon edition. Concern about safety is cited as one reason why paperboys are going the way of milkmen. Meanwhile Idaho considers a law requiring kids 12 and under to wear bike helmets.

Lanterne Rouge: Bike polo in L.A. "It's been a long time since I felt included in a group like this," Wainscott said. "I was such a sad, sad story of a loner, and then I got into the bikes."...  Bicycle polo is more than a century old. Irish cyclist Richard J. Mecredy is generally credited with inventing the game in 1891....A new organizing body, North American Hardcourt, composed of three representatives from each of the nation's seven regions - including Dash, who represents the southwest region - formed about a year ago to orchestrate events like the North American Hardcourt Bicycle Polo Championships, to standardize the rule of play and to help clubs pool resources.

And....

Data out of San Francisco shows that drivers are more often to blame in bike-car collisions.

Over the past two years, drivers were faulted by the police in 573 accidents involving vehicles and bikes — 57 percent of the total — according to the data. Cyclists were to blame in 428 accidents, or 43 percent.

Oddly enough, it is cyclists who are more often guilty of speeding. Must be the hills. Cycling in SF is up 58% since 2006. There was a 7% increase in bike-car crashes from 2008 to 2009.

Tuesday Morning Commute - rushed

No time for chit chat

• This year's Congressional Bike Ride will be in honor of Gabby Giffords. Maybe more than two congress members will show up.
• The Montgomery County Planning Department is backing bike sharing for traffic mitigation as part of the White Flint Redevelopment Program. "We recommend that development of a bike sharing system in the White Flint area be incorporated in this project. This system would be similar to, or an expansion of, the Capital Bikeshare system in Washington DC and Arlington. The County has explored development of such a system both independently and through participation in the unsuccessful MWCOG TIGER II grant application during Fall 2010. We believe that such a system would also be appropriate in Bethesda and Silver Spring, where we already have higher levels of bike usage. Bike sharing stations could become a logical component in transportation mitigation programs for developers in these areas, although the County must first establish a basic and successful system upon which the private sector could expand. While the project budget would likely not be sufficient to actually implement a successful bikesharing project (estimated at about $300K for any one of the three candidate areas), it can provide the functional, legal and administrative groundwork for the project."
• Comparing year-to-year count data on the Custis trail shows either a 1.8%, 8% or 11.2% increase, depending on how you do it. "the highest ridership day of all was actually Saturday, Oct 30, 2010 with over 1,600 cyclists. This number was clearly an anomaly; ridership was skewed by the Stewart/Colbert rally on the mall."
• The ICC will open on Feb 22. If there is a schedule for when the ICC trail will be built and opened, it is a well kept secret. There is almost no mention of the trail on the ICC project site. 
• The three feet passing bill was unanimously approved in the Virginia Senate. One of the House members who voted against it in the 5-4 vote that killed it on that side has said he will vote FOR the Senate version. Things are looking good.

Wednesday Morning Ride - 3 feet

If at first you don't succeed...

• Virginia State Senator Ryan McDougle and Delagate Toscano will introduce the 3 foot passing law in the new legislative session.
• Bike lanes make Dr. Gridlocks list of biggest stories from 2010. Capital Bikeshare does not.
• LA's new bike plan calls for the Department of Recreation and Parks to study allowing mountain bikes on area trails, but backs away from plans for a pilot program. Jim Hasenauer, a Cal State Northridge professor who volunteers for the International Mountain Bicycling Assn., said equestrians fear that cyclists will have "negative impact on animals, rip up trails, kill native plants … but that's not what the research says." The association cites data showing that cyclists cause about as much damage as hikers and less than horses.
• New Congressional rules about how to spend the Highway Trust Fund could be a challenge for bike advocates. 
• Grist has a list of items for the year ahead in cycling. 
• Despite the conclusion of OHSU about bike commuting and safety, the "risk of serious injury being incurred while bicycle commuting is actually very small."
• CaBi is In

2000 show up to Baltimore's Cyclovia

From the article

Runners, walkers, skateboarders, and people traveling on other forms of wheeled contraptions had the right of way Sunday for an entire mile-long stretch of Roland Ave. extending from Northern Parkway to Cold Spring Lane. The five-hour event called "ciclovia" attracted almost 2,000 people to the Roland Park neighborhood of northern Baltimore.

Organizers hope to increase the frequency of the event to four times next year, and to expand the route to a seven-mile stretch that would run from the existing route to Lake Montebello.

Mountain bike task force agreement ignored

I'm a bit out of my element on this one, but this from Bob Compton of MORE doesn't sound good.

According to Officer McDaniel, two weeks ago Luke Brackett instructed the Ranger Force to start implementing the rules of the 1998 plan.  Therefore, the Rangers are issuing written warnings for riding on any single-track or woods roads that are not on the plan.  I was told by the aforementioned rangers that: IF YOU GET caught twice you will get a ticket.  If you further push the issue you will be arrested.  If you ride 48 hours after a soaking rain (note: there is no definition of a soaking rain) you will get a written warning.  Do this twice and you could get a ticket.

I asked why written warning were being issued?  After all, this is not what was agreed to at the Mountain Bike Task Force Meetings.  The officers informed me they were there to enforce the laws.  The Task Force does not make the laws.  The 1998 Plan is the law.

I asked why I was not made aware of the change in policy?  I told Officer McDaniel that I should have been made aware of the policy since I am the Co-Chair of the Task Force.  Officer McDaniel informed me that once the maps and guidelines were posted on the kiosks notice was given.  I told him this is not what was agreed to and that Luke, who has attended some, if not all of the Task Force Meetings should know what was agreed too.

I said the written warnings were to stop.  I was informed that I do not make the laws and I had no right making this demand.  In essence, nothing that has been discussed at the Mountain Bike Task Force meetings matters.  The Rangers are going to enforce the 1998 plan and they are doing this now!

Also, I was told by both Officer Janos and Officer McDaniel that in the not too distant future all single-track trails will be closed to ALL users.  If you read this and you like to walk, run, fish, etc. at Loch Raven, Liberty and Pretty Boy Reservoirs... Even if you do not mountain bike you will soon be subject to the same "laws" as mountain bikers.

There is more here and much more here.

Tour de Links - First they made public bicycles available and I didn't speak up...

Maillot Jaune: John Kerry and Scott Brown might be from different parties, but they don't mind riding bikes together.

Podium - Drivers can now get insurance against traffic tickets.

Podium - A report on the hidden health costs of transportation. (It recommends more biking as a cure).

Maillot Vert: A couple goes on safari and comes back with a cause: donating bikes to Tanzanian children and teachers so that they can bike to school.

Maillot a Pois Rouge: A travel article about Seattle's I-5 mountain bike park.

Maillot Blanc: The Indian Reservation where cyclist John Anczarski was hit and killed has rallied behind the cause for which he was riding, but there are no charges against the driver yet. It turns out the driver was convicted of DWI in an earlier incident days after the fatal crash. And a man who killed a child cyclist while driving drunk, and got off with time served and a long probation, appealed his sentence.

Lanterne Rouge: Denver's Bike sharing system is part of a sinister United Nations plot says a Colorado candidate for Governor. "At first, I thought, 'Gosh, public transportation, what's wrong with that, and what's wrong with people parking their cars and riding their bikes? And what's wrong with incentives for green cars?' But if you do your homework and research, you realize ICLEI is part of a greater strategy to rein in American cities under a United Nations treaty," Maes said. Meanwhile, Lance Armstrong (under a growing cloud of doping accusations) announces the return of international pro cycling to Colorado.