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DC Tweed Ride Photos

Sunday was a lovely day for a sharply-dressed ride with hundreds of my fellow cyclists through DC:

 

More in my Tweed Ride gallery.

The View from 1919 Lynn Street

Had a meeting at 1919 Lynn St. (in Rosslyn) yesterday.  The view was really quite distracting:

I’d love to get back up there with a real camera, sometime.

Another Enforcement Failure

Watch this (you can skip to 1′ in):

Now read this.

Navy Yard

One day Navy Yard’s going to be a great place to live and play.

 

Sharing Our Roads

This week’s Clarendon Cycles column starts:

“Get off the !@#$%^& road!”

“!@#$ you, I have just as much a right to be here as you do.”

And so goes a rather sizeable proportion of most on-road cyclist/motorist conversations. It doesn’t accomplish anything, except perhaps raising the blood pressure of those involved and setting the stage for a more aggressive conflict the next time a similar interaction occurs.

It’s stupid, pointless, and childish.

And I’ve got a bit of experience with it.  Click the link above for more.

Ricky Albores has thoughts in a similar vein.

Driver That Killed Alice Swanson Goes to Jail. But Not for Killing Alice Swanson.

WUSA9 reports:

The garbage truck driver who struck and killed a bicyclist in Dupont Circle two years ago has just been sentenced to more than two and a half years in prison.

Marco Flores Fuentes pleaded guilty to entering the country illegally after deportation on drug charges. He was never charged in the accident that killed 22 year old Alice Swanson.

I don’t give a damn about his entering the country illegally.  Sounds like he had a family to support, and had done a decent job of it.  But he, in my view, negligently hit and killed a young woman and was never even charged with it.  This doesn’t do justice for anyone.

The Social Contract Between Drivers/Cyclists/Pedestrians

As you might imagine, I could go on for quite some time about what I imagine the terms of this contract *should* be.  But for now, here’s a link to an interesting discussion of what they appear to be to a number of generally smart people in DC.

Photos: A Morning Ride with Capital Bikeshare in DC

As you might have heard, Capital Bikeshare launched today.  As part of the launch, staff and volunteers rode the bikes from the Navy Yard/Department of Transportation to stations around the city.  It wasn’t all of the bikes (it’ll take another week or so to get all the stations in place, I understand), but it was quite a few:

I was tapped to lead a group to the station at the corner of 21st and I St (NW).

It turned out to be a very DC ride with a very DC group of people (policy analyst, political staffer, university staffer and lawyer (me) made up my group).  We start by heading up New Jersey Ave SE (that is not my thumb.  Because I would never do that.  Obviously.):

New Jersey Ave is closed to most vehicular traffic near the Capitol, but bit of bollard threading brought us out to Independence, where we made a left:

And from there, we wrapped around the front of the Capitol on First St., and then down Pennsylvania, where we hoped to take advantage of the new bike lanes.  Except:

Ah, another MPD officer who confuses bike lanes for parking spots.  Always one or two around.

Except, wait, why so many?  And what’s up with that really angry one who decided that the best way to communicate with citizens is to adopt an overly aggressive and hostile tone while forcing us onto the sidewalk?  Oh, this is why:

Obamacade!  With that out of the way, we retake the street (because the MPD’s just gonna hang out in the lanes a little longer, thankyouverymuch):

We make a right on 15th to get up to I St., except . . . street closed again.  Back onto the sidewalk (walking, of course, because you can’t bike on the sidewalk in the Central Business District in DC).  Why closed?  Oh, sit in:

These folks were probably about 15 minutes away from getting arrested, I’m thinking.

Next, from 15th we turn and head westward on I St.  Hey, look, another unfair labor practices picket line (it was noted that the people in this line are probably not the usuals that get hired to do it):

And we arrive and dock the bikes at 21st and I, just at the edge of the George Washington University campus.  Success!

It was a great ride, and I got to start my week with my friends Tim & Chris from BikeArlington, Chantal/Greg & the rest of the staff from WABA, Chris from Cycleboredom, Joel of Gwadzilla, Angela/Jakob of Revolution Cycles, Jay/Walter/Chris of Arlington County, Fionualla of FABB, and a bunch of other bike (and otherwise) friendly faces I’m sure I’m forgetting right now.  All in all, an excellent way to kick off the week.

And Capital Bikeshare?  It’s going to work.  More info here (and if you’ve already got a bike, here’s a great case for you signing up, too.).

American Exceptionalism: Pedestrian Safety

Time points us to GOOD Magazine’s recent:

comp[ilation of] a list of the most dangerous cities for pedestrians, naming 21 urban spots around the globe with the highest fatalities rates for walkers. Topping off the list are Atlanta, Detroit and Los Angeles with 10.97, 10.31 and 7.64 deaths per 100,000 pedestrians. Continuing with its hazardous image, the U.S. manages to take up the first ten slots on the list, with 13 cities named in all.

That’s quite an achievement, America!

Right Now: Bicycle Film Festival in DC

Just a reminder that the Bicycle Film Festival is taking place in DC tonight and tomorrow.  I’ll be checking out Bicycle Dreams, a film about the Race Across America and the suffering it requires.   That’s at 3pm tomorrow.

All films are being shown at the Gala Theatre, and tickets can be bought at the link above (or, I believe, at the door).  A $35 festival pass is also available.