Just got this:
Due to increasingly bad weather and a concern for rider safety, we will be temporarily suspending SmartBike DC use until further notice. We will update you by email and on our website when we have resumed operation.
Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
Your SmartBike Team
Clear Channel Outdoor
Huh. Maybe they’ll shut down in the summer, too, when the UV Index gets too high?
Washcycle carries the WABA press release:
The bike valets will be located on the south side of the Jefferson Memorial and on 16th Street NW between I Street and K Streets NW. Â Both will be open from 7am to 5pm. Â In case of extreme weather, the valets will be closed, but the unattended bike parking racks will still be available for use.
“Bike valets are very similar to car valets,” said Henry Mesias, project manager at WABA. “You simply ride up to the valet, a volunteer will attach one half of a claim ticket to your bike and hand you the other half. Â The volunteer will then park the bike in a safe enclosure while you head off to enjoy the inauguration. Â When you want to leave, you show us your half of the claim check and we get you your bike and you ride off. Â It’s quite simple.” Â Mr. Mesias says that the association is prepared to park well over 1000 bikes.
More details at Washcycle.
My friend Demoncats is at it again:
The Inaugural Alleycat- January 20th, 2009- Free Alleycat and Free Beerâ€
In two weeks time, Barack Obama will be sworn in as President of the United States and the DemonCats have a small free alleycat to celebrate!Fee: $0.00 Prizes: None- Just bragging rights, free beer and the chance to say you were in D.C. on the day it happened!!!
Date/Time: January 20th, 2009 @ 2:00pm Where: Washington DC at the Spanish Steps.
What you need to bring: A bike and yourself! Maps will be provided at the start.
After-party: Keg and Music.
If anyone in DC can host the after-party, let me know!
Racing for Victory and free beer!!!
Up for it? Watch this space.
Lyne Lamoureux, author of the excellent Podium In Sight blog covering the US domestic pro cycling scene, put together a photo video of her coverage of last year’s NRC races.  When I think of Lyne’s work, it’s usually great interviews and analysis that comes to mind, but this reminds me that she’s also a good photographer.
Washcycle has a nice little summary of the projects DC area cyclists can expect to see completed or get underway in 2009. It will be nice to (finally) have the Wilson Bridge open to cyclists, and the Shirlington Underpass will be of great practical use.
I’m lifting this wholesale from a DC-related listserv that I’m on, and posting it with the admonition that you – yes, you – consider having a go at it. Bike racks aren’t complicated, and we might all benefit from a new perspective.  Plus, $1500 and a night at the Mayflower? That could be fun (just ask Elliot Spitzer). Here’s the Call for Entries:
Call for Entries
Creative Bicycle Rack Design
Deadline: Friday, February 9th at 5:00 p.m.
Honorarium:Â $1,500Project
The Golden Triangle Business Improvement District is requesting drawn design entries for creative and unique bicycle racks. The racks will be installed within the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District
in Washington, DC.The call is open to the entire art community including visual artists, architects, graphic designers, urban designers and bicycling enthusiasts.
The winning entries will receive a $1500 honorarium plus a complimentary Saturday night stay for two at the luxurious Mayflower Hotel, 1127 Connecticut Avenue NW, in the heart of the Golden Triangle.
Please make sure it fits. I’m sitting at my desk right now, looking out at two kids with brand new bikes circling around the park behind my house. The boy’s bike fits perfectly, and he’s zooming around with a big smile. The girl’s bike is very poorly adjusted, and she’s having a hard time getting moving. All they need to do is raise the seat for her. I wish I knew them (or could find a parent), so I could go out and offer a bit of help.
Washcycle’s got a great idea:
But biking into the city is just not something everyone will do. Many people lack the experience to know how to go. Others lack the confidence to deal with the traffic.
What if bike-only routes were established? This would allow people to find a way (by following the route) that doesn’t scare them. There are many people who are confident enough to ride in BikeDC, but not confident enough to ride the 50 States Ride or even on Bike to Work Day.
I’d certainly pitch in. C’mon, WABA, get Fenty to move on this.
From an email I just received:
Dear SmartBike User:
Due to the presidential inaugural events on January 20, SmartBike service at some stations will not be available for the period of January 16 through January 22. The following stations will be closed:
Foggy Bottom
Farragut Square
McPherson Square
Metro Center
Gallery Place
Judiciary Square
Please visit www.smartbikedc.com for further updates.
We thank you for your understanding and appreciate your cooperation.
Your SmartBike DC Team
No, you really don’t have my understanding. What in the world requires you to shut down operations for an entire week? Inauguration Day would be lame enough, but the whole week? I’d have called and/or emailed to ask Smartbike about this before I posted, but given that they’ve ignored my previous calls and emails, I thought I’d just not waste the time.  It’s a shame that such a valuable operation is so poorly run.
Update: As usual, Washcycle has some useful information. Looks like WABA is working to secure permission to run a bike valet service come inauguration day.
The Chicago Tribune takes a look at the new cycling commuter tax benefit:
The bike commuter benefit is scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1, but one of the main problems is few companies are ready to implement it. Several say they don’t even know how it would work, and they need guidance from the Internal Revenue Service, which is unlikely to arrive before year-end.
That’s to be expected, really, as it was only passed in October (it was part of the bailout bill – tho’ it’s worth noting that easy passage was expected, independently).  What, exactly, is the benefit to cycling commuters?
Here is what the legislation spells out: Commuters can receive $20 in reimbursement for any month during which an employee “regularly uses the bicycle for a substantial portion of the travel between the employee’s residence and place of employment.”
Reimbursable expenses include buying a bike, bike improvements or repair and storage.
Seems pretty straightforward to me. The author tries to make an issue out of some confusion about how to administer the benefit, but it’s the same story with any tax benefit.  He does hit on a real problem, however:
Commuters who use the bike benefit can’t be participants in other transit benefit programs, including those that reimburse for parking, train tickets and subway and bus passes.
Those programs allow commuters to use as much as $120 a month in 2009 pretax dollars to pay their expenses, saving someone in the 28 percent tax bracket about $34 a month. In contrast, allocating $20 in pretax dollars to biking produces a tax savings of $5.60 a month.
Some local commuters ride to a train stop and make the second part of their trip on Metra. If they can select only one transit program, they are likely to choose the train benefit.
If the purpose of the tax benefit is to encourage commuting by bike, this certainly works against that purpose. Then again, the tax benefit I could get for parking at my old office downtown was about triple what I got for using Metro, and I was never tempted in the least to drive. In any event, if you bike to work, ask your human resources people about it, even if you don’t expect to use it:
If the cycling commuter benefit is to become standard in corporate America, Clarke believes employees will have to be the force behind the change, calling and e-mailing the human resources department to indicate their interest.
Ride safely.
(Via Hugh Bartling)
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