Category: #bikedc

Ten Random Thoughts from behind My Handlebars

4. I have friends who are so unreliable, I can rely on their unreliability.

2. Add another list to the bizarre people I have met: he was a paragon of government IT contracting who was once worth over $200 million. He had more charisma than anyone I’ve ever seen. When he walked into a room, all eyes turned to him. Since I last saw him ten years ago, he’s had a drug conviction, been accused of rape, and filed for bankruptcy. It appears he was a complete fraud.

8. According to a book I am reading, the sales tax on cars in Denmark is 180%. Oof.

5. I have a friend who professes to be “present”, that is to live in the present moment. Over five months ago she told me that we will get together “soon.” In mindfulness- speak that pretty much means “never.”  It’s a bit like Zeno’s dichotomy paradox. We’ll meet tomorrow, but when tomorrow comes, it’s today, so we’ll meet tomorrow, ad infinitum. What a clever way to tell someone to cheese off.

9.   Icelandair offers a free 7 day layover in Iceland to anyone flying their airline to Europe. They operate tours and hotels too. Why doesn’t any other airline do this? Okay, maybe it wouldn’t work so well for Yemeni Air, but…

6. I happen to be okay with gluten. (I tried a gluten free pastry a few weeks ago. It was dreadful. It was almost as bad as the neoprene vegan hot dog I ate last year.) This is why, after your umpteenth “gluten is bad” post appeared on on my Facebook page, I unfollowed you. Nothing personal. You are now one of the 20 percent of my Facebook friends that I have unfollowed. (For the record, I also block eight people.) Pass the pretzels.

3. Whenever I travel I experience a “prime directive” moment. That’s when you see something in conflict with your normal life that you have to restrain yourself from interfering. From as early as I can remember I have been told to look both ways when crossing the street. In Stockholm, parents with little kids just walk. They have absolute confidence that drivers and cyclists will follow the rules to the letter and stop for them. Every time I saw this happen, I felt like screaming “NO!!!”

7. I like the idea of the drum circle in Meridian Hill Park, but I can only take about ten minutes of it before I get a crashing headache.

10. I rode to work in the pouring rain today. It was actually pretty nice because both the air and the rain drops were warm. It was a bit like putting your bike on a trainer in the shower and riding for 75 minutes.

1. Ten years ago it was absurd to suggest that DC was a better place to live than Fairfax County. Not any more. Ten years from now I wonder if people will look at Fairfax County and wonder what went wrong.

 

 

 

 

Tour Update – UP and Ferry!

The tour is on. The begining and end are not going to be a lot of fun but I worked it out.  Here’s the plan:

Day 1: Drive 12 hours from Alexandria VA to Ludington MI. This is midway up the eastern side of Lake Michigan. Park the car (for free!) at the ferry parking lot. Stay in hotel in Ludington. Celebrate end of hellish car ride.

Day 2: Ride one mile to ferry. Take SS Badger ferry to Manitowoc Wisconsin. Try really hard not to puke for four hours. Begin bike tour (about 50miles the first day).

Days 3 – 13: Ride to and across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (between Lakes Michigan and Superior). This will mostly involve Adventure Cycling’s North Lakes route. Take ferry to car-free Mackinac Island. Ride around island. Take ferry to Mackinac City on the lower peninsula. Ride the eastern shore of Lake Michigan back to Ludington. It should be a total distance about 850 miles. Crash in hotel. Eat all foods. Drink all drinks.

Day 14: Drive 12 hours home. Celebrate end of hellish car ride.

Anybody want to come with?

 

 

Working on Plan B

Because of inept planning and some unanticipated scheduling conflicts, my bike tour of Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin is in serious doubt. I bought the Adventure Cycling North Lake route maps and thought I could cover the distance in about 2 weeks. I’d need an additional 2 days to drive to and from the starting point at my in-laws house in north central Indiana.

Then I studied the maps. It looks like the route would be about 200 miles longer than I thought. The route goes from my in-laws’ house to Mackinac Island. Then I would ride west through the upper peninsula of Michigan. I’d enter Wisconsin and ride to Manitowoc where I’d pick up a ferry across the lake to Ludington, Michigan. What I failed to take into account was the mileage from Ludington back to my in-laws’. That’s an additional 230 miles pushing the tour over 1,200 miles. A comfortable touring pace would be 70 miles so 1,200 miles would be at least 19 days. Not gonna happen.

So here are some alternate plans:

  • Find somewhere near the ferry in Ludington to park my car. This would eliminate the 460 to and from my in-laws’ place. Now we’re down around 800 miles and 11 or 12 days. Add two days of driving (12 hours each way) and no complications (including wasting a day waiting for the ferry) and the tour is doable. I am investigating parking options.
  • Dump the entire Lake Michigan thing. Drive to upstate New York and park my car at my sister’s place just north of Albany. Do the Adventure Cycling Adirondack Park Loop which is 394 miles. I could even add about 60 miles riding to Burlington Vermont and back for the heck of it. That’s 460 miles or so. A bit hillier than the North Lakes route so I figure 7 – 8 days. Plus two days of driving. Doable.
  • Drive to Albany as above. Do the Adventure Cycling Green Mountain Loop. The loop is 376 miles. Albany to the southernmost point of the loop in Ticonderoga NY adds about 100 miles each way for a total tour distance of 576 miles. This would take about 9 – 10  days allowing for hills. Total days including driving is 11 – 12.

I had thought about doing the latter two loop tours in one go, but that would be around 1,000 miles. Hilly miles. Not gonna happen.

I need to pull the trigger on one of these alternatives in a few days to allow for shipment of the maps from Adventure Cycling.

Tough call….

Nature Can Be Nasty

I often write about the animals on my bike commute. Bald eagles and snapping turtles get the most “ink.” May is prime time for eagles. June is when the snapping turtles lay their eggs. I look forward to each ride to and from work on the Mount Vernon Trail along the Potomac River.

Occasionally, the reality of nature makes itself known and it’s not pretty. Last year, near a tree holding a bald eagle nest, I saw the skull of a small animal, a dog or a fox, I suppose. A few days earlier I saw the head and spine of a Canada goose in the same area. No feathers. No skin. No meat.

Today I came upon another carcass, similarly stripped of skin and muscle. I initially thought it was a large bird but on closer inspection it appeared to be a beaver. I could only guess this by the small bit of tail fin on the end of the spine. Beaver paddles must not taste very good. The carcass was on the edge of the trail between the trail and the river. I am guessing that the beaver was hit by a car on the nearby parkway and made its way toward the river where some other animal put it out of its misery. The stripping of the carcass was likely done by crows or vultures.

Sometimes we dream of what it would be like to be a beaver gracefully gliding through the water. Sometimes, not often, we see the reality of nature.

As Mark Knopfler said: “Sometimes you’re the windshield. Sometimes you’re the bug.”

Stockholm Syndrome Gone Awry

As I noted a few days ago, based on personal observationi (and not actually riding) riding a bike in Stockholm is a stress-free pleasure. All road users have their own lane and everybody follows the rules. Nobody rides hell for leather when commuting. The pace is civilized, around 8 -12 miles per hour. I decided to bring Stockholm biking behavior to my DC riding to see if it would work.

  • Riding home from the Nats game Sunday night was an adventure to say the least. As I left the bike valet at the ball park, I was waved into a mob of pedestrians by a traffic control person. I complied but had to ride a weird “S” to avoid hitting anybody.
  • I rode to I Street to take the bike lane west. I managed to get about a block before cars preparing to make a right turn on South Capitol Street clogged the lane. Blocking the bike lane was unnecessary, of course, because there is a right turn lane to the right of the bike lane and the turn lane was empty. To add to the mess, none of the cars that were turning into and across the bike lane had their turn signals on. I suppose the people on bikes in the bike lane were supposed to read the drivers minds.
  • At South Capitol I was about to ride through on the green when I had to stop. A black SUV had intruded on the crosswalk to my left. To allow pedestrians to use the crosswalk, the traffic control person waved the SUV through on a red light without looking to see if there was anyone (like me) in the intersection behind her.
  • A few blocks later a car stopped to make a left turn. The car behind swerved into the bike lane without signalling. I managed to avoid getting hit. See why we need protected bike lanes?
  • About a half mile further on I came to a red light on Maine Avenue at 9th Street. I moved to the left of the left lane and signalled that I would be taking a left turn. The next left turn was about 100 yards ahead. I managed to get 50 yards before the SUV driver behind me became impatient and roared past within inches of my right arm. Despite trying my best to ride like a calm and courteous Swede, I raised my right hand and gave him the bird. Fail. I must try and be more mindful of my Swedishness. For all the driver’s troubles, he made it about 75 yards before he became stopped in traffic again.
  • I turned left and took the sidewalk which is part of the Anacostia River Trail system. The sidewalk was filled with meandering pedestrians. None of them bothered to keep to the right. Toddlers were walking randomly among the adults so it was impossible to pass. Once they finally stepped out of the way I came upon five large young men walking, no, swaggering,  five-abreast across the trail. A thought crossed my mind that I might be mugged. At the very last second, they stepped aside. Macho sidewalk men. Not Swedish.
  • Once free of the wonderfulness of everyday cycling in DC, I was treated to a tailwind on the Mount Vernon Trail. Just south of the bridges into DC, an attractive young woman was riding toward me. The young man behind her pulled out and rode slowly past her, checking her out in the process. Of course, what he wasn’t checking out was the fact that he was about to be in a head-on collision with me. I yelled. He swerved out of the way.
  • On a beautiful spring evening families were hanging out at Gravelley Point. Kids, from three to six, were wandering about, stepping in front of passing bicyclists. Parents paid no attention. A group of four adults stood in the middle of the path watching the planes taking off. Bicyclists were forced to go all over the place to avoid them. The fact that there was ample space on the lawn for them to stand somehow seemed to escape their awareness.
  • This morning, on the Mount Vernon Trail, all was calm. I was enjoying the ride as I rode up the second of two fly-over bridges at National Airport when a cyclist in a black t-shirt came zooming by. The bridge is curved so he couldn’t see the oncoming trail traffic. To avoid a collision he swerved to the right as he passed me, nearly clipping my front wheel.

And so it goes. You can try to ride safely around here, but you almost surely will find yourself in harms way. No wonder nobody follows the rules.

I’ll keep trying to be civil like a Swede. Let’s see if it doesn’t put me in the ER.

May – Or a Reasonable Facsimile Thereof

May is normally a big mileage month. This year my most interesting ride was in the back of an ambulance. This combined with my trip abroad put a real damper on my riding.  Still I managed to bike to work 10 times – including Bike to Work Day, ride the Five Boro Ride in New York City, did a 59 mile day around the DMV, rode in the inaugural DC Bike Ride, rode to a Nats game, and volunteered at the Tour de Fat.

It rained a lot.

Total miles for the month were 485.5. Little Nellie got all the commuting action and the event rides. The Cross Check picked up 96 miles. My other two bikes took the month off.

For the year, I have 2777.5 miles with 69 commutes.

 

Riding in the City – Scandinavian Style

I just spent two weeks in Scandinavia. The itinerary was Stockholm – Oslo – Copenhagen – Malmo – Copenhagen – Stockholm – Reykjavik. In each city, cycling was an unremarkable, no-drama part of life. With the exception of Copenhagen which can be a bit hectic, there was no honking of horns, no cussing, no bird-flipping, no road rage. The food chain is the reverse of the US: pedestrians come first, then bikes, then transit, then cars.

Gas costs upwards of $6 per gallon making for few cars, most of them compacts and subcompacts (except in Iceland where big, offroading vehicles are more common). Except for Reykjavik, transit goes everywhere with incredibly high frequency. And it is integrated in the sense that buses and metros and ferries and commuter trains and intercity trains and high speed trains to the airport all can be connected to without leaving one system for another. In both Stockholm and Copenhagen we bought a single transit card that allowed us access to most local transportation. (The exceptions being the every-ten-minutes high speed train to the airport in Stockholm and the train from Copenhagen to Malmo across the Baltic Strait.)

Bikes were allowed on metro and commuter rail. In Stockholm, each commuter train had at least one bike car (with racks to hold the bikes). In Copenhagen, bike parking at the central train station was absurdly abundant and stuffed to the gills with bikes. The racks were double decked and every other bike slot was offset so that handlebars didn’t clash.

I saw bike share systems in Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Oslo.

Copenhagen has the reputation for the best biking city in Scandinavia, but I’ll take Stockholm’s system any day. Copenhagen’s bike traffic is insanely busy. Car traffic is heavier than Stockholm, too.

One thing that surprised me a bit was the fact that about 1/2 the Stockholm rush hour commuters were wearing helmets.

Each mode – pedestrian, bicycle, car, train – had separate traffic signals and separate lanes. Everyone obeyed the rules scrupulously. Pedestrians didn’t look both ways when crossing the street. They just crossed with absolute confidence without the slightest concern about getting hit by a bike or a car or a train. Kids learn to ride in this environment and are much more competent and confident than US kids of the same age. Cyclists give way to pedestrians.

Nearly all bike commuters wore street clothes. Most commuters rode upright bikes with platform pedals and baskets on the front. Bike commuters seemed to go no faster than 10 miles per hour. Slow bikes kept to the right. After work, the lycra crowd showed up.

It is so frustrating coming back to DC and seeing tweet after tweet describing car/bike conflicts, harassment of women cyclists, and horrific stories of cars mowing down cyclists. I wish every state and local DOT head, every mayor, every governor would go to Stockholm and see what I saw: a graceful flow of traffic. No anger. No stress.

 

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Stockholm Mode Separation
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Me in Front of Just a Few of the Copenhagen Central Station Bike Racks

 

Postal Bike in Roskilde Denmark
Postal Delivery Vehicle in Roskilde, Denmark
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Stockholm City Bike (Bike Share)
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Bike Tracks on Stairs to Copenhagen Metro

Two Weeks – Four Countries

I am on vacation. Ironically I have spent much of the last two weeks in places where everyday cycling is normal and ubiquitous, yet I haven’t pedaled a bike since I left home. I needed a break from the bike and, between a respiratory infection and this vacation, I have only Biked 3 days in the last 3 weeks.

We’ve been to Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, Malmo, back to Stockholm, and Reykjavik. There is so.much to like about each city, but I know I would hate living here in winter. Too cold and dark. Even now in late spring, I find that going to sleep at 11 pm when it is still light outside to be unsettling.

I thought if like Copenhagen the best, having been there once before, but Malmo and Stockholm are much more my cup of tea. There is a much less hectic vibe in these two Swedish cities. Oslo is scruffier. Copenhagen is dirty,  noisy, and fullnof bustle. Reykjavik tiny and overrun with tourists with backpacks.

For all its reputation as one of the world’s best cycling cities, Copenhagen can’t hold a candle to Stockholm. In Stockholm everyone plays by the rules. Pedestrians are separated from bikes which are separated from cars which are separated from trains. There are traffic signals for each. Everybody waits their turn. It’s like watching an elaborate, effortless dance. People don’t look left or right when they cross the street. I did not see a single angry interaction between mode users in Stockholm.

It helps that transit is cheap, goes everywhere, has very high trip frequency, and that gas costs over $6 per gallon. Swedes, Danes and Finns took a very long term view and designed their transportation infrastructure well.  What a shame DC area transport planning is so Balkanized.

I know I am ready for this vacation to end because I am craving Cheerios (had some for breakfast today), and I miss my bike, the Nats, and my friends. In what order I refuse to say.

It’s Iconic – DC Bike Ride

Today was the first DC Bike Ride. This closed streets ride is the successor to Bike DC, an event I did several times in the past. They changed the name because Bike DC had a weather hex on it. The ruse did not work.

The course meanders through the erstwhile swampy bits of DC before heading over toward the Pentagon on the HOV lanes on I 395.  The ride costs about 50 bucks for 17 miles so if you were looking for a bargain, this wasn’t it. But it was an opportunity to show people in this area that you support bicycling in DC, even if it means pruney hands.

With temperatures in the 50s and a steady light rain, 8,000 folks gathered on Pennsylvania Avenue. I spotted the #bikeMVT contingent consisting of Linel, Amber, Ed, and Reba. We were later joined by Sam and her mom, Joanne.

Cathy Plume stopped by. Sam, Cathy, and I participated in the protest that completed the installation of u-turn barriers on the Pennsylvania cycletrack last summer.

An announcer came on to give us useful information about all the iconic things we would see on the iconic streets in this iconic city. Somebody shut this guy’s iconic piehole, please!

Soon the announcements were over and the 14 mph group waddle to the starting line. One waddler fell over and his shoe stayed stuck to his pedal. It looked embarrassing and utterly pathetic.

Off we rode. At a brisk 10 mph. We rode into Southwest wear we could see iconic rain. We rode with great enthusiasm (which made up for our lack of speed). Over to Foggy Bottom which seemed aptly named. We made our way to the iconic Whitehurst Freeway. The route seemed to fold back on itself. It also seemed to avoid National Park Service roads, simplifying the clearances needed to put on the ride.

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Iconic Rain and Crane

We turned around at the Key Bridge and retraced our route until we crossed the Mall at 14th Street. Just past D Street we could see a minor problem. The early wave of riders were on hold as the last wave of riders cleared the ramp to Maine Ave.

Continuing on 14th,  we rode across the iconic Potomac River, near the site of the iconic Air Florida crash. Onward past the iconic Pentagon until we did an iconic U-turn and headed back to DC. On the way, I spotted Nelle (now there’s an icon!) from WABA waving like a maniac. Or perhaps she was pointing out an iconic jersey barrier. I also saw Ultrarunnergirl who fortunately seemed not to be water soluble. Ultrarunnergirl was finishing being best bike buddy of the Big Bike Weekend. I saw her on Bike to Work Day riding south on the Mount Vernon Trail. She rode to Huntington, probably 12 miles past her office, to escort her friend Yolanda on Yolanda’s first bike commute. After the ride, I chatted with them. Yes, she also rode with Yolanda during today’s ride.

We continued on, finally riding around 14 mph. Wheee. Then we turned on to Pennsylvania Avenue. Kathy Lewis waved us in to the finish line.

I rode to the after party which had no signage for bike parking. Erp.

There I hung out with Chris, who volunteered like a maniac all weekend. I met Chris on the first Cider Ride in 2013. I talked to a whole bunch of people, the decided to head back to my car which I had parked at Gravelly Point in Virginia.

WABA walked off with $38,000 from this event. And raised tons of awareness about Vision Zero. Not bad for a truly crummy day of weather.

All things considered DC Bike Ride seemed to be a smashing success. Perhaps next year it will even be iconic.

I stashed a whole bunch of Flickr pix here.

Thanks to the staff people at WABA and the volunteers for all the work you did on this event. Also, thanks to the EMTs and police that stood out in the rain to get us through the event safely.

 

 

DC Tour de Fat – 2016

After yesterday’s long, but successful slog, I slept well. I woke up feeling nearly human. No hacking cough, no headache, clear lungs. If I ever see Alexander Fleming I am going to give that dude a bone crushing hug.

Today was the annual Tour de Fat in DC. This event is a bicycle themed party put on by New Belgium Brewing. All proceeds from beer sales go to local bike charities, like WABA. WABA’s event team runs the show, New Belgium handles the beer and eccentric performances. Last year’s event was a spectacular success. The crowd was huge and the sun shined down. This year nearly every forecast I saw called for rain, winds, and cold. All day. They lied.

I drove in the rain to L’Enfant Plaza and rode Little Nellie to Yards Park, the site of the event. When I got ther

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WABA People Getting Caffeinated

e I became aware that the 10 am family ride had been canceled for safety reasons. I parked my bike and went to a nearby coffee shop where I saw a bunch of WABA people (see photo on right), including Nelle (again? though curiously not in photo on right), hanging out. After about an hour, I trucked back to the venue where I was instructed in how to pull draft beer. (Kinda had this party down about 40 years ago, but I was rusty.)

The two beer tents, the specialty beer booth, and the beer bike vendors were all moved into one set of tents. At around noon people began to show up. As it turned out, my beer was most popular. It was

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Deputized Beer People

called Heavy Melon. I pulled beer after beer after beer. I kept seeing friends of mine but they couldn’t see me in the shadow of the tent. Also, I had my back to the customers about half the time. I only spotted one person I know, Chris, who ironically I rarely recognize while out on a bike.

After 2  1/2 hours of dishing suds, I ha
d a chance to enjoy the festivities. I ran into Brian. While we were talking, a friend of Katie L’s walked past. I yelled “Lyndsey” two times. She didn’t react at all. Okay, come to a party and be antisocial. Seconds later I remembered her name is Lauren.

Doh!

How ironic that it was Katie L. herself who told me to get my fusiform gyrus checked out. I gotta get on that.

Over the course of the event, I saw or had discussions with over a dozen friends: Kathy, Katie L. and her friend Mike, Lauren, Dave and Jean, Katie B. (whom I haven’t seen in ages) and her brother Michael and boyfriend John, Darren,  Jeff (but not Sam), Ricky (who is back on his bike after being hit by a car a couple of months ago), and a bunch of WABA people (Greg, Katie H., Nelle, Michelle, and Colin).

I had a great time but my energy level wasn’t really back up to full power yet so I left a little early. The ride back to L’Enfant was a tad grungy but uneventful.

Thanks so much to the hard work of the folks who put this on, to the volunteers, to the performers, and the people who showed up despite the forecast.

Very special thanks to Michelle Cleveland, WABA’s event director, who worked her tail off and stressed out mightily over the weather. You done good. Again. As always.