WMATA Bikepool Facebook group

Also, WABA has a page set up for info.

I’d like to point out this part, since it seems people already are complaining about “newbs” out on the trail. Kinda like how every bro complains about new gym members come January 1.

Already a Bike Commuter? Help your neighbors and your coworkers!

SafeTrack is huge, affecting nearly our entire region, and we need your help to make sure that nobody on a bike is left behind. How can you help?

◾Don’t be smug. People inconvenienced or angry about SafeTrack need our help, not our self-satisfaction.

@Tania 140735 wrote:

I’d like to point out this part, since it seems people already are complaining about “newbs” out on the trail. Kinda like how every bro complains about new gym members come January 1.

Don’t be smug. People inconvenienced or angry about SafeTrack need our help, not our self-satisfaction.

I’ll reprise my paean to the new riders from a while back.

@Steve O 97383 wrote:

All of us are at a different place in our evolution as cyclists. I, for one, am delighted that more and more people are cycling. Everyone starts out as a newbie at some point. Only a few of them will find this forum immediately and benefit from its infinite wisdom. Others will just make mistakes and learn the hard way. And maybe be a little stupid in the process. And by the time they have evolved there will be a whole new crop of newbies to take their place.

All the dumb things they do and newbie errors, etc. are pretty much ones that I have made myself. And there’s just the evolution of comfort–when and where we feel comfortable and safe. Once upon a time if I had seen someone cycling on the Whitehurst, I would have said “WTF!” too. Eventually it became my daily route.

– Just like everyone, when I first went clipless, I fell over. More than once.
– I started as a summer-only commuter, and when I saw cyclists out in the snow, I would think “WTF! Are you crazy?” Now I can’t wait for Freezing Saddles to start.
– Just like skins_brew, I didn’t have shorts with chamois or neon jerseys, or really anything other than clothes. When I saw those cyclists, I would think “You must have money to burn” or “You just think you are hot s*&#$” Now I need two drawers and part of a closet for all my bike attire.
– Occasionally even now, as alert as I try to be, I may buzz someone a little closer than is comfortable for them. I feel badly when I do it.

A few times a year I have the fantastic opportunity to teach a WABA “Learn to Ride” course. There are literally hundreds of people on the waiting list wanting desperately to learn to ride a bike. Teaching those classes are often the most rewarding days of my entire year–by the end of the day, 90% of them are up and riding. Some cry with joy. Just this last weekend I taught a City Cycling class, and there was one of my students from the Learn to Ride from the spring, determined to become an accomplished bike rider. She told me she’s going to come back again for the advanced track. And keep coming until she can’t get any more out of it.

You know, she might wobble at the wrong time, or make an ill-advised turn in a bad place, or drop her chain and be standing on the side of the trail helpless, or some other things that we would then rail about here on this forum. But I love her and all the cyclists who are just crawling out of the ocean for the first time on their evolutionary journey. They need our embrace more than our criticism.

Ride on!!

@Judd 140788 wrote:

With hundreds on the waiting list, what’s the barrier to offering more classes?

Short answer: resources. Long answer moved here to help keep this thread on topic.

@komorebi 143114 wrote:

I’ve been helping another new commuter ride to Foggy Bottom. My bike buddy and I usually start in north Old Town, but it’d be easy enough to meet you along the way. I also go to the Tuesday morning coffee club that tnelson mentioned, and I’d be happy to meet you there as well. PM me if you’d like to meet up.

That would be great!! Thank you so much!!!

What time is the coffee meet up on Tuesday?

@komorebi 143130 wrote:

People come and go depending on their schedules, but the early birds usually show up around 7:00 and the late crowd usually wraps up by 8:15 or 8:30. (That’s my impression, anyway — I’ve never been able to stay to the end.)

More details here: http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?10344-Crystal-City-Coffee-Club-Forming.

I would love to meet you there tomorrow morning at 7am. I think that would be perfect, since it is my first time bike commuting. Please let me know if there is a specific place or landmark that I should look for.

Looking forward to seeing you then!

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