Bike to Work Day 2013

[KelOnWheels]

Bike? All the way to work?! That’s crazy talk!

[consularrider]

Time for another Tour d’Pit Stops?

[dbb]

I was planning on volunteering for BikeArlington in the afternoon so a morning Tour d’ Pit Stops is certainly a possibility

[Steve]

I was thinking about Bike to Work Day in terms of people trying this for the first time. Many of us think about it as a home-work ride, but for some, that’s just not possible. Part of BtWD is encouraging people to ride part of their trip, like ride to the metro, or park and ride. I wonder if any of the participating counties or BIDs would consider providing free or reduced parking for people trying to participate in part (drive to a ride point). I think that Arlington owns the Ballston Mall parking garage (at least it had to go to county approval to raise rates, so I imagine they do). Ballston is a great launch point for BtWD because of its access to a number of the trails. Does anyone know if there is a way to request that the county support reduced or free parking at the mall for the day for anyone with a printed registration for BtWD?

Just a thought.

[DismalScientist]

Good idea, but why a place like Ballston for a park and ride “facility”? There are areas with free parking located near the trails. Westover park? Bluemont park? The parking lot over I-66? The could potentially be co-located with a pit stop and could encourage such driving and riding behavior.

[consularrider]

@DismalScientist 43871 wrote:

Good idea, but why a place like Ballston for a park and ride “facility”? There are areas with free parking located near the trails. Westover park? Bluemont park? The parking lot over I-66? The could potentially be co-located with a pit stop and could encourage such driving and riding behavior.

I really like the idea of getting more people to try multi-modal commutes for BtWD. I’ve had the discussion with people in my office and point out areas near me where someone could park with easy W&OD trail access. However, I believe the parking lot over I-66 is the Washington-Lee parking lot and BtWD is a school day, so I would bet it is fairly full and may require a permit (but don’t quote me on that). Also, Westover Park just has five or six spaces if I remember right. In addition to the two lots at Bluemont Park, there is a good sized lot at Bon Air Park, just a stones throw from the W&OD/Custis. There is parking at Madison Manor Park, but I think it may be more restricted given its location near EFC Metro, I know some of those neighborhoods have restricted parking on weekdays.

[Tim Kelley]

Keep the ideas coming! If it’s in Arlington, BikeArlington will look into things…

[TwoWheelsDC]

Reading about BTWD made me happy thinking about lovely May weather, but then looking at the calendar and realizing it’s still only mid-Feb made me very sad.

[DismalScientist]

Well, I was going to suggest the cul de sac on Four Mile Run Drive in front of ConsularRider’s house!:rolleyes:

[Steve]

@DismalScientist 43871 wrote:

Good idea, but why a place like Ballston for a park and ride “facility”? There are areas with free parking located near the trails. Westover park? Bluemont park? The parking lot over I-66? The could potentially be co-located with a pit stop and could encourage such driving and riding behavior.

Those are really good ideas too. I think I said Ballston just because it is right off 66, well known to most people, even those not from Arlington, near an existing pit-stop, there is a lot of parking, and I was fairly sure the county owned the lot. I also thought perhaps the county would like the idea of attracting people into a commerce center. You figure maybe people eat something or grab a drink in Ballston on the way home or something like that.

That being said, some of your ideas are really good too, I just hadn’t thought about them. Like a park-and-ride pit-stop, I could see that being very effective, because that could be a long term solution for people (if its free every day, folks might realize how easily they can do it). The only bad part about parks is that there probably isn’t security at the parking lot, though the Mall some may say has none either.

[dbb]

Registration has opened

http://www.biketoworkmetrodc.org/

[cephas]

I can’t find information on the website to add a convoy, but I’d like to suggest the following route from Yorkshire Elementary School to Merrifield Mosaic District Pit Stop (15.8 miles), and continuing on to the W&OD towards DC. I envision leaving Yorkshire around 5:15 am, leaving Merrifield at 6:40, and arriving at Freedom Plaza around 8:00.

http://goo.gl/maps/x0qrc

[americancyclo]

@cephas 45859 wrote:

I can’t find information on the website to add a convoy, but I’d like to suggest the following route from Yorkshire Elementary School to Merrifield Mosaic District Pit Stop (15.8 miles), and continuing on to the W&OD towards DC. I envision leaving Yorkshire around 5:15 am, leaving Merrifield at 6:40, and arriving at Freedom Plaza around 8:00.

http://goo.gl/maps/x0qrc

I think if you email WABA they’ll be happy to add another convoy.

[Steve]

@cephas 45859 wrote:

I can’t find information on the website to add a convoy, but I’d like to suggest the following route from Yorkshire Elementary School to Merrifield Mosaic District Pit Stop (15.8 miles), and continuing on to the W&OD towards DC. I envision leaving Yorkshire around 5:15 am, leaving Merrifield at 6:40, and arriving at Freedom Plaza around 8:00.

http://goo.gl/maps/x0qrc

Yorkshire is where my wife works, very cool. She said she sees two folks in the a.m. many days riding on Old Centerville/616, perhaps it’s you?

[cephas]

@Steve 45877 wrote:

Yorkshire is where my wife works, very cool. She said she sees two folks in the a.m. many days riding on Old Centerville/616, perhaps it’s you?

Not it. I’ve done it a couple times, but usually take the bus to WFC to bike to DC. Absent that, I take Sudley to Lee Hwy. It’s too much for me to bike from M-sas to DC every day, but it can be done!

[Author]

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