I think there might have been more of a common cycling culture in the DC area before cycling began booming here. Cycling has taken off in the area, and the presence and popularity of Capital Bikeshare brings in many casual riders, locals or visitors/tourists. Triathlon became much more popular, starting from a decade ago although the growth rate for that sport seems to have slowed over the past few years. The new CaBi riders, amateur triathletes and casual/occasional bike commuters helped to transform what I thought was a bike messenger/bike enthusiast local culture from years past.
This is not entirely based on personal knowledge. I never biked in the area until 2008-2009, but I do know that there weren’t nearly as many bike commuters or triathletes a decade ago. And of course, there was no large bikeshare system before 2010. (There was the SmartBike system, but relatively few people used it, and probably almost no tourists used it.)
