Post your ride pics

[jrenaut]

@ShawnoftheDread 119293 wrote:

Aren’t you going to be there all summer? Craigslist now and resell at the end.

Yeah, thinking about that. Bike storage at this building sucks. It’s a locked cage that appears full of abandoned junkers. Moving to a different place in about two weeks and will reassess.

@PotomacCyclist 119295 wrote:

https://www.prontocycleshare.com/

Haven’t tried the bikeshare yet either but I plan to. Doesn’t seem to be nearly as large or as well-used as the DC network, though.

[PotomacCyclist]

I might try out the Pronto bikeshare myself, later in the summer. I plan to be out there for a few days.

[PotomacCyclist]

A church parking lot near Gallery Place.

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First time I’ve ever ridden in Anacostia. I know it has an almost mythical status for many. I viewed it that way myself in the past. When I was looking at my phone near the Metro station, trying to orient myself, a woman in a car warned me about the neighborhood and offered assistance. I thanked her but said that I was just trying to figure out the exact street. (The parking garage at the Anacostia Metro station is on the other side of a couple streets, but I thought I was still at the main station.) It was still light out so I figured I’d be fine. No problems on the ride. I had a friendly conversation with some fellow at the main station, who inquired about my running shoes. (I was riding CaBi, so I didn’t have bike shoes on.) My running shoes are a bit different and unusual, so I told him about the brand (Skora). [To be honest, the closest I’ve come to a serious head injury was on the Capital Crescent Trail in my first month of riding, when I was going too fast, and also in a white-collar office, with a meathead boss/former frat guy who I’m pretty sure was on steroids or some sort of stimulants. Either that or he really does have a screw loose.]

The architecture reminds me a lot of rural small towns, just a bit poorer (although many rural small towns are also quite poor). Even though I’ve lived in this area for a long time, I once lived in such a rural town. Anacostia is so close to the Capitol Riverfront and the Navy Yard, but separated by the river. I think the neighborhood will take off eventually, the way that NoMa, Gallery Place, Metro Center, and the Capitol Riverfront neighborhoods have. Those areas used to be quite distressed, even Metro Center, but now they are much more developed and active.

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[Lt. Dan]

Took the kid out for a ride in the Bristow area yesterday!

With all the rain we’ve been having, the greenery is almost wallpaper worthy:

[Powerful Pete]

Riding in the Low Country this week…

The view…

By the ocean…

[83b]

@PotomacCyclist 119311 wrote:

First time I’ve ever ridden in Anacostia. [….] I think the neighborhood will take off eventually, the way that NoMa, Gallery Place, Metro Center and the Capitol Riverfront neighborhoods have. Those areas used to be quite distressed, even Metro Center, but now they are much livelier and developed.

I ride in Anacostia and other East of the River neighborhoods quite a bit. Interestingly, I’ve always found the drivers (on weekends) to be much kinder/safer than they generally are in NW and Virginia. There are some great hills to hit too. And I’ve never had any issues with feeling unsafe (and have actually had more problems closer to home around the Potomac Ave and Eastern Market metros).

And there are some neighborhoods that have seriously nice and well-priced housing stock given how close in to the city it is. With Brookland, Trinidad, and Eckington et al. all experiencing considerable appreciation, I don’t think it will be too long before people get over the psychological hurdle of the river and start looking to buy out that way. Especially younger folks who aren’t thinking about schools yet.

[PotomacCyclist]

Some people say that the turn-around in the Capitol Riverfront area was the result of the US DOT moving their headquarters there, and not necessarily Nationals Park. But the federal government has moved agencies to St. Elizabeths near Congress Heights and the Suitland Federal Center without similar results. An entertainment venue like Nats Park might spur more restaurant, retail and entertainment business and activity. The combination of offices and entertainment might be better than just having a federal agency.

H St NW started developing after the Atlas Performing Arts Center opened and multiple bars and restaurants moved in nearby. I saw the Anacostia Arts Center, but that hasn’t drawn in a lot of other entertainment options from what I saw. A lot of the nearby spaces were still vacant. DC is trying to add more public spaces to the St. Elizabeths project, but I think there are some flaws with their approach on the outdoor center/pavilion they opened not long ago.

They are also thinking big with the 11th St. Bridge park, but I have to wonder about that too. It would be somewhat difficult to access on foot. If it’s going to be successful, it would have to be an attraction on its own, because there aren’t any major attractions immediately next to the bridge. There is that new building on the corner of MLK and Good Hope Rd. I think it is largely vacant. If a key tenant were brought in and/or something new is built in the empty field nearby, that could create enough of a draw to get things rolling. I don’t know what would work there exactly, but there are people out there who get paid to come up with these types of ideas. There are also developers who are always looking for the next big thing, plus those who want to see Anacostia improve, apart from profit motives.

While I doubt there is enough of a market to have a bike shop there, there could still be some type of cycling organization or business there. WABA and other groups may be doing something there already. Something like Phoenix Bikes in Arlington? A used bike shop with learn-to-ride classes, confident city cycling classes, etc.? I saw a bike fix-it station somewhere around Anacostia. It might have been in front of the Arts Center. It had a bike stand and a set of basic bike tools attached to cables. It’s a start, but there could be more bicycle-related items/activities.

I did notice the nice group of CaBi stations along MLK Ave. I used those stations while riding there. (I also noticed more than a couple spots of shattered glass on the road or sidewalk, so I was glad that I was riding CaBi and not my own bike.)

I might return and head over to the Smithsonian community museum at some point. But that museum is farther off from the main road. I was looking at that area on Google Maps Street View to see if there are any bike racks. I couldn’t see any, although it’s possible there are some racks immediately next to the building, not visible to the Street View cameras. There’s no CaBi station though. I see on the map that the Avalon Playground is just down the street from the museum. I know that the Anacostia and EOTR bike stations don’t get much use, but if DDOT is going to keep the EOTR stations in an effort to provide a low-cost alternate means of transportation for residents and visitors, they should add a station near the museum and the Avalon Playground. In fact, I think I’ll add it to the crowdsourcing map now. (If someone has already suggested the location, I’ll upvote it.)

[mstone]

@PotomacCyclist 119431 wrote:

Some people say that the turn-around in the Capitol Riverfront area was the result of the US DOT moving their headquarters there, and not necessarily Nationals Park. But the federal government has moved agencies to St. Elizabeths near Congress Heights and the Suitland Federal Center without similar results. An entertainment venue like Nats Park might spur more restaurant, retail and entertainment business and activity. The combination of offices and entertainment might be better than just having a federal agency.

I’d say it’s more important to have a good, connected, urban fabric than to have either a federal agency (goddard, maybe?) or a ballpark (rfk?) if you want sympathetic urban development. I think the riverfront area’s turnaround was inevitable once there was a critical mass of investment (such that the city wasn’t going to tolerate street crime, blight, etc) and the nature of the investment was mostly incidental.

[PotomacCyclist]

I would distinguish between RFK and other sports facilities. The major difference is that football stadiums are designed with seas of surface parking, because of the tradition of tailgating. This is why pro football stadiums in dense central neighborhoods are a bad idea. The surface parking is an important part of the overall stadium design. (I’m not supporting this idea. Just pointing out that a modern football stadium goes hand in hand with large amounts of surface parking. Personally I don’t like it, especially when all that asphalt is only used a handful of days a year.)

But baseball, basketball/hockey and soccer stadiums can be compatible with active, successful urban neighborhoods. We see successful neighborhoods and mixed-used development surrounding Verizon Center and Nats Park (although some of that development was slowed by the Great Recession). At the very least, baseball and basketball stadiums do not hinder development. In the case of Verizon Center in particular, that facility might have been one of the early anchors for the redevelopment and revival of that area.

RFK is a completely different story. The sea of asphalt prevents any other use of that space, other than for temporary events. I really hope DC doesn’t lure the football team back to the city.

As for the Riverfront, I don’t think developers would have moved into the area without the big anchors, whether one thinks it’s USDOT, Nats Park or both. They could have moved in long before, but they didn’t.

Infrastructure is important, especially Metro access. The NoMa Metro station kicked off the revival of that area. Amazing how rapid and extensive the redevelopment is over there. I didn’t follow the reports of ATF’s move to NoMa, but I have to think that the new Metro station played a major role in convincing the gov’t to locate ATF there. NoMa probably benefits from its proximity to Union Station and Capitol Hill too. That may be why Congress Heights and Suitland are not seeing the same makeover and private investment.

(I’m setting aside the “gentrification” and displacement issues. I know those are important too, but ultimately I don’t think an ongoing high-crime, high-poverty situation helps anyone. DC has affordable housing programs, which the new mayor is focusing on. That’s a topic for a different thread.)

[lordofthemark]

@PotomacCyclist 119431 wrote:

Some people say that the turn-around in the Capitol Riverfront area was the result of the US DOT moving their headquarters there, and not necessarily Nationals Park.

Actually the first agency to move to the area was NavSea. They, and their contractors, were a stimulus even before USDOT came. Proximity to the Capitol Hill neighborhood was a big factor, especially after Capper-Carrolsburg was torn down. US DOT pushed things further along. The ballpark probably helped, but less than some folks think.

[Supermau]

Shelter from the storm at Grace church on Commonwealth last night. My ride home from DC started off so nice too. Though I enjoy riding through the rain, lately it’s becoming ridiculous.

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[cvcalhoun]

@Supermau 119441 wrote:

Shelter from the storm at Grace church on Commonwealth last night. My ride home from DC started off so nice too. Though I enjoy riding through the rain, lately it’s becoming ridiculous.

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It’s all my fault. The day can be perfect, but the moment I get on my bike, it rains. Twice lately, I walked outside in perfectly nice weather, and it started raining in the few seconds I was in the shed getting my bike.

[Supermau]

@cvcalhoun 119465 wrote:

It’s all my fault. The day can be perfect, but the moment I get on my bike, it rains. Twice lately, I walked outside in perfectly nice weather, and it started raining in the few seconds I was in the shed getting my bike.

Haha. I thought it was just me.

[Steve O]

[IMG]http://bikearlingtonforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=9043&stc=1[/IMG]

Harder to take the photo than to ride the unicycle!

[hozn]

@Steve O 119470 wrote:

Harder to take the photo than to ride the unicycle!

Inspirational!

After spending a couple hours on Saturday and then again on Sunday practicing on the unicycle, I am now able to ride the length of my block on the sidewalk — and sometimes can get around the corner. It’s hard. And my legs — and knees — are quite sore today; I expect/hope that’s normal. Probably heavily contributed by me putting most of my weight on legs — vs. saddle; I think when learning I was thinking of it more like a trackstand, so now I’m training myself to shift weight to my butt instead of my legs and let legs spin more. I guess the trackstand part is still useful learning, as I feel reasonably comfortable coming to a stop and then starting again (w/o dismounting).

I’m working on getting on w/o assistance (free mounting, I guess); that is progressing slowly.

It’s fun learning new things; kinda rare to put myself in the position [as an “adult”] of being so completely inept (especially in context of feeling quite confident on two wheels). And my kids (and likely the whole neighborhood) seem to enjoy watching me struggle.

[Author]

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