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April 20, 2015 at 8:50 pm in reply to: Proposed Capital Bikeshare Locations opposed by Bluemont Civic Association – vote #1028463
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Participant@baiskeli 114107 wrote:
Yes, reasonable debate is desirable. That would include not assuming the absolute worst in those you disagree with or belittling their concerns.
I generally agree wholeheartedly, but I also think that there is a strong tendency among clever individuals (or at least individuals who think they’re being clever) to dress up NIMBYism with very reasonable sounding complaints that are, in actuality, distractions and wholly unrelated to the issue at hand. Our fight over bikeshare on Capitol Hill had a number of these, such as concerns that:
- “children would be tempted to run out to the shiny red bikes in front of their home right into oncoming traffic”;
- the stations would attract trash and vandals;
- a station could attract other mischief, nuisance, or criminal behavior;
- stations in front of residential homes would subject those homes to honking and other noise from the rebalancing vans and any drivers they might aggravate (this was in a letter that spent a solid 50+% of its words talking about the totally unrelated problems (Maryland!) drivers visit on this block);
- ‘”double wide strollers” would not be able to squeeze by the obnoxiously large bike stand’;
- concerns that people driving to and parking on that block in order to use the station would steal all the resident’s parking;
So sometimes I think that you just have to refuse to engage with people, or even engage with them harshly, because they’re not really participating in a debate in good faith. I now count one of the people who was adamantly opposed to the Lincoln Park station as a friend, and he has privately admitted to me that he was dressing up his opposition in any terms he could think of because he just didn’t want an ugly station in front of his house.
I’ve run into a variation on this problem several times during negotiations with lawyers and business people in a particular country. First you’re presented a detailed issues list. As those issues get negotiated and resolved, the other side starts raising unrelated new issues. The tactic is clearly designed to wear down opposition and run out the clock until you concede on key deal points. There aren’t always easy answers for how to handle them, but I do know (from bitter experience) that you don’t win by mudwrestling with pigs…
April 20, 2015 at 7:51 pm in reply to: Proposed Capital Bikeshare Locations opposed by Bluemont Civic Association – vote #1028446Participant@jrenaut 114089 wrote:
Pretty sure this has consistently been the way it goes. Announcement -> the sky is falling -> oh wait this is kind of nice.
Conforms to my experience. Our “sky is falling” stage included “Rabble, rabble, rabble…” shouting at public meetings, hurling curses afterwards, near fisticuffs, and hysterical crying.
Hopefully it was just proximity to Congress rubbing off, and the good folks of Bluemont will outclass Capitol Hill and prove that a reasonable debate about where to locate CaBi stations is possible!
April 20, 2015 at 3:37 pm in reply to: Proposed Capital Bikeshare Locations opposed by Bluemont Civic Association – vote #1028404ParticipantSorry to hear that. Their objections sound very similar to the ones raised by my neighbors to get the Lincoln Park bikeshare station in DC moved to the other side of the park at the outset of the program.
Those same neighbors are now semi-frequent bikeshare riders.
Participant@hozn 113789 wrote:
In commuter-heavy areas a AAA-like service for bicycle repair probably would make sense (and probably exists; I’m too lazy to google it).
Funny you should mention it. Two weeks ago I had a difficult to fix flat (blown out rear tube on a bike requiring multiple tools and some time to get the rear wheel off). I was also swamped at work and it was going to be several days before I could reasonably expect to get myself running again (either by toting the necessary tools to work on the train or ::shudder:: driving in to retrieve the bike). But @HandyBikesDC fixed me up for about the cost of two days commute via Metro. He came out to my office and made the repairs so I didn’t have to be away from my desk for more than a few minutes. It’s really nice to know that there is an available fallback option should disaster strike again.
ParticipantBonus feature: The post on his blog promoting his WaPo column features a very tasteful Courtland Milloy in bibs!
ParticipantParticipantEdit: It’s also humorous that we’re debating the extent to which technology is making us worse drivers, because I for one cannot wait to welcome our coming robot driver overlords! I worked on an early stage investment for Mobileye years ago and remember during one conference call looking around at a roomful of distracted law firm partners on Blackberrys and thinking that those guys were going to make a fortune someday and probably keep one of these very jackasses from running me over turning into our parking garage.
ParticipantParticipantIt’s a very compact course, so the only trouble you’ll have hitting lots of spots on a bike will be the rest of the spectating hordes that will make the sidewalks crowded.
Looking at the standard course, you could hang out with her around the start then use the Mount Vernon Trail to hit multiple spots along the route. Crossing the course is borderline impossible, so you’ll want to start inside the loop that makes it up. Your bike route might look something like this, which would let you see her (1) at about Mile 4.25 as they turn onto the bridge into DC, (2) at Mile 10 as they pass the Memorial Bridge, (3) at Mile 11.5 (if you’re quick!) as they pass the TJ memorial and head towards Haines Point, (4) then just before Mile 15 as they’re heading into the city to go around the National Mall, then (5) as they’re heading back into Virginia at Miles 20-21 (wherever you want to camp out along that stretch), and then (6) back up the MVT and Memorial Ave towards the finish.
Hope that’s helpful! I’ve had friends do something similar before and they thought it was fun.
March 26, 2015 at 12:59 pm in reply to: NPS to recruit border collies to chase away Canada geese from Nat’l Mall #1026818ParticipantThose are going to be the happiest border collies on the planet! Where do I apply to be the official border collie wrangler?
Side note: I was at a conference in CA last week, and the resort had a guy coming around the pool area with a falcon to keep the other pest birds at bay. It seemed to work quite well, because it got noticeably less squawky once they showed up. And the kids (including the grown up kids, like me) at the pool thought it was the best thing ever. The dude even trains the falcon that if he just chases the birds he gets a treat, as management doesn’t care for eviscerated birds being munched on in front of guests.
ParticipantThey may chime in with more info, but I’ll put in another plug for The Daily Rider, my favorite local shop.
They regularly carry Yubas, Larry+Harry Bullits, and Gazelle’s for cargo bikes. A friend of mine can regularly be seen toting her kids around the Hill on a gorgeous Gazelle Cabby she got there.
They’ve also got Yepp kid seats on the floor and a selection of helmets that would pair perfectly with their nice selection of city bikes. I don’t recall having seen trailers on the floor, but I suspect that they’re probably kept close by in their storage area, since floor space is limited.
ParticipantThe Daily Rider built the wheel for my ebike, and I’ve seen others in their shop for maintenance. I’m not sure that they have any on the floor for sale though.
ParticipantOblivious Trench-coat Guy suddenly stepped into the 15th St cycletrack by the Treasury while staring hard left to check for cars and his ability to jaywalk. I was coming up fast to his right.
Related, I just rebuilt my commuter and installed (my very first!) disc brakes. MAN THOSE THINGS ARE LOUD WHEN WET! I didn’t know it was possible to jump that high in loafers.
ParticipantTimely: League of American Bicyclists eBike Report
TLDR: People broadly support low-speed pedal-assisted electric bicycles as bicycles, with their riders having the same rights and responsibilities as bicyclists. At the same time, it seems clear that there are also types of electric bicycles that are more challenging to accept.
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