[Alcova cyclist]

Central Arlington ->Ft Myer–>Iwo Jima–>110 path–>Memorial Bridge–>reflecting pool->12th St SW

No problems at all. Better than Friday night.

There are a few places where snow melt is flowing across the paths that might prove troublesome after the hard freeze.

[Alcova cyclist]

The full winners list (http://www.waba.org/blog/2015/02/the-winners-of-the-washington-area-bicyclists-choice-awards/):

The Advocate of the Year for 2014

Winner: Jim Durham, Chair of the Alexandria Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee

The Vision Zero Award

Winners: Bruce Deming and Cory Bilton, local attorneys who provided pro-bono legal assistance to WABA’s contributory negligence campaign

The Biking for All Award

Winners: Bayley Vanderpoel of Velocity Co-op and Katie Lupo of Gearin’ Up Bicycles

The Green Lanes Award

Winner: The Montgomery County T&E Committee

The Future Trails Award

Winner: REI

The Access to Justice Award

Winner: DC Councilmember David Grosso

Thank you to everyone who nominated and voted in the 2015 Washington Area Bicyclists’ Choice Awards. Now we would like to recognize and celebrate the winners of the Bicyclists’ Choice Awards:

Best New Bike Infrastructure in the District of Columbia in 2014:
Winner: M Street protected bike lane

Best New Bike Infrastructure in Maryland in 2014:
Winner: MARC train Bike Cars from DC to Baltimore

Best New Bike Infrastructure in Virginia in 2014:
Winner: King Street bike lanes in Alexandria, VA

Bike Friendliest Neighborhood or Business Improvement District
Winner: DowntownDC BID

Bike Friendlies Bar, Restaurant or Coffee Shop
Winner: District Taco, various locations in DC and VA

Bike Friendliest Developer or Property Manger
Winner: Nationals Park

Best Bike Shop
Winner: BicycleSPACE

Bike Friendliest School
Winners (tie): School Without Walls High School, DC and the Washington & Lee High School, Arlington, VA

Bike Friendliest College or University
Winner: University of Maryland at College Park

Best Shop Ride
Winner: BicycleSPACE Hills of Anacostia

Best Use of Biking Data
Winner: Bike Arlington’s Freezing Saddles (http://freezingsaddles.com/)

Best Media Coverage of Biking
Winner: Martin DiCaro for WAMU

Best Social Ride
Winner: BicycleSPACE’s 7th Street Social

Biggest Advocacy Win of 2014
Winner: Snow Removal on Arlington County Trails

Best Overall Trail or Bike Lane (anywhere in the region)
Winner: W&OD Trail

[Alcova cyclist]

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

TSA Headquarters, Crystal City, VA
(Note that the building is unlabeled, even though you can Google Map it… you can see the DHS flag flying in front)
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[Alcova cyclist]

@dasgeh 109038 wrote:

My motor, however, decided that it was not happy having been left in the cold for 4+ hours. Like really not happy. Like not really working AT ALL.

On the plus side, you didn’t piss off NickBull.

[Alcova cyclist]

Reflecting pool / Washington Monument paths worse than this morning.

Reflecting pool especially seems to have suffered blowing snow that melted in the afternoon sun and then refroze. On the way home tonight it was pretty icy. I was able to make ok progress on thicker slicks, but had the headwind I rode into been a crosswind instead it would have been a different story.

[Alcova cyclist]

@jabberwocky 108935 wrote:

…Are the comments there always that stupid?

No. They’re often stupider.

[Alcova cyclist]

As a noob to FS (though an on-and-off cycle commuter for years), it’s been an interesting evolution for me and my family.

My spouse actually got a little mad the first few times I went on a late-night sleaze ride (or proper ride) in “marginal” conditions. Now she just knows it’s par for the course. For that matter, both of us have completely re-calibrated what we believe are “marginal” conditions. Today is a good example: I biked in to work without a second thought, where pre-FS I wouldn’t have even considered it — and if I had my spouse would have demanded a call or text as soon as I reached my destination because ice/cold.

My kids ask about the team standings and various side-bets, etc. I think my 15-yo might participate next year. I think (hope?) my kids also get that biking to work every day (for me anyway) is a way to “walk the walk” about the climate and resource issues that I tell them are important. [insert global warming / polar vortex joke here]

But most of all, I think they see me healthier and happier now that I have committed to biking most every day.

[Alcova cyclist]

@PotomacCyclist 108873 wrote:

Are there cross-country skiing tracks on the MVT? I’m interested to see how much validity there is to the NPS reasoning for not plowing the MVT, at least in Arlington, which probably has more bike traffic than the southern part near Mt. Vernon. I suspect that cross-country skiing is just a cover for a lack of funds or lack of desire to plow the MVT. If so, then I wonder if we can get Arlington to reach an agreement with NPS to take over plowing duties on the Arlington section of the MVT. While it’s nice to have the Custis and FMR Trails plowed, many commuters are headed to DC. A snow and ice-covered MVT makes it difficult to commute from many areas in Arlington to DC.

Is cross-country skiing really their claimed rationale? If that’s not just BS as you suggest, that’s insane. I am not a cross-country skier, but isn’t that something easily done, say, next to trail…. you know, cross-country style?

If maintaining recreational opportunities is so important, they should close down one of the superhighway lanes and let that be used by x-country skiers. Because it’s a national park, and recreation is their priority over commuter traffic, right?

[Alcova cyclist]

@dasgeh 108863 wrote:

Yes, but how was access at Fort Myer? What ID did you use and did they give you a hard time?

I used a Federal Employee CAC and was waved through by the generally friendly gate guards just as I have been all year.

A cyclist in front of me entering with a driver’s license and they seemed to be taking his information onto a clipboard. Don’t know if they made him wait around for any sort of background check or were just taking information and sending him on his way; They glanced at my CAC and sent me on through while still writing down his info — in this cold I wasn’t interested in waiting around to see how long it took him. I’ve seen the clipboard routine for Non-DOD/Fed cyclists entering the base in the past — even before the access policy theoretically changed.

[Alcova cyclist]

Central Arlington –>Ft Myer –>ANC–>Memorial Bridge–>National Mall

Short version: No real problems – Go for it!

Arlington streets are mostly good, but bike lanes mostly not cleared.
Fort Myer, as always, has its snow-removal act together
Arlington Cemetery has a few snowy/icy spots, especially towards the bottom of the hill (don’t build too much speed going into the last curves). Always a dry pavement path if you look for it.
Sidewalks to and across the Memorial bridge are great
There’s some drifting snow at the crosswalk next to Memorial circle (on the Virginia side) that I chose to walk through
National Mall is in pretty good shape. The paths aren’t 100% clear, but everywhere I went, there was at least a 2-3′ section clear to pavement (maybe with some blowing snow — not much they can do about that)

And it was beautiful!

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[Alcova cyclist]

I wimped out and took metro today.

It was a fantastic reminder how much better my bike commute is in pretty much every way (faster, cheaper, more pleasant, healthier, better for the environment).

[Alcova cyclist]

It seems like there were a couple of irons in the fire. Has anyone heard back?

Henry was going to run this through Arlington County
LtCol Molina was supposed to get back to Dasgeh
The community relations officer was supposed to get back to Chris_s

Anyone noticed any difference in gate procedures? (I actually haven’t been through the base since 2/13).

[Alcova cyclist]

Maybe they should be quartering US.
(General Officer’s housing at Fort McNair shot from Hains Point)

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[Alcova cyclist]

@dasgeh 108393 wrote:

Finally, the overall mission of the armed forces is to protect the American people. I don’t see how putting us in harms way is consistent with that mission.

A military command fulfills their portion of “protect the nation” by doing a very specific set of missions. Other units, bases, departments, etc. are doing other missions and all contribute to the whole. So, the units at Fort Myer are assigned a specific set of functions and it is their responsibility to do those things. They’re not responsible for the safety or ease of commute for local cyclists any more than they’re responsible to shoot down ballistic missiles. That doesn’t mean neither of those things are important, it means those things aren’t the responsibility of the base commander at Fort Myer — they’re somebody else’s job.

If they can complete their assigned missions and manage to help out in other areas, they usually will; just not at the expense of their primary assigned duties. It is folly to expect otherwise.

[Alcova cyclist]

Mikey said it shorter, but… The military perspective is totally focused on mission. “Force protection” is central to mission accomplishment. Making life easier for neighboring communities is not. You can believe that’s not the way it should be, but that’s the way it is. Approaching this from the standpoint of our “entitlement” as citizens or neighbors or whatever to pass through the base is unlikely to be productive and is quite likely to be counter-productive. If you don’t agree with me, write your senators and congressman and complain. I do not think you’ll be satisfied with the response.

We also have no idea what might be driving the sudden changes to access policy. Maybe the threat has changed. Maybe the base just failed a readiness inspection for non-compliance with force protection directives. Maybe they have a new commander or force protection officer with different priorities. Maybe they’re just now getting around to it. Who knows? Certainly not us. If they believe (rightly or wrongly) these changes are necessary to base security, they are not going to factor much else into the equation.

That said, the base HAS been a good neighbor, and likely sees being a good neighbor as important — provided it doesn’t interfere with their mission. The approach most likely to yield results is one that acknowledges their primary responsibilities and looks for ways we can work together to get what we want without impacting what they see as their primary responsibilities. So the vibe we’d be looking for is more like this: “Area cyclists –DOD members, Federal employees, and the population at large– have historically enjoyed the ability to pass through Ft Myer transiting between central Arlington and the Potomac/DC. Given the other options for cyclists, the base has afforded a much safer alternative which has been much appreciated. As base access policies are revised and evaluated, we (WABA? ACB?) would like to work with you to help you understand the impacts to the cycling community and possibly identify ways to minimize those impacts without affecting the larger effort to make the base more secure. By working together, we can also help communicate any changes to the cycling community — which should help minimize confusion and delays at the gates and mitigate impacts to the cyclists who wish to access the base.”

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