[Allen Muchnick]

Additional bicycling classes in Arlington, Fairfax, and Montgomery Counties are listed below. Smart Cycling–Traffic Skills 101 covers all the material in WABA’s three Confident City Cycling series (CCC1, CCC2, plus CCC3) with less delay and hassle and with a lower ratio of students to instructor. Although the CCC classes have lower fees, they are no longer free and they no longer offer classroom instruction. I agree with the poster, that the on-bike instruction is the most valuable.

Allen Muchnick, LCI #538

====

Spring and Summer 2011 Bicycling Classes

Adult education programs in Arlington, Fairfax, and Montgomery Counties are separately sponsoring four cycling skills and bicycle maintenance courses taught by Allen Muchnick, a traffic cycling instructor certified by the League of American Bicyclists. Except for the 9-hour classes with Saturday sessions, all classes meet on weekday evenings from 6:30-9:30 PM.

The four courses are:

* Smart Cycling–Traffic Skills 101, the essential, comprehensive, and very practical 9-hour cycling skills course for *all* bicyclists;

* Smart Cycling–Traffic Skills 201, 9 hours of advanced cycling and bike maintenance skills for TS 101 graduates;

* Bicycle Maintenance & Repair, a 3-hour lecture and demonstration; and

* Bicycle Mechanics Workshop, a 3-hour hands-on sequel to any course listed above.

TO REGISTER, enroll with the local course sponsor IN ADVANCE:

* Arlington Adult Education (703-228-7200 or [ http://www.arlingtonadulted.org ] ) . To view all bicycling classes, go to [ http://tinyurl.com/2dv57s ] .

* Montgomery College, Workforce Development & Continuing Education, Transportation Safety Institute (240-567-5188 or [ http://aceitoc.montgomerycollege.edu/course/CourseView.aspx ] or [ http://tinyurl.com/3xh94un ] )

* Fairfax County Adult & Community Education (703-658-1201 [or 703-658-1225] or [ https://aceclasses.fcps.edu/ ] . To view all bicycling classes, search for both “bicycle” and “cycling” or go to [ http://tinyurl.com/3mnwcm8 ] .

For questions about the instruction, contact the instructor, Allen Muchnick, at or 703-271-0895.

====

SMART CYCLING–TRAFFIC SKILLS 101 (CYCLING WITH CONFIDENCE). Learn the craft of cycling with on-bike and classroom instruction in key cycling skills for roads, paths, and groups: equipment use and care, breakdown repairs, efficient pedaling, bike handling, training, vehicular (street) cycling, and crash prevention. Nine hours over two or three sessions. Bike and helmet REQUIRED for all class sessions, except the first session of courses that meet on a Saturday.

Arlington County Courses, $85 residents/$109 non-residents, seniors $65/$85:
* 11SGI816A: 3W, May 11, 18, & 25, 6:30-9:30 PM, Arlington Career Ctr
* 11SGI816B: 3Tu, July 12, 19, 26, 6:30-9:30 PM, Arlington Career Ctr

Montgomery County Courses, $69 MD residents/$119 non-MD residents
* BIC001, 42019: Fri, May 13, 6:30-9:30 PM plus Sat, May 14, 9:30 AM-3:30 PM, Montgomery College Rockville Campus
* BIC001, 42018: Fri, June 24, 6:30-9:30 PM plus Sat, June 25, 9:30 AM-3:30 PM, Montgomery College Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus

Fairfax County Course, $125 ($96.25 for resident seniors):
* TI05302-20: Tu, June 7, 6:30-9:30 PM plus Sat, June 11, 9 AM-4 PM, Plum Ctr

* * *

SMART CYCLING–TRAFFIC SKILLS 201 (PROFICENT CYCLING). Advanced cycling and mechanical skills for Smart Cycling TS 101 graduates: ride hills, rural roads, urban arterials, and freeway merges; discuss endurance training and hot, cold, wet, and dark conditions; observe common maintenance procedures. Bike and helmet REQUIRED at all sessions. Three 3-hr sessions (9 hrs).

Arlington County Course, $85 residents/$109 non-residents, seniors $65/$85:
* 11SGI817: 3Tu, August 2, 9, & 16, 6:30-9:30 PM, Arlington Career Ctr

* * *

BICYCLE MAINTENANCE & REPAIR. Lecture/demonstration on bike fit, breakdown repairs, and the inspection, adjustment, lubrication, and renovation of diverse components. Bike not required. One 3-hour session.

Arlington County Courses, $39 residents/$50 non-residents, seniors $29/$39:
* 11SGI813A: Tu, May 10, 6:30-9:30 PM, Arlington Career Ctr
* 11SGI813B: W, June 8, 6:30-9:30 PM, Arlington Career Ctr
* 11SGI813C: W, July 6, 6:30-9:30 PM, Arlington Career Ctr
* 11SGI813D: Th, August 4, 6:30-9:30 PM, Arlington Career Ctr

Fairfax County Course, $48 ($36 for resident seniors), plus $17 for optional “$25″ textbook:
* TI05300-20: M, May 16, Pimmit Hills Ctr, 6:30-9:30 PM

* * *

BICYCLE MECHANICS WORKSHOP. This self-directed, hands-on sequel to any other bicycle class lets you tune up, fix, or modify your bicycle or practice inspection, maintenance, or repair procedures. Bring bike(s), supplies, and inspiration. One 3-hour session.

Arlington County Courses, $39 residents/$50 non-residents, seniors $29/$39:
* 11SGI814A: Tu, May 17, 6:30-9:30 PM, Arlington Career Ctr
* 11SGI814B: W, June 15, 6:30-9:30 PM, Arlington Career Ctr
* 11SGI814C: W, July 13, 6:30-9:30 PM, Arlington Career Ctr
* 11SGI814D: Th, Aug 11, 6:30-9:30 PM, Arlington Career Ctr

Fairfax County Course, $55 ($41.25 for resident seniors):
* TI05301-20: M, May 23, 6:30-9:30 PM,

###

Allen Muchnick
League of American Bicyclists Smart Cycling Instructor (LCI) #538
muchnick@capaccess.org
703-271-0895
Arlington VA

[Allen Muchnick]

The outside travel lanes on Columbia Pike are typically 11 feet wide and thus not wide enough for a bicyclist and any four-wheeled motor vehicle to safely share laterally. To prevent motorists from overtaking too closely, ride in the center or slightly left of the center of the curb lane.

[Allen Muchnick]

In response to Tim’s initial suggestions, I don’t think it’s a good idea to install BMUFL signs for short (e.g., one block or shorter) pinch points between two segments of bike lane or where the bike lane on Fairfax Dr ends at N.Wakefield St at the I-66 entrance ramp. Installing sharrows in the center of the travel lane should be adequate for such segments, whereas the BMUFL signs would confuse both bicyclists and motorists.

The BMUFL signs should be reserved for longer road segments with sharrows and perhaps where a bike lane has been (inappropriately) installed along a long and relatively steep downhill segment (e.g., Clarendon Blvd between Courthouse Rd and Rhodes St). It would be better to first replace such bike lanes with sharrows.

I’d love to see sharrows installed in the center of the curb lanes of Columbia Pike, although frequent BMUFL signs on this street would contribute to, and be lost in, sign clutter. Within Arlington, the Columbia Pike roadway is eminently bikeable by experienced vehicular cyclists, and sharrows there might provide useful guidance and assurance to gutter bunnies and sidewalk riders.

[Allen Muchnick]

Hopefully, any reduction in bike-on-VRE access will only be temporary; i.e., once VRE can expand its passenger capacity to better accommodate greater ridership, VRE will restore and even expand bike-on-VRE access. However, Capital Bikeshare is now available to VRE customers at Crystal City, L’Enfant Plaza, and Union Station, so bike-on-VRE access is less vital for those customers.

VRE also needs to provide much better bike parking accommodations at most stations. At least several stations lack even rudimentary bike racks and none provide bike lockers, except for the nearby WMATA bike lockers at Franconia-Springfield and King St. Thanks to funding from Fairfax County, VRE is finally considering installing bike lockers at some VRE stations in Fairfax County, but secure and weather-protected bicycle parking is needed at every VRE station. The current VRE comment period is a good time to raise bike parking issues.

[Allen Muchnick]

BikeWashington.org shows two routes to Annapolis from Metrorail stations in Prince George’s County:

from Greenbelt: [ http://www.bikewashington.org/routes/greentobay/index.htm ]

from New Carrollton: [ http://www.bikewashington.org/routes/chesapeake/index.html ]

A more direct route is to simply take Route 450 between Bladensburg to Annapolis, although a few interchanges, such as the crossing of the Capital Beltway, are intimidating for less experienced cyclists. Bladensburg Rd is a direct and reasonably bikeable road between near downtown/Capitol Hill and Bladensburg.

[Allen Muchnick]

Very good article on sharrows! My only nit is the repeated references to “research by the U.S. Department of Transportation” without any citation. The San Francisco sharrow experiment by ALTA Planning + Design was hardly a rigorous research study, and I’m unaware of any other sharrow “research”.

I’m thrilled to see Arlington County properly installing sharrows in the centers of travel lanes, rather than in door zones or on the right side of non-sharable travel lanes. As the County properly installs sharrows and promotes the significance of this pavement marking–and as more and more Arlington bicyclists start practicing lane control on arterial roadways–Arlington’s rather high incidences of risky door-zone, gutter-hugging, and sidewalk bicycling should gradually decrease.

[Author]

Posts