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So glad that it wasn’t worse, and I’m amazed at your resilience to all this. And especially at your calm in the face of the officer. Un-freaking-believable.

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@Harry Meatmotor 181671 wrote:

Yeah, but they’re the panacea we’ve all been waiting for to make sure everybody who has money and political power experiences the inconveniences of bike commuting so they can then lobby on behalf of the plebs that ride regular bikes.

I wouldn’t put it this way, but the sentiment is right: ebikes make biking accessible to more people and more people on bikes makes biking safer and better for all (both because drivers see bikes and because they lobby for better bike infra). Note that the woman in the story just started bike commuting — she wouldn’t have been biking had she not had the ebike.

For future reference, this would have been the most straightforward detour without going into DC/taking stairs. This detour is shorter but harder to follow if you’re not used to riding around the Pentagon.

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We had a blast. My 7yo and 5yo did the whole thing on their own bikes, racking up about 20 miles total on the day, including trips to and from Donaldson Run and Rosslyn. We did stop for beignets mid-challenge. The kids’ favorite part was the water crossing and mud challenges (when we stopped at home to get an egg carton, my daughter sneakily grabbed her water shoes and proudly pulled them out when we got to the water crossing). My favorite part was seeing them struggle and get through it (particularly on the Rosslyn hill). It was a hard day, but a lot of fun. Definitely hope it comes back next year.

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@NovaEbike 181639 wrote:

Glad I learned the alternate TR bridge route today. I’ll have to take that or try my hand at going from Memorial to Custis via Fort Myer, Iwo Jima, 110 from the other thread. Hopefully there will be someone who knows what they are doing in front of me that I can follow 😎

It’s pretty easy — things to remember: the downstream side of the Memorial Bridge is the safest. Then cross the street when you get to the intersection (after the bridge, at the Metro). Then take the trail that runs along the road that goes off to the right. From there, you can take the road or trail to the Iwo Jima, then take the trail just south of the Iwo Jima up to the Road. That road will become Lynn street and take you to the intersection of doom.

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@pmf 181607 wrote:

Some moron construction workers attempted to drive a piece of machinery under the Roosevelt bridge on the wood raised section and it fell through. If you’re headed south from Rosslyn, the only way across the river after the Key Bridge is Roosevelt.

Something tells me that its going to take a while to get this fixed. Any updates appreciated.

And I thought the stair detour at the 14-th street bridge sucked.

To be clear: can someone ride to the Roosevelt Bridge now or is the western-most part (west of the T intersection) of the Trollheim damaged?

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@chris_s 181346 wrote:

This reminds me – I live about a mile from the ride start.

If anyone wants to leave stuff securely locked up at my house, you’re welcome to. Like if folks want to e-bike from their house to mine and then leave their battery securely at my house for instance. Let me know.

See you at 8am on Saturday

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On scooters, it seems like they are less stable, particularly at speed, and less able to carry stuff than bikes. But they take up less space and they are easier to get on and off than bikes. I don’t think e-assist fundamentally changes those facts, they just make it easier to go faster on either a scooter or a bike.

Given that, I think some people will prefer bikes, and others will prefer scooters. For the rest – people who are fine with either – scooters are probably better for shorter trips (particularly because they are slower), bikes for longer.

Also, early adopters of anything are going to be less risk adverse than the general population. Plus, the first few times anyone uses anything, they’re going to make mistakes/misjudge/etc. Finally, new stuff generally seems weird and stands out to most people. So, I’m not at all surprised that the average person sees people using scooters now as not well-behaved. I imagine that the scooter-ers take risks more than most and that they misjudge how fast they can go in new situations. Also, an adult riding a scooter sticks out to the average person more than other things. And some people are just jerks. But I rather have those jerks on scooters than in a car. We should address putting limits on bad behavior through regulation and infrastructure.

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@dbb 181434 wrote:

The community associations have gotten the County to hold a public meeting, scheduled for tomorrow, 27 Sep 2018 at 7 pm. While the community associations will be represented, there is always room for others.

Details below from https://projects.arlingtonva.us/events/public-meeting-on-mwaas-dispatch-lot-on-south-eads-street/

Date/Time
09/27/2018
7:00 pm-8:30 pm

Location
Aurora Hills Community & Senior Center
Multipurpose room

In April 2018 the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) began operating a dispatch lot for Uber/Lyft vehicles on South Eads Street, near Fort Scott Drive. MWAA relocated the lot to the Eads Street site to make room for their Project Journey construction project, but the move has resulted in increased traffic congestion in this area.

Join County officials as they discuss proposals for mitigating the traffic situation and shifting some of the lot’s access from South Eads Street to Route 1. MWAA and Virginia Department of Transportation officials have also been invited to attend.

The meeting will start with a presentation followed by a questions & answers session.

I can’t make the meeting, unfortunately, but this could be a tactical urbanism opportunity — the County could put up barriers to protect this bike lane for that stretch until a better solution can be found. Yes, that will cost a few parking spaces by the park, but not many (if there’s a barrier for one car length where a car would turn left, drivers would get nothing by going into the bike lane). And it would cost little, so could be easily removed if it turns out to really screw things up. The County has to try this sort of thing!

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@Guus 181413 wrote:

That’s totally possible. There is a ton of space on Fairfax, included a useless median. There’s no reason to have 4-lane highway right through the heart of the R-B corridor

For all of Fairfax Drive between Glebe and Wilson, we should extend the protected two way cycle track on the Northside of the street.

I know that sort of thing isn’t ideal on many streets, but on Fairfax, there are few driveways and lots of peds, so drivers are used to looking for peeps coming from both directions on the sidewalk, and the Northside allows the cycle track to avoid two metro stops worth of bad drivers.

Sorry this happened. Glad it wasn’t worse.

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@Judd 181199 wrote:

Of additional note, scooters are restricted to 10 mph and e-bikes to 15 mph which essentially means that all providers in the market would have to modify their equipment in order to comply with the pilot.

Anyone have (or want to compile) a summary of speed restrictions on ebikes and escooters from other dockless pilots? Best I can tell, DC has a limit of 20mph on ebikes and none I can see on escooters, but I may be reading it wrong.

I did find this report, which has a regulation breakdown, but it doesn’t mention speed restrictions.

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@chris_s 181309 wrote:

I also know in Arlington “bike lane” vs “buffered bike lane” but I’m not currently showing that distinction either.

But does that one matter?

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@mstone 181252 wrote:

What I’m trying to say is that you seem to think that bikes on metro is something that’s too important to let any other concern derail it. Conversely, I think bikes on metro is a nice to have, but metro is in no position to implement that well. I’d rather preserve the status quo than see a half-assed unsafe policy change–and I don’t think it’s at all reasonable to demand that WMATA spend money on this when there are more pressing issues facing the system. There is no policy that metro can implement that will allow bikes at all times without degrading the safety and convenience of a larger fraction of riders.

But that’s not what I’m trying to say. The question (should we allow bikes on Metro) is being asked, and I think we should look at data, not just limited experience, in forming an answer.

You seem intent in reading anything I type in the worst (to you) possible light. It’s been going on for years.

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@josh 181232 wrote:

No, we were eastbound on that section (not sure if there’s a bike lane in that direction).

There’s a bike lane eastbound between Pollard and the on-ramp to I-66. Westbound, there are bike lanes between Adams and just after Highland, then again from Lincoln to Monroe.

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@mstone 181220 wrote:

In return, don’t reject the real concerns of people who experience dangerous crowding on metro because you apparently do not.

Not sure what you’re trying to say. I don’t reject the concerns of the crowded – I think the policy should take those into account, but not let them trump the fact that there is space elsewhere. Formulate a policy that makes room for both.

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These are awesome. Thank you. It would be fun to have awards for the lanes – like most delicious (access to best food), most comfortable (would ride in with a kid), least comfortable (Lee Hwy)

@Judd 181202 wrote:

6. The 1 block bike lanes on Bell are silly.

Did you ride the 1 block bike lane on wb Lee before Safeway?

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