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Sorry about mixing up Potomac and Crystal Drive.

The issue is that getting into the south end of Crystal City requires choosing from a number of relatively unattractive options. I am not a big fan of crossing Route 1 anywhere because of the traffic.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could ride from the Four Mile Run trail near the intersection of the MVT up to Potomac Ave along a short path connecting the two?

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The way the legislation was written seemed to provide an either-or for metro subsidy or bike reimbursement. I wrote Rep Moran at one point suggesting they discount the metro subsidy by $2 for every $1 in bike reimbursement. The agencies would benefit and the employee wouldn’t be penalized for taking metro during inclement weather. Never heard back.

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Depending where in Crystal City you are going should influence the Eads decision. If you are on the north end of CC, I’d recommend getting on the MVT to the railroad underpass at the water park. Eads has a fair amount of traffic and the busses appear to consider the speed limit signs to offer only an advisory opinion. I live in the area and actively avoid riding on Eads (as well as Route 1). Eads is the alternative to Route 1 so it gets busy during rush hour.

Crystal Drive south of 23d is one way heading north. It doesn’t salmon particularly well so factor that into your decision.

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Thanks to others for the group edits. Corrections regarding counting commutes and the “who” for the conduct of the survey have been made.

Round trip commute = two trips
Who = us

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Adamx just gave some great advice and I would like to reinforce the need for lights. The minimum number of lights is one operational and one (or more) backup. I had two lights crap out on me on my (dark) commute home and was glad to have a third available.

I second the idea of USB charging, as we all seem to have one of those at work.

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@SilverSpring 12659 wrote:

“No number is too small”

I think this is really important, because the policy and political types at Arlington County and the region need to see cyclists as more than just the hard-core riders. While 47 riders and 191K miles is impressive, I think the more compelling number would be 1200 riders with 300K miles. That says that cycling is more than a small group thing and is widely used for recreation, daily transportation, and commuting.

The form allows non forum members to respond. Please encourage others you know to participate. Please invite your friends who may cycle less frequently to participate. Please copy the following text and send it to your friends, neighbors, and loved ones who ride to encourage them to participate.

The members of Bike Arlington and Washington Area Bicyclist Association are conducting an informal survey of bike riding and bike commuting in 2011. The data will be used to demonstrate cycling is a viable and important transportation option in the region. Even though you may not be a daily cyclist, your data in the survey will help show how large the community of riders is in the area. You don’t have to live in Arlington to participate in the survey. Please accept my invitation to participate in this survey. You can submit your information anonymously if you would like.

To participate, please go to http://goo.gl/hpK3o. The following info is requested:

1) Total miles ridden for the year (excluding indoor cycling on stationary bikes and trainers). Your best estimate is fine. Please combine commuting and recreational miles ridden anywhere (not just the DC metro area). Include Capital Bikeshare miles, bike rentals, etc.

2) Total trips (your best estimate is fine). Please combine commuting and recreational trips. A commute (two ways ) counts as two trips.

3) Whether you are male or female (optional). Researchers always say women’s participation is an indicator of whether cycling is taking off in an area (due to perceived safety issues) so that is why I think this would be an interesting statistic to collect.

4) If you bike commute, the jurisdictions you travel between.

5) If you want your data to remain anonymous.

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@CCrew 12653 wrote:

I want to go to NZ to see the Hobbits

Actually I’d like to go because the scenery in the movies just looks plain awesome.

Been there, done that. Scenery is way better than the movie set. When we were there in Summer 2010, they were reconstructing for the latest movie. They took all the structures/caves down after the last batch of movies. I’d expect they did the same this time.

Check it out on Google Earth at 37d51m26.98s South and 175d40m50.82s East.

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@culimerc 12593 wrote:

Any thoughts on Moosemitts vs Barmitts??

Moose Mitts are a product delivered from heaven! I wore fingerless gloves this morning with mine.

There is a fairly comprehensive thread on this. The tread, in summary, sings the praises of Moose Mitts and the firm that produces them.

http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?973-Order-your-Moose-Mitts&highlight=moose+mitts

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While I will need to noodle through the numbers a bit, the May 2011 issue of Scientific American offers a comparison between the CO2 emissions of people vs cars.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=when-cars-are-greener-than-people

They report that the CO2 emissions of four men running exceeds the CO2 emissions of a hybrid car (in grams CO2 per km). Obviously that doesn’t consider the source and carbon footprint of the fuel source for the cars and runners. The graphic with this piece shows cyclists beat other modes (driving, running, walking) cleanly.

The graphic shows a gasoline car emitting about 121 g CO2 per kilometer and four cyclists (a car’s worth of people) at about 25 g CO2 per kilometer

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My moose mitts allowed me to wear fingerless gloves this morning. Only a bit of sweat on my fingers (as opposed to ice in the pre-moose mitt era).

Thanks to all on the forum who advocated for the product. My fingers thank you.

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We have a great performance artist in our midst in the form of Dirt. Bravo, sir, bravo!

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I would offer a contrary position that a trip is out and back. Just as I wouldn’t consider the break for lunch to be the end of one Saturday ride and beginning of another, to me a commute is out and back.

Granted, my ride count will skyrocket if I can count each commute as two.

I will reenter my data if the approach is to count legs rather than trips.

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Thanks. On the sea wall at Hains Point. Rosslyn building with the dawn’s light on them forced me to stop and get the photo.

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Another great day to commute by bike! You don’t get views like this from I-66.

Dana

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@PrintError 12400 wrote:

This was my 3rd consecutive 100% bike-to-work year

Way to go! That is something to aim for. Congratulations!

The fact that so many riders are successfully commuting the bulk of the year demonstrates it is something more folks can do with little impact on their lives and commutes.

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