[DSalovesh]

I’m pretty sure the police get things like this wrong more often than they get it right, generally speaking.

That doesn’t change how we as individuals behave. Case by case we ask officers to be vigilant for individual and collective safety, and to sift through the IDs of people they casually encounter so fewer wanted people slip past. Disobeying an officer is a charge on its own, as is fleeing – with potentially higher consequences (legal and physical) than biking where you may or may not be allowed.

It sounds like the officer was acting in good faith, not harassment, and may simply be wrong. ..it happens. He didn’t write you a ticket, or even give a written warning, so set aside the fact that you felt bad about it – using police power is not inherently abusive.

Instead why not use the scenario as an opportunity to make positive change? The record is still open (until Tuesday) for the DC Council’s Judiciary Committee hearing on bicycle and pedestrian enforcement matters – write this up and send it in as an example of how police officers in DC don’t know the applicable laws.

You might also be able to educate the cops. There’s not enough information in the photo you took to really track down the officer (sorry – need his badge or face) but here are a bunch of contacts within the 2nd police district:

http://mpdc.dc.gov/mpdc/cwp/view,a,1239,q,544687,mpdcNav_GID,1535.asp

The location where you were stopped is in PSA 208, so those specific contacts (Lt. Scott Dignan and Capt. Melvin Gresham) may be particularly helpful.

[DSalovesh]

I have ’em, I love ’em.

They’re not really as bright as pictures indicate, but the light is bright enough to be seen well even under streetlights – and they help increase my visibility a lot on darker streets or between lights. Mine is a couple of years old; the new ones to replace the set that was on my daughter’s bike when it was stolen include improvements in the power pack and connector.

Most importantly, they have a magical effect that seems to change how people perceive me from “crazed ninja on a flat-black bike” to “happy rolling roadshow”, even controlling for the fact that I always have head and tail lights going. When I add the battery-powered LED light strings to my wheels I like to think people WANT to see me.

I have the yellow-green “safety” color. It registers best in marginal conditions, even though the light blue has a higher light output – our eyes aren’t as attuned to seeing it.

If you’re a DIY type, you can do a web search for the parts and how-to tips under “electroluminescent wire”. For ten feet of wire plus a power supply the cost is not all that different from the pre-made Bike Glow set, but you can get all the colors or even make multi-color strings. Due to some really high voltage put out by the DC->AC inverter (think home-built Taser!) it’s not a project for absolute beginners, but there’s nothing complicated about it if you’ve wired up lamps and stuff like that.

[DSalovesh]

You know, that’s not an entirely impossible suggestion except that I’d need to bring a bike inside…

[DSalovesh]

I was reading this announcement thinking “not Thursday, not Thursday, any day but Thursday, not Thursday pleeeeze”…

I’m still teaching our bike intro class at the shop on the other side of town on Thursdays, goes until about 8 though I’m on the schedule until 9:30. Unless this turns into an all-night affair I’m going to need to attend in spirit alone.

[DSalovesh]

This Yehuda Moon strip seems apropos – or so:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]411[/ATTACH]

[DSalovesh]

I’d really like to know more about this bike & company:

http://brodiebikes.com/2011/bikes/ocho.php

A Canadian maker, they list two east coast USA dealers but neither seems active anymore.

[DSalovesh]

(Segways irk me in general – I have a hard time discussing them at any length without degenerating into a mad rant, but I’ll try…)

Scanning a few traffic regs, the definition of “electric personal assistive mobility device” is model language that circularly describes Segways, and only Segways (via terms like “self-balancing two-nontandem-wheeled device”). If Honda’s U3-X is ever commercially available it will not be an EPAMD because it has just one wheel, and the T3 devices in use by some security services and police departments wouldn’t be allowed because they aren’t self-balancing (and have too many wheels).

Under that faux-generic name, EPAMDs are allowed in many places where no other motorized vehicle can legally go, including INSIDE some public buildings and on multi-use paths. In DC they are allowed on roadways, in or out of bike lanes, AND on sidewalks except in the CBD. (By the way, the maximum power output rating of a Segway is about ten times that of an elite cyclist, and more than twice the maximum allowed for mopeds – if it wasn’t for the special PMD category these would technically qualify as motorcycles!)

Without prejudice against the legitimate protections of the ADA, I really have to wonder just how much Dean Kamen wound up paying for that statutory monopoly to be inserted in our legal system. Especially considering they’ve never really caught on as personal vehicles, assistive or otherwise, it simply isn’t right that commercial tour operations can take advantage of the otherwise reasonable assumptions of accommodation that have led to these abominations being mentioned even by inference in our laws.

The good news is that instead of the projected 50,000 sales per year imagined in 2002 they’ve only put out closer to 50,000 in total so we’ve been spared from redesigning entire cities, but I was worried for a bit that bicycles, with their crude human powered and human balanced tandem wheels, might eventually be legislated out of existence just like cars.

Has a Segway tour group on the mall ever been tasered by USPP? Been challenged for jeopardizing the Tourmobile franchise? Have city council members called for lights, flag runners, and seat (er, foot) belts on rental Segways? Where is the Hoveround lobby in all this? Why don’t swarms of powerchairs parade down Pennsylvania Ave? If evolution was a fact (my child has asked) why haven’t our legs fallen off now that we don’t need to walk anywhere?

(Nope, still can’t do it.)

[DSalovesh]

Roll up to a group of stopped Segway tourists.

Trackstand. Don’t acknowledge the tourists.

Drift slowly backwards, staring off into the distance.

Try not to laugh when the machines start spiraling in reaction to the mixed signals from perplexed newbie Segway riders. I’ve only ever seen one rider step off because of it…

[DSalovesh]

The GPS model has been out for at least a year. They recently announced a model that can use a smartphone as the controller and viewfinder. I have the HD model now and I think it’s great.

[DSalovesh]

GW at Key Bridge – you mean they were coming toward the city?

[DSalovesh]

This sounds like a considerable improvement from when I decided a few years back not to bother.

Glad to hear they’re not ignoring it any more, and I’ll try reporting some again!

[DSalovesh]

Looks like the Cap Crit is a non-event now:

http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=7036

Best of luck finding someone for the other gigs.

[DSalovesh]

MVT has a really badly banked turn very near the bridge closest to Mount Vernon. I hit my pedal there a few weeks ago (tossed me sideways and then my tire bead popped out so I took a slider & left a couple of significant patches of skin behind) and while I was pulling myself together a rider going the opposite way did the same thing – he had a worse crash into a tree.

I can provide exact GPS coordinates if needed – it’s where my speed drops to zero and I stand around for fifteen minutes – but there are tons of pedal scrapes there that tell me it happens a lot and shouldn’t be hard to find. There’s effectively no way to use half the trail at that turn because of the contours – if you’re going over about 5 mph you’ll probably scrape going over the rise.

(This is the section between Mt. Vernon and Riverside Park where I frequently see people riding on the roadway. I usually turn around at Riverside Park to skip the hill & rest area entirely, but I was with people who wanted to go the whole distance.)

[DSalovesh]

This is the first phase of construction for the National Law Enforcement Museum. Current work is utility relocation and site prep, expected to last until about October 2011.

Then there will be a pause to complete plans and secure permits from October 2011 through May or June 2012, and the street should be open during that time – but enjoy it while you can.

In June 2012 the next phase begins. The finished museum will be located entirely underground, so during this phase E Street will be closed for excavation and shell construction. We’re hoping to complete that work (and re-open the street) by May 2013 so we can move on to the last phase, interior construction and exhibit installation.

Once the roof is closed in and the street is replaced it should stay open from then on. Project completion is expected in late 2013, with a grand opening during National Police Week 2014.

(I work for the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund, which is responsible for building the museum. The museum location is attached to the memorial, and is part of the land granted to the memorial by Congress. The original project plans had E Street completely closed for most of 2011, and I lobbied internally to keep at least one lane open for as long as possible – E Street is my way home every night…)

[DSalovesh]

The last time I rode the MVT, I shared the trail with a CaBi rider – he did the whole round trip, and while he kept to his pace he probably never went over 15 mph. (That’s a silly way to spend money IMHO, but that’s his business.)

Without signage, how would we or USPP or anyone expect him to know that riding on the GWP roadway is in fact not permitted? He’s not “a cyclist”, he was just out riding a bike, and if he saw others on the roadway he could be somewhat excused for thinking that’s where people riding bikes are supposed to be.

Used to be only high-speed cyclists would do this, used to be the USPP would look the other wawy, but in the last few years I’ve seen more and more average riders on the GWP roadway, at more and more risk of having a tragic collision.

I doubt these new signs mark a huge change in enforcement practice, but they should keep some of the more casual riders from getting onto a road that’s above their abilities.

(By the way, much of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway has wide shoulders that are much more paceline friendly. Still illegal, but that’s not really the question at hand…)

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