ginacico
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ginacico
Participant@bikepedantic 178779 wrote:
I was the one at DDOT who got this started, and the rationale was that while it wasn’t on moveDC:
1) we had a community explicitly ask us to identify more protected bike lanes beyond what moveDC proposed for the area
2) there were no apparent huge tradeoffs to navigate
3) there’s bike congestion on 15th, this could help
4) signal progression is unfixably terrible for southbound riding on 15th, this provides a protected alternative
5) there’s demand to travel northbound by bike on 17th. The majority of riders on 17th in the evening are going north (on sidewalk, or illegally salmoning in the bikelane)Thanks for weighing in, bikepedantic, and proposing the ideas.
From this perspective, I’m all for the project and I’ve signed the petition. It makes a heap ton of sense to create a two-way cycletrack on 17th for all the reasons given. Especially since the justification and community support already exist, it would be crazy to pass up that opportunity. Count me in for ending the one-way rush hour madness, if possible, and for finding some accommodation for delivery trucks so they don’t impede the cycletrack or travel lane (we are watching and reporting).
This part though:
“They’d like to eventually find a way to continue the lane around Farragut Square to connect to the planned Pennsylvania Avenue west of the White House lanes and even to Constitution, but that’s further down the road, metaphorically as well as literally.”I know what my Dad (who’s 89 and has memory issues) means when I make a suggestion and he says that’s “down the road”. It means he doesn’t really want to do it, and is trying to break it to me gently. I hope DDOT and the powers that be don’t give up strategizing about improvements to the vital link from K to Constitution. It’s the worst part of my bike commute, and I know I speak for many cyclists when I say it’s a dangerous and frustrating mess.
DC commuters, please consider signing the petition for a cycletrack on 17th Street.
Participant@KWL 178728 wrote:
Just how is River Road for riding out that way on a Sunday late morning?
I would expect it to be fine. From the lockhouse to Seneca Creek you’re likely to see almost nobody. It’s gravel for about 5 miles where it crosses Horsepen Branch, then turns to pavement. Past that it’s a well worn training route for MoCo cyclists. Once you make the right turn at the Seneca Rd intersection, it gets a decent shoulder and is smooth sailing to Potomac.
@KWL 178728 wrote:
In the rain.
YMMV but it beats calling Uber?
Participant@KWL 178723 wrote:
Perhaps Komorebi has a nice Maryland/DC side return route?
If White’s Ferry is closed and you need to return on the MD/DC side, just take River Road all the way to Falls Road and MacArthur Blvd. MacArthur has a bike trail along most of it, although the road itself is a nice ride too. From there you can hop on the Capital Crescent and get home. Something like this?
Or, y’know… signal the ark to pick you up.
Come to CC happy hour tonight for some fortitude and resolve in liquid form!
ParticipantIf (hypothetically) it goes all the way to K Street, it might as well extend another two blocks to Lafayette Square, so people can connect through to the 15th Street cycletrack.
My homeward commute starts at 17th and M, and that first half mile or so is the worst. Either I have to navigate the bus zone around Farragut Square, or take a left on L Street which loses the bike lane (the worst safe accommodations failure in the city, construction zone around the old WaPo building). Both options are a nightmare getting to the 15th Street cycletrack.
Nevermind the frequent and arbitrary closures of Lafayette Park
. Any improvements north of M Street would be welcomed, too.
ParticipantHere’s the itinerary, for those who’ve asked “where’d you go, and how’d you do it?”
The first week we spent in Switzerland, following the Rhine River bike route (EuroVelo 15). The second week we spent in Italy, navigating our way from Venice to Perugia via routes we’d found on the internet or made up ourselves, and riding trains for some sections.
Day 1: DC to Andermatt
Flew to Zurich (BWI to ZRH via Air Canada) and took a train to the main station. Unpacked our bikes, and put the cases in baggage storage. Explored the city for a few hours, then put the bikes on a train for Andermatt, where we had reservations to stay at the Gasthaus Skiklub.
Day 2: Andermatt to Chur
Put our bikes on the cog rail train for a short trip up to Oberalp pass, the source of the Rhine River. Here’s where the official Rhine River bike route (Eurovelo 15) begins. We descended out of the Alps via switchbacks at first, then detoured from the river’s edge to some rolling hills through small towns. About 30% of the official route was on quiet gravel roads, and the rest paved trails or streets. Arriving in Chur we found the campground (Camp Au Chur) which was adequate to pitch our tent for the night.
Oberalppass to Chur
https://www.strava.com/activities/1597556669Day 3: Bernina Express
We took a zero mileage day to ride the Bernina Express scenic train over the Alps to Tirano, Italy round trip. The bikes stayed locked up and cabled at the train station in Chur, and when we got back to town late we found a close by hotel (Hotel Post in the old section of town) for the night.
Day 4: Chur to Oberriet
Our one planned activity for the day was in Bad Ragaz, to take advantage of the public thermal baths. We spent about 3 hours enjoying the luxury of the Tamina Therme resort, then resumed our ride. Just after we crossed over the river to say we’d set foot in Liechtenstein, it started to rain. We rode in light mist to steady rain the rest of the day, and were pretty thoroughly soaked by the time we stopped for dinner in Oberriet and called it quits to stay at the Hotel Krone.
Chur to Bad Ragaz
https://www.strava.com/activities/1597569574Bad Ragaz to Oberriet
https://www.strava.com/activities/1597578263Day 5: Oberriet to Friedrichshafen
Today we made it to Lake Constance (Bodensee), touching briefly into Austria and staying on the Swiss side of the lake until we reached Romanshorn. From there we took a ferry to Friedrichshafen on the German side of the lake, and had the afternoon to visit the Zeppelin Museum. We chose the closest campground and pitched our tent at Campingplatz Fischbach for the night.
Oberriet to Romanshorn
https://www.strava.com/activities/1597590343Day 6: Friedrichshafen to Zurich
Packed up camp and rode to Meersburg, where we hopped on another ferry over to Konstanz. Explored the town and climbed the bell tower of the church (just as they rang!). Eventually got on a train back for Zurich, where we retrieved our bike cases and took apart the bikes in our room at Hotel Limmathof.
Friedrichshafen to Meersburg
https://www.strava.com/activities/1597600690Day 7: Zurich to Venice
Took a high-speed train to Venice, with the bikes on board as luggage. In the old part of Venice bikes are prohibited, with hefty fines if you’re caught. We left them in baggage storage at the train station while we went into the city. Through Row Venice we took a lesson in how to row like the gondoliers, in a wooden batellina. At the end of the day we retrieved our bags and took a ferry to the Hotel Giardinetto in Lido.
Day 8: Venice to the Po River delta
First thing in the morning we assembled our bikes at the hotel, and handed off our bike cases to be picked up by a courier who would get them to our final destination. Then we took a ferry back to explore Venice some more. After seeing the sights we could absorb, we went back to Lido and resumed our bike tour, heading south on a series of islands along the Adriatic coast. Ferries closed the gap between a few of the islands. By sunset we’d made it well into the regional park land that protects the delta wetlands, and stopped at a point called Cason Moceniga. A perfect rest area with a pavilion and picnic tables provided our tent site for the night.
Venice to Cason Moceniga
https://www.strava.com/activities/1597612610Day 9: Cason Moceniga to Ferrara
Our longest day of riding, made longer by an unforeseen detour. We were following a bike route we’d found on the internet, which lead us to a ferry that would take us across a short canal to the town of Porto Levante. Except the ferry is seasonal and wasn’t scheduled to run for another month, and there are no bridges. So we backtracked, and reconnected with the route alongside the Po River, arriving at our destination of Ferrara in the early evening. Signs led us to the beautiful Camping Estense campground less than a mile from city center.
Cason Moceniga to Ferrara
https://www.strava.com/activities/1597619864Day 10: Ferrara to Bologna
With no recommended bike routes for this day, we’d used Ride With GPS to navigate our way mostly off the main drag and through some interesting small towns where no tourists go (seriously, someone actually asked us “What are you doing here?”) Arrived in Bologna, handed off our bikes to a local bike shop that put them in protected storage while we explored, and found our room at La Suite B&B Apartments close to city center. Retrieved our bikes and took them to the hotel.
Ferrara to Bologna
https://www.strava.com/activities/1597626088Day 11: Bologna to Florence
Explored Bologna all morning. Rather than navigate the narrow roads and big hills over the mountain range to Florence, which even the locals didn’t recommend, we decided to call it quits and take the train. Stayed at a great B&B (just a hotel with fewer than 5 rooms) a block from the train station in Florence.Day 12: Florence to Perugia
Put the bikes on one more train to Perugia, where Peter lived for awhile and has friends who welcomed us to stay with them. Arriving in Perugia, we rode the new Mini Metro to the top of the hill, and met Nikola and Sonya. Our bike cases had been shipped to their house and had arrived just in time.Day 13: Perugia to Rome
First thing in the morning, we broke down the bikes and packed everything for the flight home. On foot we explored Perugia, then got on an evening train for Rome. Our hotel the Magic Guest House was only a few blocks from the train station, but lugging all that weight and bulk was exhausting. Peter went for a short walk while I collapsed.Day 14: Rome to DC
Schlepped our bags to the train and airport, then flew home. We arrived at BWI too late for the Marc trains and Metro, so we bought a ticket on Amtrak and took a cab home from Union Station.Participant@consularrider 178622 wrote:
So close. I’ll be on the River Rhine from the Bodensee and Rheinfalls in two weeks.
We got as far as Konstanz (with a zero day to ride the Bernina Express), then headed for Italy. I’ll anticipate your report for future EV15 trip planning!
A loop around Bodensee would be another great trip.
ParticipantMay 1, 2018 at 5:28 pm in reply to: Bicycle Fun Club: ABBA the Concert at Wolf Trap Sun 8/12 #1087097Participant@Steve O 177942 wrote:
Interesting maths: $30 = $40
The only way to avoid outrageous add-on fees is to buy tickets at the box office. True for Wolf Trap, Birchmere, or anywhere that uses Ticketmaster or other services.
Participant@PeteD 177846 wrote:
I can’t even. The headline alone, ugh.
Let’s go back to complaining about dockless car parking.
Participant@streetsmarts 177698 wrote:
Wow, I just checked out that multi-tool. That’s amazing!!
and a Torx driver for disc brakes!!Yup. Next time you do a bike fix-it night, have someone show you the process to adjust your disk brakes. You probably have two adjusters for the inside & outside calipers (my brakes are Avid BB7s, YMMV). In general, the trick is to get them as close as possible to the disk, so the brakes have some grab, without rubbing (cuz that sucks). You may also have a barrel adjuster on the cable near the brake lever, to tweak the tension.
I have the Crank Bros multitool with a Torx driver etc. My problem is the drivers are really short, and it’s too dang awkward to get the thing inside the spokes to adjust the inside caliper. I got a Torx wrench with a long driver that I use at home for bike tuning. And if I have to adjust on the road, I just fumble around attempting to spin the adjusters with my thumbs.
This thread has been awesome as I’m prepping for a 2-week bike trip, hoping to upgrade a few of my tools in the kit!
Participant@Judd 177335 wrote:
I had a really nice 2 hour conversation with the founder and got to see the next iteration of the site. It’s going to be streamlined and also grab location information from the picture.
I exchanged emails with her recently, in which she mentioned upcoming improvements for easier uploads. I figured they’ll pull geolocation and date/time stamps from the EXIF metadata on the pictures, which would save a lot of time clicking around.
My other complaint was that after you submit a violation, you’re supposed to get a popup window saying “Thank you…would you like to submit another?”. It’s wonky now — on my phone it never appeared, on my laptop I had to scroll to see it. They’ll fix that too, so it’s more obvious that your submission was successful.
It’s nice that they’re watching out for data integrity. My duplicate entry was noticed immediately and deleted. They’re also noticing trends in the data they receive. Yesterday they Tweeted a bunch of repeat offenders, vehicles who’ve been caught multiple times. Don’t underestimate public shaming via social media.
Chatting with a WABA staffer last weekend, they’re curious how BLU will work for advocacy. Enforcement is the missing link — it’s up to you to report the violations as soon as you see them, so the local jurisdiction can respond (or not, as is too often the case). But more data is always better.
ParticipantSubmitted my first two bike lane obstructions to Bike Lane Uprising today. Ironically both were along the route of WABA-sponsored Vasa ride.
M Street at 21st. Taxi completely obstructing the bike lane, while a large box truck passing in the travel lane prevented us from going around. I was following a dad and his kid on a tandem, and we were forced to stop and walk around to the taxi’s right. Tried to tell the driver to move, he got belligerent and wouldn’t budge.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]17762[/ATTACH]And again one block later at M Street at New Hampshire. Two delivery trucks, one partially blocking the crosswalk and one half obstructing the bike lane.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]17763[/ATTACH]If people are going to behave this dangerously in the infrastructure specifically built to separate vehicles from bikes, I’m happy to be part of the uprising.
Note: I had submitted the first once twice, by accident. Wasn’t sure it had gone through the first time, did it again (and now I know what to look for). Within minutes I got an email from the awesome people at BLU asking if they should remove one of the dupes. So cool that they’re watching out for us.
ParticipantWe’re signed up for Halvvasan as well. Though if it’s snowing we may show up with x-c skis instead of a bike. Have the coffee, the blueberry soup, a beer with #TeamHomebrewer and call it a day.
ParticipantNot a done deal yet, but it’s possible a farmers market will open at the Arlington Mill community center on Saturdays this spring.
Keep an eye out for your hyper-local news sources — neighborhood bulletin board, Next Door, and/or community association if there is one.
Participant@Erin Potter 176947 wrote:
it feels like they’re capturing a group of people that aren’t interested in biking
@Erin Potter 176947 wrote:
The perception seems to be that it’s more approachable/more fun/easier to use/easier to wear professional attire than a bike.
@Erin Potter 176947 wrote:
I am into people being delighted by their transportation options.
Well stated! I am curious, also.
“Cyclists” tend to have one hammer, therefore everything looks like a nail. Plenty of voices assert that you can use a bike for everything, but the truth is most people won’t. I think to make DC and the metro area much more easily navigable for the community at large, these e-assist skateboard/unicycle/scooter/bike options will fill gaps that trains, buses, and even bikeshares don’t fill. It’s hard to predict how people will use these gizmos because they haven’t been widely available before. But in the grand social experiment figuring out how to get around with minimal fossil fuels and the least amount of hassle, I welcome new ideas and will pay attention to how it all plays out.
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