UrbanEngineer
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UrbanEngineer
Participant@mstone 120966 wrote:
It goes without saying that LEED should give no points for crappy bike racks.
Previous versions of LEED only prescribed that bicycle storage/racks be “secure” and within 200 yards of the building entrance. They didn’t elaborate on what was or was not secure. This resulted in some really crappy racks getting LEED points. The latest version of LEED has defined it much better. It now requires racks to support the bicycle in at least two places and allow the bike to be locked through both the frame and at least one wheel with a u-lock.
One of the big organizations in green building design here in the US is ASHRAE. They literally wrote the standard for the design of High Performance Green Buildings. A few years back they renovated their building to be LEED Platinum and then wrote an article about the renovations. In the article they said their newly installed bike racks are always empty. Here’s a map that shows where they are located:https://www.google.com/maps/place/ASHRAE/@33.8345458,-84.3292586,360m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x88f506233606925b:0x3608df8501dd7ccc!6m1!1e1?hl=en It’s no wonder nobody uses them. The lack of connectivity via public transit, walking, or biking to anything basically ensures that everybody is going to drive there. Back to the original point of this thread and using this ASHRAE building as an example. There is nothing they could do to this building that would make it as environmentally friendly as any building in the CBD of DC because of it’s lack of connectivity. Even if the building itself is a net zero building, it’s pretty much an inherently wasteful building just by being where it is.
ParticipantYou know what’s really fun? Single Speed Cyclocross! If only there was somebody out there with a single speed cross bike for sale.
Participant@DCAKen 89170 wrote:
Don’t pass when there’s oncoming traffic. I suppose I should be happy that it wasn’t me who you forced off the road.
Yikes….That could have been way worse.
ParticipantI still haven’t sold this bike. I haven’t been trying too hard because my significant other isn’t pressing the issue, but I will need to sell it eventually. If anybody is interested, just send me your offer and I’ll see what I can do
ParticipantI saw a rider yesterday take the Pennsylvania ave bike lane heading east at the intersection with Constitution to the South sidewalk on Constitution. He did this during the left turn cycle for traffic, which to him I guess made sense because he was turning left. In reality, he was lucky he wasn’t obliterated by the two lanes of turning traffic with the green arrow that he crossed right in front of. The intersection of Constitution and Pennsylvania is not set up for turning bicyclists, even though when looking at a map that seems to be the most direct path to take from the penn bike lane to Union station. They definitely left a lot of room for improvement in this area.
Participant@dasgeh 83357 wrote:
It’s more frustrating when someone shoals me _assuming_ they’re faster than me because they have a penis and I don’t.
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from bikeyface.comParticipantYou – “Why would I have to signal my turn when there’s only one way I can go?”
Officer – “ok.” walks away.10 PM on a Friday night…Hains Point is probably one of the most peaceful parts of the entire District at that hour. We certainly don’t need cops spending time and money pulling over Idaho stopping bike riders there. There are much better things they could be doing with their resources.
ParticipantThe width of the lane is too inviting to drivers. I’d like to see the lane not as wide so motor vehicles could not fit, but something would have to be done to accommodate the loading zones like the one in front of the hotel between 18th and 19th and something would also have to be done to accommodate snow plows (maybe get smaller snow plows?). I also see very little benefit to bicyclists and drivers having that mixing zone. It works fine when there’s minimal traffic but during rush hour, nobody likes it. Every single day the mixing zones are backed up into the traffic lanes forcing bicyclists to weave in/out of the cars. I’d like to hear DDOTs reasons why it can’t be installed the way the 15th street lane is.
Participant@Terpfan 81981 wrote:
maybe I’ll spend an evening chilling out at the edge of the L St cycletrack and then blocking cars anytime they try driving down it because I was floored seeing the cycletrack so flagrantly flaunted and by people who clearly knew better.
You won’t be alone one out there defending the bike lane. Saw a guy blocking a driver from abusing it just tonight.
Participant@sethpo 82005 wrote:
FWIW, L St is part of my commute from the beginning to Conn. Ave. and while I do encounter the occasional parked car or truck (or yesterday convoy of tree maintenance vehicles), overall it works well and I appreciate using it.
Take it past 16th street during the evening rush….I don’t ride the full length of it, but of the portions I do ride, I find Connecticut (due to NASCAR like wide left turns that make the space for bikes go completely away) and 16th street (due to the left turning vehicles lining up starting back at 17th street) to be the two worst blocks by far.
Participant@jrenaut 74812 wrote:
15th southbound is just miserable. The light timing is (obviously) for cars going north so you hit pretty much every red light going south.
15th Street southbound is the worst. I avoid it unless I’m making a video depicting why I avoid it (http://youtu.be/mXcBqJ74bxI).
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Participant@jrenaut 72221 wrote:
You: Cab driver turning left on A RED ARROW from 15th NW onto K St
I see this happen from a distance maybe once or twice a week. I’ve caught it on camera a handful of times with me in or approaching the intersection (see this youtube hit (very far from actually being a hit) http://youtu.be/i8oLcpHOzCA for the evidence)). I think it happens more at R and S streets then it does at Mass and I think it would happen a lot more if it wasn’t for the delay associated with the pedestrian signal. I see the cars scooting forward wanting to go all the time, but since bicyclists get to go first, we scoot on through, or are clearly in their way, before they get to go.
I might grab a book and a cup of coffee and lock my bike up with the camera running and pointing at an intersection for an hour or so and send that in to the police if there’s an abundance or red light running.
ParticipantYou can sign up to test a pair of these out before they become publicly available but it’ll cost you $1,500.
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ParticipantSomebody posted a pretty funny comment on Specialized’s Facebook page.
“Dear Specialized, I represent the letter “S” and as such I am alerting you of the need for you to immediately cease and desist using that letter “S”. A simple search of the alphabet would have prevented this, but you have used the letter with impunity and the letter “S” is certain that, if it does not defend its right to ownership, everyone will feel some right to use what many people feel is just a letter of the alphabet. Thank you.”
November 19, 2013 at 11:20 pm in reply to: Two Interesting Articles That Came Across My Desk: #986364Participant“Here are some bicycle users in Copenhagen last winter. It was about -10 C and around -25 with the windchill.”
“Anybody who cycles in the winter deserves respect. Anybody who tries to tell the general population that you need anything more than your regular winter clothes to do it… does not.”I love that these quotes are above and below a photo of cyclists riding through snow, one of which has no gloves on, and a few of which are in tennis shoes. I’m not going to tell anybody that they don’t need anything more than regular winter clothing, but I fully expect that some of them will learn all by themselves. Tennis shoes aren’t so bad, but one step into some slush ice and they’ll start wishing real quick that they had something waterproof on. And riding in -10°c weather with no gloves on…you literally could not pay me to do that.
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