[wheelswings]

I’ll try and get there by 5:30 on Monday.

[wheelswings]

@rcannon100 98555 wrote:

He magically managed to land on his face, making a mess of it – and not a single nick or scratch on any other part of his body. I don’t know how he did it. I have not seen what his helmet currently looks like.

Ouch! Poor kid. I wonder if the helmet was any help. I sometimes wish the girls could wear those on beam. :+)

[wheelswings]

Oy, sorry about the concussion. His knees doing okay? That left one looks mighty vulnerable in the pic! We can only imagine the rest of the aeronautics…. this has not been a good week for flying, with rockets or without.

@rcannon100 98551 wrote:

Oh, him?? He’s fine. We should have him up and crashing again in no time.

Sigh. Right, exactly. I had that very same thought as we were leaving the ER last week for a gymnastics neck injury (okay now, for now!).

[wheelswings]

YIKES. How’s Jeremy doing? Sending hugs and healing wishes.

PS. That’s an amazing photo…

[wheelswings]

It’s helpful to see the video. I appreciate also Dana’s signal calculations from earlier this month. Normally I’m so focused on making it through the intersection alive that I don’t notice these sorts of details. Often I find the most difficult crossing is when I’m coming from Key Bridge and taking the sharp right turn, heading west on Custis. In particular, if the Walk signal starts just as I’m pulling up, when I’m by the curb-cut, I ought to be happy ‘cause it’s my turn. But instead I find it near impossible to get my bike positioned on the tiny corner launch-pad (even when it’s not occupied) before the count-down clock begins. And the moment the count starts, the cars plow around that corner even though they see me trying to cross. Sometimes the only option is to wait until there are only, say, five seconds left — and the bulk of the cars have gone through – but even then the remaining strays are often in a hurry. Is it better to use the curb cut and dive into the road as soon as possible (without making it to the narrow crosswalk) and just hope that the drivers see me before they accelerate? When I launch at the corner often it has a suicidal feel.

[wheelswings]

Thanks for sharing all these thoughtful observations and nuanced suggestions. So much to think about… the economic dimension, the association with kids and play, the issue of attire, the road entitlement factor, the dehumanization that comes with driving, the lack of alternative transportation (and the resulting defensiveness), the impact of CaBi — and of transporting eggplants and toilet paper :+), the association with leftist causes, the paralysis of empathy, and so on. I’m amazed by all the ideas. And thank you for putting cycling in proper context with the vast roadkill taking place in car-to-car collisions…and the traffic impacts on 495. Thanks also for suggesting “social” over “moral.” And I love The Unbearable Lightness of Biking. Brilliant. I enjoyed the breakfast cereal suggestions as well…:+)

Several comments touched upon the perception of cyclists as crazy or as “other.” A lot of folks don’t relate to us (especially on days like today…). I have a follow-up question: What do you see as the relationship between how cyclists are viewed by others and the quality of biking infrastructure. Might better infrastructure lead to more respect for cyclists? And vice versa?

Thanks!!

P.S. My brother is covering the Stockholm area. I think he’s finding some of the same issues but to a lesser extent….overall, there’s a greater openness to engineering away the problems.

[wheelswings]

My morning commute regularly lands me behind stopped school buses. Unless the bus is preparing to move on, I regularly dismount and jog carefully with my bike around the bus in the road on the driver side. This works well and feels safe.

[wheelswings]

Good point about the different urban planning in Europe. I had a work trip to Switzerland a few years ago and was stunned that even the 7-11 stores carried hot loaves of fresh-baked bread. The daily/local shopping routine is very different from the once-a-week trip to Walmart that’s the norm in much of the US.

Arlington is unusual by US standards in having so many grocery options close to our bike commuter thoroughfares… TJ’s, WF, Giant, MOMs, etc…. so for many of us it’s relatively easy to stock up on the way home.

[wheelswings]

Right, you can ride in most anything, but the the bathroom stall Superwoman transformation is still essential to be presentable in the office… What you’re saying boosts the main point I was trying to make, that the high standards of grooming in the workplace may help cap the number of female bike commuters.

[wheelswings]

The article makes good points. A lot of us would feel safer with improved cycling infrastructure. And I say “Amen” to a reduced burden of housework and obligations.

But I think the picture is more complex. I wonder about other factors affecting the number of female bicycle commuters.

1. I think a lot of women don’t realize what they’re missing. The article seems to suggest that if we really want to see more females on bikes, we need a social revolution – more free-time, less housework – in addition to safer bike infrastructure. But I think many females simply have no idea that biking is often the most efficient, reliable and economical transportation option. In a sense, female bike-commuting is an undiscovered secret. You get door-to-door service, you save thousands of dollars per year over Metro or driving, you can reliably get home to pick up the kids at the school-bus without worrying about traffic jams or transit delays. You have refreshing outdoor exercise built into your day…a luxury that single working moms like me would otherwise likely forego, ‘cause who has the time? Sure, there are far-away chauffeuring responsibilities that are not conducive to a Double Burley, but it’s amazing how much you can do on a bike.

2. My guess is that the social pressures to look beautiful in the workplace play a role in capping the number of female cyclists. The level of grooming in the DC area is quite high. Mix in some mud, sweat, and helmet-head, and female cyclists may not always make it up to standard, even after the daily Superwoman transformation in the ladies’ bathroom stall. I don’t know what proportion of employers offer showers, but my guess is that it’s not so high. Men aren’t judged in the same way. (Personally I think showers and fancy sports clothes are over-rated, and in part I blame the school system for raising generations of kids to think they have to change for the jumping jacks and other “exercise” they get in gym class. You can bicycle commute in most anything, so long as you stick a pair of shorts under the skirt and throw a neon shirt on top. ).

[wheelswings]

Thanks for the replies. Good to know about Crested Butte and Boulder. We found some wonderful trails in Aspen. If anyone else is going I’d be happy to share low-end kid-friendly travel tips (favorite rides, cheapest bike rentals, public transit options, supermarkets, etc.) We took the bus to Maroon Bells for hiking — I bet it would be a fun ride sans kids. We got to watch the USA Pro Cycling Challenge and some amazing daredevil bike jumping at the starting line expo….my 12-year-old girl won an elegant $80 cycling jersey from the Colorado National Guard for doing the most pushups in 90 seconds (63).

[wheelswings]

@vern 87378 wrote:

I’m single-parenting the first two weeks of June and will be out of town for part of that period so my contribution to the team will be greatly diminished until the 16th.

Since when is single parenting an excuse for reduced mileage? Speaking for those of us for whom it is a permanent state, I would argue that your bicycle is the perfect form of transportation – reliable, economical, and you get door-to-door service. Perhaps you need a trailer?

[wheelswings]

Not sure if folks saw this piece in Vox. It includes some interesting charts, e.g. comparing ped and cyclist death rates in the US and other countries, and looking at the world’s top cities by cycling share of commuters.
http://www.vox.com/2014/5/16/5720334/the-bike-to-work-community-is-growing-fast-but-its-far-from

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