Where Bicyclists Can Ride

[A letter to the editor Washington Post]

Per a request from a gentleman who drove quite close to me -- and vocally protested my right to share the road -- while I was riding my bike south on 17th Street NW around N Street in the District one morning last week, I did look into the law. According to the D.C. Department of Transportation's guide "Common Enforcement Errors Involving Bicyclists," which is available on the agency's Web site:

"A bicyclist does not have to ride to the far right if the lane is narrow or if he/she is trying to avoid car doors, pavement hazards, or similar hazardous conditions. A narrow lane is defined as one [that is] 11 feet or less. Most lanes in the District are 11 feet or less."

At the time, I was passing a truck parked in the right lane and another bicyclist. Further, the law "requires an overtaking vehicle to pass to the left at a safe distance." This clearly was not the case during this incident.

Finally, according to the Washington Area Bicyclist Association Web site, "Full lane use [is] allowed when traveling at the normal speed of traffic," as I was.

I am embarrassed that I replied to this gentleman's anger with equal anger. For that I apologize.

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Parisian cool comes to D.C. on two wheels

by Harry Jaffe, The Examiner

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Paris has a few things we Washingtonians might envy. The Eiffel Tower, the Left Bank, fine cuisine at every corner - and those thin, stylish, bored Parisians who smoke Gauloises and sip Bordeaux at cafes all day and night.

On a more bourgeois note, I have been in awe of the French capital city's that allows Parisians or visitors to swipe a card, grab a bike, and ride around town to the Louvre.

Envy no more. Washington, D.C., is about to become the first major U.S. city to embark on "Velib" bike rental system, an automated bicycle rental system, much like the Zipcar program for cars.

"We hope to have it fully up and running by spring," says Jim Sebastian, who manages the District's bike and pedestrian programs. D.C. will start with 100 bikes in four kiosks; Paris has 15,000 bikes. "We hope to expand to the Paris level."

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Study ties time shift, pedestrian deaths

After clocks are turned back this weekend, pedestrians walking during the evening rush hour are nearly three times more likely to be struck and killed by cars than before the time change, two scientists calculate. Ending daylight saving time translates into about 37 more U.S. pedestrian deaths around 6 p.m. in November compared to October, the researchers report.

Their study of risk to pedestrians is preliminary but confirms previous findings of higher deaths after clocks are set back in fall.

It's not the darkness itself, but the adjustment to earlier nighttime that's the killer, said professors Paul Fischbeck and David Gerard, both of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
...

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PTA & Healthy Lifestyles Month

If you are active in a PTA, consider suggesting a bicycle activity for the Heathy Lifestyles Program. See below.

November is PTA's Healthy Lifestyles Month Encouraging Health-Related Events and Activities

The PTA national organization developed a campaign to celebrate Healthy Lifestyles Month during the month of November in support of their year-round Health and Wellness programming. They are challenging each of their 25,000 units to plan a health-related event or activity during November. The overall goal of the proposed project is to increase grassroots participation in national program initiatives and to further awareness of the problems facing students, parents and educators in the arena of health and wellness today.

More than 5 million members of the PTA national organization are directly served by their programs. The effectiveness of the project will be evaluated by the effectiveness of the grassroots events planned during the month of November as well as the usage of the PTA's nationally distributed Healthy Lifestyles Leader's and Parent's Guides.

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Baltimore looking to trim bike funding

At least it goes to transit.

The regional transportation plan draft currently budgets $2 billion for transit and $6.2 billion for highway projects.

The group's amendment proposes equalizing funding for transit and road projects, calling for:

$3 billion for a regional rapid transit system,
$550 million for a new passenger rail tunnel between Penn Station and West Baltimore,
$488 million for improvements to the MARC Penn Line,
and $200 million for improvements to the MARC Camden Line, all totaling $4.3 billion.
The amendment also proposes scaling back to $3.9 billion for highway projects and $61.8 million for bicycle and pedestrian projects.

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ICC Trail Problems

...
You have to have a lot of gumption to cut a bike path from a Highway project for environmental reasons. So the bike path is the problem, not the multiple lanes of roads? How about setting aside the space for the bike trail first, and then build the highway in the space that remains? [or some will argue , not build the highway at all. This project is not like the CCT extension - which is impossible without the Purple Line. The ICC trail could be built, and would be nicer, without the highway].

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Bianchi one-speed stolen

From greaterbrown:

My Bianchi one-speed is no more..
Locked it up for jury duty downtown at Fayette and St. Paul and when I came out for lunch she was gone.

If you hear/see any sign of an '07 Bianchi San Jose, please give a yell.
Some bike details: Set up as single speed freewheel with threading on the opposite side for fixed. Also may still have my beloved Nitto M-12 front rack bolted directly to the canti bosses. Pedals have clips and straps.

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