FABB Blog

 

Wet but enthusiastic Bike to Work Day

Despite the occasional showers, many of the people who registered for Bike to Work Day rode to the six Fairfax County pit stops today. We helped organize the Reston event and we had a good turnout. 274 of the nearly 500 who registered attended, eating the Great Harvest bread and other food from Whole Foods Market, drinking coffee from Starbucks, and picking up the first copies of the Fairfax County Bike Map.

Hunter Mill District Supervisor Cathy Hudgins led by example by riding her bike to the event. She has a folding bike that she uses for rides around Reston. The USGS won the Employer Challenge once again, having won or tied for first every year, with 25 people receiving a free lunch from Whole Foods Market.

It was great to see so many cyclists our riding in the not-so-great weather. It was wet but mild and everyone seemed to enjoy the event. posted by Bruce Wright at 9:47 PM #

 

New Fairfax County Bike Map

At Bike to Work Day tomorrow, May 16, the new Fairfax County Bike Map will be released. There's a good article in today's Washington Post by Amy Gardner, The Road Best Traveled.

Wright and Strunk emphasized that the map is a beginning for Fairfax for identifying where bike lanes, signs and other facilities are needed.

“We really have very few,” Wright said. We need to make the ‘less preferred’ routes ‘preferred.’ Where there are missing links or dangerous links, we need to concentrate on those first.”

posted by Bruce Wright at 7:29 AM #

 

Princeton by bicycle

There's an article in today's Washington Post about touring Princeton by bike, Princeton Review: For Those Majoring in Sightseeing, Admission Is a Two-Wheel Breeze:

In front of a half-timbered Tudor storefront, Mimi Omiecinski is parking her bike. The blond Southern transplant, who lives upstairs, is launching a bike tour business this summer and happily suggests a few favorite destinations in town.

“I'm not a granola type,” she laughs. “But around here, I get everywhere I need to go without a car. To me, life is just lovelier on a bike.” Can't disagree with that.

posted by Bruce Wright at 8:09 PM #

 

Bicycling on the Kojo Nnamdi Show

Today Kojo discussed the new DC bike sharing program and Bike to Work Day with Jim Sebastian, DC Bicycle Coordinator, Paul DeMaio, Owner, MetroBike LLC, and Eric Gilliland, Executive Director, Washington Area Bicyclist Association. Listen to the segment. posted by Bruce Wright at 7:36 PM #

 

2 Mile Challenge

We've linked to it before, but now seems like a good time to take another look at the Cliff Bar 2 Mile Challenge video. It lists most of the reasons for biking to work.

posted by Bruce Wright at 5:26 PM #

 

Driving is sooo boring

As everyone knows, Bike to Work Day is on Friday, May 16. Most of the FABB board are involved in one of the Fairfax pit stops. We are organizers of the Reston event, and as a result we spend a lot of time gathering t-shirts, the new Fairfax bike maps, raffle prizes, food, etc. for the big day. Today was one of those rare days when I spent several hours behind the wheel.

I usually spend very little time in a car. I'm able to use my bike to commute to work on a daily basis, and with the help of my BOB trailer, go grocery shopping. We often run errands on the weekend by bike, planning out our route to the farmer's market, bread store, bagel shop, and other places, and we can usually carry everything in our panniers.

Anyway, while driving around today picking up Bike to Work Day supplies it struck how boring it is to drive around here. It seems that most of the time is spent sitting at red traffic signals. Of course we also have to sit at stop lights on a bike, but it's often a welcome short break. We've worked to get to that stop light, we're outside, not cooped up in an enclosed vehicle. I can't think of anything more boring than sitting in traffic. That's one of the reasons bike commuting is so appealing.

I hope everyone is participating in Bike to Work Day. It's a chance to celebrate biking and mingle with other like-minded people. FABB reps should be at most events; stop by and say hi. posted by Bruce Wright at 5:07 PM #

 

Governor Kaine's transportation plan meetings

Governor Kaine released details about his transportation plan today. I found no references to bicycles, bike lanes, or non-motorized transportation:

“Governor Timothy M. Kaine today released details of his transportation plan and called for a special session of the General Assembly to address transportation on June 23. The Governor's plan fills our growing road and bridge maintenance deficit to promote safety, provides relief for regional transportation needs, and invests in innovative approaches to Virginia's transportation challenges. The plan raises over $1 billion annually by fiscal year 2012 and contains no gas tax increase.”

“The Governor's Transportation Change Fund will increase investment in transit, rail, and innovative solutions to reduce traffic congestion like teleworking and ridesharing. Three-quarters of the Transportation Change fund will be dedicated to transit and rail projects, increasing transit and rail investment by over 30%. The fund also makes dollars available for transportation projects to support economic development through aviation, port, and innovative highway investments.”

Why not attend one of his Town Hall meetings and tell him that you want funds dedicated to bicycle projects. And why not ask that a gas tax be implemented with dedicated funds going to bike projects. There is a meeting on Tuesday:

Tuesday, May 13 — Woodbridge

When: 7:00 P.M — 8:30 P.M.
Where: Dr. A.J. Ferlazzo Building Auditorium
15941 Donald Curtis Drive
Woodbridge, Virginia posted by Bruce Wright at 10:11 PM #