TheWashCycle

Fletcher's Cove

Fletcher's Cove
Originally uploaded by Eye Captain.

You Paid How Much for that bike?

  _MG_0018.jpg 
  Originally uploaded by kingpinphoto.

Another article, this one from the New York Times, about how cycling is the new golf. Yes. I realize this article is two months old. I've been busy...

    That Ms. Jargowsky spent the equivalent of a few years' tuition at a perfectly respectable state university to buy two bikes when she barely knew how to ride may strike some people as — let's be honest here — floridly insane.

Wow, and I can't dump $800 on a bike I'll ride every day without pangs of guilt, but I disagree with this...

    It's no secret to anyone who has ever endured an encounter with a grease-stained, eye-rolling, heavily sighing bicycle shop employee that customer service in the industry has historically ranged from sullen to supercilious to overtly hateful. ("It's one of the few retail industries where a condition for employment seems to be utter contempt for the customer," said one industry executive.)

I doubt any of the Critical mass people pictured spent $10k on a bike.

Rails to Trails factoids

According to the winter 07 issue of the Rails to Trails magazine. The most heavily used trails in the United States are:

1. W&OD trail with 3 million users
2. Minuteman Bikeway, MA - 2 million
3. Pinellas Trail, FL - 1.2 million
4. Iron Horse State Park Trail , WA -  1.2 million
5. East Bay Bicycle Path, RI - 1.1 million

The CCT and the B&A are right behind them at 1 million users.

Also the number of trails, miles and planned trails with miles by state:

Maryland - 115 miles on 21 trails, an additional 265 miles planned on 24 trails
DC - 11 miles on 1 trail, an additional 9 miles planned on 1 trail
Virginia - 199 miles on 28 trails, an additional 370 miles planned on 28 trails

Indian Head to White Plains Rail Trail

This trail from the 2000 Maryland Greenways Commission (#2 on the list):

The Indian Head to White Plains Rail Trail is a potential trail along a rail corridor currently owned by the U. S. Naval Ordnance Station at Indian Head. Discussions about the potential trail have been held with the Navy and public officials. Currently, the tracks are used only for a dinner train, but the Navy wishes to maintain the option of utilizing the tracks for future rail needs; a rail-with-trail is an option. The rail corridor begins in White Plains and runs due west, approximately 12.5 miles to the town of Indian Head. It connects to DNR’s Mattawoman Natural Environment Area.

Appears to be happening.

The National Park Service has given Charles County a 160-acre abandoned railroad corridor that the county plans to develop into a walking and bicycling trail through western Charles between White Plains and Indian Head.

The old rail right of way, which stretches for 13.4 miles and is valued at more than $3 million, was transferred to the county at no cost through the Park Service's Federal Lands to Park program, the county government announced last week.

The proposed trail is part of plans to create a countywide trail and greenway system that provides a continuous pedestrian pathway between the county's center and the Potomac River at Mattawoman Creek.

Charles's Department of Public Facilities is managing the project and expects to begin removing steel and wooden fixtures from the rail corridor early next year. Revenue from salvaging those materials will help fund the trail construction. County officials expect to open the first portions of the trail within a year.

Dumbest Letter Ever

Sorry, I know I promised Jack Cochrane's letter would be the last on this, but someone responded and I felt compelled to include it.

I live near Seven Locks Road and can say that the road becomes the western leg of Interstate 270.

It is illegal to bike or walk along I-270, as the ramp sign stipulates. Why should the ‘‘western” I-270 be an exception?

Because it isn't I-270. You just nicknamed it that. If I call I-66 the southern Mt. Vernon Trail, does that ban cars.

I have seen large groups of teenage joggers on the shoulders of Seven Locks during rush hours. Just imagine an errant car would plow into such a group and kill a dozen young people because of traffic conditions or the driver had a heart attack

I have seen large groups of twenty-somethings play softball on the Mall during rush hours. Just imagine an errant car would plow into such a group and kill a dozen young people because of traffic conditions or the driver had a heart attack. Thus - no softball on the Mall.

For your recreation there is Cabin John Regional Park. Use it and enjoy a long life.

The guy missed Jack's point. Cycling isn't just for recreation and the road can be made safe - so it should.

More Bike center news

From the Post's tip of the week:

The District plans to build a Bicycle Transit Center on the west side of Union Station. There would be parking for about 200 bikes, changing rooms and lockers. The center could be open by 2008. Meanwhile, Arlington County is planning a Ballston Bike Center, which by May would more than triple the bike parking spaces at the Ballston Metro plaza to 100 bikes.

Actually the District Bike Station will park 150; 180 if a third row is built in later.

Happy Holidays

Who needs a Glockenspiel?

2006 CWL #12 - Palisades Neighborhood Trail

At one point in time the DC area had a streetcar system with over 200 mile of tracks (Metro rail has just over a 100). Parts of the system, completely abandoned, have been used to create the College Park Trolley Trail and the North Bethesda Trail. Small pieces exist here and there throughout the region, including almost one entire line from Georgetown to Cabin John.

The Washington and Great Falls railway, aka the Cabin John Trolley or the Glen Echo Trolley, was opened in 1895 and shut down in 1960, but its narrow width (making it unsuitable for roads or metro rail) and precarious location  - shoehorned in between parks and aqueducts on the side of a ridge - have left it largely untouched. The right of way basically exists in two pieces, one in Maryland and one in DC.

The section of the right of way in Montgomery County, from Brookmont to Cabin John, has been proposed for a bike trail on numerous occasions, most recently as part of the MacArthur Boulevard Bicycle Improvement Project, but that was dropped from the plan in January 2005.

Part of the right of way in DC, the 0.6 miles  from Foxhall Road to the Georgetown Reservoir, was included in the Canal Road Scenic Byway Plan. North of that, the right of way crosses Reservoir Road, through Battery Kemble Park into the Palisades Neighborhood almost all the way to the Capital Crescent Trail.

South of Foxhall Road, the right of way passes over Glover Archbold Park (and Foundry Branch) on an abandoned trestle (pictured) and from there passes just in front of Georgetown University. While the 0.2 mile piece may seem small, the Southern Section should be made into a bike/ped trail.

The land is owned by WMATA, passes through NPS property and onto Georgetown's campus so there are a few serious stakeholders here. The small section stands on its own, as it creates a short path to Georgetown from the Palisades area - without having to go down the embankment and back up. The sidewalk along Canal Road is narrow and unpleasant. But as part of a complete trail it's even better.

The complete trail (which you can hike or bike right now if you don't mind carrying your bike at times) would create a 2.5 mile rail trail along the bluff overlooking the Canal and the Potomac. It would parallel the CCT trail providing an alternative and compliment to one of the busiest trails in the country. Unlike the CCT, it connects into the city grid - being on the city side of the Canal and Canal Road.

Unlike everything else on this list, I'm actually working on this. DDOT seems, at least, intrigued and may have money for it. Rails to Trails has come out to look at it and is also supportive. The 0.2 mile section is going to be the easiest section (although possibly the most expensive) to build - namely because it has no neighbors. Sometime in the spring, you can expect to see a "ride" advertised on this blog and also a coalition building meeting.

So there's something to look forward to.

2006 CWL #11 - Dupont Circle Bike Station

This is an idea I promoted earlier.

Back in 1949 there was a plan to, get this, move the city's transit system underground. Crazy times the 40's. The only part of that underground system that was built were two tunnels, with stations, under Dupont Circle. They were (are) on either side of the still-used traffic tunnel. In 1962 the entire streetcar system was shut down. The tunnel entrances, located where the tree-filled medians now stand north of N Street and between R and S Streets, were filled in and paved over in August 1964, leaving only the traffic tunnel. The extant stations were used as a civil defense storage area for a few years and then left empty again.

In 1993 the trolley stations were leased for twenty years by a developer.

intending to transform it into high-end retail. But by 1995, Dupont Down Under opened as a food court. It failed shortly thereafter.

In 2003 the new lessee, Kalorama Sports Management Associates, started an appraisal and negotiation process with D.C.'s Office of Property Management to investigate possible uses.  On Sept. 30, 2003 they held a meeting with Dupont's Advisory Neighborhood Commission on the matter.

Possible uses from that meeting included an artist workshop, commercial or retail space and storage for nearby condominiums. The problem is that people don't want to shop or eat in an underground bunker, and using the space as a U-Store it facility is a waste.

Instead one, or possibly both, of the stations should be reopened as a bicycle parking facility. Parking is ideally suited for an underground structure. The location, in the heart of one of the most vibrant parts of the city, can not be beat. There's a metro station there, bus routes converge - and it's only blocks from WABA's offices.

As for cost, the annual lease was estimated in 2003 at $54,500. The bike station the city is building will cost a little over $2 million. That's about 40 years of lease. Modifying the structure shouldn't be difficult or require review by the Arts Commission. The facility would be better than the bike station being planned, providing bathroom facilities (though showers may not be realistic) and storing more bikes. Plus Dupont is losing it's only bike shop, so a store and mechanic is needed.

Depending on their condition, the old tunnels could even be reopened, allowing for bicycle access (without having to go down stairs) from Connecticut Avenue and/or creating a short-cut through the area for cyclists.

With only 7 years left on the present lease - and no sign of progress, no one is going to move in. The city should turn this wasted resource into one of great value - and bike parking is the way to go.

The Capital Bicycle Club

From the Smithsonian. Before there was WABA...

The Capital Bicycle Club, established in 1884 during the high-wheel bicycle craze, was popular through the turn of the century. It organized riding excursions and gatherings for its mostly prominent, young, male members, and was active, as were other clubs, in advancing improved road conditions.

The Capital Bicycle Club building at 409 Fifteenth Street Northwest, completed in 1889, reflected the wealth of its members, who often posed there for group photographs before leaving on excursions.

Go to the site to check out some photos.