Race Across America? - Spokes Magazine

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Arlington County goes for the Gold story and photos by LARRY LIPMAN IT’S 9 A.M. ON A SATURDAY that threatens intermittent rain and a half dozen members and friends of the Lanterne Rouge cycling club are gathered outside the Java Shack in Arlington County. Over the next few hours they’ll ride more than 50 miles through Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia, starting and finishing in Arlington. Arlington County is considered one of the best places on the East Coast to ride. The county boasts 86 miles of designated bikeways including 36 miles of shareduse trails, 38 miles of signed shared roadways, and 12 miles of bicycle lanes. The trails are one of Arlington’s strongest bike assets offering riders a choice between flat and hilly and woods and river. Best of all, the trails are connected. At the southeast tip of Arlington, a rider could head south to George Washington’s home along the Mount Vernon Trail, or north past Ronald Reagan National Airport and watch the planes flying low overhead as they take off and land. Continuing past the airport, the rider would glide along the Potomac River with a breath-taking view of Washington, D.C. on the opposite shore looking like a postcard you could hold in your hand. From the Capitol dome to the spires of Georgetown University, it’s all laid out. From there, riders could take one of four bridges to cross into the District: coming across at the Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, near the Kennedy Center or the heart of Georgetown. The Mt. Vernon Trail links up in Rosslyn with the Custis Trail which offers plenty of steep hills as it heads west along I-66. Here it’s mostly wooded area. Eventually, the Custis Trail connects with the W&OD Trail, a rail-to-trail park that extends westward a good 40 miles to Purcellville. Most of that ride is through flat, wooded terrain. Eastward, the W&OD links with the Four Mile Run Trail through Shirlington, along Four Mile Run and ends where the loop began at the Mount Vernon Trail. Lanterne Rouge founder and president Seth Turner says the paved trails are excellent for commuting to work, “but when I’m not commuting, I don’t want to be on them, especially on weekends,” when the trails are clogged with baby strollers, roller-bladers and young riders with training wheels. So Turner and other hardcore riders take to the roads for serious cycling. That occasionally brings them in conflict with drivers who don’t think bicycles belong on the road. Biking in Arlington “is a two-sided coin,” Turner recently told SPOKES. “If you know where to ride, there are some really great places and great roads,” but there is also a lot of traffic and some roads that were built for automobiles where riding is discouraged. The other riders assembled here this morning generally share Turner’s view of Arlington County as a good place to ride, citing its well-maintained trails, bike lanes and the tolerant attitude of most motorists. Joe Malin frequently rides along Walter Reed Drive, a county street often used by cyclists. Recently, he noted a bike lane had been painted on the roadway. “It seems they actually pay attention to what people are doing on their bikes. I’m really impressed,” Malin says. Jack Schur says, “it’s great, but it could be better if they did more to have more defined shoulders on the side of the roads.” Brian Bradley notes that not just serious riders are out. “You see a lot of commuters, even on the rainy days.” Douglas Galbi says he was favorably impressed with the quick time a pothole that could have been dangerous to cyclists was fixed after he reported it to the county’s pothole hotline. The Lanterne Rouge riders, most wearing the club’s jersey and straddling high-end bikes, are what David Goodman describes as “Type A riders” — spandexwearing, hard-core cycling enthusiasts who will ride long distances in almost any weather and along almost any path or roadway. But there is another type of rider that Goodman is interested in. He describes them as the “Type B riders,” the casual, recreational riders who, with a bit of encouragement, might be coaxed into using their bikes for local errands or an occasional commute to work. As Arlington’s bicycle and pedestrian program manager, it’s Goodman’s job to be concerned about both types of riders, but he’s especially focused on turning the occasional riders into more frequent riders. 12 May 2008
Arlington County Board member Chris Zimmerman, with daughter Madeleine, pauses during a ride along the W&OD Trail at Bluemont Park in Arlington. It’s his job, he says, to deal with “all of those things that can help tip the balance between someone saying ‘We have all these facilities, I might as well ride today,’ versus someone saying ‘It’s too much of a hassle. I’ll just drive.’” Arlington boasts a 3 percent “mode share,” which means roughly 3 percent of the commuting public in a self-reporting survey says it uses a bicycle for at least a portion of their trips. Goodman says that share may be higher on the West Coast and in some college towns, but is among the highest on the East Coast. “We’re pretty proud of that,” he says. “We’re working on increasing that.” Goodman, who was a bike commuter in New York City for 15 years and now occasionally bikes to work or to take his daughter to pre-school, says, “people more like me will sometimes commute on a bike if the stars are aligned and the weather is right and the time is right. They need a higher comfort level, otherwise they may not choose to bother.” Raising the comfort level of the casual rider is Goodman’s primary focus. He acknowledges he can’t change the weather, but he can make it easier to ride, David Goodman, Arlington’s bicycle and pedestrian program manager, shows off one of the county’s new bicycle hitching posts outside the Arlington County office building. even in the winter, by providing better facilities and making sure riders have bike lights. Twice a year when daylight savings time changes, the Arlington police and the bike department launch a “Street Smart” program where they give out cycling information, the rules-of-the-road and a few dozen bike lights to commuters who don’t have one. The police give such cyclists a warning ticket and a light. The fact that Goodman’s job exists says much about Arlington’s dedication to cycling. Last year Arlington was designated a Silver-level Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of <strong>America</strong>n Bicyclists. In the near future, Goodman says, the county hopes to be designated a Gold-level community. To reach that goal, the county’s citizen-led Bicycle Advisory Commission adopted a 39-page bike plan last December to include in the county’s master transportation plan. The key priority in that plan was to complete a bikeway network that would link trails, roads and bike paths throughout the county and make bicycling facilities an integral part of all street improvement projects. The commission identified about 80 projects it says need to be implemented. While many of them are small improvements -- such as better marking of bike lanes on some streets -- others include providing wider shoulders, more bike lanes, better connectivity and signage between lanes and trails and better bike parking and security. One of the largest projects underway is construction of an extension of the Four Mile Run Trail that will help move cyclists from one side of Interstate 395 to the other between Shirlington and Park Fairfax. The segment, expected to open about a year from now, will extend Four Mile Run -- which now requires cyclists to use a pedestrian overpass -- to ride under the highway, thus linking Shirlington to Glebe Road. Another major project currently underway is for a covered bike station near the entrance to the Ballston Metro station. When completed next year, it will offer secure, double-decker lighted bike parking, air pumps and benches for riders to change their shoes. The facility will replace what is now referred to as the “bike pit,” where bikes are insecurely left. The department plans to increase the amount of covered and lighted bike parking areas at Metro stops around the county including Clarendon, Crystal City, Pentagon City and Rosslyn. Another covered bike shelter is being planned for Shirlington’s bus transfer station. “We’re trying to tie biking into the overall transit network,” Goodman says, by encouraging people to ride their bicycles to a bus stop. Another ambitious plan the county hopes to have in place by the end of this year is for a European-style “bike share” program where about 200 bikes will be placed strategically around the county for people to use. The bikes will be three-speed casual rides with generator lights, a basket, coaster brakes and upright handlebars. In order to use a bike, people who pay a $40 annual fee will call a special toll-free number and receive a one-time-use combination to a bike lock. They can then ride the bike and leave it at a designated destination – rather than having to return it to where they started. The first half-hour is scheduled to be free. The county plans to piggy-back on the Zipcar rentals and provide share bikes at Zipcar stations, including those at Metro stations and some major shopping areas. The idea is to “encourage people who might otherwise not choose to use a bike to run errands to make that choice,” Goodman says. To make it easier to park bikes in shopping areas, the county is installing numerous bicycle hitching posts with nifty bicycle-design poles to which riders can attach their locks. Another goal for making riding easier for both the casual user and the legions of tourists who visit the area annually is to improve signage. Goodman acknowledges what he call’s “minimal signage,” on some roads and trails. The goal is to provide signs that will tell people where the bike network is, where amenities off the trail can be found, and how to link to other parts of the community. For example, Goodman notes that many of the county’s most popular bike paths, such as the Four Mile Run Trail and the Custis Trail, don’t have signs that could inform a rider about the location of bike shops, retail areas and restaurants. His goal is to make it easier for residents, tourists and casual cyclists to visit such places by bicycle. “People sitting in an apartment in Ballston might benefit if they knew there is a bicycle system,” he says. “Why shouldn’t a tourist who comes to D.C. come out to Arlington and not even worry about getting a map because once you get on the Custis Trail you can get to any community you want to? That’s the level we want to get to with signage.” Arlington County Board Chairman J. Walter Tejada is an avid cyclist and can frequently be found riding the county’s trails and roads. For those who do want a map, Arlington produces one and tries to update it every year. It can be found at commuter stores around the county and on the county’s website. Arlington maintains an extensive bicycling website (www.bikearlington.com) listing facilities such as bike racks, bike shops and cycling events. The website also offers bike maps of the county, instructions about how to use bikes with the bus and rail mass transit systems, and how to find a group to ride with. Cycling is part of Arlington’s master transportation plan that seeks to enhance as many alternatives to the single-person car as possible. That means the county is constantly looking for ways to encourage cycling, walking on sidewalks, and the use of public transportation along its roadways, Goodman says. Arlington’s interest in cycling is not a new phenomenon. The popular Four Mile Run Trail along the border between Arlington and Alexandria opened in 1968. Arlington adopted its first comprehensive bicycle plan in 1974 and later that year established the Bicycle Advisory Commission. GOLD continued on p.14 May 2008 13
Page 1 and 2: Serving Cyclists in the Mid-Atlanti
Page 3 and 4: ON COVER THE Having completed many
Page 5 and 6: The American Diabetes Association p
Page 7 and 8: Shuart (left) with RAAM teammates J
Page 9 and 10: ANNAPOLIS MAYOR ENVISIONS BIKE FRIE
Page 11: COMMUTER CONNECTION by RON CASSIE r
Page 15 and 16: ARLINGTON TO HOST TWO PRO BIKE RACE
Page 17 and 18: THE CYCLIST'S KITCHEN by NANCY CLAR
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Page 23 and 24: COLUMNS SPOKESWOMEN by ANNE MADER
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Page 27 and 28: CALENDAR OF EVENTS Griffin Cycle 49
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