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Race Across America? - Spokes Magazine

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GOLD continued from p.13<br />

It’s had a full-time bicycle coordinator for 20 years.<br />

Other bike-related county jobs include: bicycle promotion<br />

manager, bike planner, and bike-sharing program<br />

coordinator.<br />

Two of the county’s top elected officials, County Board<br />

Chairman J. Walter Tejada and Board Member Chris<br />

Zimmerman, are avid cyclists who fall somewhere<br />

between the Type B and Type A riders – they don’t<br />

wear spandex, but they’re frequently on their bikes.<br />

Tejada says he wants “bicycling to be part of the culture<br />

of Arlington.”<br />

The county’s goal is to become “transportation friendly”<br />

by offering as many alternatives to the automobile<br />

as possible, Tejada says.<br />

Zimmerman, who lost about 35 to 40 pounds last year<br />

through diet and exercise — much of it cycling — praises<br />

the county network of trails which can take riders<br />

along the Potomac River and through largely wooded<br />

areas along the northern part of the W & OD Trail.<br />

Zimmerman says he’d like to see a time when riding a<br />

bicycle in Arlington is considered as commonplace as<br />

it is in some European cities such as Copenhagen.<br />

“I think we need to get to where bicycling is something<br />

anybody can do any time,” he says.<br />

To reach that point, Goodman sees the need to make<br />

it easier for the casual rider to take a bike, rather than<br />

a car, for errands and to work.<br />

The first impediment to reaching that goal is where to<br />

ride. Efforts are underway to expand the county’s bike<br />

network by adding five more miles of shared-use trails<br />

and 10 more miles of bike lanes in the near future.<br />

Seth Turner, president and founder of Lanterne Rouge,<br />

an Arlington-based bicycle club.<br />

But Goodman acknowledges that in many places the<br />

network is not connected: bike lanes suddenly disappear<br />

and there are gaps that make it difficult to cycle<br />

from one place to another.<br />

Over time, he says, those gaps are being closed. It<br />

is county policy to create a new bike lane whenever<br />

new roads are installed or, if physically possible, when<br />

existing ones are repaved. But because repaving jobs<br />

often may cover only a few blocks, the new bike lanes<br />

may not connect to existing lanes.<br />

BIKE ALEXANDRIA FUN RIDES<br />

Every Sunday at 2 p.m. meet at Cameron Run Regional Park,<br />

4100 Eisenhower Ave., Alexandria, Va.,. for a free family fun<br />

ride. Trail is paved, two ride options: 5.6 or 6.9 mile loops.<br />

Both lead to nature area. Visit bike.meetup.com/288 or contact<br />

Susan Schneider at (202) 403-1148 for details.<br />

“We’re trying to build a much more connected network<br />

so there are more ways of getting around, not<br />

just a single way of getting from one side of the county<br />

to the other,” Goodman says.<br />

The county is often frustrated by its inability to control<br />

the conditions on many of its major roadways<br />

because they are under state control.<br />

Among those are traffic-heavy highways such as<br />

Arlington Boulevard (U.S. 50), Lee Highway (U.S.<br />

29), Washington Boulevard, Glebe Road, Columbia<br />

Pike and the Jefferson Davis Highway (U.S. 1).<br />

“We don’t have a lot of control over how those get<br />

maintained and designed and built. Sometimes we<br />

would like to make changes on those roads that<br />

VDOT won’t allow us to do,” Goodman says, referring<br />

to the Virginia Department of Transportation, which<br />

he describes as “less bike friendly,” than the county.<br />

But Goodman says the county is relentlessly trying to<br />

find ways to make it easier to cycle in and around the<br />

area. For example, on new development projects, his<br />

department works with developers to provide such<br />

amenities, as putting in shower facilities and restrooms<br />

for cyclists.<br />

The county also participates in the annual Bike to<br />

Work Day in May and hosts an annual bike ride with<br />

Alexandria. This year’s Arlington-Alexandria event —<br />

offering an eight-mile loop and a 23-mile loop — will<br />

be held Saturday, June 7 under the sponsorship of<br />

WABA. Entry fees are $18 for an adult ($15 for WABA<br />

members) and $34 for a family. More details can be<br />

found at http://www.waba.org/events/cbr/index.php.<br />

A REVOLUTIONARY IDEA -<br />

go GREEN<br />

and become a<br />

bicycling beast!<br />

Pick up a REWARDS CLUB<br />

coupon book at one of our<br />

revolutionary stores:<br />

2731 Wilson Blvd.<br />

CLARENDON<br />

(703) 312-0007<br />

3411 M Street NW<br />

GEORGETOWN<br />

(202) 965-3601<br />

100 Susa Dr.<br />

STAFFORD<br />

(540) 657-6900<br />

1066 Rockville Pike<br />

ROCKVILLE<br />

(301) 424-0990<br />

www.revolutioncycles.com<br />

14 May 2008

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