Race Across America? - Spokes Magazine
Race Across America? - Spokes Magazine
Race Across America? - Spokes Magazine
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
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