Tuesday, May 21, 2013
The state's policies and advocacy for cyclists earned it a high ranking from the League of American Bicyclists.
Virginia is one of the best states in the country to bike, according to new rankings from the League of American Bicyclists. But it still lags behind some other states in the Mid-Atlantic region. A combination of state policies and programs — including a state bicycle plan and a "Share the Road" campaign — and an active state bicycle advocacy group helped the state earn No. 16, behind places like Washington state, Colorado, Oregon and Massachusetts. Still, neighboring states fared better on the rankings list: Delaware was 5, Maryland was 11 and Pennsylvania was 15. The League created a list of 10 signs that show progress on bikeability for states, including more than 1 percent of the commuters using bikes, a measure of success Virginia …
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Bicycle camera captures car driving along trail for a minute before exiting into a neighborhood.
You're cruising along one morning, commuting by bike on the W+OD Trail, when you run into a car. You read that right: A car. That's what happened as one cyclist was traveling the trail last week. In a YouTube video, reposted by Vienna's Spokes Etc., a local bicyclist with a handlebar camera comes upon a black sedan, idling in the middle of a trail also being used by bicyclists and runners. Though the video lacks sound (watch in media player at right), the bicyclist apparently asked what the driver was doing, to which the driver responded "I'm lost." The bicyclist suggested turning around and then followed the car a ways down the trail until the car exited into a pulloff area, which connected to a nearby neighborhood. Commenters on Spokes …
Monday, March 18, 2013
Vienna police responded to three stolen bicycle calls in less than 48 hours last weekend.
Three bicycles went missing along Maple Avenue last weekend, all within 48 hours. According to Vienna police reports, the first call came 11:43 a.m. March 9 from a woman who reported she had left her bike at a bicycle rack while shopping in the 100 block of Maple Avenue E, but it was gone when she returned. The light blue, Trek mountain bicycle was not locked in the rack, she reported. Later that night, at 6:19 p.m., a man reported he left his bike outside while shopping at Giant Food, 358 Maple Ave E. When he returned, his bike was also gone. The black, Trek bicycle was not secured, the man reported. On March 10, a man told police he left his bicycle outside Whole Foods, 143 Maple Ave E, while he was shopping. Sometime between 12:40 and 1…
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Virginia State Sen. Chap Petersen among those praised for introducing safety legislation Tuesday in first Bicycle Action Day in Richmond.
- GOVERNMENT
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Wednesday, January 30
By Katherine Johnson and Blake Belden, Capital News Service State Sen. Chap Petersen was among the legislators who joined Virginia bicyclists Tuesday for a Bicycle Action Day in Richmond, an event designed to support state legislators who are introducing bills that aim to make roads and biking safer across the Commonwealth. About 15 bicyclists – members of RideRichmond, a nonprofit organization of bicycle enthusiasts, and their supporters – met on the Virginia Commonwealth University campus and biked to the General Assembly Building to demonstrate support for legislation that would require drivers to give bicycles more room on the road. “It’s our day to be supportive and loud,” RideRichmond bicyclist Brantley Tyndall said of the group's …
Monday, December 17, 2012
No injuries, charges reported in Dec. 9 incident
A bicyclist was hit last week while crossing Maple Avenue at Center Street. According to a report from the Vienna Police Department, a woman reported she was driving south on Center Street around 8:53 p.m. Dec. 9. As she approached the road's intersection with Maple Avenue, she had a green light and attempted to enter the intersection. As she was doing so, a man riding a bicycle entered the crosswalk in front of her and she struck him. The woman told police the bicyclist told her he was fine and left the area before police could arrive. Stay up to date on all police and fire news in Vienna by signing up for our free breaking and daily email newsletters.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Bringing a bike to college is a good idea, but there are a few things you should bear in mind
We all mark the change of the seasons in different ways, but two things tell me the end of summer is drawing near. First, my "summer help" lets me know they'll soon be going off to college. Then we are visited by a number of college students and their parents, wanting to get a bike ready to go away to school. And I have to say, I think it's a great idea to bring a bike with you to college, but there are a few things you should bear in mind. First, why bring a bike to college? Well, they are a wonderful, practical, affordable way to get around. Most college campuses have limited and often expensive parking, and the distance from the parking lot to your classes might be considerable. If you're a daily commuter, you can probably park your …
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Trust me, these aren’t your kids’ tricycles -- they are high performance, lightweight human powered vehicles.
Trikes, you say? Trust me, these aren’t your kids’ tricycles. And they’re not the type of upright, “grocery getter” trike you’ve probably seen around retirement communities, with a big basket, being pedaled slowly to the store. No, a recumbent trike is typically a high performance, lightweight human powered vehicle. And they are a heck of a lot of fun. The recumbent tricycle is probably the newest, fastest-growing segment of the recumbent market. I’ve seen more new trike buyers come through our store every year, and the ratio of trike to bike buyers has steadily tilted toward the trike side of the equation. Why is that? Why would someone choose a trike over a bike? Well, the first and most obvious answer is stability. Think about it: The …
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
What are those "funny looking" bicycles, and what are the benefits?
You’ve probably seen them out there, on the trail or on the road — those low-slung bikes that look like a lawn chair on wheels. So what’s the story? Why are they like that? Why do people ride them? To start with, the correct name for them is “recumbent bicycles” (or tricycles, but we’ll get to that another time), or “recumbents” for short. I’ve heard folks call them by all kinds of names, including “those lay-down bicycles," “freaky bikes” and “recombinant bikes”, but the simplest and most correct term is “recumbent.” And therein lies our first hint to the question: “Why?” If you look it up in www.thefreedictionary.com, you’ll find the word recumbent is a synonym for “lying down; in a position of comfort or rest.” And it’s true: One of …
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
A reader confrontation on the "horse path" has our bike columnist searching for answers
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- Tim Fricker
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Tuesday, June 26, 2012
It seems that just when I think I’ve covered all I can about the W&OD, something else comes up. Often it’s a comment from a reader, which I think is great, as it makes this column somewhat of a conversation, rather than simply me putting out my thoughts. The latest issue comes from a reader, an avid cyclist who I know to be a reasonable person and a true advocate and ambassador for cycling. They brought to my attention a recent interaction they’d had on the gravel path that parallels the paved trail, an incident which pointed out both how different users perceive things and also the somewhat ambiguous nature of the rules of the trail. I have to confess to having never really given a lot of thought to there being any distinction between the…
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Transportation Safety Commission says alerting cyclists to routes is crucial as Tysons develops
The Vienna Town Council approved a series of signage Monday that will more clearly direct cyclists to six bike routes in town, a move officials hope will better facilitate travel between the town and Tysons — and, with luck, take the cars they would have used off the road in the process. The town approved its first official bike route on Courthouse Road last April, marking it with signs from the town boundary — the dog park west of Nutley Street — to the intersection of Locust and Center Streets. The six routes that earned signage at Monday night's meeting are already marked on regional bicycling maps, and have been since 2008, Transportation Safety Commission chair Sharon Baum said. The TSC and the town's Bicyle Advisory Committee …
James
1:28 pm on Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Crestview gets backed up, impacting the Herndon Parkway turn. That causes much more of a public nuisance because people come to a complete stop even when no people are on the trail near the intersection. I don't blame anyone at all who lays on the horn, I give them kudos. more ›