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Around Town

Photos: Bike to Work Day in Rosslyn

by ARLnow.com May 18, 2012 at 10:00 am 5,519 58 Comments

Update at 11:05 a.m. — A record 12,700 people in the D.C. area biked to work today, according to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.

Hundreds of bicyclists — from the young to the old, bike novice to expert — gathered at Gateway Park in Rosslyn this morning for the D.C. area’s annual Bike to Work Day.

Rosslyn, along with Ballston and Crystal City, hosted “pit stops” for Bike to Work Day participants. Giveaways at the event included bananas, nutrition bars, coffee, water, t-shirts, water bottles and free bike maintenance.

Among those who spoke at the Rosslyn pit stop were Rep. Jim Moran and County Board member Jay Fisette, both of whom rode their bikes there.

“Welcome to one of the most bike-friendly communities in the country,” Fisette said.

Moran asked the gathered crowd to become advocates for new bike projects. The congressman expressed support for widening the Mt. Vernon Trail, which runs along the George Washington Parkway, and for extending the trail from Roosevelt Island up to Chain Bridge and the C&O Canal trail.

Both projects would happen “in a perfect world,” Moran said, but for now federal funding isn’t available for it. Shortly after his speech Moran and a staffer pedaled off to Capitol Hill, where he was expected for a 9:00 vote.

  • WeiQiang

    Is that Jim Moran in the last pic?

    • D’oh

      Yep.

      • WeiQiang

        Cool. Brah is humpin the commute.

        • DarkHeart

          Thank God he’s not in spandex…

  • novasteve

    They should execute the people with the vuvazelas.

    • CW

      Scary that I find myself agreeing with you more and more.

    • JamesE

      agreed

    • vuvuwhat?

      I thought they were yards of ale!

  • WFY

    I remember when the Four Mile Trail under I-395 began construction. Moran said “earmarks” at least a dozen times at the ceremony.

    I’d love to see the MVT extended north, I wonder how well it could co-exist with the current hiking trail though. Since funding won’t be easy (being NPS land) it is probably not a problem we’ll have to deal with anytime soon.

  • Corey

    Ugh. Get your toys off my roads. A bunch of children.

    • CW

      Yeah, those lawyers blasting around in their drop-top Benzes, Audis, and Bimmers really annoy me too, so I agree completely!

      • Corey

        Do you have a cool little bell to ring? Spandex? How about one of those dental rear-view mirrors?

        • CW

          Uh, no, but I get from Arlington to downtown D.C. in 15 minutes and it’s effectively free.

          • cyclist

            Why are you free-loading on the taxpayer’s dime? The roads are for cars, not people!

          • Corey

            Get off the road. My kids have places to be.

          • Bluemontsince1961

            LOL! Oh noze, it’s a crazy soccer mom! (You’re doing a great tongue in cheek of the NOVA self-absorbed and rude driver)

          • Corey

            All of this stuff has actually been said on this very website

          • Bluemontsince1961

            Corey wrote: “All of this stuff has actually been said on this very website.”

            We’ve had some real “warm” threads (to say the least) about drivers vs. cyclists in the past. Some folks seemed almost ready to duel at dawn.

          • dick driver

            I’ll respect cyclists when they start following traffic laws!

            (Swerves to avoid jaywalker but hits him because he’s going 50 in a 35 zone).

          • Trevolution Bikes

            Get that bike off my lawn, brah!

        • WeiQiang

          No bell. Plenty Spandex. No mirror … I’d rather not see the driver who is about to hit me talking on their phone.

          • cyclist

            Guys, Corey’s being sarcastic. He’s making fun of the douches who really say that crap.

          • WeiQiang

            I was on it, bro’.

          • cyclist

            That was for the whole group.

    • D’oh

      No kidding! Bunch of oversized Power Wheels driven around by miscreants.

  • WeiQiang

    I’ve always wanted a link from Custis/NoArl to the MD side [above Chain Bridge], but I think that a paved bike/walk trail would be disastrous for the Potomac Heritage Trail. The amount of real estate and the topography would make it expensive to build and I think the C&O Canal would be a great alternative. It would be nice to have a bike crossing above Chain Bridge … does the American Legion Bridge have a ped/bike lane?

    • 5555624

      You can ride across Chain Bridge, either on the road or the sidewalk. The American Legion Bridge does not have a bike lane.

    • G::TheNativeArlingtonian

      Agreed. There is no good way for the trail along the river and any sort of bike trail to coexist. The terrain is too undulating and rocky. Its also prone to flooding… I don’t think a path would survive very long before being washed away. Lastly, this is one of the few places in the area that you can disappear into nature on foot for any length of time… it would be a shame to lose that. I seriously doubt the NPS would ever concede to allow a trail at river level to be built. Now, a bike path next to GW parkway might be a viable alternative.

  • E

    oh my goodness, that dude’s package is just, glowing and showing, no doubt.

  • novasteve

    So did the real batman, the one in Maryland, ride his bike to work today or did he take the batmobile?

  • Becoming indifferent

    Moran looks like a complete tool with a bike helmet. More so than usual.

    • Bluemontsince1961

      Imagine if he’d worn spandex!

  • justlurking

    Loved Grant Peterson’s comments on NPR this morning, re what to wear when you ride your bike.
    http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=152945439&m=152979152

    • Brooks Bro’s

      Heard that. “wear your suit’. lol. I’m sweaty by the time I get out of my driveway.

  • ArlingtonNative

    Moran rode his bike there. Seriously!?
    That last photo of him on the bike … looks like he’s about to totally fall over. Does not look like anyone who’s been on a bike at anytime in the past 20+ years.
    More likely, one of Moran’s flunkies drove him and his bike to a block or two from the event and he coasted downhill … and still broke into a sweat.

    • Bluemontsince1961

      LOL!

    • Moran’s office says he not only biked the entire way but arrived on the Hill earlier than a couple of staffers who drove to the event.

      • WantonTaco

        Yeah, i’ll call BS on that one.. i ride that route. no way to do that.. he has to ride that narrow bridge, around kennedy center, through gw and a bazillion lights before hitting the hill. staffers drove right in down consitution and said “suckers, less cars today! “

        • Jacques

          Nope — take the MVT to 14th Street Bridge, and either ride in along the Mall (only about 3-4 lights between 14th and 3rd NW) or after the bridge, turn right onto Maine Avenue/Anacostia Waterfront Trail, and then take 4th Street SW (or NJ Ave SE) either works),up to Independence.

          Both routes feature a half-dozen traffic signals, at most. 20 minutes tops on a bike, from Rosslyn. (Maybe longer in a suit, though).

          • HaydiosMio

            20min if you’re not old, on a beater bike and wearing dress clothing. it ain’t happening. even through the mall, it taks a while with the lights.. that what chews up most of my commute time. and just pedaling up into the bridge for this old man will take 5min by itself…

      • novasteve

        Right, dressed like that without even cuffing his pants so it doesn’t get stuck in the chain?

  • novasteve

    So this must be a big day for those car free diet virgin guys, they won’t be the only guys riding their bikes today.

    • cyclist

      Thousands of people ride bikes to work every day, steve. And they are mostly athletic and fit and get plenty of sex.

      (wink)

      P.S.: “Male cigarette smokers have less testosterone than do male nonsmokers. Men with low testosterone concentrations have a lower sex drive and lower sperm counts than do those with normal or high concentrations of the hormone….In numerous studies cigarette smoking has been linked to a doubling of the incidence of erectile dysfunction.”

      http://www.acsh.org/healthissues/newsID.646/healthissue_detail.asp

      (wink)

      • novasteve

        Doesn’t change the fact those car free diet guys are dorks who can’t get a date to save their lives because they don’t have a car. This aint Manhattan. You can’t get away with not having a car if you are a straight male.

    • wimmer201

      Remember, steve needs to exist in his own little world of stereotypes. One of which is that people w/o cars can’t get a date. Like most of his other assumptions, he’s way off base.
      I’ve been car free for over 9 years. It works for me since I walk to work. I don’t force a car-free lifestyle on anyone.

  • Paulie Reubenz

    sweet tiny moose knuckle, guy in spandex! bahahahah! wow.

    • novasteve

      I really wish you guys wouldn’t point these things out.

  • Charles

    This is the one day to NOT bike to work. Let the 12,000 dilettantes have this “feel good” day, block the bike trails, and tomorrow go back to driving and complaining.

    • cyclist

      Thanks, Charles, Corey will incorporate your comment into his list of crotchety old man quotes about bicycling to sarcastically repeat later.

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