Though we occasionally see bits and pieces of long abandoned bicycles, in D.C. it's hard to imagine that one here would last so long without being touched.

Sound the data siren: Virginia Tech's released a study about Capital Bikeshare, "A Closer Look at Casual Users and Operations"! Though there's one surprising nugget—51.33 percent of Bikeshare riders are female, while only around 30 percent of cyclists in the District in total are female—the other statistics are probably what one would expect: 78.17 percent of riders are Caucasian, 42.9 percent hold an advanced degree, 41 percent frequently ride on city streets, and 92.6 percent don't wear helmets. The median age of riders is 31 and 53 percent are domestic tourists.

The bottom line: Bikeshare members are a bougie bunch, a revelation to, well, no one who has observed the folks making use of the rather noticeable bikes in the areas where stations are most densely packed.

John Hendel at TBD on Foot uses the study's findings to knock around some assertions I made in a City Paper cover story back in August. Then, I wrote that the notion that only "rich, white, gentrifying newcomer[s]" ride bikes in D.C.—a common trope bandied about during the last mayoral election—was false. Hendel says:

But the overall data here suggests that bicycling is, at least for now, overwhelmingly more popular among white professionals.

The identity of the D.C. bicyclist may not be as far from any casual stereotypes as we believe, and this report is a testament to the gaps our city still needs to bridge. The City Paper correctly points to the many psychological, political issues that underpin that image as well as spotlights the many ways the city and its biking community is reaching out to people who don't fit its parameters of race, class, and education. Yet these efforts don't erase the reality of the data and the need to do more. To say the stereotype is wrong misses the data that underpins it.

That's all well and good, except my story was about bikes, not Capital Bikeshare. (In fact, I only mentioned Bikeshare to note that "logic says that as more Bikeshare users become comfortable with riding in D.C.—and become frustrated with the system’s downsides, such as frequently empty docks—they’ll buy bikes of their own.")

Conflating biking and Bikeshare is really bizarre; it's obvious that the latter's signature red steeds and the people who ride them aren't representative of every kind of cycling and cyclist in D.C. To apply research conducted specifically about one discrete thing—Capital Bikeshare—to an entire mode of transportation is an abject misreading.

If a study found that the majority of, say, Mini Cooper drivers are white, middle-class, and don't wear seatbelts, would Hendel assume that the majority of drivers, period, are white, middle-class, and don't wear seatbelts? Probably not. Capital Bikeshare might boast 1,100 bikes, 17,786 annual members, and 120,000 members of all kinds, but this is a city of more than 600,000. There are people here who use Bikeshare to get to work when they know they're heading to happy hour after, people who ride beaters they found on Craigslist because they wanted a cheap ride, people who decided they wanted to buy a Jamis or a Linus or a Brompton or a Bianchi new and found the prices agreeable, people who ride Colnagos to train in Rock Creek Park, and so on. Virginia Tech's data isn't about biking, it's about Bikeshare.

And it's not like the program is lacking in self-awareness. DDOT has been working on an initiative—since before the study's findings were released—to help "unbanked" individuals get on bikes. Capital Bikeshare Program Manager Josh Moskowitz says the agency is planning more outreach to promote the Bank on D.C. program, will eventually allow members to pay membership fees in installments, and will hook up with the Department of Employment Services to encourage Summer Youth Employment Program participants to ride Bikeshare. "Bikesharing is for the most part relatively new. We had the first program with Smartbike, and we’re still the largest system," says Moskowitz. "Bank on D.C. is the first of its kind. We’re committed to expanding in parts of this city that are underserved."

UPDATE, Jan. 13: Moskowitz says, "I think one of the things that’s gotten lost in all of this is that the study focuses on casual members" and not monthly and annual members. Commenters darren and drez make similar observations. Casual members are just that—less likely to live in D.C. and ride Bikeshare regularly—so, again, data collected on who they are isn't representative of who bikes in D.C. as a whole.

Photos by Alex Baca and zcopley via Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0, illustration by Alex Baca

The federal government spends about $40 billion a year on transportation projects. Of that, about $928 million has been devoted to what's known as a "transportation enhancement" program, which provides funding for projects—including rails-to-trails conversions, bike lanes and bridges—that make cycling safer, and thus more viable as a commuting option. But as Congress gears up to reauthorize the massive transportation funding bill this year, Republicans are arguing that states shouldn't be forced to use scarce transportation funds to encourage bike commuting when bridges for cars are falling down.

"We’re doing all these things that, if we had extra money, if we were running a surplus, sure, nobody would really be complaining about it," Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) told the Washington Post. But, Coburn added, "We can no longer have silly priorities get in the way of real needs."

Oh yeah, being able to get to work safely without having to pollute the environment or get packed into a Metrobus or train is so, so silly.

Photo by nevermindtheend via Flickr/Creative Commons Attribution Generic 2.0 License

Mosquitos Will Kill You: Itching and scratching is no longer the worst possible consequence of spending too much time outside without a proper dousing of DEET first. City health officials say they've identified West Nile virus in mosquitos in the District. There's only a real danger for about one in 150 people who gets bitten by an exposed bug, but don't let that stop you from panicking; the more mosquitos you kill in a rage, the better for all of us. -2

Faster, Higher, Stronger: When a joint bid by D.C. and Baltimore failed to win the U.S. Olympic Committee's endorsement nine years ago, it was probably a blessing—spending money on bike lanes has proven controversial enough here, so imagine building a whole velodrome. The games almost always wind up a financial drag on the host cities. Tomorrow, though, you can pretend the Olympics are coming here anyway, as the torch heading for the London games next year passes from the Canadian embassy (because Vancouver hosted last year's Winter Olympics) to the British embassy. No word on whether it's still possible to bribe officials to move the route closer to your preferred viewing location. +2

Postal Going: Dire predictions from the U.S. Postal Service are nothing new; the agency warns of doom (defined, usually, as an end to six-day mail delivery) every so often to justify rate increases, and Congress usually goes along. The latest prediction, though, might really get lawmakers' attention. USPS says it might close a post office in the Capitol, as well as about a dozen others in the District, as part of a plan to eliminate more than 3,500 locations. Quick! Send an angry email to let them know you object! -1

Commute Not Going As Planned: The District's Office of Planning has helped push to expand bike infrastructure for years, so it's no surprise that director Harriet Tregoning cycles daily from Columbia Heights to her office near the Southwest Waterfront. But Tregoning now may have an even better reason to advocate more bike-friendly streets: She was hit by a car Tuesday morning while riding to work. The car, which had Maryland tags, ran a red light on Massachusetts Avenue NW and sideswiped Tregoning. The planning director wasn't hurt, but her folding Brompton bike was badly damaged; the driver will pay to fix it. Tregoning warned the driver never to run red lights in D.C. again. -2

Yesterday's Needle rating: 42 Today's score: -3 Today's Needle rating: 39

Damn The Torpedoes: The Department of Justice recently reminded federal law enforcement authorities that marijuana is illegal in the U.S., no matter what laws cities or states might pass to the contrary. Here in the District, that might have threatened a nascent medical marijuana program—except Mayor Vince Gray has apparently decided he doesn't care what the feds say. Smoke 'em if you got 'em, folks (and by "got 'em," we mean, got prescriptions, of course). +2

Out Of Service: Anyone who's ridden Metro recently might be surprised to learn that the agency's official target for how many escalators are supposed to be in good working order at any given time is 90 percent. But those Metro riders won't be surprised to learn that it hasn't met the goal. In May, 103 of the system's 588 escalators were down for repairs—or more than 17 percent. No wonder tourists can't figure out that they're supposed to stand to the right; standing won't get you anywhere on a broken escalator. -2

Red Means Go: One of the most frequent gripes from drivers about bicyclists is how often they see bikes running red lights. Never mind that most of the time, the bikes are just trying to put as much distance between themselves and cars as possible, and that they wait until the intersection is clear to go; apparently it's galling. In Virginia, it may still be galling, but it's now officially legal for bicyclists, motorcyclists, or moped riders to run a red after waiting two minutes for it to change. Prediction: This will do absolutely nothing to stop drivers from grumbling. +1

Green Means D.C.: The District government loves boasting about how environmentally friendly its policies are. Now it turns out those boasts may be justified. A ranking of 27 U.S. and Canadian cities by Siemens put D.C. number one in "environmental governance," and number eight overall in general green-ness. In water conservation, the District ranked 24th. Guess those rain barrels aren't enough. +2

Yesterday's Needle rating: 49 Today's score: +3 Today's Needle rating: 52

In addition to today being Friday, it's also April 23—Shakespeare's birthday. And his deathday, 52 years later. That's right, Shakespeare was born and he died on the same day. Though the exact day of his birth—like seemingly so many aspects of his life and work—remains a historical estimate. 

A little closer to home, it's not cool (or legal) to drink and bike, according to the D.C. Court of Appeals. According to the eight-page opinion, it's also illegal to ride "draft animals or beasts of burden" while intoxicated. So, for all you Loudon County residents thinking of taking your horse into the District for your next night on the town, better to leave it in the stables.

Yesterday was Earth Day. The United States actually "only" ranks ninth in the world in carbon dioxide emissions per capita, with Middle Eastern countries nabbing ignominiously assuming the top the top four spots. Nationally, Virginia ranks twelfth and Maryland ranks nineteenth. Suburbanites: In this case, ranking lower = better.

The NFL draft was last night, and the Redskins, with the fourth pick, chose left tackle Trent Williams out of the University of Oklahoma. In the surprise of the draft, Christian right posterboy and 2007 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, who won two national championships in his career with Florida, was picked 25th.

Tonight: Even if you typically want to avoid tourists and teenagers, Chinatown's still the place to be, as the Caps take on the Canadiens at the Verizon Center in a potentially series-clinching game five in the NHL playoffs.

Photo courtesy of lifeinbitesize.wordpress.com.

I unfortunately had the awful experience of being hit by a car on my commute home this evening. The details are as follows: Around 5:50 PM I was riding along First St. NW with other commuters. We crossed over Florida Ave and a car came in behind me, horn continuously on, and accelerated into my rear wheel knocking me to the ground. The driver then got out of the car and yelled some obscenity at me. He got back into his car and left the scene.

I ended up with a few bruises and bumps but luckily no serious injury, but my rear wheel was destroyed along with my saddle, still not sure about the frame. Although there were seven plus witnesses, we were only able to get a partial license plate. We did get a great description of the car. The police arrived on the scene and took all the witness statements, etc and the incident will be filed as a hit and run.

WTOP's Mark Segraves noted the huge time suck for officers on the Fenty bike detail:

"Documents obtained by the police union through a Freedom of Information Act request show officers from the Special Events Branch are routinely detailed for the "mayor's bike ride," racking up hundreds of man hours – many of which officers spend waiting for the mayor.

On multiple occasions, WTOP witnessed uniformed officers waiting for one to two hours for the mayor's cycling team to arrive for their training rides.

Thanks to Fenty, Lanier is now forced to offer some kind of lame quote. This past summer, Lanier had to defend her officers' zany response to that Fenty traffic accident. Now comes her weak defense of her department's escort service for Fenty's bike team.

Lanier told WTOP:

"For the mayor to have a security team when he's out riding his bike is not unusual. It's not uncommon. I don't look at their daily agenda of where they go or what they do. I don't know about running stop signs and stop lights and things of that nature."

There are few officials who are more prepared, more media savvy than Lanier. She rarely offers up an "I don't know" response when getting grilled before the D.C. Council. She almost always has an answer and the stats to back her up. This is a chief that lives the job. For her to not know where the mayor is or what her officers are doing is laughable. Can we blame the mayor for Lanier's sudden drop in I.Q. points?

D.C. cyclists are planning a local route as part of the national Ride of Silence tomorrow that will pass the places where Alice Swanson and Ian Wolfe died, as well as American Univeristy, where Brent Hurd, killed while cycling in India, taught.

The ride will start at 7 p.m. at the Jefferson Memorial and will be over by 10 p.m. The WashCycle, which planned the route, encourages people to wear a helmet and to bring a black armband to remember those injured on bikes. "If you have been injured while cycling," the site says, "please wear a red armband instead. As we will be riding at dusk you should also bring reflective clothing and lights for your bike."

The Ride of Silence, started by a Dallas-area cyclist in 2003 to honor an endurance rider killed by the mirror of a passing bus, is not sponsored by anyone and it's free. Anyone can participate in tomorrow's D.C. ride.

Photograph of Alice Swanson's ghost bike at the 2000 block of R Street NW by Darrow Montgomery

That's right: The guy that we put on our cover story about helmet use last week has been located. You remember him—he's the guy that we photographed from the rear, on a blue bike. Carrying a helmet—not on his head, but rather around the hip area. We posed a question: "What's This Guy Thinking?" alongside the photograph.

He answers it in his BYT post:

I consider myself a fairly established bike rider, nothing special, but I know what I’m doing. Like many people in the article, I was a bike messenger in Richmond for years. The day that photo was taken, I spent most of my day on the bike path, and only did a small amount of riding in traffic. Trust me – I wore that helmet when dealing with traffic, but found it pointless on the bike path and sidewalks. I know for a fact that cars eat bikes, and I’m not about to let some Maryland driver put me six feet into the ground. OUTRAGEOUSLY, when that photo was taken I WAS ON THE SIDEWALK. And then you ask “What’s this guy thinking?” Tell you what I wasn’t thinking: I wasn’t thinking that before I jumped onto the bike path to head home with my new Tobacco-Use-Only glass pipe in my pocket that some ass clown would take a photo of me and publish it on the cover of the City Paper. That’s the last thing I was thinking.

A couple of points here: 1) That "ass clown" is Darrow Montgomery, a professional photographer who took a priceless shot to illustrate the story. If you want to invest in a helmet and then proceed to not use it—and do all of that in public, then we have every right to grab a shot of it.

2) This whole notion about taking the helmet on and off according to traffic levels: Do you also take off your seat belt when you reach a country road, only to strap it back on when you're in the city again?

IN THE BEGINNING: DeBonis left his house at 9 a.m., locked his bike to a signpost near South Capitol and D Street SW, and walked approximately two blocks to the green gate for ticketed swearing-in watchers. He reports he had little problem retrieving his bike post-ceremony, despite the "sea of humanity," which now replaces "I wanted to be a part of history" as the most cliched phrase of this inauguration.

Regarding the bike valet experiment, DeBonis says, "Glad I didn't do it. I'd probably still be waiting."

He's now attempting to bike or walk the bike to the Wilson at 14th and Pennsylvania NW. We will keep you updated on this historic quest.

UPDATE 1:54 p.m.: DeBonis, via BlackBerry, says he made it to 12th and Pennsylvania. Getting close!

UPDATE 2:04 p.m.: He's at 14th and Pennsylvania! It was "real tough" around L'Enfant Plaza, where bicycleless, clueless hordes were trying to get on Metro. DeBonis had to "plow big-time" through them. He is mainly "gliding" on the bike, with one foot readied to plant on the ground and push him through. He did have to get off and walk the bike at one point.

UPDATE 2:30 p.m.: Thwarted! DeBonis makes it all the way to 12th and Constitution, where he meets a chain-link fence about 8 feet high and, more importantly, a Secret Service officer. The officer tells our intrepid correspondent that he cannot cross Constitution and suggests DeBonis go up to 18th Street and around the White House. DeBonis, ever calculating the maps inside his head, protests. "That would still put me north of Pennsylvania Avenue and I have to get south of it," he says. No dice. DeBonis is on the hunt for another Secret Service officer, "one who tells me what I want to hear."

UPDATE 2:46 p.m.: Denied again! Another SS officer at 14th and Constitution mocks DeBonis' journey. In DeBonis' words, she "didn't give a shit." But this is not a time for giving up. This is a time for optimism! For crossing icy waters and unclenching fists! DeBonis says: "I'm going to try another one, but you can see some of the parade from here, some of the bands." Keep hope alive!

UPDATE 3:03 p.m.: Guess he can't. DeBonis, dejected, calls in from the south side of the Washington Monument and reports that "the dream is slipping away." Misery, however, has company: "A Post reporter and photographer are in the exact same situation," he says. DeBone's plan is to bike west around the perimeter and head back north, and then east through Penn Quarter. Asked if he might just stop in for a beer somewhere and call it a day, DeBonis was indecisive.

UPDATE 3:14 P.M.: "Here's the poetic end to my quest," says DeBonis by telephone. "I'm going to Delaney's for Inaug Dogs....I'll twitter some stuff on the way there."

Tomorrow, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association will be running Inauguration Day bike valet stations from 7 am to 5 pm.

If you're interested in having the cycling-supporters park and guard your ride while you hang with Obama, one of the two stations will be located north of the National Mall at 16th St. NW between K St. & I St., the other south of the Mall in the Jeffersonian Memorial parking lot. These spots are just outside the inauguration's hard security zone, so after you drop off your two-wheeled loved-one, it's an easy stroll to a "general public entry point," as  WABA's google map, replete with bike-routes you can take to the area, illustrates.

Though they're bound to have quite a few bikes to park, considering the response the organization got from riders hoping to use the service, don't worry, they'll find space for your ride. If the bike racks donated to the group by Dero Racks fill up, WABA will start dragging over surplus crowd control barriers.

Handing over a cycle will be easy.

Just find the line of people with bikes (WABA volunteers will be working very hard to keep that line short) and wait for a turn. Black-vested attendants will take both bike and biking-stuff, like trailers and panniers– and assign a numbered ticket to the gear. Half the ticket will go with you, the other half with your bike, attached to its handlebars by a twist tie.

The last step is to visit the sign-up table and write name and cell-phone digits (supplying a cell-number isn't required, but encouraged ) in WABA's binder. If there's some sort of emergency, like heavy snowfall, the valets will buzz people's phones to let them know to pick-up early.

Try not to lose the ticket. If it happens anyway, be sure to have I.D. so the valets can link name and bike.

Art by  Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Yesterday, the Washington City Paper's own Darrow Montgomery asked an important question in the comments section of a post focusing on the flood of RSVPs (as of now, over 1,300) the Washington Area Bicycle Association has received for its Inaug-Day bicycle-parking service: "What happens to bikes locked up outside these areas?"

Seeking an answer, City Desk contacted Kevin Griffis, spokesman for the Presidential Inaugural Committee. "As long as [a parked/locked bike isn't] obstructing traffic, it should be fine," Griffis said, but suggested we contact MPD to be sure.

D.C. police spokeswoman Traci Hughes had this to say about the subject via email: "If your readers want to park and lock outside the parade perimeter as they would on a normal day that is fine." Hughes then added that bikers should, "Keep in mind there may be theft issues considering the number of people."

An email from First District Commander David Kamperin was similar in nature, except the officer had his own keep-in-mind. "Keep in mind [bikers] are prohibited from securing to official signs, posts, etc."

James R. Sebastian, the District Department of Transportation's bike program manager, also offered up some advice on inaugural bike parking:

There are no special bike parking spots besides the valet stations, but bicyclists can park where they normally are allowed to park: bike racks and other ‘stanchions’ in public space (like parking meters, streets signs, etc) EXCEPT for fire hydrants, poles in bus stop areas, within 25 feet of an intersection, and trees under 10 feet in diameter.

Sebastian said he doesn't know what Commander Kamperin meant by cyclists being "prohibited from securing to official signs, posts, etc."

photo by modomatic

Update: It's on. Find out how to use the inaugural bike valet here

The Washington Area Bicycle Association's Henry Mesias says a 2:30 meeting between the organization and the District Department of Transportation yesterday, in which plans to allow WABA to set up a bike valet station for Inauguration Day were discussed, "went well."  But he also says that the organization won't know if inauguration-goers arriving by cycle will be able to hand their vehicles over to a crew of frocked WABA volunteers, until later: A number of folks "at the top of the ladder" will have to sign off on the idea, he explains.

Mesias is hoping that, for the sake of inaugural-pedalers, the station gets approved. "Biking will be the best way to get to the inauguration," he contends, "roads are going to be out of the question and Metro will be overburdened. [Without a valet station] there might  be a lot of people parking their bikes in places they shouldn't and getting their bike locks cut by Secret Service."

Update: How to Use the Inaugural Bike Valet

Yesterday, Loose Lips Daily linked to San Francisco Bike Blog– which thinks the Washington Area Bicycle Association should bring its bike valet service to Inauguration 2009.

"Who wants to get hands-runneth-over by security guards just so you can stand on a packed [Metro] platform with dudes in blue, carrying big, automatic weapons? Not me. People need to be able to go by bike, and they need a place to put their bikes when they arrive. The local cycling organization knows how to do bike valet parking – they should offer it at the inauguration."

Turns out WABA has a Thursday meeting with DDOT to discuss doing exactly that.

If all goes well at the meeting, says WABA staffer Henry Mesias, the organization will set up a bike valet station towards the south of the Capitol and just outside the inauguration's hard-security-perimeter.