Month: July 2011

Earlier this month, WABA rode with Councilmember Jack Evans through his ward, including on L, M, and 15th Streets, NW. Afterward, he expressed his support for both the L & M cycletracks and the 15th Street cycletracks. Later that week, he reportedly met with DDOT Director Bellamy to communicate the need to complete the L […]

Last night, Councilmember Tommy Wells hosted an evening bike ride through parts of Southeast to explore the planned South Capitol Bridge Project.  WABA joined CM Wells, representatives from the DC Bicycle Advisory Council, DDOT’s Bicycle & Pedestrian Program, DDOT’s new head engineer, and many community members.  Discussions centered around the traffic circle (to be built […]

This weekend’s event at the Malcolm X Recreation Center felt more like a neighborhood bike party than a mobile bike shop. While children spent their time racing bikes around an impromptu velodrome or partnered up with mechanics from The Bike House , families relaxed in the shade sharing popsicles and pleasantries. Be sure to check […]

You might’ve noticed that here in the DC region, we’re embroiled in our annual heat wave. Temperatures are hovering in the triple-digit range, air quality alerts and heat advisories are a daily routine. Even some of us who ride our bikes year-round don’t find too much enjoyment biking in these circumstances, but there are a […]

Several months ago, WABA asked residents of Wards 7 and 8 to tell us what they would do with a new bicycle and how it would change their lives. The response was overwhelming. Last week, we contacted the lucky winners of our Get On a Bike contest and delivered five brand new 2011 Jamis Commuter […]

In its excellent article on the uptick in the number of black women cycling in DC, Washington Post reporter Vanessa Williams mentions some of WABA’s work in wards 7 and 8 that is part of our East of the Anacostia program.  Again, thanks to those who have donated their time and money to this program. […]

(For a description of the HIA project, CLICK HERE.) On July 1, WABA received the exciting news that we have been chosen to move forward to the next round of the Pew Trust/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Impact Project.  Out of nearly 250 applications nationwide, only 40 were asked to submit a full proposal.   […]

Since 2006 the Washington Area Bicyclist Association has educated over 26,000 children in the District of Columbia in safe bicycling and pedestrian habits.  In the Washington DC region, we are nearing our 100,000th student reached via our mobile bike rodeo trailers, in-service training sessions for teachers, hands on bike lessons, in class pedestrian and bicycle […]

When we first read it, WABA had no intention of responding to Justine Whelan’s anti-cyclist rant, published by the Ballston Patch.  For the most part, the article’s content is so similar to the random blog comments we cyclists see regularly, it hardly seemed worth responding to.  But there was one interesting thing that I’d like […]

Last night at the July meeting of the DC Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1C tabled its vote on the  proposed Columbia Rd., NW bike lanes.  These proposed bike lanes would extend from Connecticut Ave. NW to Harvard Rd. NW. This 1 mile section of bike lanes creates a continuous on-street bicycle facility through Adams Morgan and […]

As our Mobile bike shop came to a close this Sunday, many who attended stayed behind to help The Bike House pack up their tools and supplies, and continue conversations about bicycling in their neighborhoods. A total of 20 bicycles were brought back to life throughout the day.

From Greater Greater Washington: Event planners need to be mindful of common bikeway access points when setting up street closures. It is not appropriate to use a one-size-fits-all security approach anymore where people are treated as cars or non-cars. Fine, close off the Mall. Set up a perimeter. But take into consideration those of us […]

On her blog, WTOP’s Kate Ryan has a quick take on the cyclist as crime-fighter, inspired by a story in which the presence of a cyclist scared away a rapist in Montgomery Village.  She also references a case earlier this year in which a cyclist provided critical evidence in a hit-and-run in Dupont Circle. These […]