Call to Action from The League of American Bicyclists

Ask Your Representative to Preserve Biking and Walking   
Take Action!  Transportation Committee votes on biking and walking funding next week

On Thursday, February 2, we expect the House Transportation Committee to vote on the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, a bill that eliminates crucial funds for biking and walking.  As a Member of the Committee, your representative is in a key position to save dedicated funding for biking and walking.  Please contact them today and ask them to vote to preserve biking and walking.

The American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, the long awaited multi year Transportation bill, eliminates the two largest programs that fund biking and walking infrastructure—Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School.  Without these programs, communities all over the country will lose resources to build the sidewalks, crosswalks, and bikeways that make biking and walking safe and accessible in your community.

We can’t let that happen.

That’s why we’re working to introduce an amendment that will preserve funding for biking and walking. During Thursday’s vote, your representative could be the key to making sure that this amendment passes in the Transportation Committee. Will you contact them today to ask that they vote to preserve funding for biking and walking in the transportation bill?

Tell them:

Biking and walking make up 12 percent of all trips, but only 1.5 percent of federal funding.
Two out of three pedestrian deaths take place on roads built with federal funding.  Ensuring funds for sidewalks, crosswalks, and bikeways help end preventable deaths and make roads safer for everyone.
When town centers are biking and walking friendly, business and economic development improves.
Thank you for all that you do to keep bicycling and walking safe and accessible.

Around 40 cyclists attended the Burke-Springfield bike plan meeting tonight at the West Springfield Governmental Center. Bob Patten of Toole Design Group gave an overview of the planning process. Bob noted that the average commute to work trip for the Burke-Springfield area is 14.2 miles which means that commuting by bike is not going to be an option for many people. However, the average length of approximately 75,000 other trips is less than three miles and could easily be taken by bike.

Bob mentioned the idea of having a mini bike share system connecting the north Ft. Belvoir area with the Franconia-Springfield Metro station.

A cyclist in the audience noted that when he rides his bike to the store there’s often no place to park his bike. Another cyclist said that Arlington, Alexandria, DC and many other cities around the U.S. have somehow found the funds to make their communities more bike-friendly and we should be able to do the same. We’re often forced onto major arterials and we need better bike connections.

Another cyclist said that kids should be able to ride to school. In many cases kids live directly across the street and can’t even walk there because they need to cross a major arterial. Using buses to cross barriers was suggested as one solution that needs to be publicized and made easier.

A woman noted that she likes to ride with her 7 year old around Lake Accotink but she’s encountered archers hired to kill deer in those areas. She refuses to ride there and ends up going to other, less dangerous areas outside the county. We’ve heard about this from a FABB member who has the same concern along the W&OD Trail between Reston and Vienna. If you aren’t aware, Fairfax County has opened up many parks to archers this year.

After the group discussion people gathered around large scale maps and made comments on where they ride, where they want to ride but can’t, and where they’d like to see improvements. They could also comment on other aspects of the plan including bike education, enforcement, and encouragement.

The next bike plan area meeting is for the Annandale area on February 15 at the Mason District Governmental Center, 6507 Columbia Pike, Annandale starting at 4:30 p.m. Since that is on the same night as the FABB meeting, we plan to hold the FABB meeting after this meeting at the same location in Annandale.

DancesWithCarsDC has posted videos of the presentation and Q&A session:

Labels: bicycle master plan, burke, springfield

via Blog – Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling (FABB).

Please help us reach our goal of 25 bikes and helmets our Reston Interfaith's Bike Fundraiser. Your donation will help bring miles of fun and health to children in need this holiday season.

The Bike Lane is raising money to buy safe high quality bikes and helmets for kids in need this holiday season. 

For the last five years The Bike Lane and our customers have donated over 200 bikes and helmets to children during the holidays.  We believe that all kids deserve the fun, freedom, and health that comes with riding a bicycle.  By giving bikes to children through the Reston Interfaith program we know that the bikes will go to local children who may not otherwise receive such a wonderful life changing gift.

The Bike Lane is excited to partner with Reston Interfaith to donate bikes to children in need this holiday season.  Reston Interfaith helps people build more stable lives by connecting them to vital resources that solve their needs for housing, childcare, food or financial assistance.

We accept only monetary donations from individuals, corporations, and matching programs.  If your business would like to help sponsor the Reston Interfaith Holiday Bike Fundraiser please email anne@thebikelane.com.

Make your DONATION HERE!

Help us to reach our Goal of:  25  bikes and 25 helmets!

Every donation counts!

The Bike Lane will use 100% of your monetary donation to purchase safe high quality youth bikes and helmets at our cost. We will then build the bikes and donate them to Reston Interfaith to distribute to children in need. 

Thank you and Happy Holidays from The Bike Lane and our supporters:
Businesses interested in becoming a sponsor please email Anne@thebikelane.com for more information.

Check it out- The Bike Lane is now using Retul totechnology for our bike fittings!  Retul is a motion-capture bike fitting system designed to help our bike fitters gain valuable and comprehensive bike fit data.  Retul uses a three-dimensional measurement, immediate report capability, and a millimeter-specific digitizing tool to provide the most accurate dynamic fitting solution in the industry.The goal of Retül technology is to assist bike fitters in making objective and accurate fit decisions, as a proper bike fit is one of the single most important factors for optimal performance and efficiency, injury prevention, and comfort on the bike.  Our fit staff is also F.I.S.T. Certified. The Slowtwitch Institute designed F.I.S.T. to provide bike shop professionals with the tools they need to properly fit a triathlete to his or her triathlon racing bicycle.  Please call either our Reston or Springfield shop to make an appointment.  For more information about our Retul service please call our Reston shop.   Most appointments are made during the week to ensure that we are able to focus on the customer during less busy store hours.  Please bring your cycling shorts and shoes.  Fittings can be one to two hours depending on which service the customer chooses.

Want more info about Retul and F.I.S.T. fitting?  Here are a few articles we thought you might find interesting.

Trek/Kswiss Tri Team Retul’d

Fits with Radio Shack and Livestrong

Retul and Trek Speed Concept

Perfect Positions for Kona

The F.I.S.T. Method of Fitting

For more on our pricing please visit our site.

The Fig

The next morning we woke up and had a wonderful breakfast and walked out to our bikes. Our water bottles were filled and the tires were pumped up by our guides, pretty sweet. We all met up for a route briefing, we were told that we would have a chance to ride by Neverland Ranch and the guides asked who was up for the challenge of The Fig. The group got quiet and Joe and I raised our hands, we had accepted the challenge. The group hopped on the bikes and we all rolled out together. There was beautiful scenery on the way out of Santa Ynez. We rode for about 14 miles and we reached the base of Mount Figueroa. To get to the summit of the mountain, yes I did say summit, you have to ride for 10 miles with very little respite at an average gradient of 9.5%. We met Rustin at the Trek Travel van fueled up and turned towards the climb. Three others joined us, but after the first two turns uphill two turned back, only Dave from Michigan was with Joe and me on the Fig that day. Joe rode that climb like a champ most of the climb he rode well in front of me. The landscape was very pretty, but the concentration it took to ride up the steep road made it hard to stop and admire it. The first 2-3 miles were filled with sharp switchbacks and also a dirt road climb. We received our only break after we crested the end of the dirt road, and had a quick downhill to the true base of the mountain. Joe was still riding strong ahead of me as we began the 7 miles to the top. Let me preface the rest of the climb story by saying that this was the hardest ride I had ever done, we gained about 5000ft of elevation in 11 miles. We rode for the next few miles in the saddle, out of the saddle, and off the bike. Joe and I met up at the final turn up the mountain. We trudged on and at every turn I figured, hoped, that it was the top. Finally I saw a gate at the top of the mountain, the road kicked briefly to 17% and then leveled off at the top. I had reached the summit! I waited for Joe and we took a picture to celebrate our victory. Dave followed us a little bit later. The descent was probably about as challenging as the climb. It was an extremely bumpy road with very tight turns and no guard rails. I kept thinking to myself how on earth do pro riders descend so fast. After a few miles we stop at a ranger station and filled up with water and continued on down the mountain. My hands and forearms were completely wrecked by the time I got to the bottom of The Fig, but the road smoothed and flattened out and Joe and I sped to town, passing Neverland Ranch along the way. We barely noticed it, all we wanted to do was get to a restaurant to get a beer and a burger. We rode up to Los Olivos and saw the bikes parked from the rest of the group and headed inside to let them know that we made it in. The food was good, the beer was better!

Tuesday morning came extremely early. We went out the night before and had a great dinner paired with wines at the restaurant next to our hotel. We had another day of climbing ahead of us, about 3000ft. Everyone in the group accepted the challenge and we road together through some beautiful country to Fess Parker Winery. Our picnic lunch was prepared by Shannon, the food and the wine tasting following the ride was great. Joe and I headed back to the hotel and called it a day after about 13 miles more, Rustin provided a wheel for me to chase and we were back in soothing our muscles in the hot tub in no time. Our last night in Santa Ynez was spent hanging out at an amazing Mexican restaurant with great Margaritas and then on to Mavericks Bar for drinks, shuffle board and Karaoke, yes you read that right.

Our last day in Santa Ynez came to soon on Wednesday morning, we dressed to ride, but first had to drive back to where Joe and I began our week in Goleta at the State Park by the beach. Our ride for the day was along the coast into Santa Barbara. First things first I needed to make a stop at In n’ Out Burger, a ritual for me during trips to California. I did a search for restaurants in my trusty Garmin 800 and it lead us straight to burgers and shakes. The Garmin did tell us it was only 3 miles, but really it was 5 yet it was worth every pedal stroke there! We finished up took a picture or two and rolled back to our starting point and on to Santa Barbara. The ride down the coast was was a nice change from all the climbing we had done so far, most of it was downhill and a cruise to downtown. We arrived at our new hotel, The Fess Parker Doubletree, and after getting cleaned up went out for a great dinner on Searn’s Wharf. We watched the sun go down and all the boats coming into the harbor. Not a bad way to end the day.

Thursday got us back to climbing, we had scheduled around 4000ft of climbing to get some better views of Santa Barbara. Unfortunately there was heavy cloud cover, but the ride was fun none the less. After a week of asking Joe for directions, I was too lazy to read my cue sheet, we had a little separation and I took a wrong turn. I really wanted to do some extra climbing any way and I got to race a hiker up a super steep hill, you will have to ask me in person who won. After Rustin came in the van to come get me and take me back to where I should have turned it was a great descent back down into town. We had a picnic at a park across from an old Mission. The meal was prepared by Matt and it included some fancy cupcakes to celebrate my birthday which was very much appreciated. We finished up lunch and all road back to town together. We dinner our last night of the trip we had an extra special treat, dinner at John Burke’s house the owner of Trek. Unfortunately he wasn’t there, but I can say that I had my birthday party at the owner of Treks house. It was a bitter sweet night since it was our last one in California together as a group, but we had a wonderful time.

Friday was a whirlwind for Joe and I. We woke up early and with a few of our trip member took one last ride around Santa Barbara. It was a great way to end the week. We said our goodbyes and took our shuttle to the airport. Early Saturday morning we arrived at Dulles and met up with our shop ride at 9a.m. Saturday, that might have been a mistake. The trip was amazing the people we met, especially our guides were great. The routes, the scenery and the wine was hard to beat. Joe and I are already trying to figure where we will go with Trek next. Trek Travel offers trips of all ability levels and all over the world. Do you want to come with?

For more information (including additional meeting dates/locations), visit the project web site at: www.tooledesign.com/fairfax.

Upcoming Meetings

PUBLIC OPEN HOUSE: Herndon | Reston | Sterling
Thursday, October 20, 2011
6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Sunrise Valley Elementary School
10824 Cross School Road, Reston, VA 20191
Access from the W&OD Trail: Take the side path east of Sunrise Valley Drive to the school parking lot sidewalk

PUBLIC OPEN HOUSE: Mt. Vernon | Rose Hill | Ft. Belvoir | Mason Neck | Huntington
Thursday, Nov 17, 2011
5:30 – 8:00 p.m.
South County Government Center
8350 Richmond Hwy, Alexandria, VA
Conference Room 221 A-B, 2nd Floor

The Countywide Bicycle Transportation Plan builds on the Fairfax County Bicycle Map, released on May 16th, 2008 and the Tysons Corner Bike Plan, which was presented to the public in spring of 2011 and is currently under review by the County Board of Supervisors. The Bicycle Map was a top priority of the Board of Supervisors, and shows bike friendly routes connecting all of Fairfax County. More information and downloadable versions of the map are available at:

www.fairfaxcounty.gov/fcdot/bike/bikemap/

The Tysons Corner Bike Plan was developed as the first phase of the Countywide Bicycle Transportation Plan, to coordinate with the introduction of Metro’s Silver Line and the land use changes ongoing and anticipated in Tysons Corner. The Fairfax County Bicycle Master Plan, Phase I: Tysons Corner can be viewed at:

www.fairfaxcounty.gov/fcdot/bike/tysonsbikeplan/tysons_final_bike_master_plan.htm

Phase 2 will build on the information gleaned from Phase 1, and will broadly address bicycle access throughout Fairfax County. The goal of this phase will be to identify specific improvements that are needed to accommodate and encourage bicycling within and between activity and population centers throughout Fairfax County, as well as to adjacent jurisdictions. Building from the policy analysis conducted in Phase 1, Phase 2 will recommend countywide policies and programs needed to support bicycling. Bicyclists of all skill levels will be accommodated in this Plan.

The objectives to be addressed include:

• Encouraging healthy lifestyles and physical activity through daily commutes;
• Enhanced recreational opportunities;
• Increased conservation of energy resources;
• Congestion mitigation and emission reduction;
• Improved mobility for all transportation system users;
• Conversion of short (less than three miles) single-occupancy vehicle trips to bicycle trips.

Find out more about this project

Photos of the new 2012 Trek Women’s Specific Design models are now up on a Trek Women Facebook photo gallery. New models include the hot, retro Cocoa and the full suspension, trail ready Lush. Visit the Women’s Collection to find full information and specs on all 2012 WSD FX and Neko models plus select Lexa and Skye models.

Check out the photos of the 2012 WSD models.  The Bike Lane wants to know what is your favorite Trek Women’s Bike for 2012?