Category: BikeDC Speaks

BikeDC Speaks, Commuting & Transpo

What Word Sums Up Your Cycling Experience?

Photo by Felkerino
Photo by Felkerino

With the D.C. area’s celebration of riding your bike to work known as Bike to Work Day happening this Friday, I’m revisiting some inspiring words from the #BikeDC cyclists I interviewed several months ago.

One of several questions I asked of this group was:

What word or phrase describes your D.C. bicycling experience?

I love this question because cycling can mean so many different things to people. Yet common themes also exist among us. Below is what some of the members of #BikeDC had to say in response to that question.

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BikeDC Speaks, Commute Tips and Tricks, Commuting & Transpo

What’s Your Advice on City Cycling?

With the influx of riders taking to the streets this spring (oh how I’ve dreamed of using the word influx in a post), I thought I’d feature the advice BikeDC peeps have shared about cycling in the city.

The BikeDC Speaks interview series featured eight D.C.-area cyclists– six women and two men– and their perspectives on various commuting topics. I’ve since taken the interviews and divided them into topics, like the one discussed today.

Cycling in the city has its ups and downs. It’s more up than down most days, but it’s still much different than a meander on a quiet country road.

If you read this blog, it’s quite likely you are an urban cyclist too, so please chime in with your own thoughts.

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BikeDC Speaks, Commute Tips and Tricks, Commuting & Transpo

How to Make the City a Better Place for Cyclists

As I wrote last week, I’m bringing back the BikeDC Speaks series to highlight some of the questions and issues it raised. This time, I’m also asking you to share your ideas and suggestions.

Carradice-heavy commute and me

Last week’s post asked about the best advice anyone ever gave you about cycling. This week’s question is:

What could the District do to make it an even better city for cyclists?

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BikeDC Speaks, Commute Tips and Tricks, Commuting & Transpo

What’s the Best Advice Anyone Gave You about Cycling?

Back in the fall, I put together a series that explored D.C.-area cyclists’ views and experiences about riding in the city.

Surly LHT with Ortliebs

#BikeDC Speaks featured 8 local cyclists– six women and two men. Some contributors began commuting regularly within the last year or two while others have commuted for several years. Thanks again to all the people who made this series come to life!

I initially featured each post by contributor. I am now presenting the series to highlight some of the questions and ideas shared.

This time I’m also asking you, dear readers and fellow riders, what are your answers to these questions?

OK, first question:

What is one of the best pieces of advice anyone has given you about bicycling?

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BikeDC Speaks, Commute Tips and Tricks, Commuting & Transpo

Bicycles are Not Cars: Girl on a Bike on #BikeDC Speaks

We’re back for the final installment of the #BikeDC Speaks series.

If you ride in the D.C. area and do any blog reading or tweeting, you have probably heard of Girl on a Bike, aka Kate. A regular commuter and excellent blogger, Kate regularly participates in a lot of local #BikeDC events. I’m thrilled that she agreed to guest post for #BikeDC Speaks. Thank you, Girl on a Bike!

I’d also like to thank everyone who participated in this series of posts. #BikeDC Speaks featured 8 local cyclists, six women and two men. Some contributors began commuting regularly within the last year or two and others have commuted for several years.

I hope to do a little aggregation of the themes discussed by each contributor and share these in later posts down the road. In the meantime, please enjoy Kate’s post. I know that I did!

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BikeDC Speaks, Commute Tips and Tricks

Using Shared Infrastructure Sharingly: Chris on #BikeDC Speaks

After several weeks of #BikeDC Speaks posts from the women of the #BikeDC community, we are back this week with a guy’s point of view on riding in the D.C. area.

Chris is another familiar face from #FridayCoffeeClub and, if you ride along MacArthur Avenue, you may spot him there as well. During his years of commuting in the area, Chris has observed and learned a lot about cycling in the city. AND as a new parent who hopes to have his daughter accompany him on rides, I thought he would make a great guest contributor.

Without further ado, here is Chris’s take on riding in D.C.

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BikeDC Speaks, Commute Tips and Tricks, Commuting & Transpo

Getting Better All the Time: Leslie T. on #BikeDC Speaks

Leslie T., superhero transportation cyclist, and I go way back to the days I first began riding with the D.C. Randonneurs. If there is a way to get there by bike, Leslie will figure out it. When work requires her to travel, she takes a bike along. Vacation? It usually involves a bike. Getting around town? Bike, of course.

You may have seen Leslie out and about. She volunteers with WABA, partakes in the occasional touring and group ride, and regularly attends #FridayCoffeeClub. Here is what Leslie had to say about cycling in the Washington, D.C. area.

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BikeDC Speaks, Commute Tips and Tricks, Commuting & Transpo

Making Yourself Part of the City: Laura M. on #BikeDC Speaks

Time for another edition of #BikeDC Speaks. This week’s post is brought to us by D.C. bike commuter and transportation cyclist Laura M., also known as @grafxnerd on the Twitterverse. Twitter and the magical #BikeDC hashtag is how I first “met” her!

Laura has a keen eye for detail which is not only apparent in the beautiful bikes she has built up, but also in the observations she makes about the positives and negatives of riding in the Washington, D.C., area. Read on and see for yourself.

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BikeDC Speaks, Commute Tips and Tricks, Commuting & Transpo

Freedom!: Ultrarunnergirl on #BikeDC Speaks

Kirstin, aka Ultrarunnergirl, is one of the many great people I’ve met through #FridayCoffeeClub (which you should think about attending, if you do not already).

As her blog suggests, Kirstin is an ultrarunner as well as a cyclist, and is one of few people I know who also run commutes when she’s not out bike commuting. Here’s what she had to say about riding in the Washington, D.C., area.

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BikeDC Speaks, Commute Tips and Tricks, Commuting & Transpo

Don’t Overthink It: #BikeDC Speaks to Joan O.

Now that the big vacation has ended, #BikeDC Speaks has returned to the front page! This week features a guest post from Joan O., a transportation and recreational cyclist who calls Arlington, Virginia, home.

I’ve gotten to know Joan from seeing her out and about on some of the same roads I regularly travel. She’s a friendly and outgoing cyclist with a thirst for adventure. Here’s what she had to say about riding in the Washington, D.C. area.

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BikeDC Speaks, Commute Tips and Tricks, Commuting & Transpo

#BikeDC Speaks to Lisa S.: Growing Up as a Cyclist

What better way to send us into the 4th of July holiday than with another edition of BikeDC Speaks?

This week features Lisa S., who I know through randonneuring and Friday Coffee Club, our weekly bike commuter gathering at Swings. Lisa also writes an engaging blog, Rambling Rider, about her rides as well as the gear she’s using.

Thank you, Lisa, for being a guest contributor for BikeDC Speaks! What are her observations about riding in the city? Read on and see!

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BikeDC Speaks, Commute Tips and Tricks, Commuting & Transpo

It’s Life Changing: Marc M. on #BikeDC Speaks

This week I’m launching a series of guest posts called “BikeDC Speaks.” And I don’t mean “Passing on your left.” We’re going beyond that. This series explores local cyclists’ thoughts and views about their bicycling experiences in the D.C. area.

My first post features Marc M., a fellow Tweep and FridayCoffeeClub regular. Thanks so much, Marc, and I hope you all enjoy the upcoming series!

Marc M.’s Bianchi on top of Sugarloaf Mountain (c) Marc M.

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