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From MPD:

Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Major Crash Unit are investigating a traffic fatality which occurred in the intersection of 11th and U Streets, NW.

On Thursday, May 16, 2013 at approximately 10:05 am, a Nissan Altima was traveling east bound on U Street in the center lane towards 11th Street. Upon entering the intersection at 11th Street he struck a bicycle that had entered the intersection traveling south bound on 11th Street. The bicyclist was not wearing a helmet at the time of the collision.

The bicyclist, 50-year-old Andre Brands was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.

The driver of the Nissan Altima did not sustain any injuries.

This case is currently under investigation.

Photo by PoPville flickr user Joe in DC

Photo by PoPville flickr user Joe in DC

Biking around Town is written by Josh Nadas (@dcliterate), a daily bike commuter & avid rider who works for the National Park Service, and lives in Mount Pleasant. Josh previously wrote about the Anacostia Riverwalk Ride.

One of the most well-worn bike routes around town is beach drive. It due in part to the fact that a good chunk of this ride is closed to cars on the weekend and the route has a couple of hills that are fun without being too challenging (according to the map statistics, you only gain approximately 300 feet of elevation, and I added in hills as I describe below). The parts of this ride that do have cars on the road, the cars are generally well-behaved because they expect bikes to be there. Unfortunately, this isn’t true everywhere or all the time, but it helps.

I started the map down in Rock Creek Park, at the part of Beach drive where the weekend car-free zone begins. The name of the article is fairly intuitive regarding the route – we will be riding along beach drive today all the way to Garret park. However, I chose to take a side route up and around ridge road because I wanted an extra hill. If you are not interested in this part, you can feel free to start pedaling up Beach drive; it’s easy to pick up the rest of the route. As a reminder, Ridge, make the right turn onto Ross drive in order to get back to beach, don’t follow ridge too far.

As you descend down Ross drive, make a right turn and then a quick left to make sure that you go under the Military Road Bridge. At that point, you’ll be riding up Beach Drive, until you reach a bit of a funny intersection at the bottom of a hill. You have the option of continuing to the left on Beach Dr, or going to the right on Beach Drive, NW. (I apologize for how un-intuitive that is). Make sure you head to the left, and continue until you get to east-west highway. At that point, the name of the road changes to Jones Mill Road. Be sure to follow traffic lights and patterns for this part of the ride, it’s a residential area with a decent amount of traffic. Take Jones Mill all the way to the 495 beltway, where you should keep your eyes peeled for a left turn after you pass underneath the bridge, because you’ll be picking up Beach Drive again.

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2008

Remember Smart Bike?

Photo by PoPville flickr user Lauren PM

From an email:

Bloomingdale Farmers Market
Sunday 9-1
First and R NW

Spring onions, spinach, mustard greens, asian greens, lettuce, kale, arugula, mesclun, salad greens, beets, sweet Hakurai turnips, herbs, radishes, sugar snaps, collards, rhubarb pie, stawberry-rhubarb pie, mushroom blue cheese quiche, chard and sundried tomato quiche, chicken, pork in all its glory, turkey, eggs, goat, humanely raised veal, sausages, 15 varieties of Keswick grass fed cheeses and yogurt, cookies, croissants, Breton desserts, baguettes, French multi grained breads, hundreds of herbs and vegetable seedlings; 5 kinds of basil, Mexican and Greek Oregano, many thymes, parsleys, sages, rosemary’s, etc. Unusual ly good tomato varieties.

Come by, come see. Rain or Shine. And you can always have a coffee next door at the Big Bear Cafe.

“We do basic maintenance such as patching flat tires, adjust gears and brakes, and fitting/adjusting the bike to the rider. We also give advice on riding in the area, safety, basic repair, and locking up. We are strictly volunteer run, with no shop affiliations, and completely free.”

From Vaughn:

Boundary Stone Bike Ride
Capitol Heights Metro
Sunday, May 12th, 2013
9:30am – 5:00pm | FREE!

Are you a history buff? Biking enthusiast? Regular old adventure seeker? Join me for a bike ride around the oldest federal monuments, the DC boundary stones.

I walked around the original DC border a few years ago with a friend, and I’d like to do it again – this time on two wheels instead of two feet.

Meet at the Capitol Heights metro at 9:30am – we’ll do the SE, SW, NW, and NE borders in that order. Feel free to join for 1, 2, 3, or all 4 sides. If you do it all, expect a solid day (~60 miles) of riding – it’s an urban ride, stopping for lights (and stopping to check out the stones!), so it’ll take longer than your normal weekend jaunt.

Here is the route. I highly recommend checking out the route in conjunction with this site.

This ride will be unsupported – I will provide directions (route + stone locations, places to stop for food & water, metro stops in case you need/want to stop riding), but you should be prepared with everything else you might need: ID & cash, pump & patch kit, etc. We will be riding on regular roads, so take necessary precautions.

Boundary Stone Public House and DC Brau Brewing Company have agreed to sponsor this excursion: the first 50 riders to show up on Sunday will get Boundary Stone commemorative bike ride tshirts, and there will be DC Brau Corruption IPA on tap for $4 at the post-party! Whether you ride one side or all four, join us at the bar from 5pm til ??

Here’s another one of those cool bamboo bikes.

From an email:

Join us for our third ever Washington, DC Coffee Bike Crawl!

We’ll enjoy a leisurely sunday morning bike ride peppered with visits to 5 locally owned, delicious cafes!

When: Sunday May 5th
Meet at 9:30am (wheels up at 10:00am)

Where: Qualia Coffee
3917 Georgia Ave NW Washington, DC 20011
We’ll meet at the tables outback. Feel free to leave bikes in the alley.

Nearest Metro: Georgia Avenue/Petworth

Stops include:
1. Qualia Coffee (Petworth)
2. Pleasant Pops Farmhouse Market & Cafe (U Street)
3. Baked and Wired (Georgetown)
4. The Coffee Bar (Shaw)
5. Big Bear Cafe (Bloomingdale)

This event is free and open to all ages.

RSVP and get updates on facebook.

Here are some fun pics from last time.

Biking around Town is written by Josh Nadas (@dcliterate), a daily bike commuter & avid rider who works for the National Park Service, and lives in Mount Pleasant.

This week, I got a suggestion from my friend Greg to ride along the Anacostia river walk. He had run along the river and enjoyed it, so I decided to ride it. I managed to stay on bike trail for just about the entire ride, and for the parts that I wasn’t able to – I modified my GPS map for your benefit. I made a wrong turn and strayed into Virginia, which takes away from the directness of the route, despite the benefit of additional mileage.

I started the ride in Rock Creek Park, and followed the bike path all the way down to Haines Point. From there I did a hot lap around the point, and took my favorite path across to the Fish Market and Water Street. That’s more or less where the Anacostia river walk begins, and you are able to follow signs for the rest of the ride. The final river walk trail is still in development, so this path represents the current detour down by Buzzard point. I had never been there, and was surprised at how industrial that part of DC looks. It was kinda cool to see that part of town, and to ride by the Coast Guard Headquarters, but it’s not exactly picturesque.

Once you get to the Frederick Douglass Bridge, it’s smooth sailing across the bridge and onto the trail. Upon crossing the water, you can blast off up the trail. There were some folks playing and fishing, but it’s a lot less crowded than the trails that follow the Potomac river. The day I rode the weather was spectacular, and I was the only cyclist on the trail when I was out. I followed the trail as far as I could – there is a fantastic looking bridge over the train tracks that is blocked for the time being. The bridge looks really nice, and I am looking forward to it’s official opening. Using the magic of mapping, I went ahead and drew the path as it continues on for a while longer. I rode around to the end and found the paved path ending in a pile of trail work equipment.

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Biking around Town is written by Josh Nadas (@dcliterate), a daily bike commuter & avid rider who works for the National Park Service, and lives in Mount Pleasant.

We are pretty blessed in Washington DC to have the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal Towpath available to us to ride on pretty much whenever. The path is car free, relatively flat, and generally uncongested – it has the makings of a great ride. It’s hard to write a lot more about the canal trail itself, because there is not much new to say.

One of the things I like about the canal is the opportunity to see wildlife. When I rode out on the trail, it was a bit drizzly and cool. The upside of which was the trail was nearly deserted and there was a ton of avian life. I was able to spot several different kinds of bird, and when I stopped for a snack, a turtle.

The trail itself is really easy to ride. It’s perfect for just about anyone, and any type of bike. The only bike I would not put on the trail is a skinny tire road bike. Pretty much anything with a flat bar is going to be okay, as long as you have reasonably fat tires. The path is a mixture of crushed gravel and sand, so having a slightly wider tire or some tread is desirable. The perfect bike is a cyclocross bike if you have one. I rode my single speed mountain bike, which was a little bit less than ideal but still fun.

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Biking around Town is written by Josh Nadas (@dcliterate), a daily bike commuter & avid rider who works for the National Park Service, and lives in Mount Pleasant.

I love Italian markets. There are a couple around DC, and the Italian Store is one of my favorites. Their pizza is legendary, and their sandwiches are some of my favorites around town. The store also boasts an impressive selection of prepared Italian food, frozen pastas, and sauces. I could go on and on, but safe to say it’s a great store. Here’s how to get there:

I started this route at New Hampshire and M street NW. From there, you want to take M street westbound all the way to the Key bridge. Take the sidewalk to cross the bridge. While that sounds simple, there are a lot of cars on M street, and the left hand turn onto the sidewalk to cross the bridge involves either dismounting and walking or patience through 1-2 light cycles to accomplish it safely.

Getting through Georgetown is the hardest part of the ride. Once you get onto the sidewalk of the bridge, the entire rest of the route is the paved trail until you get to the shopping center where the Italian Store is located. The only part where you need to be careful is crossing the intersection with the GW parkway. Promise me that your going to wait for the light – okay? Even with the light be aware that there are people in the right lane turning right – it’s an unusually busy crossing.

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Photo by PoPville flickr user Joe in DC

From a press release:

New Belgium Brewing today announced the long-awaited Tour de Fat 2013 schedule. The tour, now in its 14th year, will spin into 12 cities across the nation. This daylong festival in the park celebrates the bicycle, showcases New Belgium beers, and provides eclectic and engaging entertainment for all. The event is free, yet all proceeds from food and beer go to local biking groups. Over its course, Tour de Fat has raised more than $2 million for nonprofit organizations.

Each festival kicks off with a police-escorted bicycle parade through city streets in celebration of the bike. Costumes are encouraged but not mandatory, though the truly aware come prepared. Each parade route is designed for people of all skill levels, wrapping up at the park for a day of both sensory stimulation and relaxation.

After the parade, the festival stages heat up with national musical acts, touring comedy groups, artistic ensembles and unexpected entertainment. New this year is the opportunity to heighten your beer knowledge through beer contests, providing the chance to explore new brews and revel in a unique lineup of New Belgium selections. Kids of all ages can test their bicycle prowess on art bikes, dance in the grass and explore a wide variety of games and activities, such as giant versions of telephone and Plinko.

“Tour De Fat brings together entire communities to celebrate the bike as a vehicle for social change and good-time fun,” said Matt Kowal, New Belgium Brewing’s Tour de Fat Impresario. “This is a chance to see world-class entertainment in your own backyard with a beer in hand while you raise money for bike advocacy. That’s like a win-win-win situation.”

One brave role model in each city will volunteer to trade their car for a bike and live car-free for at least one year. With a ceremonial pledge and a handing over of car keys, the celebrated figure commits to a year of human transport on the fully loaded commuter bike of their choosing. The crowd goes wild and the seed is planted: one inspired person on two wheels can make a difference in each of our communities.

Car-for-Bike Swappers are chosen after submitting an application describing why they are ready to give up their vehicle for the gift of two wheels: www.newbelgium.com/tour-de-fat.

From a press release:

Continuing efforts to capitalize on Washington, DC’s large community of cycling enthusiasts, build friendships with like-minded individuals, and explore our nation’s capital, DC Bike Party will hold its St. Patrick’s Day themed riding event (“Gears and Green Beers” this Wednesday, March 13. The event, which held its first ride in July 2012, grew to over 250 riders last month.

The group, departing from DuPont Circle, will set out to complete an approximately 10-mile ride, visiting some of the city’s major landmarks and attractions with a pit stop in between, before ending with a celebration at The Wonderland Ballroom in Columbia Heights. Local funk band, The B-Side Shuffle will perform at the post-ride event. From DuPont Circle, the Bike Party will ride through downtown, Chinatown, and Northeast DC before heading north through the city’s historic neighborhoods. A map of the complete route is available here. Riders are welcome to join or depart the group at any point.

Everyone is welcome to attend or participate. Full details on the event are below:

WHAT: DC Bike Party
WHERE: Departs from the middle of Dupont Circle
WHEN: Wednesday, March 13th
Meet at 7:30 P.M.; Depart promptly at 8:00

More information on the organization, including details on future rides, is available at www.dcbikeparty.com.

Biking around Town is written by Josh Nadas (@dcliterate), a daily bike commuter & avid rider who works for the National Park Service, and lives in Mount Pleasant.

This ride has to be my biggest mistake so far. I went to a brewery, but failed to actually go when I could buy some beer. I’m hoping that you will overlook this lapse in judgement and read on to find out more about the Metropolitan Branch Trail. It’s a great pathway that runs through the central part of DC, and provides an excellent north south route from Union Station all the way to Silver Spring. The trail is not totally complete yet, and this route only represents a portion of the whole trail. My goal was to get you from a relatively central point in town to the Brewery.

The trail itself is on either a quiet street with a bike lane, or an off street multi-use pathway. There is good signage everywhere, except at the K street underpass where you actually get off the road. Oddly they did not install a nice “left turn here” sign. Going northbound on the trail felt like a slight false flat going upwards, but it was very slight. This is a great pathway for riders of all skill levels, and is definitely a great commuting artery for anyone trying to get between Northeast DC and downtown.

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Photo via Metropolitan Police Department, Evidence Control D

Thanks to Sean for sending the link from MPD:

The Metropolitan Police Department recovers hundreds of stolen and abandoned bicycles every year. This property is inventoried by the MPD’s Evidence Control Division. Property not claimed within 90 days of recovery is considered abandoned. The MPD will advertise this property as abandoned and may dispose of any property not claimed within the designated timeframe. Bicycles not claimed may be auctioned through www.govdeals.com or donated. Before the recovered bicycles are auctioned or donated, images will be posted online.

The Property Clerk of the Metropolitan Police Department hereby gives notice of the custody of the following property and his intention to sell or otherwise dispose of such property in accordance with the District of Columbia’s code 5-119.

Any person or entity having a right of claim to any item of property pictured online must appear in person to:

Evidence Control Division
# 17 DC Village Lane, SW
Washington, DC 20032
(202) 727-3230

To claim property pictured on this site, individuals must provide the MPD’s Evidence Control Division with the following information:

Government Identification
Bar code included with the bicycle image
Proof of ownership of bicycle OR documentation that a police report was filed (CCN)

See bikes posted in Feb. here.