BikeDC

“Dear PoP,

This was the scene at the New Hampshire & Georgia intersection at 6:30 (just five minutes ago). Cyclist was clearly severely injured. Despite the fact that there were lots of squads and fire trucks there already, she hadn’t been moved yet. Didn’t look good, that’s for sure.

I know this will probably start the usual vitriol between drivers and cyclists in the comments, but I think it would behoove us all to take a minute to reflect on this situation. Rational people can all agree that both cars and bikes do stupid things on city roads, and there’s no telling at this point who was at fault here. Both groups make their fair share of mistakes, but nobody can argue which group is usually in worse shape when cars and bikes collide.”

and

“not sure if anyone has sent this in, it happened probably 50 minutes ago. i heard it the smack and the car’s screeching breaks but didn’t actually see it at first. a mid-size car hit a 20-or-30-something, tall, slim, blonde-haired girl right in the middle of the intersection – she was wearing a helmet and a backpack but i didn’t actually see a bike anywhere, she might have been going to get one from the bikeshare right there outside sweet mango? there was a police officer there and nearly a dozen others showed up within minutes. the girl who hit her was standing there with her driver’s side mirror in her hand – her car was pulled off to the side and eventually an officer came to question her. there was a sizeable head-shaped break in her windshield and she looked pretty shaken up. the victim didn’t seem to move and didn’t seem conscious the entire 20-or-so minutes i was there — she was bleeding from a cut on her arm, it seemed. eventually EMTs put a collar on her neck and took her off in a stretcher. it looked like one of the officers might have taken her phone and called someone because i thought i saw a gentleman standing with her who wasn’t in a uniform, but he didn’t seem upset and then he got into the front seat of the ambulance. the police tried to get all the traffic to move north but eventually just closed all the streets, although they’re re-opened now. i’d say at least 100 people were stopped watching the whole scene and trying to help.”

What can I say? I like yellow.

A reader suggested I include some bikes in the Sweet Ride feature. I happened to pass this one outside the NoMa Harris Teeter and thought it was pretty sweet.

Photo by PoPville flickr user ekelly80

“Dear PoPville,

I’m looking for some advice on safe bike storage. Yesterday, I discovered that my entire bike had been stolen. I keep it in the alleyway behind my Bloomingdale house, and it is always U-locked. I used my bike everyday, and it is essential to my transportation needs, so I am planning to buy another cheap bike sometime soon.

My question is: What are some best practices on safe/thief-proof bike storage? Should I use a certain type of lock other than a U-lock, and more than one? At my old house, I would store my bike inside. However, my new place in Bloomingdale has less space and very narrow stairwells, so it is really difficult to carry it up and down the several flights of narrow stairs everyday. Should I just (wo)man up and store it inside, despite the aforementioned daily obstacles, or are there better ways to store it outside that your readers can clue me in on?

UPDATE: In a twisted turn of events, my stolen bike was recovered. The man who bought it was literally sitting on my front stoop with said missing item. You can’t write this stuff.

YES! I still cannot believe it myself. I filled out the police report just yesterday, and with a heavy sense of acceptance that my bike was in ether.

I arrived home around 7 pm, lo and behold, I see one older man sitting on my front stairwell and one younger man on a bike right next to it (which in and of itself is weird since it’s not their house). I take a closer look at the bike, and I realize that it’s mine. I somehow stammer out the words, “That’s my bike!! Where did you get it?” The younger guy replies that he bought it for $20 yesterday. The older man is yelling at him to give it back to me, and he finally gives in. My suspicion is that someone in the neighborhood must have stolen it and sold it to this younger guy. But seriously…what is the probability that my stolen bike reappears right in front of my doorstep at the exact time I get home for the day?? Unbelievable.

The truly bizarre thing is that my ulock is still intact on the bike. There’s a little dent on the side, which makes me think that they tried to cut it, but were unsuccessful. However, it was locked to an iron fence, and yet it’s still completely on my bike and usable…So strange!

So, I am still in the same conundrum (but more so now since I have my same bike to lose): Given the circumstances that I described to you earlier, how do I make sure that my bike isn’t stolen…again?”

Any guesses on how the ulock is still intact? Sadly, it seems the best solution is to take the bike inside everyday.

“Dear PoPville,
There’s been interesting some stuff on the net about nose-less bike seats:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/28/science/28tier.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&hp
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/blog/nsb042209_bikesaddle.html
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2008.00867.x/pdf

Was curious if any of your readers have gone nose-less and if so, how it was going…
Also curious if anybody has brand recs.
Some pics are attached that my housemate PJ took. He’s been seeing noseless bike seats pop up downtown by his work (10th and K, NW).

Haven’t seen any by my work yet so wondering how much the idea’s gonna take in DC.”

Photo by PoPville flickr user dullshick

A reader writes, “can’t believe I haven’t seen more about this elsewhere… quite a crazy (and cautionary) tale…”

Wow! This story from A Girl on a Bicycle is amazing:

I was stopped [on a bike] at the intersection of 13th and Kenyon St. NW at a red light, waiting to turn left onto 13th St. Kenyon is a one-way street going west, and I was on the left side of the street, since I would be turning left. While waiting for the light I heard a car speed up Kenyon St. behind me…

The light turned green and I started to proceed. And then I felt *BUMP!!!!!* again, this time a bit harder…

So I stopped. Pulled out my police badge (yes, I’m a cop if you didn’t know before. No I really don’t want to talk about it, thanks) showed it to the driver and motioned him to stay right where he was.

Read the full crazy story here.

Ed. Note: This is my new favorite volume of props to the cops!

Thanks to a reader for sending!

A previous email from the Golden Triangle BID stated:

“The bike rack presented was designed by two National Geographic employees who won the design competition, Alan Parente, Art Director, National Geographic & Patrick Truby, Design Specialist, National Geographic. This rack was installed at 17th and M St NW, outside of the National Geographic building.”

Photo by PoPville flickr user fromcaliw/love

“Dear PoPville,

What is the proper etiquette when two people are approaching a CaBi stand and only one bike is left? Yesterday I was walking up to the dock at New York and 15th, helmet and CaBi key in hand, when a woman walking in the opposite direction suddenly broke into a trot and rushed to the one remaining bicycle (no helmet and no obvious CaBi key until she whipped the key out as she approached the rack). It’s not that I really minded having to walk a block and half to 14th & H to find a bike. Perhaps I would be less irked if she’d had the proper protective head gear or had her CaBi key out and was obviously heading to the rack, it just seemed rude for her to suddenly grab the bike and ride off (not even a snarky “oh, looks like I got the last bike!” which at least I could have laughed at).”

Anyone else encounter a bikeshare standoff like this? It seems like it’s just gotta be one of those situations where whoever gets there first wins – it could involve feints and/or sprinting – so if there’s only one bike left I’d start double timing it. But I agree with you – proper etiquette – should at least acknowledge the less fortunate rider.