UPDATED: Cycling not recommended to Wolf Trap

UPDATED

I am attending a concert tonight at the Wolf Trap Center in Virginia, and sent the following to the contact email on their website

Hi,

I am attending a concert tonight at the Filene Center center, Do you haveany bike racks or safe place to lock a bike during a performance. I looked on the website and didn’t see any mention

thanks

I got the following prompt response, which unfortunately is not good news

Thanks for writing. Unfortunately without direct access to and from bike trails or light volume traffic routes into the park it would not generally be considered safe or easy for bicycle riders. No dedicated bike racks are available in the park, although if you choose to arrive by bicycle you could certainly lock it to a fence or other permanent fixture. You may need to consult with Park Police or a Ranger on site to be sure you are not in a restricted area. The good news is Metro service via shuttle bus is available for all Filene Center performances (except the International Children’s Festival).

Filene Center Performances

The Wolf Trap Metro Shuttle Bus Express provides service to all Filene
Center shows (except the International Children’s Festival).

1. Take Metrorail’s Orange line, any of the convenient Metrobus Routes (3B, 28A and 28B), or drive to the West Falls Church Metrorail Station.

2. Hop on the Wolf Trap Metro Shuttle Bus Express, which leaves the West Falls Church Metrorail Station every 20 minutes starting two hours before each performance. The last Shuttle leaves the station at
showtime. Round trip fare is just $3.00 per person (exact change required). The Shuttle Bus is wheelchair accessible.

3. Returning, the Shuttle departs Wolf Trap 20 minutes after the performance ends (no later than 11:00 p.m., Sunday through Thursday). The last train for Downtown and New Carrollton leaves the West Falls
Church Station at 11:32 p.m., Sunday through Thursday, and at 1:32 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

For more information on Metro’s hours of operation, the Wolf Trap Shuttle Bus, or Metro’s One-Day Pass, please call (202) 637-7000 (TDD: (202) 638-3780). Or, visit Metro’s Web site at www.metroopensdoors.com.

We hope this helps,
best wishes.

On looking at google maps I could bike from Wolf Trap to the W&OD Trail. Taking Trap Rd south then turn right onto Clarks Crossing and follow it to the trail. Am I crazy for even thinking about this?

The Alternative is I leave my bike at West Falls Church and then take the shuttle back after the concert then take the 980 home.

UPDATE: July 29th 2008
I got the following response from Wolf

Good afternoon,

Your message was shared with Foundation staff and Wolf Trap National Park Service representatives and sub-sequentially it has been brought to our attention that a bike rack has been made available this entire summer season for events at The Filene Center. The location is just to the right (south) of the Main Gate before entering the venue.

We sincerely apologize for the oversight regarding this matter. Wolf Trap is committed to delivering our programs with the best possible service. We realize that one bad experience is enough to keep you from
returning. We appreciate your patronage and will continue to do all we can to create the best possible Wolf Trap experience for our patrons. Thank you again and we hope you will be back for a more enjoyable evening under the stars at Wolf Trap!

Best regards.

So it looks like they do have a bike rack, so as promised I have changed the title of this post.

Dyslexia in different languages

HY found this article which talks about interesting research on dyslexia with different languages. Since i am sort of kind of learning Chinese I had wondered if it whether being dyslexic would affect my ability to learn the characters. Turns out reading chinese and english use different parts of the brain. The chinese classes kicked my but on a regular basis so even if dyslexia is not playing a part it is still hard.

Streetfilms wants leading pedestrian interval, but I want dedicated pedestrian crossings

This may sound like a good idea, but it doesn’t add to pedestrian safety, it just means that the pedestrian will be further into the path of traffic before they are hit. What we need is a dedicated UK style signaling that brings all traffic entering the cross walk to a stop before the walk sign is lit. This means pedestrians and motorists don’t get the mixed signal of a green light but still having to watch for cars or pedestrians.

If you watch the video the cross walk gives the pedestrians 17 seconds, enough time to cross the street before traffic is allowed to flow. If you just had a lead of 3 seconds it wouldn’t make any difference the cars would still push there way into the cross walk.

We are programmed to go on green and sometimes we forget that green doesn’t mean go. It means proceed and watch for pedestrians in the cross walk who have right of way.

Code Red Day in NVA

Today is a code red day, it didn’t really change my plans, I still biked from home to the Herndon Monroe Park and Ride and then mounted my bike on the 980’s bike rack for the trip to West Falls Church, then biked from West Falls to 18 an H in DC. Only benefit is that I didn’t have to pay the $1 on the bus 🙂

Trek 4300
Distance: 12.17 Miles
Riding Time: 50 mins
Av Speed: 14.5
Max Speed: 31
Odometer: 564.9 Miles

No Space on the Bus for bikes

It had to happen sooner or later, but last night I came into the West Falls Church to find that two bikes were already on the 980 Bus. Turns out one of the bikes belonged to my wife who had biked independently from Ballston. So instead of taking the 980 to Herndon, I took the 505 to Reston Town Center and followed the W&OD to Herndon, this isn’t my preferred route since I have to travel on a couple narrow lane roads to get to our house. I also need to work out where the connector from the Reston Town Center bus Terminal to the W&OD trail is. It’s probably obvious but in my defense it was dark.

Self Service Drinks on the W&OD

A self service cart appeared some time last week at the Big W&OD sign just before route 29. This morning on my morning commute I saw a gentleman emptying the payment box so I stopped to ask some questions. He is running the cart with his son who is learning who to be an entrepreneur. Before they could start selling soda they needed to be become licensed and have the cart inspected. They tired first putting it close to the East Falls Church metro but WMATA were concerned about it being a terrorist threat. I asked if they were making money and he grinned and said that loss from theft is small compared to the effort and time needed to keep is stocked. As I biked away I realized I forgot to ask the gentleman’s name….

Palm moderating their comments on the official Palm Blog

So I read the official plam blog from time to time and saw a story posted there about phones behaving badly. It then says

Got a pet peeve? Post it below.

So I commented something along the lines of.

Pet peeves let me see, how about the palm web browser blazer that frequently times out the first time you access a website then works perfectly the second time. Then there is a phone that randomly reboots for no good reason, is there ever a good reason to randomly reboot? Then finally there is the fact that I couldn’t post to the official palm blog using my treo 700p on verizon using blazer and instead had to use firefox on a real computer.

Surprising or maybe not the comment was never posted on the Palm site as an official comment so I am recreating it here.

Open letter to Arlington, Fairfax an DC challenging them to improve pedestrian saftey

From: Ian Macdonald
Sent to:
jackevans@dccouncil.us
carol.schwartz@dc.gov
pmendelson@dccouncil.us
tellkwamebrown@gmail.com
CountyBoard@arlingtonva.us
chairman@fairfaxcounty.gov
dranesville@fairfaxcounty.gov

I live in Herndon and work in Washington D.C. close to the White House. I was saddened to hear about the accident in Dupont Circle that lead to the death of a cyclist today. I bike from West Falls Church to 1818 H Street daily and I walk in the city on a regular basis.

We need to do something NOW to make the streets safer for pedestrians. The poor girl was killed today because of the mixed signals that are given out to pedestrians and motorists at the same time. The washington post is reporting that she was cycling along the side walk parallel to the trash truck that killed her. Both were given a proceed signal, a green light for a truck and walk signal for the pedestrians. Both proceeded to complete their journeys, resulting in a tragic end.

We need to separate the pedestrian walk signal from the traffic green light. When pedestrians get a walk signal all traffic that crosses that walk signal should be halted to allow the pedestrians to cross the street safely.

As a driver, when I see red light I stop, then look, to see if it is safe to do a turn on red. When I get a green I have been programmed to go. The same thing is true for pedestrians when you see stop you don’t cross when you see walk you walk. It is counter intuitive for a driver or pedestrian to see a green light or walk sign then have to proceed with caution because a pedestrian or car might be crossing into your path.

Every day I see drivers sitting waiting a green light while pedestrians are crossing, stressing out both the drivers trying to make their turn before the light turns red and pedestrians scared that they are going to be run over by aggressive drivers.

This is as relevant to Washington D.C. as it is in Arlington and Fairfax county.

We need to separate the pedestrian crossing signal from green lights NOW. The walk sign should only be lit when all traffic has been signaled to stop, allowing safe traversal of the crossing. This will make it much safer for pedestrians and will help prevent tragic accidents like todays from happening in the future.

If you haven’t seen the washington post article it can be seen at

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/08/AR2008070800975.html

video coverage is at

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2008/07/08/VI2008070801640.html?sid=ST2008070801161

previous washington post article on pedestrian safety in dc at

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/18/AR2008051802517.html

Cyclist killed in Dupont circle

The Washington Post has details about the accident, with video

The cyclist was traveling along the side walk on R street parallel to the trash truck, both the truck and the pedestrians got green light and a walk sign. By law she was allowed to be on the side walk, in DC you are allowed to travel on the side walk outside of the business district.

This is why we need separate the walk signals from traffic green lights. We need to move away from the traditional turn on red signaling that gives a green light to both pedestrians and car and give pedestrians a dedicated time when all traffic is at red to allow them to safely cross the street.

I wrote about this very issue in May