Category: Biking in Maryland

By Joe Crocetta, Staff Photographer

Herald Mail

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HAGERSTOWN, Md. — The western Maryland city of Hagerstown is embracing bicycling in a big way.
The city is marking National Bike to Work Week by unveiling a bicycle-themed mural and announcing a bicycle race.
Hagerstown officials and the Antietam Velo (VELL’-oh) Club said Tuesday that the club will run a series of races in the city center on the evening of June 17. The club says the event will kick off its three-day Tour of Washington County.
The city was unveiling the mural Tuesday afternoon on the downtown North Potomac Street Parking deck.
City officials say the painting was created by students from the Barbara Ingram School for the Arts, a downtown institution that is part of the public school system.
Continue reading “Hagerstown, Md., embracing bicycling with downtown race and mural”

Perhaps I should appreciate James Rush’s grudging willingness to wait behind road cyclists until it’s safe to pass ("A Clash of Motorists and Bicyclists", May 16). But when he says bicyclists who don’t get out of his way aren’t "sharing the road", he is misconstruing the meaning of that phrase seen on signs around the region. The "share the road" message is simply meant to instruct drivers to allow cyclists to operate in the same space based on the rules of the road. Signs with this message are in no way asking cyclists or anyone else to leave the road, speed up, move over (except where legally required) or behave in some fashion beyond just riding legally. If there’s no opportunity for a driver to pass a slower cyclist, sharing means following behind the cyclist. If there’s ample width, sharing may mean driving next to the cyclist, with certain exceptions.
Perhaps jurisdictions should replace "share the road" signs on narrow roads with the message "bicyclists may use full lane". Under Maryland law, a cyclist in a right-hand lane that isn’t wide enough to share side by side with a car may ride in any position within the lane. This law was passed so cyclists could ride in the safest position in a narrow lane, which is most often – counter-intuitively – in the middle of the lane. Riders who hug the right edge of a narrow lane encourage drivers to try to squeeze by when there isn’t room, putting the cyclist at great risk. Mr. Rush complains that cyclists at the roadway edge don’t ride in a straight line, but that’s often impossible to do without risk of falling on crumbling pavement or debris that collects there – another reason why riding in the middle is advisable. Getting sandwhiched between cars and bad pavement isn’t courteous; it’s dangerous.
If Mr. Rush wants to know how to drive safely on rural roads with limited sight distance, it’s to slow down around curves in anticipation of slower vehicles or road hazards ahead. That’s how I was taught to drive.
Jack Cochrane
Continue reading “Another stupid "share the road means get out of my way" letter – Response”

[B’ Spokes another case for improved education for drivers?]
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Via Washington Post
Can I get some input from the bicycling community? On any sunny weekend, the roads in upper Montgomery County are filled with dozens of cyclists, many of whom appear to be part of organized clubs. The roads on which these cyclists travel are narrow, hilly and winding. There are blind corners and restricted sight lines. The speed limits vary from 30 to 50 mph, and most of the roads have double yellow lines. The bikers travel between 5 and 25 mph.
When I am driving on one of these roads at the speed limit and encounter cyclists, what am I to do? First, I have to hope I don’t come upon one around a corner or hill and have to brake suddenly to avoid a collision. I could then remain behind the bike while waiting to reach a safe and legal area to pass. But if I do, I risk the possibility of another motorist traveling at the posted speed hitting me from behind.
I could try to squeeze by while staying in my lane, but then I risk sideswiping the bike. Since many cyclists ride side by side or seem unable to hug the edge of the road without swerving, this is not a safe option. I can take a chance and cross a double yellow line to pass, which is illegal and poses the possibility of a head-on collision with a vehicle in the oncoming lane.
Many cyclists loudly insist that motor vehicles alter their behavior and “share the road.” But these upcounty cyclists are not sharing; they are placing themselves and others in danger. Is it worth your life or the lives of others to exercise your perceived right?
James Rush, Gaithersburg
Continue reading “A clash of motorists and bicyclists”

Read the story here: https://greatergreaterwashington.org/post.cgi?id=10437
The Law:
§ 2-602. Public policy.
The General Assembly finds that it is in the public interest for the State to include enhanced transportation facilities for pedestrians and bicycle riders as an essential component of the State’s transportation system, and declares that it is the policy of the State that:
(1) Access to and use of transportation facilities by pedestrians and bicycle riders shall be considered and best engineering practices regarding the needs of bicycle riders and pedestrians shall be employed in all phases of transportation planning, including highway design, construction, reconstruction, and repair as well as expansion

Found via Greater Greater Washington
The ICC is drawing only 50% of the drivers that were expected on the first segment. More will use it once it’s open to I-95, but predictions were higher, too. If things don’t change, Maryland will be stuck with huge deficits. (Examiner https://washingtonexaminer.com/local/dc/2011/05/icc-traffic-increasing-slightly-ad-campaign-trying-lure-more )
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[B’ Spokes: To jog your memories this $3B 18 mile toll road was "economically feasible" while a master planned trail got split into three pieces (7 miles total) because the rest of the trail was "too expensive." It is looking more and more like they had it backwards.]

By David Greisman – Columbia Patch
It took about four weeks and more than 1,000 miles of pedaling, but Stacy Heiliger made it, bicycling all the way around the Chesapeake Bay, setting off from Columbia on April 5 and making it back home on May 3.
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“I had thought that a long-distance cycling trip would be a lot of fun, but I was kind of nervous to try it ’cause I had never done it before. This way I was always just a few hours away [from family members] in case I had a meltdown on the side of the road, got injured, had a mechanical problem or wasn’t having fun.
“I was already familiar with Maryland and a lot of the areas I was going to, but a lot of it was new areas. There were places that I knew were there by the maps, but I’d never been there before. That was a whole lot of fun, just discovering different parts of the Chesapeake Bay and different communities that were off the beaten path.
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Continue reading “Columbia Woman Completes 29-Day Bicycle Ride Around Chesapeake Bay”

On Wednesday, Judy Wexler will pedal furiously, hoping to generate the force needed to lift a human-powered helicopter off the ground and win a $250,000 prize.

The biology student at the University of Maryland is a competitive cyclist with a desirable power-to-weight ratio and endurance, noted Brandon Bush, a graduate student in the university’s school of engineering and project team member.

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The University of Maryland will live stream Wednesday’s test between 9 a.m. and 12 a.m. ET. Click here to check it out.
Continue reading “Human-powered copter ready to rise”

By Mimi Rauck
With one dissenting vote, the City Council Tuesday approved a request from Police Chief John Nesky to add $38,240 to the budget to put more bicycle officers on patrol.
Nesky proposed using two officers for seven hours a day on an overtime basis. In addition, the city would purchase four new police bikes at $2,000 each. The overtime funds would be used over the next two summers.
The officers would patrol areas throughout the city, including the city’s many trails, according to Nesky.
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Continue reading “Bowie City Council Approves Overtime, New Bikes for City Officer”

by Ann Brennan
This is Jesse. He’s USA Cycling’s New Media Manager and he rides his bike to work several times per week. As gas prices soar, more and more cyclists are taking to the roads for their morning and evening commutes. But often, even with the motivation to get started on a cycle commuting program, it is difficult to decide how to start.
Few cyclists jump into cycle commuting with both feet. It is a process. But where does the process start? What do you need to know? How do you do it safely and make sure you get to and from work on time in the process?
Isaias O’Daniell uses his bike to commute a total of 15,000 miles a year. Even so, he suggests cyclists start slowly and develop a routine that works for them before trying to do it every day, especially, if they will be cycling twenty or more miles each way.
Most cyclists find that the route they drive is different from the one they ride to work. By using maps and practice rides on their days off they have learned about trails, alleys and back roads they had never seen before. Sometimes these alternative routes offer a shorter distance to work but more often than not the benefit is simply being away from traffic.
The commuter cyclists I spoke with agree that it is important to remember recreational riding is a whole different animal than commuter cycling. The pressure to be on time can cause you to make mistakes you would not otherwise make. Keep in mind that there will be more traffic during commuting hours and the drivers are, more often than not, distracted because they are also on their way to work.
Because learning what you will need to carry with you is a process in and of itself, the cyclists I spoke with suggested making one day a week a logistics day. This is the day you bring in clothes, shampoo, shoes and the extra food you will want to eat before heading back out on your bike at the end of the day. Ben McKeown, who describes himself as a sometimes commuter, pointed out that shoes are heavy. He suggests leaving a pair of shoes at the office fulltime so you are never in the position of having to carry them.
“But,” Mike Binnix another full time commuter adds, “you should not be discouraged if on the second ride in, you get to work or school and discover you forgot your shoes or glasses. If you commit to giving bicycle commuting a try, give it a real try. Make the round trip at least five times over a few weeks and it will become second nature to you.”
Most importantly just as with fitness and recreational rides, remember all of your safety equipment – a tube and C02 cartridge, a small first aid kit and lights, lights, lights. There is no such thing as too many lights.
Lori Garlands who works from home but uses her bike for business meetings several times a week believes there is no reason to learn any lesson the hard way.
“Reach out to the cycling community through local bike shops, bike groups, or even the guy you see riding every morning while you’re sitting in your car. Everyone I have met is willing to share their knowledge and direct you to others that may know more.”
Commuter cycling is not second nature to most of us, nor is it rocket science. Whether you hope to cycle to work on a daily basis or you hope to add one or two days of cycling into your schedule it can be done safely and efficiently by starting slow and learning the ropes along the way.
Ann Brennan is a freelance writer and fitness columnist from Annapolis, Maryland. She writes for Patch and for Ann’s Running Commentary.
Continue reading “How to get started on a bicycling commuting program”