Bike Month video from Fairfax DOT

Bike Coordinator Charlie Strunk is featured in this video promoting Bike to Work Day/Bike Month. The video was taken at the Fairfax Corner Bike to Work Day pit stop, located near REI and across the street from the county government center:

Record numbers of cyclists register for Bike to Work Day

Congressman Connolly addresses the Reston crowd

FABB representatives attended all 9 Fairfax Bike to Work Day events today. We couldn't have asked for better weather, and the crowd at the Reston Town Center Pavilion was one of the largest yet. Region-wide 12,700 people registered for the event, a record number.

Congressman Connolly, Supervisor Hudgins, and Reston Association President Ken Knueven spoke to the Reston cyclists. Congressman Connolly started the Fairfax bicycle program by finding funds for the bicycle coordinator position, the bike map, and funding the program. Supervisor Hudgins suggested holding the first every Fairfax County Bike to Work Day event back in 2002 and has been a supporter of bicyclists since she was elected into office in 2000.

Two younger BTWD riders
(FABB's Rob Henenlottter in
the background)

RA President Knueven said he borrowed a bike and rode the short distance from his home near Lake Anne to the Town Center. He said it reminded him of the joys of bicycling from his youth. He plans to purchase a comfortable bike and said he will start riding to his office at the Town Center. He epitomizes the reason for holding Bike to Work Day.

Hope everyone has a great commute home.

For more photos see the FABB Flickr pool.

See our Reston Patch blog post, Bike to Work Day in Reston.

Check out the video of a ride today from the Greenbelt Pit Stop to the Downtown/Reagan Plaza Pit Stop (from WashCycle):

This was also the final day of the Vienna area Bike/Walk Challenge. See the Vienna Patch article with highlights and totals from the week, Bike/Walk Challenge Day Five: Best Day Yet!:

"Friday's grand total was 1,485 - the highest of the week. More than half of all elementary school students participated in the event.

Vienna Elementary School saw the largest ever bike count ever on Friday with 78 kids cycling to school. "We overflowed our two racks and the extra one brought over from the ball fields," said Sean McCall.

Wolf Trap Elementary's bike train had three Fairfax County Police Bike Patrol Officers and members of HPC Junior Team riding with students.

Louise Archer, the largest elementary school in Vienna, saw the most students participating this week."

Update: Kingstowne Patch article on Bike to Work Day at Franconia-Springfield pit stop.

Burke Patch article on Burke pit stop. That's FABB's Alan Young with the cellphone in hand, probably demonstrating the FABB app that aggregates FABB's social feeds. The app is being developed by his grandson and should be available at the app store in the near future.

Bike to Work Week

Vienna Patch posted an article on Bike to Work Week in this area. It's not too late to register for one of 9 Fairfax pit stops:

In Fairfax County, the celebration week, which falls in the middle of Bike Month and shortly after the inaugural National Bike to School Day, comes at a time when county officials are wrestling with how to implement infrastructure and public outreach programs with no operating budget; it is looking to neighboring Arlington County — which also hosts Bike to Work week events — as a model.

Data from the American Community Survey shows Washington, D.C., as one of the country's 70 largest bicycling cities, with 3.1 percent of the total worker population reporting they bike to work — a statistic six times greater than the national average of .5 percent.

The League attributes the "bicycle friendly" cities' successes, in part, to the degree in which it promotes bicycling through education, encouragement, enforcement, evaluation and engineering.

A new report on the region's bicycling trends out of The Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute at Penn State shows Fairfax at the bottom of many categories, including the percentage of car-free households, at 4 percent, and percentage increase in bike commuting.

Bike safety in Fairfax

In the Fairfax Times article Breaking the cycle of bike-car accidents: Burke man speaks out about bicycle safety after accident with ice cream truck, Brendan Markham, the cyclist who was injured on Bike to Work Day, speaks out about the need for better bike safety education in Fairfax:

As Markham was riding home through Fairfax City that evening around 7 p.m., an ice cream truck struck him a short distance from the Fairfax Square Apartment complex.

Markham suffered broken ribs, one of which punctured his lung.

“When the truck hit me, I was thrown up on the hood of the truck and then rolled off and landed in front of its front left tire,” Markham said. “The tire then rolled over me and remained on my back before it eventually backed up off of me.”

“I want to bring more bike safety awareness to the Northern Virginia area,” he said. “I have gotten involved with the Washington Biking Association and I want to get out there and speak to the public to educate both drivers and cyclists about sharing the road safely. No one should have to go through what I did.”

We assume Washington Biking Association is Washington Area Bicyclists Association (WABA). We plan to get in touch with Brendan and work with him to figure improve bicycle safety education in this area.

Bicyclist struck by ice cream truck - Updated 5/27/11

For the second year in a row a Fairfax bicyclist was involved in a collision with a motorist on Bike to Work Day. Last year Abdul Chadli was killed when a motorist lost control of his vehicle and struck and killed Abdul as he was crossing Forum Dr at Lee Hwy/Rt 29. This year a cyclist was riding on the sidewalk along Main St in Fairfax City when the driver of an ice cream truck turned onto Main St and struck the cyclist and dragged him for a short distance.

The cyclist was riding down the sidewalk westbound on Main Street when he was hit by an ice cream truck attempting to turn out of the Fairfax Square Apartment complex shortly after 7 p.m. on Friday. The truck ran him over and dragged him for a brief time.

His injuries were non-life threatening, said Sgt. Daniel Grimm of the Fairfax City Police Department.

Impha Gassama, 52, from New Carrollton, Md. was charged with failing to yield the right of way from a private drive.

See the Fairfax City Patch article along with the FABB comment on the crash.

Update: Fairfax Times article on the crash, Burke cyclist run over by ice cream truck