Bicycles and Cars -- A Calamitous Coexistence?

Today, a 22-year old cyclist was killed by a garbage truck as she crossed a sidewalk just 5 blocks from my home, about an hour before I biked to work. I'm normally hard to phase and distract from work, but this definitely got my attention. (I had no idea before today that riding on sidewalks is so dangerous, but I tend to avoid doing it anyway; as an avid pedestrian, I loathe bikers on sidewalks and, in particular, the ones that don't warn you when they're about to pass from behind.)

And I spent last Friday night in the E.R. because Michael got hit by a car door that opened as he passed -- fortunately, he only needed some stitches on his hand (and lots of ice, elsewhere).

I tell lots of folks to join the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. They advocate for bike lanes, bike parking, trails and safety in general in the metropolitan D.C. area, and membership in the organization (only $35!) also gets you 10% off any purchase at most bike stores in the area. They also have lessons and materials on riding safety (that I should probably make more use of, apparently...).

So, do it. Join, and be safe out there...

• "Woman Killed by Garbage Truck in Dupont" (8 Jul 2008, DCist.com)
• "Cyclist, 22, Dies After Being Hit by Truck Near Dupont Circle" (8 Jul 2008, WashingtonPost.com)

(For fun, check out this happy place the DCist commentary led me to: MyBikeLane. Not certain I'll be contributing...)

Review: EnviroCab for Arlington, VA

I had to go to an urgent care facility today because my foot has been hurting and it got really bad this morning. Problematic because (a) I live in D.C. and I walk everywhere, (b) I have two flights of stairs between my bedroom and my bathroom, and (c) my doctor's office is closed on weekends and it turns out that my HMO's oft-touted "Urgent Care" facilities don't actually exist anywhere in the District of Columbia, nor are they metro accessible. So, I needed a cab. Fortunately, Lubna was able to drop me off (thanks, Lubna!!).

Earlier this week I saw someone getting out of a shiny-looking Toyota Camry hybrid taxicab with a web address (www.envirotaxicab.com) and logo emblazoned on the side. I love when a mental note stored away for that blue moon moment actually comes in handy so quickly...

In the end, it was a great service, but I think a little too new... The positives/negatives:

• it was easy to call for a taxi, probably because it's so new I didn't have to wait on hold forever
• the service is targeted to Arlington, so I'm not sure I could make inter-DC taxi requests
• there's a clear 7" LCD screen for the driver that shows the GPS location of the cab, and the call dispatch information -- which is probably why the taxi showed up so quickly, even though I was at some obscure place off the beaten path
• unfortunately, the driver was clearly new and when I asked to be dropped off at 14th & P NW, he asked me how to get there -- utterly bizarre. Especially since he had a GPS thing. Oh well.
• so the clincher is that, aside from driving more fuel-efficient cars than other taxi companies, the company also purchases carbon offsets. And it doesn't charge more to its customers. So I just wonder how sustainable this is.

The end. Check it out: www.envirotaxicab.com. Oh, and my foot will be fine. Yay.

DCA -> STL (or, rather, IND); Storm's last ride :(

What a tremendous week. I say this often, but I don't know if I've ever worked so many hours and in such a focused manner as I did this week. Plus, the move across town and Ian's departure. Rough. Anyway, after a rather delayed start, I got on the road at 4 PM. Got a lot of my anger/frustration out at the very beginning, which allowed me to enjoy more of the incredibly beautiful drive (GW Parkway, I-68 West through western Maryland -- the valleys were breathtaking, I wish I had taken out my camera!!).

Since this was going to be Storm's last ride (I've had Storm since Aug 2000, learned how to drive a manual on this car), I was pretty nostalgic. We crossed 50K miles, finally, somewhere in Virginia. Refilled in western Maryland, went 450 miles without stopping (13.5 gallons) - the best he's ever done!

It's too bad, then, that we didn't make it much further past Indianapolis. Poor storm. Thank God I'm alive.