I should have captioned that better. I didn't intend for it to be a humorous image. The white bikes are part of a memorial to a young woman bicyclist, Alice Swanson, who was struck and killed by a truck at that intersection last summer. There has been a white bike with flowers at the scene for over a year but friday I counted 17 white bikes in the vicinity of the original memorial. Here's two more. I don't know why they put so many bikes there or why they used kids bikes, but there they are.

The city removed the original ghost bike, so the others (originally 22) were put up. As far as the kid's bikes, probably using what they could get ahold of cheap or for free. They vow to keep at at least one up if others are removed.

Ah, I thought it might be something like that. I saw a d.o.t. tag on one of the bikes declaring it abandoned and that it would be removed. I also saw a birthday note on the bike in the place of the original memorial. She was 22 when she died.

Ah , I did not know about that. Apologies for the unintended irreverence.

Sure, kind of my fault for not explaining what it was. Your comment was funny and I'm sure no one was offended.

DC Bike Ambassador, 14th street.


Human powered merry-go-round/kinetic sculpture, F street.

I heard about that kinetic bike sculpture on NPR. Looks as interesting as it sounded.

Glad I could add some visual to the images NPR put in your mind's eye. I would love to hear a description of what I saw, because I didn't have time to really study it. Maybe there a podcast I could download. Do you remember which show it was?

There was go much going on, up-side down saddles ducted taped into toeclips, all kinds of crazy details. I don't even know how the bikes didn't veer off course. The guy in the straw hat might be the builder. He was asking for people to try it and I should have. After those two cute girls got on, it took him half a minute to find the third volunteer. I think his bike didn't have pedals, the three volunteers give the artist a free ride, while he snaps pictures.

1600 Penn.

Great pics, as usual. DC seems to have gotten alot more interesting bikewise since I lived there!

Haha yeah, it's changed a lot, but we don't always have "Burning Man" looking participatory bike sculptures (not that I know what Burning Man looks like but) September 22 is World Car Free Day. The merry-go-round was part of DC's Car Free Day celebration.

Unfortunately, disaster preceded the phenomenon. I saw a big increase in bike riding here after 9/11/01, Subways, buses and cars were practically bought to a halt that day. Even electronic transmissions were gridlocked, which is why I found myself at the Pentagon a little over an hour after the strike, picking up video tape for AP. Normally, they can feed from remote locations back to their downtown office through the ether, but that day only bicycles and pedestrians could move at close to their normal speed. Some people forced to walk home that day probably realized riding would be easier. People without bikes must have felt trapped, vulnerable and helpless.

After that, I suppose people saw their neighbors riding to work and it put the idea in their heads that it was possible and maybe a reasonable way to commute. When gas prices jumped a couple of summers ago, I noticed a lot more riders. Now it's downright trendy! Contagious!

On the downside, there were probably a lot more bike messengers in DC when you were riding here. There are only about 1/3 the number now than there were 20 years ago. Fax, email, government documents available on line, and e-filing cut into the business but the biggest hit was anthrax being delivered to the Hart Senate Office Building, which resulted in the banning of deliveries to Congressmen and Senators by anyone but the USPS, who (ahem) delivered the anthrax...

One of the remaining "pony express" riders, carrying suspicious looking packages on the 1500 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, part of the section near the White House that was closed to "vehicular traffic" following the Oklahoma City bombing.

Anyone else doing BikeDC on Oct. 17?

I lived there not so long ago...2001 to the end of 2007. I commuted by bike between my work in NOVA and my various and sundry homes in NW, NE, Prince Georges County, and Alexandria. DC is a great city for cycling. If it weren't so blasted expensive to live in, perhaps I would have stayed (but probably not...my time there was up). Now I'm in a mid-sized city that I really like, but I do miss the international flavor of DC. I loved that I could walk downtown and hear half a dozen languages being spoken. Luckily, I can still just hop on the train and be there in a couple of hours. Not that I've done that much, but it's nice to know that I can.

Keep the pics coming, especially in the winter. I loved winter bike commuting because there were so few of us out there.

I emailed them volunteering to road marshal, but I haven't heard back from them.

That kinetic sculpture or one very much like it was in Alexandria for Earth Day - kids were having a great time riding it.

I'm signed up and will also do WABA's 50 States tomorrow.

50 States is a great ride. I'm so glad they changed it from August--it was just too hot in August.

Yeah! I never could finish the 50 state ride when it was in August, but I finished last year (even if Arizona Ave almost finished me )
I'd be riding it tomorrow if I didn't have a family commitment. I'll still be downtown, but without the bike.

Thanks for the heads up, but I have family commitments tomorrow also. I'll try to do the BikeDC ride.

The hopscotch bridge on H street NE. Designed to keep mototists from gawking at the trains. The Uline arena, site of The Beatles first US appearance, visible in this shot, is slated for destruction in December.

Love the pic, but then I'm a train fanatic. Union Station's one of my alltime favorite spots in the District.

Nice pictures.

Not K Street, but thought I would add my own. This was around 9:00 am on July 4th. Constitution Avenue was blocked off for the Independence Day parade. There were maybe four other bikers near me (one with a boom box on his rear rack blasting out some patriotic tunes) and the occasional police motorcycle. For the first two blocks I was half expecting a LEO to tell me I couldn't be riding there, but they obviously didn't care. I hope to get a group together to do this again next year.

Heading toward the Capital (and, yes, I ran that red light!)


On my way back home about an hour later:


I love riding in DC when nobody else is there. I've ridden there on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving itself, Christmas Eve, New Years Day. I get a better appreciation for all that is there when I'm not looking out for cars, truck, and tourists with their eyes in their cameras.

Telebianchi, thanks for posting your pictures here. I like the camera angle. I can almost see your reflection in your bar end plug! Most of the pictures I take on the fly come out blurry. Any tips?

A group ride on the parade course sounds like a blast! I'd like to join in next year if it's OK with you.

I ran into Bryce and Jeff who were passing through DC on a bike tour from Pittsburgh to Florida on BMX bikes! Pretty cool! Nice friendly people. Southeasterners, show them some southern hospitality. If you see them on Route 1, offer them dinner and a place to sleep. Check out their blog, https://flatland2florida.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the compliment. I've been taking that same picture for a couple of years now. Not being blurry is just about having enough light. I keep the camera on automatic when it's in the jersey pocket. Sometimes I'll use the flash to freeze the wheel a bit. On the other hand, blurry can work to your advantage sometimes.

The camera is an Olympus 1030SW (waterproof, shockproof, freeze-proof). I've got a sticky silicone cover for it that makes it a lot easier to hang on to with less fear of dropping it to the pavement. One thing about that camera that I think makes these shots better is that it goes out to 28mm (film equiv) while most point & shoots are only 35mm at their widest. I think lets the bike be more of a secondary than primary focus of the photos.

I've never done it but I've heard it can be dangerous. There are lots of inexperienced riders who don't pay attention and crashes occur. Be careful.

Hey, did they ever get that bike path built between Brookland and Union Station along the tracks? I can't remember the name of it now...but man, that would have cut some serious time off of my commute.

I wonder if Bryce and Jeff will come through Richmond?