How far is your commute? Why do you choose to bike to work instead of driving? Do you own a car?
My bicycle commute from Park View to College Park varies because I have about a dozen different routes that I like to take. If I don't have time constraints, I prefer taking a route that is about 16 miles long and takes me just over an hour. If I need to get to campus quickly, I can take a route that is just shy of 9 miles and can take less than 40 minutes; that's faster than it takes me to go door to door by Metro. Today, I took a nice long 18.4 mile route that went through Rock Creek Park, the Capital Crescent Trail, Silver Spring, and the Northwest Anacostia Branch Trail.
I choose to bike to work primarily because it is fun. There is a beautiful network of trails through Prince George's County that make it quite pleasant and safe to commute to College Park by bicycle. In particular, I frequently ride the Sligo Creek Trail, the Northwest Branch Trail, the Northeast Branch Trail, and the Anacostia River Trail. It's a relaxing and reflective time for me that I've come to really depend on in my daily routine. I see deer everyday, but I've also seen heron, snapping turtles, foxes, beavers, rabbits, and snakes. Since the trails pass by many parks, I see lots of children playing in playgrounds, kids playing competitive sports, pick-up soccer games, teenagers making out on wooden bridges. Every day I see something new. It makes me feel connected both to nature and to the city and its people. You just don't get that in a car or on the Metro. I also choose to bike because it's cheap, an easy way to stay fit, and environmentally sustainable. But what really motivates me is just the simple desire to ride my bike because it's enjoyable.
I do not own a car and haven't for the past ten years. Being able to live car-free was a big consideration for me when I decided to come to UMD. I think people have normalized how stressful and dangerous it is to drive on a daily basis. As a society, we've blacked-out the every day carnage found on our roads. Once you get away from it for a while, you can begin to see it and you won't want to go back. The DC area is one of the few places in the US where not only is it possible to live without a car, it's arguably easier to do so. Talk to anyone who lives or works in the DC area and the misery of driving here is bound to come up eventually. But the city is dense with a very good, albeit neglected, transit system and excellent, rapidly improving pedestrian and bicycling infrastructure. For the few times you need a car, there are a wide variety of car sharing options. It's a great place to ditch your car.
How many miles a week do you bike?
I bike about 100 miles on average. Most of that comes from commuting, but I also take some rides just for fun. My goal for the year is 5000 miles and I'm currently ahead of the pace to hit that goal (but as they say on teevee, winter is coming).
Does biking help you clear your head for research and teaching?
It does. Perhaps most importantly, it's an interrupt-free time. I can get into a rhythm on my bike and my mind just works away at whatever is on my plate. I arrive at work ready to hit the ground running. After a little bit of conditioning in the first few weeks of commuting by bike (during which I would get to work pretty exhausted), I now arrive both physically and mentally energized.
Do you think UMD is a bike-friendly campus? If so, why?
It's OK. I've been frustrated with the message of some of DOTS campaigns to increase safety on campus, which often focuses on bicyclists' behavior. I think these campaigns should be targeted at audiences proportional to their potential to harm others, so they really should focus on drivers. I also think changing behaviors can only do so much -- at some point, you need better street design to really address problems. I would also like to see campus incentivize bicycle commuting. You can get a pre-tax deduction for a WMATA fare card; I'd like to see campus put some financial incentives into bicycling too.
Overall it's been my experience that on the actual campus, the drivers are expecting cyclists in the streets and for the most part everyone is aware and respectful of bicyclists and pedestrians around campus. Just off of campus is another story though. I would like to see major improvements to Baltimore Ave north of campus and Adelphi at University on the west side of campus. Those streets are so bad, not just for cyclists, but for pedestrians, too. I hope campus can work with the city and state to push for better street design in the immediate vicinity of campus. But to me, the real bicycle-friendliness comes from the trail network surrounding campus. With the recent completion of the Anacostia River Trail, for example, it's now possible to ride from A.V. Williams to Nationals Stadium and the wharf in DC without ever leaving a dedicated trail. That's amazing.
How and why are you active in the Washington Area Bicycling Association? (Tom shared this with me, https://org.salsalabs.com/o/451/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=15359)
I've been involved with WABA as a dues-paying member since I moved here. I've also participated in a few events WABA hosts like bike to work day and would like to participate in more, like the 50 states ride. I'm participating in the upcoming "WABA in the Wild" ride, which is a 3 day bike camping trip that will cover the length of the C&O Canal trail from Cumberland, MD to Georgetown, DC. I'm doing this largely because it looks like a ton of fun, but I also strongly support WABA's mission and want to raise money and awareness for their efforts. WABA is a critical player in making bicycling such a viable and enjoyable activity in the DC region. Let me just give a few concrete examples: WABA was instrumental in advocating for overturning the district's long-standing "contributory negligence" law that basically said if a cyclist or pedestrian is found to contribute to a wreck at all, even if just 1%, insurance companies can deny any claims made. I was hit by an SUV last year; it totalled my bicycle but luckily I wasn't injured. The police officer at the scene wrote it up as being 100% the fault of the driver, so I was also lucky enough to have the driver's insurance cover the replacement cost of the bike. But since then, WABA has taken the luck out of the equation by getting the district council to adopt more sensible laws. (WABA was also there for me immediately after my wreck with advice on how to handle the situation in the short- and long-term.) WABA is currently advocating for more sensible laws in Maryland, too. Currently, bicyclists have no right of way in crosswalks. So even though infrastructure is built which puts cyclists at dangerous street crossings and all indications are to use the crosswalk (I have to make multiple such crossings to get to work), they have no legal recourse if a driver hits them in the crosswalk. There have been several tragic stories of people dying in Maryland crosswalks on bicycles, with no way to seek justice (https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/cyclists-are-told-to-use-crosswalks-but-maryland-law-left-them-unprotected/2017/06/10/bc4055c4-4ac9-11e7-a186-60c031eab644_story.html). So because I depend on sensible laws and safe infrastructure on a daily basis, I am riding to raise money for WABA (and welcome any support!).
For the trip you will be making down the C&O Canal towpath, when is that trip and what are you doing to prepare? Have you ever made a long trip like that? What is the farthest distance you have ridden?
WABA in the Wild is October 6-9. I'm basically not doing anything beyond my regular commute to prepare, which I think will be just fine. I've never gone on a multi-day camping ride, but I've done plenty of backpacking before, so I feel pretty comfortable with the camping part. WABA is proving a van to haul equipment for the ride, but I plan on carrying all of my own equipment on my bike. The longest single ride I've gone on is just over 100 miles, but that was on pavement, not a gravel trail. I once rode 50 miles on the C&O with a UMD PhD student (Andrew Ruef), which was cold, raining, and miserable the whole way. I'm hoping for better conditions in October. :)
What else are doing to make D.C. a more bike-friendly city?
I give a lot of people grief on twitter. And I do my best to make DC bike-friendly by biking friendly.