Wednesday, October 31, 2012
How we can make a difference
Getting safe cycling into school system education, getting transportation departments to build safe roads — that’s all important. But it often requires a lot of time, patience and the cooperation of large groups to accomplish. So what difference can one person make? Ms. Quinn had the answer for that question, distributing a flier that suggested actions that individuals can take to grow cycling. I'd thought — and written — about a lot of these ideas, but it was fantastic to see them all distilled into one sheet of paper.
The ideas from Fionnuala's talk:- Be a role model by biking to the store/work/school
- Be a bike buddy to a family member, neighbor, co-worker
- Organize an informal ride group
- Pay attention to local planning and transportation decisions
- Submit bike parking suggestions in local business comment boxes
- Attend public meetings & speak up
- Support your local, regional and national bike advocacy organizations
- Let elected officials know that you care about bike infrastructure
- Let schools know that you care about safe biking & bike education
- Learn local biking rules and regulations
- Especially support teens in your life to stick with biking
- Expect good design and give thoughtful input on the built world
- Be a self-appointed Fairfax Bike Ambassador
Labels: fairfax bike summit, fionnuala quinn, mark blacknell
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Mark Blacknell, new WABA President
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| FABB's Fionnuala Quinn with WABA's new President Mark Blacknell at the Bloomsday Ride earlier this year |
For more info about Mark and his ideas about WABA's future, see Introducing Mark Blacknell, WABA's New President, on the WABA blog:
Hi, Mark Blacknell here. I’m a cyclist. And a driver. And a pedestrian. And WABA’s newest Board President.
Yesterday, my fellow WABA board members placed their confidence in me, electing me President along with re-electing Martin Moulton as Vice President, Paul d'Eustachio as Treasurer, and Randall Myers as Secretary. The board – and WABA as a whole – owe Barbara Klieforth a debt of gratitude for her years of dedicated service as President. Thankfully, she will be remaining on the board, and will continue to help guide WABA.
I feel very lucky to be taking this on right now. We’ve got a membership who actively support our mission. We maintain good relationships with most area governments. We certainly have a fantastic and effective staff. In short, we’re in good shape.
So what’s left to do? Plenty. Here’s my personal agenda:
Yesterday, my fellow WABA board members placed their confidence in me, electing me President along with re-electing Martin Moulton as Vice President, Paul d'Eustachio as Treasurer, and Randall Myers as Secretary. The board – and WABA as a whole – owe Barbara Klieforth a debt of gratitude for her years of dedicated service as President. Thankfully, she will be remaining on the board, and will continue to help guide WABA.
I feel very lucky to be taking this on right now. We’ve got a membership who actively support our mission. We maintain good relationships with most area governments. We certainly have a fantastic and effective staff. In short, we’re in good shape.
- First and foremost – we need to keep pressing on the basics: infrastructure, enforcement, and education. The area has definitely seen some successes in recent years: infrastructure expansion in DC and Arlington, an explosion of interest in Capital Bikeshare beyond its original limits, and the introduction of an anti-assault bill for cyclists in DC. We can’t rest, though, as we’ve still got long way to go on infrastructure, uptake of cycling by new bikeshare users will require greatly expanded education efforts, and that anti-harassment bill? Is still sitting in committee. We can’t rest, even when it comes to the basics.
- I also look forward to supporting and expanding WABA’s efforts to reach out to communities that haven’t traditionally been a focus of bike advocacy. The development of our East of the Anacostia project has been thrilling to see, and I hope we can build the capacity for similar efforts with the “Invisible Cyclists” of our immigrant communities. The gender gap is something that should concern all cyclists, and I eagerly anticipate the next step in the process started at the Women’s Bicycling Forum. Shorter version: cycling is for everyone, and our advocacy should reflect that.
- Finally, I’ll be working to improve region-wide cooperation and communication among cycling advocates. WABA can’t – and doesn’t need – to be at the table for every cycling issue that comes up in the greater Washington area. We can, however, help connect and support local advocates in addressing their local issues. On the other side of that coin, I hope to engage my fast friends in MABRAland and my dirty friends at MORE to ensure that when big cycling issues are on the line, we can bring our full and joint voice to the discussion.
Labels: mark blacknell, waba
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Bloomsday bike ride
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| Fionnuala Quinn of FABB and Mark Blacknell of Arlington BAC Photo by Megabeth |
FABB's Fionnuala Quinn was asked to help put together a unique celebration of the event, a "leisurely bicycle ride followed by breakfast at the Irish Embassy." As you can see from the photo at the right, the bicycle attire was rather unique. It was a nice touch that they used Capital Bikeshare bikes. For photos from the ride see Megabeth's photostream.
Labels: bloomsday, capital bikeshare, fionnuala quinn, mark blacknell
Friday, January 7, 2011
Winter riding
For tips on riding in winter weather there are a couple of good Patch articles: Preparing For Winter Bike Rides by Tim Fricker, owner and head mechanic at bikes@vienna, and Put Away the Bike for the Winter? Not In Arlington by Mark Blacknell, chair of the Arlington Bicycle Advisory Committee. Why not get our and ride before the next snow falls?
Labels: mark blacknell, tim fricker, winter riding
