Copenhagenizing DC

I love my bicycle (see right). Last summer, I began to bike considerably more than I ever had growing up, and I loved it. I biked almost every day, and even ventured out to bike the entire Mt. Vernon Trail one weekend (quite an adventure for me, anyway–I’m still a beginner!). Bicycling in DC is surprisingly easy, actually, and it’s a shame more people don’t use it as their primary form of transportation. Sure, the city has its hills… like Capitol Hill, and the hill I live on (the largest in the city, actually), but they’re manageable. And the city’s done a surprisingly good job of making it easy for you to take your bike on the metrorail (any time except rush hour) and on metrobuses (anytime you want, there are racks on the front of every bus).

Studying abroad last fall in Copenhagen, I continued my bicycling habit, purchasing a used bike there and using it almost exclusively for my transit around the city–along with the other 60% of Copenhageners who ride bicycles regularly, and 30%+ who commute by bike every single day. In Denmark, bicycle is actually spelled bycykel, which literally translates to “city bike.” It was there I learned about one of my favorite blogs, Copenhagenize (and they’re on Twitter: @copenhagenize).

This past semester I continued biking back here in DC, despite the snowpocalypse, snom attack, and snowverkill. In the past two days, my bicycling has picked up significantly now that I’m working out in Arlington. The choice is pretty simple–I can spend over an hour and $6-8 per day (especially with today’s fare hike announcement)… or I can spend 30 relaxing, healthy, active minutes on my bicycle to get to work.

So why aren’t there more of us out there biking on all these beautiful summer days? I’ll admit I’ve noticed more people on bikes this spring and summer than I remember seeing last year, but we’ve got a long way to go to catch up with Copenhagen. Let’s Copenhagenize DC! Let’s turn this into a bike city. We’re already the fittest city in the nation, so why not really earn that title?

Do you bike? How often? Where to? If not, why not? Do you have any questions about biking in DC? Ask me!

And now trust me, I’m not a hardcore bicyclist. I don’t have a fancy bike uniform, a super-expensive bike, and I’m not one of those people who wakes up at 4am so I can bike 60 miles before work every day. I’m your pretty average kid, who just happens to enjoy riding his bike to work.

Anyway, I’ll leave you with some of my favorite sites for bicycling and public transit in DC–check them out, bookmark them, add them to your RSS feed. You won’t regret it!

• Greater Greater Washington – one of the best transit and bicycling sites in DC, hands down. There is no better source for news on public transit, WMATA failings, and ways to make DC a greater city. They’re also on twitter @ggwash.
• Washington Area Bicyclist Association – pretty much the official source for all things bicycling in DC (but also more geared towards the fancy bicycling pros).
• Bike Washington – the absolute best resource for trails, routes, and almost everything else you could need to bike Washington, DC; definitely visit this site to get an idea for what all is out there!
• Hudson Trail Outfitters – probably my favorite Washington-area sporting goods store, they seem to have some of the most reasonable prices on bikes and bicycle accessories in the city (not that they’re cheap!). They also do full-service tune-ups, repairs, and have a pretty friendly staff.