OnFootBlog.com

I’m going to stop posting on here for a long while. Possibly forever.

When I first started this site, my employer was the Annapolis Capital, a wonderful paper that (at the time) had no running or transportation blogs. Now, however, I work for the Baltimore Sun, which within the last year has launched both a wonderful transportation blog and, more recently, a very nice running section. Since these vastly outdo my blog in terms of quality and quantity, I’m happy to say that it’s now quite redundant.

That said, I’d still love to see you at a Friday meetup, as those will continue.

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While searching for a rather repetitively aired commercial on which I’d long meant to comment*, I found something much more interesting instead:

Giving it a shot: So … What are we waiting for?

*I was originally looking for the piece that starts with the dialogue (or monologue, I guess): “Bicycle, what are we waiting for …” but I could not find it in video form, even though it’s an incredibly frequent CNN commercial. In either case, I find it very tough to imagine the focus group that resulted in Zyrtec brand managers deciding to run ads in which women talk to nonverbal objects/entities (here’s another example). Perhaps the waiting area outside of the conference area was filled with hallucinogens on that fateful day.

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The tanker truck that became entangled with John Yates’ bicycle in the city’s Station North district was too heavy for the driver to know of Yates’ presence, according to Baltimore police.

The accident killed Yates, a 67-year-old Charles Village resident.

Read the full story here

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My relative ineptitude with video conversions has delayed this from going up sooner. Better late than never:

 

Please also read the accompanying story, as it gives some interesting background.

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I was ready to sign up. Really.

Altcar.org, the home of Baltimore’s new car-sharing program, shows well enought that it isn’t the same system everybody else uses, but it nonetheless has some neat features — card-swipe entry, reserved spots, low rates and an apparent lack of extra charges for gas/insurance. It’s even got an all-electric fleet.

It’s that last bit, however, that burst my bubble: Tesla motors this ain’t. Unlike George Clooney and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Baltimore’s program didn’t opt for high-voltage roadsters that go 0-60 in under 4 seconds. The program didn’t even opt for reasonable electric sedans.

No, altcar decided that there’s nothing sexier than trundling along in a lightly disguised golf cart. Maximum legal speed: 35 mph. Many experienced bike commuters can literally pedal faster than that, and with all MTA buses now sporting bike racks, altcar doesn’t give them much reason to switch modes.

It’s not a big surprise that this is partially funded by ExxonMobile, (which has been way cooler since they started using a CamelCase name). They get free touchy-feely press for their role in the organization, and at the same time, they can continue to tacitly push the idea that electric cars are best left to carrying circus clowns dressed as firemen.

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One extra note: Lest I leave out a relevant detail, Johns Hopkins and zipcar have their own deal, independent of the rest of the city.

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Along with the usual onfootblog Baltimore Friday running groups, there’s something special happening tomorrow in the city.

Check out this site for more information on biking to work in Baltimore for bike-to-work day 2009.

For people who live in the Hampden, Station North, Roland Park or Druid Hill areas and work somewhere near downtown, it’s pretty easy.  The Jones Falls Trail and an abundance of bike lanes (plus some shared, hashed bike routes) get rid of a lot of the hassle. Other areas of the city can be spotty, though I know that the Pigtown/Carroll Park/Gwynns Falls Trail corridor is also developing nicely for bikes.

As usual, dress safely and don’t over-exert. Good luck!

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One more note: This is the first yearly iteration of bike-to-work day for which all MTA buses will have bike racks.

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The Baltimore Sun’s Michael Dresser writes today about bike parking in an old car parking spot by Johns Hopkins:

The city has replaced one parking space for cars in the 3100 block of St. Paul St. with racks that can accommodate 10-12 bikes. Mayor Sheila Dixon, whose administration is seeking to encourage bicycle use, is expected to take part in the opening.

The article goes on to mention that more conversions are planned. It also says that focusing on bike parking is especially popular in cities like Portland, New York and Seattle. View the whole article here.

No word yet on whether the endposts on future conversions will be in interesting shapes.

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Since the Ravens-Steelers AFC title game this weekend will only take up a small slice of the evening, I figured I’d give a few tips for those whose non-football interest in the area might go beyond weird sandwiches. Here are some weekend options:

Walking/Transit

Growing up, watching the trolley on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood was an unhealthy gateway drug into both jazz and rail geekdom. What I didn’t find out until a few years ago, however, was that Fred Rogers’ real neighborhood contains some transit that’s possibly even cooler (albeit sans theme music). Pittsburgh is home to one of the more famous funicular systems in the country, as well as some light rail, but it also plays host to a less famous (but nearly as cool) system of grade-seperated busways. One state legislative staffer even documented his daily experiences with the system as a whole. A (more-or-less-complete) map of that system can be found here.

Biking

Along with an emerging system of bike lanes, Pittsburgh has an older, more developed network of paved and unpaved trails. I could give a quick summary of those trail offerings, but these folks already did a much better job. One cautionary note: I don’t have any idea how/whether they plow or scrape these trails in the winter. For example, my run to work yesterday on the Jones Falls Trail was a mixed bag — snow was removed, but iced-over puddles remained. In a different (and more northern) city, your experience may be worse. Or it may be better. You have been warned.

Running

Along with the biking route options linked above,  you can check out the usual online options for a bunch of improvised routes. There’s also a race if you’re willing to go out to the exurbs: I have to grant the organizers of the Bushwacker’s Nightmare Trail Run congratulations for choosing an excellent name. The race is Sunday at 10 a.m.

One more thing

If you’re not sure what non-game events to walk/bike/ride toward, and you’re short on time or morbidly lazy (the latter being unlikely for a reader of this blog), here’s an events link to get you started on your search. It’s been a couple of years since I last visited Pittsburgh, but I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

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Here are a few recent articles on the Red Line 4c plan, which has now been endorsed by nearly every major leader in Baltimore and Balto. Co:

Not building Red Line would continue sad status quo – Baltimore Sun

Dixon, Smith endorse route for Baltimore Red Line – The Examiner

Dixon, Smith to back east-west light rail option – Baltimore Sun

While there are plenty of weighty issues that are rightfully getting exposure — tunneling, traffic-light-timing, eminent domain, community traffic patterns, etc., — my burning question is somewhat more personal and greedy: Assuming that it gets built, will getting a bike onto the new light rail be easier than it is with the current Howard Street (north-south) line?

Advocates of a light rail option keep waxing — not poetically, just waxing — about how the newer rail cars would be faster and lower-floored than the vehicles on the clunky north-south route. Nowhere would that change be more welcome than when trying to get a bike on board.

While my decision to stop taking a bike this summer had more to do with the maintenance-created-crowding than with the three rather steep steps in each north-south car, I would imagine that a more bike-friendly Red Line could get many more casual commuters to consider a bike/rail combination. On a more greedy level, it would also mean that I could leave 15 minutes later when going to destinations along the route, since I wouldn’t have to walk once I got there.

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View a map of the Red Line 4c alternative

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This week, I was very happy that I had moved from Glen Burnie to Baltimore.

On Sunday, the Jones Falls Expressway was closed for an interesting event.

This got me thinking about what other strange or weird races are out there. I found few:

- Chicago just broke in its new runway in a run … way (sorry — couldn’t resist).

- The Kansas City take on the popular “Jingle Bell Run” motif was at one point a little more unusual than planned, according to one blogger.

- Los Angeles played host at least once to a course sprinkled with one-hit-wonders.

- Austin gets on the list honorarily, simply for having the name that it has.

So my poll question is: Which of these cities has the strangest race?

Go ahead and vote:

Which city has the strangest road race?
	Chicago
	Kansas City
	Los Angeles
	Austin
	Other
pollcode.com free polls

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