The Washington and Arlington Community Bike Ride
From the comments we have received since Sunday’s Bike DC, it is clear many of you had the great experience those of us who plan and produce this event had hoped you would. Equally clear however is that many of you did not. There were three things that contributed to the unfortunate situations that impacted some of you.
The first factor is the growth in the number of participants. This was by far the biggest Bike DC yet and some of the routing that had been adequate with a smaller ride, was unsatisfactory for this larger group. The good news is that we can make the changes necessary to accommodate a larger field.
Second was the road construction near Iwo Jima. That project grew dramatically in scope late last week, seriously impacting the ability to get thousands of cyclist through that section. As the magnitude of the problem became apparent, National Park Service and Arlington police made tactical decisions on how best to keep the situation from becoming dangerous. I cannot argue with any of the decisions they made.
The third and by far most significant factor was a series of decisions made by DC Police. Unfortunately the Washington police officer assigned to this event for the past several years left work on medical leave late last week. Those who were left to oversee the event made some unfortunate decisions. They spontaneously re-routed the approach to the finish line, sending riders onto streets with live traffic. The re-opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge to motorized traffic while thousands of cyclists were still in Arlington. Though both of these errors were eventually corrected, they should not have occurred.
I apologize to those of you whose ride was impacted negatively. I wish you all a full summer of safe and enjoyable bicycling in and around Washington.
Rick Bauman
Event Director
Bike DC
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