National Bike Challenge
May is Bike Month. See LAB's Bike Month info that includes info about the National Bike Challenge which "continues its mission to inspire and empower millions of Americans to ride their bikes for transportation, recreation and better health. Join the friendly online competition to track your miles, make new friends, compete for prizes and help us show the power and popularity of bicycling in the U.S. by uniting 50,000 Americans to log 20 million miles from May 1 to September 30."
Tour de Fat is Back
Tour de Fat will return to DC on June 1. The "Tour" is really a free bike festival that starts with a costumed bike parade and continues with live music, games, trick bikes, and beverages provided by New Belgium Brewery. See our coverage of last year's Tour.
We hope everyone will join the fun this year and support FABB at the same time. FABB volunteers will work the ID/Wristband station and we'll be receiving a portion of the proceeds of the event. We need volunteers for the afternoon shift. All volunteers will receive a free t-shirt, 2 beverage coupons, and will be invited to the Volunteer Appreciation Night Thursday before the event. You'll also be eligible for the special volunteer raffle of a bike donated by New Belgium Brewery. Contact us to sign up. See WABA's Tour de Fat page for more info.
Bike to Work Day is Friday, May 17
It's time to celebrate biking to work on Friday, May 17. While many of us think that every day is bike to work day, some people have not tried it. The goal is to encourage more people to ride on that day. Many discover the joys of biking to work and realize that with a little planning, it's a great way to save money, get a workout, and reduce congestion and air pollution. Even if you bike every day we encourage everyone to sign up for the event. It's one way to track the popularity of biking to work over the years. Join one or more of the 11 events in Fairfax County/City.
Bicycle Education Classes through ParkTakes
Fairfax County Park Authority offers a series of bicycle education classes through ParkTakes. Search for "bicycle" or visit Reston Bike Ed for a list of classes. FABB's Bruce Wright teaches the classes at Rocky Run Middle School in Chantilly. Contact Bruce at bikecommuter {at} gmail -dot- com.
Countywide Bicycle Master Plan —We've posted a summary of the draft plan. There's also a pdf version of the plan. We expect the plan to go before the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors in early 2013. See presentations, area profiles, fliers, and other info on Fairfaxpedia. The following are overlapping maps of four quadrants in Fairfax County showing recommended on- and off-road bicycle facilities. These maps are DRAFT as of July 15, 2012:
Northwest - Northeast - Southwest - Southeast
Fairfax Safe Routes to School page
A major goal of FABB is to encourage more kids to bike to school. We're working with a grass roots Safe Routes to School network to reach that goal. We recently developed a FABB web page devoted to summarizing information about Safe Routes to School in Fairfax.
Successful Bike Summit
The Fairfax Bike Summit went very well on Saturday October 27. We had some great presentations from an impressive lineup of speakers. Bike vendors brought lots of interesting bikes and gear. It was a chance to meet other bike advocates and people interested in making Fairfax a better place to bike. We estimate around 100 people attended. See the Ideas for Moving Forward submitted during the summit.
The Summit was sponsored by Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling, George Mason University, and Fairfax County. Thanks to Mason for being such excellent hosts, providing an ideal facility, food and drinks for cyclists, and leading a tour of their Bicycle Friendly campus. In the near future we plan to post the presentations on the Fairfax Bike Summit page.
FABB Events Calendar lists all upcoming events, meetings, and other bicycle-related activities in the area.
FABB is now a RoadID affiliate. If you click on the RoadID icon on the left, 10% of any RoadID products you purchase within 60 days will be donated to FABB. RoadID provides personal identification gear such as dog tags (FIXX ID), Wrist ID, and others.
Bicycle Incident Report Form—WABA's form for reporting incidents of aggressive, passing too close, harassment, and other such interactions with motorists. In the past Fairfax County Police collected this information using their Aggressive Driver form. Due to budget cuts, that form is no longer available. Cyclists can use this form instead.
Tysons Bicycle Master Plan—The final draft of the Tysons Bicycle Master Plan and accompanying maps were completed last February. Public hearings before the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors have still not been held. We're hoping they will occur this spring. When approved, the plan will become part of the county Comprehensive Plan.
Guide for Reviewing Public Road Design and Bicycling Accommodations for Virginia Bicycling Advocates—Virginia bicycling advocates have a new resource to help them review and comment on public road projects. The new guide, prepared by FABB in consultation with the Virginia (VDOT) and Fairfax County departments of transportation, outlines ways bicycling proponents can get involved in the process of designing, approving, building, and retrofitting roads to ensure that bicycling accommodations are integrated into the plans where needed. Although geared for Virginia, many of the ideas contained in the report could be applied to other locations as well. Guide web page. Download a High res version (18MB) or a smaller
Low res version (6MB). View the online version of the Guide.
Bicycle Parking Policy—Fairfax County has issued draft bike parking guidelines for review. The guidelines will include “specific standards for the County to use as part of the land development process”. The new standards will either be a Board Policy, an amendment to the Zoning Ordinance, or incorporated into the Public Facilities Manual. See Supervisor Smyth's Board Matter from the November 19, 2007 meeting, page 20, no. 40.
Goals
- County Bicycle Master Plan
- Prioritized list of bicycle projects connecting major residential, employment, and commercial centers
- Bicycle parking
- Cross county bike routes
- Bicycle Safety and Police Outreach
- Data Collection and Analysis
- VDOT Bicycle Advisory Committee
Road ID - FABB is an affiliate of Road ID - the company that makes identification accessories for cyclists, runners, and other active individuals who may not have their identification or relevant medical information with them during their activities. The FABB logo is available for engraving on the front of Road ID's dog tag called the "FIXX ID." FABB will receive 10% of your Road ID purchase. Click the banner above to shop.
A brief history
The roots of FABB go to spring 2005 when about 10 bicycle enthusiasts got together to talk about ways to advance cycling in Fairfax County. The group met during 2005 and eventually decided to be affiliated with WABA. Since 2006 we've contacted cyclists at various bicycle events, handing out copies of the FABB brochure, and signing up cyclists for our bi-monthly newsletters. We continue to advocate for better bicycling conditions in Fairfax.
