With the U.S. Capitol in the background and Pennsylvania Avenue freshly repaved, some of the country's best cyclists battled it out in yesterday's ING Direct Capital Criterium. But while the main attraction was the presence of a number of professional racers -- including Garmin-Chipotle rider Christian Vande Velde, who placed fifth in the Tour de France -- the event capped off what has been a strong year in local racing for area riders and teams.......

We've been interested in D.C. Council member Tommy Wells's amendment to add additional fines for drivers who double park in bike lanes for a while. Greater Greater Washington has been all over this story from the beginning, so it's no surprise you can read the news there: yesterday the Council passed a set of new laws regarding new fines for drivers who endanger pedestrians and cyclists, and Wells's revised amendment was included. The fine for......

The Associated Press (via WaPo) caught new Washington Redskins coach Jim Zorn going for a bike ride with President Bush on Sunday. Both men are enthusiastic mountain bikers, and Bush apparently invited Zorn to join him out on a tough trail this weekend. What do you suppose they talked about? After coming up with a bad, cutesy nickname for him (Zorny? Zornzy?), perhaps the president taunted the coach about his team's ugly performance against the......

Poor Mayor Fenty: he just can't seem to get back on his feet. Or his left foot, to be more specific. WTOP reports that the mayor fell off of his bicycle yesterday, re-injuring the foot he fractured playing football on the beach and forcing him to cancel his public schedule for the next few days. Fenty had continued to bike and swim since the original injury, which doesn't exactly seem wise, but it hardly matters......

In the week since Alice Swanson was tragically killed riding her bike through Dupont Circle, there has been the usual back-and-forth between aggravated cyclists and aggrieved drivers. Cyclists accuse drivers of being two-ton road menaces, while drivers fire back by relaying long-worn tales of cyclists recklessly flying through red lights. But in recent days cyclists have started defending their trade, looking to present their selective ignorance of traffic laws as perfectly justifiable. First up was......

On the blocks around Dupont Circle yesterday evening, there were more bikes than usual for a standard evening commute. Their point of convergence was the corner of 20th and R Streets NW, adjacent to the outdoor diners at La Tomate, most of whom looked on in some confusion as the crowd continued to gather at the corner, and members of the press set up microphones at the Washington Area Bicyclist’s Association’s podium. Organizers reminded the......

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association has just announced a press conference for this evening on the death of bicyclist Alice Swanson. Swanson was killed by a garbage truck just before 8 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Tonight at 6:30 p.m., the cyclist association will install a "ghost bike" at the intersection of Connecticut Ave and Q R Street NW, near the spot where 22-year-old Swanson died, in an effort to highlight the need for better bicycle......

Photo of the mangled bicycle of Alice Swanson, who was killed when she was struck by a garbage truck just north of Dupont Circle this morning, courtesy Washington Area Bicyclist Association D.C. Police this afternoon identified the cyclist who was killed just north of Dupont Circle as 22-year-old District resident Alice Swanson. Scant other details are available yet about the accident, but WTOP says that at this point, no charges have been filed against......

The AP is reporting that a 22-year-old woman has died after being struck by a garbage truck while riding her bicycle near Dupont Circle this morning. The garbage truck, which was not owned by the city but rather a private company, struck the woman at Connecticut and R Streets NW just before 8:30 a.m. The roadway around the accident site was shut down while officers investigated the scene. The woman has not yet been......

Let the bike vs. car wars continue! Toward the end of last week Matthew Yglesias linked to a new D.C. version of MyBikeLane.com, a site that allows users to upload photos capturing the license plate numbers of cars that park in city bike lanes. Yglesias promised to start uploading photos straightaway, and sure enough, a handful of photos at the top of the page are courtesy the Atlantic blogger, including the one above. The......

Photo of a World Naked Bike Ride in London by tylerbrekko, used under a creative commons license Via Free Ride, looks like it's time for yet another ill-advised, barely-clothed display in our nation's capital. The D.C. version of World Naked Bike Ride is planned for this Saturday at 4 p.m. A flyer on the group's web site, which is part of a large, world-wide network of fairly well-attended naked rides in other cities, states......

As we reported yesterday, Bicycling magazine has bestowed the District with the title of "Most Improved Bicycling City." (Take that, Minneapolis and San Jose!) Beyond the soon-to-come bike sharing program and the (hopefully) increasing amount of bike lanes, the magazine also mentioned the number of elected officials that are avid cyclists. And who are they? We list the most important. Adrian Fenty: Fine, I might not run this city, but I sure as hell beat......

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association sent around word today that Bicycling Magazine has named Washington, D.C. the #1 most improved bicycling city in America (you can download a pdf of the story here, since it appears it's not yet available on Bicycling.com). The news was timed well with WABA's efforts to remind everyone to sign up for Bike to Work Day (coming up on May 16). As Tanya Snyder notes over at City Desk,......

Not very many media outlets have really mastered the art of producing web video, but Slate's team of online video producers tend to stand out from the pack (see their Larry Craig arrest report reenactment for further evidence). Via Matthew Yglesias, we get this truly funny report on the stupidest bike lines in America (and elsewhere in the world). Slate ended up giving the top honors to a 20-ft. stretch of bike lane they......

A 15-year-old has been arrested in connection with running down MPD bicycle officer Brian Bobick with a stolen limousine on Thursday. The Post is reporting that Bobick, 30, remains in critical but stable condition after being struck by the limo on the 4200 block of Ord St. NE, and that he pushed his partner out of harm's way just in time. More disturbing is a report from WTOP's Mark Seagraves that the arrested teenager who......

Now that it's getting darker earlier, bicyclists in the city need to be more careful about riding at night. But if you're like me, you've been putting off buying a safety light for oh, forever. So I'm planning on being first in line this Friday, November 2 at the Suntrust Plaza in Adams Morgan to snag free front and rear bike lights courtesy the Washington Area Bicyclist Association and DDOT. All you have to do......

Good Morning, Washington. In an apparent attempt to rule the D.C. media landscape through terror and intimidation, the Washington Post has published the scariest local news story we've ever read this morning: apparently, these disgusting-looking creatures called camel crickets are infesting area basements due to the lack of moisture in the ground thanks to the region's rather serious drought. Described as "a mix between a spider and a cricket" and accompanied by disturbing photographic......

This week, Phillyist saw the waters of a landmark fountain run red for a Showtime marketing stunt, the Phils pull ahead, and some serious nostalgia. They also got a chance to review an awesome tribute album, reminded folks to see the King, and appreciated their beautiful skyline. Chicagoist knows what it's like to like the Cubs. But naming your kid Wrigley Fields? At least they can breathe a little easier now that Grossman's out and......

Protest over national vs. regional chains, the never-ending debate over the place of cars and bicycles in our metropolises, professional sports scandals, remembering a solemn day, and being issued a search warrant - it all happened across our sites this week! Another banner week at Chicagoist started off with daily reports from food writer Lisa Shames on her attempt to eat only locally grown and raised foodstuffs all week as part of a farmers market......

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty may be seen by his constituency as young, technologically savvy and constantly making personal appearances at even the smallest neighborhood events. But unlike his pal up in New York, rarely can he be seen riding public transportation, preferring to be whisked around town in his big, black Lincoln Navigator. And we're willing to concede that it probably makes more sense for the most part, seeing as how Fenty needs to......

>> The Washington Irish R.F.C. had some early success with their attempt to bring a more laidback pub trivia night to Solly's on U Street, so they're back with another four weeks of trivia on Wednesdays starting promptly at 8:30 p.m. -- get there early, as even though they've only done two of these before, it's been packed every time. Prizes range from $25 gift cards to fancy bottles of wine, and between rounds......

With unseasonable weather descending upon much of North America, schools getting ready to reconvene, and sports seasons getting exciting, it's a busy time of year for us here in the Ist-a-verse. Luckily, even with all the things we have to do, we still managed to get together to let you know what we've all been up to. After cooling down from a hot weekend of many badass Sunset Junction Street Fair photo dispatches, LAist asked......

>> D.C.'s first elected Ward 7 Council member, Willie Hardy, has passed away at the age of 85. [WJLA] >> Shuttle Endeavour landed safely this afternoon in Florida, a day early due to fears Hurricane Dean would close the Kennedy Space Center tomorrow. The shuttle traveled about 5.3 million miles, suffered from heat shield tile damage that was eventually deemed not hazardous, and was the first flight for Mission Specialist Barbara R. Morgan, an......

If you've been waiting for an official endorsement of your plan to rollerskate to work, this is about as close as you're going to get. Today the D.C. Council unanimously endorsed legislation that designated September 18, 2007 as "D.C. Car-Free Day." The measure, which follows World Car-Free Day, currently celebrated in 1,500 cities in 40 countries, was sponsored by Councilmembers Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), and Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) and council Chair Vincent Gray. Wells......

Just a little over a month ago, DCist Jeff updated our very occasional series, What We're Missing, with a plea for the introduction of municipal bicycles available for rent all over the city, a la the same deal that Paris, France is about to get. Here's what he said: At first, we cringe at the thought of hundreds of street-clogging lost tourists and a cottage industry of bike thefts. With more examination, though, there's a......

Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It's been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here's a smattering of what's been going on. In Gothamist's neck of the woods, they found out that many things are possible: A man caught a 40+ pound fish off the Rockaways and took it home on the subway. Graffiti......

If D.C.-area drivers are not known for their road skills, neither are local police known for enforcing the laws that might alter this behavior. We have no empirical proof that the cops of the region turn any particular blind eye to traffic violations. A few hours in a car during the evening rush, though, or even a spin through the many anecdotes posted in DCist comment threads should be enough to convince you that drivers......

Washington has had a love-hate relationship with the Segway for some time now. Certainly, they are useful modes of transportation -- who among us begrudges the UPS man, or even the tourists, from trying to zip around our city's streets in a more efficient manner? But at the same time, pretty much no matter what you do, if you're riding one, you look like a douchebag. This isn't to say the technology isn't cool, or......

Disturbing news out of the Columbia Heights neighborhood, as reports emerge about a 9 a.m. shooting at a crowded bus stop this morning at the corner of Georgia Ave. and Columbia Rd. NW. A woman being described as a Latino woman in her mid to late 30s is in critical condition at Howard University Hospital after being shot in the head by a man who fled on a bicycle. The shooting ocurred as students at......

>> Vandals armed only with a U-shaped bicycle lock and a sense of irony managed to trap about 40 commuters on the Virginia Railway Express Monday near Woodbridge, when they locked the metal gates from the pedestrian bridge at the Rippon station. The gates, which the VRE removed Tuesday, were originally put there to keep vandals out of the station. [AP via NBC4] >> Post columnist Courtland Milloy makes a compelling case for abolishing......