i've gotten a number of letters about my last post concerning bike to work day.  i believe that i can answer them all in a quick and easy manner: your attendance is now mandatory.  we all, collectively, hear so much griping about how dismal the conditions for bikers can be in some jurisdictions around the washington area.  you may feel like the situation is hopelessly out of balance, or the problems are of a magnitude that is difficult to appreciate.  i would probably agree with both those sentiments.  but as people who log a lot of hours on road bikes, you should have more than a passing interest in the safety, convenience and suitablity of roads for biking.  so i re-iterate: if you have a road bike, and if you work in the dc metro area, your attendance at bike to work day is now compulsory.

by order of the central ministry for planning under the supreme revolutionary directorate for movement, we have deployed one of the racing union's secret weapons, the radeln sie grundsätzedurchsetzungstruppen.  they have infiltrated most mabra clubs with remarkable ease.   die grundsätzedurchsetzungstruppen have been tasked with reporting compliance for individual cyclists back to the people's committee for the monitoring and assessment of proposed transportation efficiency measures within the central ministry for planning under the supreme revolutionary directorate for movement. 

non-compliance will not be tolerated.  and comrades, while we cannot absolutely confirm or deny those rumors regarding cyclists who have been officially recognized as unhelpful to the revolution, do you really want to risk it?  the ministry of domestic support is currently in the process of re-evaluating rations and allotments for bread, potatoes and cloth.  just something to keep in mind.

looked at a different way, there may possibly be a handful of cyclists in the mid-atlantic whose training, goals and aspirations cannot be met were they to take a day off and spend it on bicycle advocacy and showing by example that people could conduct their lives in completely different ways.  but if you're sitting at a computer reading this instead of training or sleeping, you're probably not one of those.  i'm not asking.  i'm telling.  go to the web site.  register now.  find someone new who has does not commute regularly.  mentor them and help them learn the ropes in the process.  make a friend, make a difference.

- - posted by scott