Bike Access at the Smithsonian

"George Farnsworth" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On a recent gray morning I drove over to see the new
museum and to satisfy my enduring curiosity about bicycle
access at airports (bikeaccess.netbikeaccess.netOpen ↗). The museum
is interesting -- mostly military aircraft. .... The
upshot is that the airplane museum admission is "free" but
that even the Wright brothers would have to come by car
and pay $12.

I bet that if you actually just biked out there and parked,
you wouldn't have to pay. You seem to have asked people who
have no idea about the actual answer.

Mike Kruger said:

"George Farnsworth" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On a recent gray morning I drove over to see the new
museum and to satisfy my enduring curiosity about bicycle
access at airports (bikeaccess.netbikeaccess.netOpen ↗). The
museum is interesting -- mostly military aircraft. ....
The upshot is that the airplane museum admission is
"free" but that even the Wright brothers would have to
come by car and pay $12.

Quoted message said:

I bet that if you actually just biked out there and
parked, you wouldn't have to pay. You seem to have asked
people who have no idea about the actual answer.

Seems that way to me too.

Perhaps if you wrote to the PR dept., you'd get a definitive
answer. This is especially true if you're in a position to
offer publicity (positive or negative), as with your
website. Most likely you'll get a "bikes are welcome -- come
one, come all," kind of message. And the dweebs who gave you
"heat" might be admonished to drop the 'tude as well.

My biggest beef with bike access and public buildings is
with the Post Office. Most of them have bike racks, but
some, annoyingly, don't -- and the staff [censored] at you if
you bring your bike inside.

Matt O.

In <[email hidden]>,
George Farnsworth <[email hidden]> opined:

Quoted message said:

On the question of bike access I was met with the usual
mix of misinformation and hostility. The first guard I
encountered said "yes, I could ride to the museum" but
that there was no parking for bikes. I pointed out a row
of inverted-U bike racks in the distance. I then asked if
a person on a bike would have to pay the $12 parking fee.
"Of course, why not?" he said with some heat.

This came up on DC local lists last fall when the Udvar-
Hazy center opened. I don't recall if any official answer
came back.

The hot issue among cyclists at NASM (the ones I know are
all based at the Mall facility, actually) is if there's any
reasonable route out there in the first place.

Rt. 50 & 28 are a bit beyond the comfort of any but the most
road ready riders. The Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD)
trail comes near, but there is no legit connection yet.

At least one NASM cyclist mentioned plans to investigate
access this spring. That's just around the corner, but isn't
quite here yet. If I hear anything new I'll be glad to let
y'all know...

--
Dave Salovesh [email hidden] (REPLACE example WITH
mindspring TO EMAIL ME)

The Udvar-Hazy Center is accessed via Route 28.

For those of you not from NoVA, imagine riding on a very high-
volume Interstate. Now put stoplights on it just often
enough to get big pulses of traffic (commuters and airport
traffic) thundering along.

Or during less-busy periods, imagine traffic hurtling by at
freeway speeds and not much room to ride.

Now put construction barriers at various points on it.

Definitely NOT bike-friendly.

-Luigi

I wrote to the Smithsonian email address for the museum
([email hidden]) -- no answer in a couple of days.

Although Rte 28 is kind of a busy road at times, it does
have a wide paved shoulder and is not nearly so hostile as
some make out.

A slightly hidden agenda is the possibility of parking for
free at one of the malls, etc. along Route 28 and biking to
the museum.