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Monday, September 17, 2001
Rode west about 40 miles on the W&OD trail yesterday and it was probably the busiest I've ever seen it. It was a beautiful, cool day, and I think a lot of people just wanted to get outside in the fresh air and take a break from all of the depressing news. On Saturday I rode just over 40 miles round trip in the other direction, toward DC. I haven't been there since the Pentagon attack, so I rode by the building to see the damage for myself. Felt like maybe I shouldn't have gone to gawk at the scene, but then thought that it would be odd not to be curious about it. Now I hear that it will take up to 2 years to rebuild. Rode about 45 miles round trip to attend a trails conference near DC today, one of the few people who cycled. The conference was accessible to the Mt. Vernon trail, so my route was 99% on asphalt trail. I really am lucky to have so many good trails nearby. Saturday, September 15, 2001
We had a very moving candlelight service here in Reston. Many of the faith-based leaders were there, and there were some very moving comments from leaders of the Muslim community. There was such a diverse crowd; it's times like that when I appreciate living in Reston. The tone of the evening was very much one of a desire for justice, but not for an excessive show of force for the sake of revenge.
Where did Levi Leipheimer come from? I haven't heard much about him until this year's Vuelta a Espana, and he's the highest places US Postal Service rider, in 6th overall, nearly a minute ahead of his teammate and last year's winner, Roberto Heras. In today's stage, while Heras faded, after a brief break attempt, Levi kept right on climbing, eventually passing Laiseka, the excellent Basque climber, to finish 4th.
Today's NY Times has a good article entitled The Coalition: U.S. Demands Arab Countries 'Choose Sides'. Rep. Barbara J. Lee, Democrat of California, was the lone opposition vote in the House to give President Bush the power to use "all necessary and appropriate force" to respond to the terror attacks on the United States this week. She said the nation risked entering an open-ended war without a clear target. She said in a statement, "I am convinced that military action will not prevent further acts of international terrorism against the United States." I agree with the Egyptian ambassador who stated that the administration must focus on finding and punishing those responsible for this week's attacks, and not broaden the effort to include other geopolitical goals. Friday, September 14, 2001
Amidst the turmoil, I barely noticed the Washington Post article on bike facilities in which I was quoted. It's a good article on a new study to implement better bike facilities, but it's going to take much more than a study to get the job done because there is so much to do with very little money and political will.
There were many people in our community directly affected by the terrorist attacks in NY and the Pentagon. Several candlelight ceremonies are planned, and our local BBS is one of the best ways of getting the word out. Now is the time for us all to be pulling together and supporting each other. Thursday, September 13, 2001
From this Salon article, it appears that the administration could have done more to try to prevent the terrorist attacks. It's easy to second guess at this point, but the recommendations of the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century made it clear that this kind of attack was likely, and the administration basically ignored the report. Here is the executive summary of the report. Wednesday, September 12, 2001
Thank God one of my close friends, a pilot with American, doesn't appear to have been on either of the American Airlines flights. The list of people on those flights is in a Fox News article titled Terrorist Attack Victims. NPR is saying that lines for donating blood are long here in the DC area and people are being asked to make appointments. I think we will wait until later, when the blood supplies may dwindle but perhaps not as many people will be donating. At work, trying to figure out what events should be cancelled, especially the press conference that will obviously not be appropriate now. Tuesday, September 11, 2001
The skies are eerily quite here in Northern Virginia, except for the occasional air force helicopter overhead. It was a sobering experience to see a policeman in front of our county office building with an automatic weapon, interrogating everyone entering the building. Monday, September 10, 2001
Cycled to a meeting of the Virginia DOT Bikeway work group, and the site, VDOT's N. VA headquarters, is nearly inaccessible to cyclists, much less pedestrians. I was the only one who cycled to the meeting, and there were no bike racks. Need I say more? |
