One of the worst parts about the ins and outs of D.C. is the commute, especially if you’re a biker. Unfortunately that’s exactly what Obama’s new Chief of Staff Denis McDonough is about to face with his new role. Announced last week in the Times, among other things a foreign policy expert, McDonough is well known for being cycled through the District on his bike.
Except not for much longer, as DCist found. McDonough’s preferred method of transportation isn’t an option once he’s formally accepted. USA Today found the line from the president that “Dad will probably have to stop riding his bike to work as chief of staff…I don’t think that’s allowed.”
So what’s a jilted cycling machine like McDonough to do? Inspire a hashtag on Twitter! The League of American Cyclists’ Andy Clarke created #letdenisride over at the LAC’s blog. He’s already come up with five reasons to keep McDonough in a bike seat over the Metro or an Uber car including “he’ll never get stuck in traffic in times of emergency.”
To be fair, riding your bike around the White House is not only dangerous but near suicidal. Even with bike lanes, anything on two wheels seems to be prey to buses, speeding cars or the legion of Circulators that loop around the Hay-Adams. No matter what reason folks find to #letdenisride we’re siding with the president when it comes to keeping McDonough in a car, waiting in traffic like the rest of us commuting back and forth through the District. Then again, it’s not like biking from Maryland into D.C. is faster than Metro.