District Mayor Adrian Fenty said he will no longer take a police motorcycle with him on his personal bike rides across the city.
Fenty told NBC4 of his decision Thursday morning, just days after a report by WTOP Radio showed that the mayor was causing traffic problems on local roads with his security-enhanced bike rides through D.C. and Montgomery County.
"Going forward, I'm actually not going to use a motorcycle anymore," Fenty said. "I can ride my bicycle without anybody following me. I just want everybody to know this is part of the security detail that has been in practice since I came into place and it is much less than what it was when I first took office."
Fenty said his initial security detail after being elected included six police officers following him at all times.
"As everyone knows I have reduced that detail tremendously," Fenty said. "One of the things they did when I took office was say, 'How do we adapt to the mayor's training schedule -- running, biking and swimming?' Running they used to send two officers with me to run. Swimming they used to come and cover and make sure they had me. And biking, instead of having the six officers with me, what they decided to do was have one motorcycle follow me, and we've continued that practice as part of a security detail that we usually don't get a lot into because you shouldn't talk about your security protection."
Fenty did not say what protection he would use instead of the officer on a motorcycle.
Fenty also said he now knows the rules regarding the Clara Barton Parkway, which is off-limits to cyclists. Fenty said he didn't know that rule, and has been riding on the Parkway since he was in high school.
"What's amazing is I ride with a group of riders, both with and without a motorcyclist sometimes, and I've talked to people since this report has come out and almost no one knew Clara Barton Parkway was off-limit to bicycles," Fenty said. "We should have known, and now that I do I won't."
