Shovel This Saturday!

This topic has 23 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 6 months ago by bobco85.

Creator

Topic
January 29, 2016 at 3:21 pm #917839

bobco85
Participant

I saw this on The Wash Cycle and want to pass this idea onto everyone.

An excerpt from http://www.thewashcycle.com/2016/01/saturday-self-serving-shoveling.html

Here’s how it will work. At 10:30am on Saturday morning I’m going to take my shovel to a bad spot on my bike commute (specifically the western approach to the north bike/ped lane on the Sousa Bridge. The path along the bridge is clear, but this approach, oddly, is not) and I’m going to spend 30 minutes digging it out. I’m inviting anyone who wants to put a dent in their bike commute to go out to their “bad spot” at the same time. Maybe you’ll find someone else there with a shovel too. Maybe you can work together. Maybe you’ll become friends and compete together on The Amazing Race (if that show is still on TV). Maybe you want to organize a more formal dig out of a facility – like the unplowed Mount Vernon Trail above. If so, let me know and I’ll advertise it here. Or just leave in the comments the place you plan to go to and when and maybe things will organize more organically.

Maybe your bike commute has zero ice and lots of unicorns riding rainbows, but you’re a swell person and you like shoveling snow so you would go to a more formally organized dig if you just knew where to go. Look to the comments I say.

Yesterday, I spent a few hours shoveling paths through the snow banks for pedestrians to use when crossing Beauregard St/Roanoke St intersection, crossing Beauregard St/Reading Ave intersection, and boarding/disembarking at the bus stops. Before, the pedestrians were having to walk out in the street or climb over the 4 foot tall snowbanks. I was happy to see people immediately using the new pathways, plus I got the opportunity to play traffic planner by essentially creating pedestrian refuges where there were none.

I really want to get that Beauregard/Seminary intersection cleaned up, so I will likely head there on Friday, but on Saturday I will head to the MVT and see what improvements I can make.

I recommend this and think that if we each spent a little time each day to help clear trails, bridges, curb cuts, and sidewalks, things will get better and safer for everyone a lot faster.
Creator

Topic

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 23 total)

1 2 →

Author

Replies
January 29, 2016 at 4:24 pm #1046513

83b
Participant

This is a great idea! I’d be willing to go spend some time cleaning up the intersections on the Penn Ave lane. But do we know where the city stands with snow removal? Things have shifted in the Penn lane just over the course of the past two days, and on 15th I saw yesterday that things are clear up to R Street, but they were still working on the rest of it.

January 29, 2016 at 6:31 pm #1046540

PotomacCyclist
Participant

I shoveled out an entire CaBi station this week. I ended up very sore for the next 3 days. (My forearms are still kind of tight.) Fortunately I don’t think I need to shovel any more stations. Most of them have reopened in my area.

While the initiative is good, Mother Nature might do the work first. There is going to be a significant amount of melting, especially on Sunday through Wednesday. I would guess that most roads, sidewalks and trails will be clear or nearly clear by Mon. or Tue. just from the mild weather.

There could be rain on Monday. With temperatures around 60F, that is going to melt a huge amount of snow. It will stay above freezing on Mon. night and Tue. will be back in the mid 50s. Then more rain and a possible thunderstorm on Wed., with temperatures back up to the low 60s. Only the largest snowbanks will survive all those mild temperatures and warm rain. The exceptions will be some shaded areas (likely on the MVT).

The snowbanks will be tough to handle manually. I’ve seen a lot of trucks and front loaders clearing some of them out. Since most streets are now plowed (I think?), the trucks can focus on clearing those out. I would be inclined to let them handle that work. I can’t even imagine how long it would take to shovel out a 7-ft high snowbank by hand.

The areas under the 14th St bridges and the Crystal City connector on the MVT could remain trouble spots. But the warm rain could clear out even those areas.

January 29, 2016 at 7:08 pm #1046549

dkel
Participant

Bonus points for shoveling in the dark! <Cough! Boomer! Cough!>

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10729[/ATTACH]

January 29, 2016 at 7:36 pm #1046551

Powerful Pete
Participant

I second this. Boomer should stop riding for a few days (weeks?) and do his part for the greater DC biking community by shoveling all the MVT.

I am more than willing to pitch in with some supervision and technical assistance.

January 29, 2016 at 8:34 pm #1046564

kcb203
Participant

@PotomacCyclist 133619 wrote:

I shoveled out an entire CaBi station this week. I ended up very sore for the next 3 days. (My forearms are still kind of tight.) Fortunately I don’t think I need to shovel any more stations. Most of them have reopened in my area.

While the initiative is good, Mother Nature might do the work first. There is going to be a significant amount of melting, especially on Sunday through Wednesday. I would guess that most roads, sidewalks and trails will be clear or nearly clear by Mon. or Tue. just from the mild weather.

There could be rain on Monday. With temperatures around 60F, that is going to melt a huge amount of snow. It will stay above freezing on Mon. night and Tue. will be back in the mid 50s. Then more rain and a possible thunderstorm on Wed., with temperatures back up to the low 60s. Only the largest snowbanks will survive all those mild temperatures and warm rain. The exceptions will be some shaded areas (likely on the MVT).

The snowbanks will be tough to handle manually. I’ve seen a lot of trucks and front loaders clearing some of them out. Since most streets are now plowed (I think?), the trucks can focus on clearing those out. I would be inclined to let them handle that work. I can’t even imagine how long it would take to shovel out a 7-ft high snowbank by hand.

The areas under the 14th St bridges and the Crystal City connector on the MVT could remain trouble spots. But the warm rain could clear out even those areas.

How about we shovel the mountains of snow back in the street and let nature take its course?

January 30, 2016 at 2:45 am #1046591

Boomer Cycles
Participant

@dkel 133628 wrote:

Bonus points for shoveling in the dark! <Cough! Boomer! Cough!>

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10729[/ATTACH]

LOL, I had to walk my bike through that same section of the WOD tonight as the snow/ice sheet was too much for me, and was wishing that I had packed that very same shovel.

January 30, 2016 at 9:43 am #1046599

consularrider
Participant

@kcb203 133645 wrote:

How about we shovel the mountains of snow back in the street and let nature take its course?

Saw a lot of that this week in Kyiv.

If you plan on shoveling make sure you have ice choppers with you ’cause a show shovel won’t get the really packed in stuff.

January 30, 2016 at 4:08 pm #1046616

bobco85
Participant

I’ll be heading to the MVT near the Crystal City Connector early this afternoon to see what I can do with a metal-tipped snow shovel and 2 deck scrubs that I have adjusted to be at angles (when you push, everything will go forward and to the right/left). The sun should help make things easier to work with. I’ll be riding there with my red trailer to transport the tools from my apartment near the Mark Center in Alexandria.

Yesterday, I shoveled another bus stop, the intersection of Beauregard/Rayburn, some fire hydrants, and successfully took on the southern half of the Beauregard/Seminary intersection. While shoveling a path through the 4 foot snowbank on the east side of the intersection, a driver (stopped at the light) rolled down his window and said to me, “You never gonna finish!” I immediately thought, “Well, I’ll show you!” and proceeded to shovel through and create the path for pedestrians to take.

January 30, 2016 at 10:38 pm #1046635

KWL
Participant

Bobco – Are you heading out to the MVT Sunday? I thought I would check it out at 4MR around Noon and ride it if possible, looking to clear some of the usual bad places like under the 14th St Bridge. If that looks impossible, I may head over to Lady Bird Johnson Park and work on some of the Rt 27 trail. So far I haven’t figured out how I’m going to get from Alexandria to Georgetown on Monday unless I hike-a-bike that section or ride MVT.

January 31, 2016 at 3:13 am #1046648

bobco85
Participant

I spent a couple (3-4) hours today shoveling on the MVT near the Crystal City Connector trail. I shoveled the portion of trail leading up to the first bridge south of the CCConnector/MVT intersection then made a usable path across the first bridge north of the CCConnector/MVT intersection. As I shoveled, I saw many pedestrians and a few cyclists, all of whom offered words of encouragement and thanks.

I even had a few talks with people where I made sure to tell them, “If you want a clear trail, try the Four Mile Run Trail which was plowed by Arlington County or the W&OD Trail which was plowed a few days ago by the NVRPA. The National Park Service is in charge of the MVT and does not plow it.” A few people asked me how to ask the NPS to plow the MVT, and I told them they could comment on the NPS site or go to BikeArlington for advocacy.

I also saw that Phoenix Bikes had done some W&OD Trail cleaning at a couple of intersections today. Way to go, guys!

On Sunday, I will be taking a break as 3 straight days of shoveling have left me quite tired. I’m not too sore, though, because I practiced somewhat good technique with shoveling (remember to use your legs, not your back) and because I followed up each outing immediately with a nice hot shower and some stretching. I plan on doing some more shoveling on Monday evening depending on the volume of rain.

Pics of my work:

first bridge south of the CC Connector trail; I made a path up to the bridge
[ATTACH=CONFIG]10751[/ATTACH]

Before pic of the first bridge north of the CC Connector/MVT intersection
[ATTACH=CONFIG]10752[/ATTACH]

Selfie with my tools and the path I shoveled on the bridge
[ATTACH=CONFIG]10753[/ATTACH]

After pic of the bridge
[ATTACH=CONFIG]10754[/ATTACH]

Looking from the other side of the bridge, I had to get a little creative with the path due to the thick ice
[ATTACH=CONFIG]10755[/ATTACH]

January 31, 2016 at 1:25 pm #1046658

Bilsko
Participant

Tremendous work!

I’m surprised that NPSGWMP park police didn’t stop you and issue a citation – seriously, its exactly the kind of thing they would do.

WABA alerted me to the fact that they have spoken with NPS about the MVT plowing issue and NPS is planning to release a trail maintenance plan in the spring which should include information on how they plan to address MVT plowing in years to come.

January 31, 2016 at 1:46 pm #1046660

Boomer Cycles
Participant

Prompted by DKel and inspired by Bobco85, yesterday I adopted a section of the W&OD from the citizen’s bridge, west to the Popular Heights tennis courts at mile 7.5. I opened up a single track where I could break through the ice, but the solid tundra from the cement yard west to the tennis courts was still too deep and hard for me to bust through. You will want to portage there, unless you have fat tires and/or studs. Ride on!

Looking west:

Looking east:

The shovel rig:

January 31, 2016 at 2:12 pm #1046662

consularrider
Participant

Wrong tools for the job.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10768[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10769[/ATTACH]

January 31, 2016 at 10:54 pm #1046688

komorebi
Participant

bobco85 and Boomer2U inspired me to tackle the section of the MVT just north of the 14th Street bridge. Many thanks to Annmarie and the two friendly strangers who stopped to help:

Because of their hard work, that section of the trail is now clear:

dbb and I also chipped out a narrow path partway up the Humpback Bridge, but there’s still a 20-foot section near the top where the drifts are a few feet deep.

February 1, 2016 at 2:30 pm #1046593

bobco85
Participant

You guys are awesome! I’m glad to see all the volunteer work that everyone has been putting in to make our trails safer.

I was able to acquire an ice chopper (my parents had an extra one), so I plan on using that to tackle another section of the MVT.

This evening, I plan on doing 2 hours of shoveling on the MVT and another hour on the CC connector (it’s mostly in shade and has been in bad shape). My focus will be on connecting the stretch between the CC connector and the 14th St bridge.

I should get to the MVT by 6 (the rain should have subsided by then). I’ll have a snow shovel, ice chopper, and 2 deck brushes (good for clearing bits of snow/ice). If you see me out there, feel free to stop by and help.
Author

Replies