2014 March Trail Conditions

@dkel 80537 wrote:

My trip back along this route beginning at about 4:30 was much better than anticipated. Still some snow in the same places, but it was pretty easy to contact pavement with my 32 slicks (that I decided not to pump up this morning). Citizens’ Bridge was almost a game-breaker, but I prevailed without flintstoning once. I don’t know how it will be in the morning, but since there were good lines in most of the snowy parts, I’m likely to go for it regardless.

Have fun, everybody!

Was that you that called my name?

Yeah, I decided to ride too. I think it’ll be too sloppy for MTB in the AM — not cold enough. The trail wasn’t bad out west of Vienna — mostly clear. Vienna had the usual slick spots — I’ll likely take Cottage tomorrow AM to bypass that section. I’ll use Falls Church (which also had its share of slush) as a gauge for whether to use the trail or road between Gallows and Vienna. My plan is to stick with the slick 28s. I will revisit that decision in the morning.

I rode the W&OD-Bluemont this morning, leaving Falls Church around 0650. W&OD is fine, with just occasional frost, except for the Ice Patch of Irritation (between Great Falls and Little Falls); the bridges at Little Falls, just east of the Custis junction, and just east of the Wilson underpass; and the Brandymore Castle hill. Bluemont was fine all the way to Fairfax except for glaze ice about 2/3 uphill from the W&OD, where snowmelt has refrozen. I could ride everything except for the Ice Patch of Irritation, where I had to put a foot down and kick in some spots.

On a related note, it sure will be nice when Falls Church and Arlington finish street sweeping — there are some serious gravel patches out there. Fine if you’re on knobbies, but on semi-slicks…

Happy Riding!

On my usual W&OD/4MRT/Eads St Detour/MVT MUP commute this morning there was rough crusty ice on the W&OD bridges from Bon Air through Glencarlyn. A truck had driven over three of the six bridges so there was a packed decent line across, the others were more dicey. The 4MRT from Shirlington to Eads had a few areas with black ice, especially on the concrete sections, but that should melt soon. On the MVT from the CC connector and over the Humpback Bridge, no issues. There are numerous ice patches where water runs across the trail on Columbia Island from the GW Pkwy crosswalk up to the inlet bridge. The TR Trollheim wooden walkway is a rutted icy mess. Half of the cyclists I saw were walking their bikes. I rode on the riverside about a foot from the edge. That portion of the walkway was about the only part that hadn’t had foot and cycle traffic before the snowy slush froze overnight.

Custis from WOD to Rosslyn
98% clear. Watch out for:

Lee Hwy overpass by the switchback. Very icy; may need to walk if you are a nervous type.
Spout Run – passable if you stay way to the left and go slow.

Icy patch before Scott St. behind soundwal.

That’s about it. The rest is all either completely clear or a clear path.

Have fun!

PG trails were fine this morning — just the wood bridges had 1″ of snow, and a few iced over puddles in the usual spots.

In the shady areas, the trails were sort of frosty — it felt like good traction, but you just feel like taking it slow around the corners just to be sure.

@rpiretti 80578 wrote:

OK, definitely agree to bypass the WOD section between Gallows and Maple. It’s really not worth the trouble, I had to walk mostly between Cedar and Gallows. Take Cottage or Electric. Beyond that, I can’t believe the bridge accumulation out there. Case and point – the trail is clear around the 495 bridge near Gallows but the bridge itself had to have a least 5 inches of snow on it. Crazy. The bridge accumulation is really the only issue beyond the WOD section aforementioned, besides Brandymore Castle. Each bridge still has fluffy snow/ice and snow ruts on the two sides on each bridge. I’m hoping these bridge sections have some melting today. They should right?

One thing that surprised me was the Shreve Rd WOD section had no issues this morning, it was mostly clear. I guess the sun’s angle these days has a lot to do with that. Saying that, I did see a cross country skier in the Gallows/Cedar section. He looked happy, I looked scared and confused I’m sure.

Too bad I didn’t read this post before I went that way. It was tough: I flintstoned the 66 overpass, but managed to pedal through the 495 overpass. The icy ruts of death were plentiful, in many places.