2014 March Trail Conditions

As of 4:30pm:

Most of the 14th St. bridge had melted enough to not need to dismount at the northern end, still like riding through 4″ of sand, but considerable bare concrete for the majority of the bridge length should make it mostly passable tomorrow morning.

Only real bad spots were the shady spots elsewhere, no big surprises.

@eminva 78889 wrote:

My friend who lives near the Sandburg St/W&OD crossing just sent me a message that a huge plow went through there on the trail this afternoon! Can anyone confirm? I will try to check it out in the a.m. If I have time.

Liz

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Something of that nature, yes. Why they left the Sandburg to Gallows stretch untouched, though, is baffling.

From this a.m.’s commute:

Rt. 110 Trail is about 30% clear. Still needed wide tires or studs depending on traffic (if you had to leave the clean line), but all in all not bad.
Memorial bridge path was clear.
Ohio Drive is clear.
Water St. is clear.
Annacostia Riverwalk Trail by the Titanic Memorial is snow covered and somewhat icy.
South Cap St. Bridge is a disaster. Really rough on the on and off ramp (downstream side).

Falls Church -> Reston via W&OD

I got on the trail close to Shreve Road which was snow blown all the way to Sandburg. Some icy spots, but easily doable with studs.
Sandburg to Gallows – had a line of packed snow
Gallows to Maple – for the most part it was tough going. about 20% was packed snow with the rest a combination of loose snow and ice. It sucks when you lose momentum.
Crossing Maple – nice mound of snow blocking the trail which was a blast to go over!
Maple to Ayr Hill – packed snow and ice
Ayr Hill to Hunter Mill – for about 1/2 the way, there was a path of packed snow and ice with spots of ice ruts. Easily doable with studs. Then the packed snow and ice disappeared and you are left with icy ruts and frozen snow. Still, not bad with studs.
Hunter Mill to Buckthorn – Yeah, pretty much untouched. Did see 2 fat tire bike tracks. Snow is about 6 inches here. Tough going until the hill right before Buckthorn – sledding made the snow nice and packed here – easily traversable.

Some photos from the morning ride:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/varuolo/12948739364/

@rolo 78906 wrote:

Falls Church -> Reston via W&OD

Thanks for these details, Rolo. Looks like I’m taking the roads today. And probably the rest of the week. And probably for the rest of my miserable, snow-bound life!!! 😡

@rolo 78906 wrote:

Falls Church -> Reston via W&OD

I got on the trail close to Shreve Road which was snow blown all the way to Sandburg. Some icy spots, but easily doable with studs.

….

From Little Falls Rd. to Citizens’ Bridge, there is none of this snow-blown goodness, but the snow’s been packed down and the ice is still crunchy. With fat and/or studly tires, it’s easily close to the regulation amount of fun.

Looking down at the Custis from Lincoln/Monroe St, you could see bits of pavement, but not much. I, too, took to the roads to the 110 trail — should have stayed on Marshall/Meade around the Iwo Jima instead of walking down to the Iwo Jima parking road — still lots of ice. I Wilma Flintstone-d some on the 110 Trail, but I probably didn’t need to. Probably pavement for 70% of the ride. The rest of the ride, including the downstream sidewalk of the Memorial Bridge and the Constitution Ave sidewalk, was great (the reflecting pool paths did not look good).