Accident East Falls Church

[Dickie]

Holy crap, I passed through there about half an hour earlier. It was quite, but the rain had made the path pretty slick. I echo your sentiments and hope the rider is OK.

[KLizotte]

I found out yesterday that one of co-workers was hit by a car a few days ago. Fortunately he was not hurt badly but his bike was totalled and I fear he may be too scared to ride again. The driver was cited for running a red light and my co-worker is dealing with his insurance company. I don’t have any other details. He lives in Bethesda and commutes to L’Enfant Plaza.

[JimF22003]

I’ve almost been creamed on three consecutive rides through there by somebody coming down that hill and taking the “inside line” around that blind corner, right into me. Too much watching the descents on the Tour de France, is my theory.

[americancyclo]

yeah, that’s a spot where it become apparent how often you ride that section of the trail. I think most of the seasoned commuters have seen accidents or near misses at that 90 degree turn. Looking forward to the day when the trail is realigned, but that might be years away.

[txgoonie]

People westbound like to take the inside line on the curve, and people eastbound like to cut the corner at the basketball courts. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve have to slow suddenly or stop at that corner going westbound b/c some dufus (or group of dufi) coming toward me is cutting off my line. I don’t get it. When is it ever okay to cut the left apex on a two-way trail? That area is also bad b/c there are always tons of leaves and sticks.

[pfunkallstar]

@txgoonie 27158 wrote:

People westbound like to take the inside line on the curve, and people eastbound like to cut the corner at the basketball courts. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve have to slow suddenly or stop at that corner going westbound b/c some dufus (or group of dufi) coming toward me is cutting off my line. I don’t get it. When is it ever okay to cut the left apex on a two-way trail? That area is also bad b/c there are always tons of leaves and sticks.

Don’t forget the giant patch of mud going westbound!

[bobco85]

I hate that curve, and slow down accordingly due to the multiple hazards (blind corner, sometimes slick surface, debris, etc.). Even then, I will sometimes still feel my back tire slip a little. I hope the cyclist is okay.

That said, regarding the next corner at the basketball courts, I tend to notice the following when I am headed from the blind corner towards the basketball courts: sometimes a fellow trail-user (most of the time a cyclist) who is headed in the opposite way from me will slow down heavily or stop as I approach that corner. It’s as if they don’t think they have enough room on the outside (I’d have the inside), when they have at least 10 feet. I think they should connect the yellow line from the blind corner to the basketball court corner, if at least as a guideline. Street intersections sometimes have dotted lines in the middle of the intersection for just this reason, and I think that would help here.

[consularrider]

@bobco85 27169 wrote:

I hate that curve, and slow down accordingly due to the multiple hazards (blind corner, sometimes slick surface, debris, etc.). Even then, I will sometimes still feel my back tire slip a little. I hope the cyclist is okay.

That said, regarding the next corner at the basketball courts, I tend to notice the following when I am headed from the blind corner towards the basketball courts: sometimes a fellow trail-user (most of the time a cyclist) who is headed in the opposite way from me will slow down heavily or stop as I approach that corner. It’s as if they don’t think they have enough room on the outside (I’d have the inside), when they have at least 10 feet. I think they should connect the yellow line from the blind corner to the basketball court corner, if at least as a guideline. Street intersections sometimes have dotted lines in the middle of the intersection for just this reason, and I think that would help here.

Well, there is always the off chance that the westbound person will go straight instead of turning right towards the Sycamore underpass. It happens just often enough that it can be pause inducing, particularly if you can’t make eye contact.

[bobco85]

@consularrider 27217 wrote:

Well, there is always the off chance that the westbound person will go straight instead of turning right towards the Sycamore underpass. It happens just often enough that it can be pause inducing, particularly if you can’t make eye contact.

You know, I don’t even have it on my mind that there is an access point from Roosevelt Street there sometimes (like this time) when I pass through there! I think I’ve only seen one or two people actually using that access in my 21 years of bike riding (a good portion of that being on the W&OD).

Hmmm, perhaps they could take a page from the new Wilson Bridge underpass and have a path painted on the asphalt (yellow line with two white boundary lines) that could keep the trail as the main right-of-way and show the intersection with the access from Roosevelt. The only issue would be that it… might look ugly?

[vvill]

@txgoonie 27158 wrote:

People westbound like to take the inside line on the curve, and people eastbound like to cut the corner at the basketball courts. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve have to slow suddenly or stop at that corner going westbound b/c some dufus (or group of dufi) coming toward me is cutting off my line. I don’t get it. When is it ever okay to cut the left apex on a two-way trail? That area is also bad b/c there are always tons of leaves and sticks.

Sadly, it seems to happen on all the trails around here. I try to ride like I’m always going to have to brake for someone else. When I do the turns myself I usually visualize them as if the trail is half the width so I don’t cross the yellow line.

[Author]

Posts