conditions for biking, 1/28/13

[mstone]

There was so much salt on the roads that there was a haze of salt over 66 yesterday. Every time a truck went by you could see a cloud of dust rising behind it. I can only imagine what this is doing to the metal.

[5555624]

@Chris Eatough 42257 wrote:

Trails are probably less salted, so take care there.

The trail from the Pentagon to just past the southbound GW Parkway is salted. (It was completely dry when I rode in.)

[Dirt]

Roosevelt Island boardwalks are very icy. People couldn’t even walk on them when I rode through. W&OD west of Columbia Pike was icy. East of The Pike and the 4-mile Run connector were mostly just wet. MVT from National Airport was slushy on the bridges, but otherwise good.

[GuyContinental]

WO&D was mainly slow slush but got really ugly over some of the Reston bridges. Roads were all good, even in Loudoun. My problem was slush turning to ice under my fenders (and between my toes…)

500th post! About Slush! Yay!

[Mikey]

Out in the suburbs (FFX/Burke) A little slushy/slippery but not too bad if I kept my speed down and maintained a straight line. Sidewalks slippery.

From Pentagon to Jefferson Memorial/14th street bridge – roads just wet, boardwalk bridge and slate paths at LBJ garden/Marina – slippery but okay.
hump back bridge, slushy, MVT/14th St Bridge intersection – just wet, 14th street bridge-slushy, Stone curb cuts guarded by orange cones, very slippery, streets downtown, just wet, with pea gravel that remains behind when the salt in the salt blend dissolves.

Very few cars on the roads –
Very few other bikes on the roads –

[Justin Antos]

East Capitol St. and the Pennsylvania Ave. cycletracks in fine shape. Nothing but a few slushy spots through the Capitol grounds.

[DismalScientist]

Streets in Arlington are covered by would-be truants. I can’t believe schools were called off for this. Streets (and sidewalks!) were just wet at 7:30 this morning. And yet.. the feds say stay off the roads until 10 am!

[ShawnoftheDread]

Custis looked like it got salted some over the weekend, but it was still mostly slushy with patches of ice in parts. Coming down into Rosslyn the slush was pretty thick on the blacktop sections.

[mstone]

@DismalScientist 42277 wrote:

Streets in Arlington are covered by would-be truants. I can’t believe schools were called off for this. Streets (and sidewalks!) were just wet at 7:30 this morning. And yet.. the feds say stay off the roads until 10 am!

The decision has to be made hours ahead of time. In previous ice events, there have been numerous deaths because things weren’t delayed and people were out on the roads. They make the best decision they can based on the data available. Here, at least, the temperature was right at freezing this morning. Another degree or two cooler, and things would have been very different.

[Arlingtonrider]

Some sidewalks in my neighborhood were treacherously slippery around 8:30 a.m. Aside from that, I’m glad to see some rain to wash the salt away.

[DaveK]

Sidewalks in the city were an ice rink, at least in my neighborhood. I bagged the ride for today because of that.

Metro.

[eminva]

(Grr. . . just lost my first attempt at this post).

Just did a loop on the W&OD between the Custis Trailhead and Hunter Mill. It is pretty bad between Vienna and EFC. Slushy and icy in spots. The rest is a little better, just wet or light slush, with the exception of the west side of Brandymore Castle and the two bridges over Difficult Run. Dropping a foot anywhere requires extreme caution; even the parts that just look wet are slick. It was raining and even sleeting on and off while I was out there.

I don’t think it will warm up enough today to wash it all away, let alone dry it out, so be very careful tonight, as it will most likely refreeze.

Liz

[consularrider]

I walked out my front door this morning at 7:30 to retrieve the paper. The sidewalks, my driveway, and the hill in from of my house were all ice covered. Luckily as a fed, I was supposed to stay off the roads until 10 am, so I went back in and got some breakfast before getting ready to ride. I headed out at 9:15 and did a loop over to Falls Church, up Grove and Haycock before coming back to the W&OD at Little Falls. At first there was soft slushy ice on the trail and the side streets, but the only tricky spot was the Brandymore castle hill. I was back to my starting point at 10 am and encountered no issues on the W&OD/4MRT all the way to the Potomac. I skipped the 4MRT hills in Glencarlyn Park because the portion I could see looked a little nasty, but then cleared out closer to Columbia Pike. The MVT from 4 Mile Run to Roosevelt Island was totally clear except for the two overpasses by Reagan National and those had at least one lane which was a thin layer of soft slushy ice. The Trollheim boardwalk under the Roosevelt Bridge still had some icy patches and a little slush. Then to finish it off, the GW overpass ramp was covered with icy slush and there was a little on the trail on the way up to Lynn St.

I expect most of what little problems I encountered will be gone for the commute home (maybe with the exception of Brandymore).

[vvill]

Certainly icy in my neighbourhood. There are some shaded patches of road that still have layers of snow in them with the ice. I definitely would not be riding if I didn’t have studded tires.

I did notice as I got further south the ice turned into shush pretty quickly, but I also left a lot later than usual. Even then, some of the MVT bridges were still quite slide-y. Wheeee!

[DismalScientist]

@eminva 42292 wrote:

I don’t think it will warm up enough today to wash it all away, let alone dry it out, so be very careful tonight, as it will most likely refreeze.

Low tonight is predicted to be 37.

I didn’t take the trails this morning because of potential ice. Had I taken the trails, I would have used studs. The streets were fine for anyone with 23s or wider.

[Author]

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