Custis Trail Flooding

[eminva]

Greetings from the very wet late shift.

There is a low spot just east of the Lyon Village Shopping Center/Spout Run (where the apartments are). It was totally flooded this morning. It was possible to bike through it, but I saw a jogger climbing the fence to walk on top of it to get around the obstruction.

There were other submerged spots along the Custis and W&OD, but this was definitely the deepest and longest.

Liz

Topic

[ronwalf]

@Dirt 7889 wrote:

Two sets of home-made bucket panniers proved to be perfectly water tight. They were made from the old, plastic cat littler buckets that are pretty hard to find these days. I did a pretty good job of sealing the holes that I drilled for mounting the hardware for hooking them to the rack.

I completely forgot about my bucket panniers. Mine won’t fit my laptop, though, and I can’t seem to get them out of the foot-strike zone.

I’m guessing that your question may not have been serious. My most sincere apologies for having an answer for you. I’ll try to be better (or worse) in the future.

After a week of having to wrap everything in plastic bags to keep them dry, the question is gaining more and more relevance.

[PrintError]

@rcannon100 7934 wrote:

And YEAH as I was biking home last night, they were closing 495! Twice this week week biking in the deluge, the GW parkway was at a full stop stand still bumper to bumper honk punch scream.

The roads around my office in Reston were all either flooded, closed, or gridlocked. This actually caused more pedestrian traffic on the trail as drivers parked and walked instead. Ahh it’s good to be a bike commuter.

[Dirt]

@ronwalf 7938 wrote:

I completely forgot about my bucket panniers. Mine won’t fit my laptop, though, and I can’t seem to get them out of the foot-strike zone.
After a week of having to wrap everything in plastic bags to keep them dry, the question is gaining more and more relevance.

Foot-strike zone: Mine ride on the back of a Big Dummy cargo bike, so foot strike is not a problem. I can imagine that might be an issue with a normal bike.

I did have one instance where I got water in a bucket pannier. I hadn’t closed it correctly.

Sustainable waterproofing regimes: Otterbox and Pelican make laptop cases that are designed to completely seal and protect in the worst conditions possible. These things really work too. I have 5 or 6 of them in different sizes that I have used when traveling with electronics in seriously sketchy weather conditions. They are not cheap, but you’ll buy it once and forget about it. I have a Pelican case designed for netbook computers that I carry “The Precious” (aka my iPad) in these days. It works perfectly. As for clothes, wallet, etc., I use dry bags designed for kayaking. They also come in different sizes. They seal much better than ziplock bags and have lasted for YEARS. I think the one I use daily (which really means 300+ days of riding per year) cost me $40 when I purchased it from REI in 2007.

Ziplocks are okay and help in a pinch, but they’re not a long-term solution.

Knowing that going swimming was a possibility last night, I left most of my stuff locked in my file cabinet at the office. I didn’t even bring The Precious home. My wife was shocked.

Pete

[PrintError]

Dare I ask what “The Precious” is?

For yesterday, my bag contained only clothes, no concerns if that got wet. Thankfully I ride with no electronic devices.

[rcannon100]

BTW ArlCo is apparently sending out a crew to examine the drain that causes the flooding at this point on the trail, Custis near Cleveland St.

[rcannon100]

Arlco says

I EXAMINED THE AREA AND SUCCEEDED IN CLEARING THE DRAIN. IT WAS INDEED FILLED WITH COMPRESSED LEAVES, SMALL TWIGS AND SEDIMENT. THE EXIT PORT APPEARS TO BE A 4″ PIPE THAT CAN CLOG RELATIVELY QUICKLY WITH DEBRIS. I WILL BE SURE TO MAKE OUT TRAIL CREW AWARE OF THE TENDENCY SO THAT THEY MIGHT KEEP AN EYE ON IT.

[americancyclo]

they yell a lot, huh?

[MCL1981]

@Dirt 7889 wrote:

Ortlieb panniers are as close as I’ve found to being rated for submersion. The ones that I’ve got are basically like a big ziplock bag. They did amazingly well on the two occasions that I completely submerged my cargo bike.

So, I would love to hear the story behind this one.

[rcannon100]

they yell a lot, huh?

Yeah, I think their all caps key is stuck

[Author]

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