Expect crowded trails tomorrow.

[Sunyata]

I noticed a marked increase in the number of bike commuters I saw. I normally only see 3 on a regular basis, five if the weather is fantastic. I saw more than 30. There was a LINE of cyclists waiting at the W&OD/George Mason intersection. A LINE! There were seven cyclists (and a runner) there. That is UNHEARD of at 6:40 in the morning! In the dark.

Traffic on 395 when I crossed over it was already backed up to Shirlington. Usually at that time, it is still flowing steadily, but at the speed limit. There was more traffic on George Mason and even more traffic on Fairfax/10th Street as well.

[Terpfan]

I definitely saw more people than usual and could pick out the newbies relatively quickly because most were overdressed, braking down small hills, and generally looked like a deer in the headlights. Wish I wasn’t in a rush and had time to pull alongside some of them and chat how beautiful it is seeing the sun reflect off a misty Potomac in the morning, but alas, I did not have the time–although I’m sure Metro will provide another chance.

[vern]

@Sunyata 136840 wrote:

I noticed a marked increase in the number of bike commuters I saw. I normally only see 3 on a regular basis, five if the weather is fantastic. I saw more than 30. There was a LINE of cyclists waiting at the W&OD/George Mason intersection. A LINE! There were seven cyclists (and a runner) there. That is UNHEARD of at 6:40 in the morning! In the dark.

Traffic on 395 when I crossed over it was already backed up to Shirlington. Usually at that time, it is still flowing steadily, but at the speed limit. There was more traffic on George Mason and even more traffic on Fairfax/10th Street as well.

I got to the WOD/George Mason 15 minutes later and nobody was there but me, but yes, after I left HDCC at 7:30 there was a noticeable uptick in bikes on 4MR.

[gibby]

Lots of walking and CaBi commuters on the MVT from CC heading downtown. I expect the evening trail rush hour will fairly congested with the returning hordes, joggers, plane spotters..

[TwoWheelsDC]

Due to post-work house-selling tasks, I had to ride the moto today, but I definitely saw more people on bikes than usual (~3 vs. 0), although that easily could just be the weather. My commute is in non-Metro accessible areas, so wasn’t really noteworthy from a traffic perspective. The only thing that slowed me down today was forgetting to take the route that avoids the Kirby/Chesterbrook intersection, which is always a mess in the morning.

[Steve O]

Custis was just slightly above normal, IMO. Saw a handful of non-regulars/newbies, but no hordes or anything.

Lady on elevator told me it took her 45 minutes to come 4 miles. So sad.

[huskerdont]

@Steve O 136847 wrote:

Lady on elevator told me it took her 45 minutes to come 4 miles. So sad.

That’s not too bad … if you’re walking.

[Crickey7]

The CCT had what appeared to be a significantly larger number or riders, two or perhaps three times normal volume. Saw some unsafe passes, but otherwise seemed good-spirited and orderly.

[lordofthemark]

4MRT Shirlington to MVT seemed lighter than usual. MVT from 4MRT to just past Gravelly Point, about normal. From there to the Jefferson was probably about 2x normal number of riders. About usual in DC, but more near and east of South Cap.

[huskerdont]

I failed to notice the Rosslyn counter when I went by since I was gunning to make the light at the IoD before the cars were legally allowed to run me down. I did notice a few more riders than normal on the Custis, including some new-looking ones and an ebike.

[83b]

Capitol Hill to the White House had significantly more bike commuters than normal this morning. Those that I spoke to seemed very pleased with the decision and to be having no trouble with their routes. Oddly there was only one other bike at my building’s racks and it wasn’t one of the usual suspects. I think some bike commuters at my company are teleworking in solidarity with the Metro riders who were offered that option.

[VA2DC]

Around 8:00am, more than the usual number of bikes on Fairfax Dr to Clarendon Blvd heading to DC. Several CaBi riders, which is a bit of a change. Probably 8-10 bikes waiting at the light on Jefferson Dr to cross 14th St, vs. a more typical 2-3.

[Vicegrip]

I found a bunch of non riders. They have stuffed themselves into my health club. 3X people in here today.

[dasgeh]

Far more cyclists than normal on the late shift on the Custis. One jerk who flew through the blind curve at the bottom of the S-curve, such that he came out of the curve as I was starting from a stop (because of another cyclist) to get onto the Custis from the Lyon Village parking lot. Had the balls to yell at me for being there and “not looking”.

But I could shake that off and enjoy the beautiful morning. Monolith was at 818! around 9:30am — usually my number going home on a nice day!

[CaseyKane50]

Eco-counter, the company that provides bike counters for Arlington, Alexandria and Washington, posted an article about the crowded trails on Wednesday

Bike trips soared on Wednesday in the Washington metropolitan area. Over 36 000 bicycles were counted during the Metrorail closure.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]11285[/ATTACH]

This figure shows the total bikes counted at 35 automatic counters in the metropolitan area on a diversity of cycling facilities: 26 in Arlington, 6 in Alexandria and 3 in the District of Columbia. Bike counts are consistently highest on Wednesdays in the region, and despite the beautiful weather on Wed March 9th, almost 8 000 additional cyclists hit the roads and trails during the Metro closure this past Wednesday.

[Author]

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