February 2015 Trail Conditions

[ian74]

Weird, but I was under the impression that the W&OD was clear. I assume this meant from the trailhead in Shirlington. I was going to ride out today, but when I got there it wasn’t clear at all. Then I rode up to where it starts where it crosses Columbia Pike. Also completely impassable (road bike).

Where exactly is the W&OD cleared? And how can I get there from Alexandria!

I ended up riding around lost somewhere past the Pentagon. I ended up on 27. That wasn’t a very smart move. It’s a highway.

[DismalScientist]

The WOD is cleared by Arlington County from the Custis trail west past East Falls Church. East of the Custis, you are SOL.

[vern]

Ian, the WOD was half clear up here around Reston this morning. Basically the middle half of the trail was clear, wide enough for me to pass a runner with both of us being able to be on clear pavement.

**But the 7″-9″ of snow we got up here today took care of all those clear lanes.

[Steve O]

This was taken about 3pm today. There’s an unexpected exciting moment.

[video=youtube_share;mJKzW2JRGos]http://youtu.be/mJKzW2JRGos[/video]

[cvcalhoun]

Forget the trails. This is what it looked like on the nearest snow emergency route to my house (i.e., the most well plowed street in my neighborhood) at a little after 4:00 this afternoon:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7916[/ATTACH]

The good news is, using the snow emergency route meant that my trip to the Y actually exceeded a sleaze ride. The bad news is, I got there only to discover that the Y had closed.

[cvcalhoun]

Forget the trails. This is what it looked like on the nearest snow emergency route to my house (i.e., the most well plowed street in my neighborhood) at a little after 4:00 this afternoon:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7917[/ATTACH]

The good news is, using the snow emergency route meant that my trip to the Y actually exceeded a sleaze ride. The bad news is, I got there only to discover that the Y had closed.

[dkel]

@vern 109134 wrote:

Ian, the WOD was half clear up here around Reston this morning. Basically the middle half of the trail was clear, wide enough for me to pass a runner with both of us being able to be on clear pavement.

**But the 7″-9″ of snow we got up here today took care of all those clear lanes.

My route from Falls Church to Vienna was very easy riding this week due to the clearing efforts of whomever does that stuff (that’s not to say it was completely clear, just that riding it with studs on made light work of it). I rode it at noon today and made it through without much trouble at all, even though there was at least two inches of new snow down. I tried to ride back at 4:00 or so, and failed (Rockford picked me up in the car). I have to go out again tomorrow afternoon for work…we’ll see whether it’s passable, or if I end up taking a street route—or a car.

[rcannon100]

@ian74 109126 wrote:

Weird, but I was under the impression that the W&OD was clear. .

Same. I rode Bluemont Junction today before the storm – which was cleared – to Bluemont – only to find the WOD and 4MR completely covered.

Forum geeks: is there any way for us to map trail conditions? Have the trail condition reports appear on a map? Have any of you heard of Ushahidi? Would there be a way of doing a crowd sourced implementation where people could report on trail conditions?

[TwoWheelsDC]

@rcannon100 109141 wrote:

Same. I rode Bluemont Junction today before the storm – which was cleared – to Bluemont – only to find the WOD and 4MR completely covered.

Forum geeks: is there any way for us to map trail conditions? Have the trail condition reports appear on a map? Have any of you heard of Ushahidi? Would there be a way of doing a crowd sourced implementation where people could report on trail conditions?

Drivers get traffic cams, we need trail cams!

[consularrider]

@Phatboing 109117 wrote:

The WOD east of the Custis junction is impassable without perhaps a fatbike – the snow’s all wet and sticky, and stopped me dead almost immediately.

The Custis itself, however, with appropriately tubby tires, is buckets of fun.

Even with a fat bike it was a very tough slog.

[rcannon100]

In N Arl roads are turning into streams as storm-drains are blocked with snow pack. Otherwise, most roads should be passable by bicycle by the afternoon maybe.

[rcannon100]

Custis trail at lyon village is wet but in good condition. Lyon village shopping Mall has blocked Custis trail entrances with snow mounds

[jrenaut]

DC is going to be a complete disaster tomorrow when everything is frozen again. I went to the hardware store (The 3rd one I called) for ice melt. The only bike lane that had been plowed was the 15th St cycletrack, which was plowed but still not usable. 11th, Q, and R NW are all mostly untouched except by cars pulling in and out. Most intersections are lakes that are going to freeze tonight. I’ll probably go check out 14th St NW later, but I don’t have high hopes.

[dkel]

I drove my road route from Vienna to Falls Church to see what the neighborhood streets’ condition was, and had the opportunity to observe the W&OD crossings in a couple of places: some of the trail might be fairly doable with the right tires and the right attitude, even though there is still snow on the trail. The main issue for the time being is the curb cuts, which are all plowed in with a foot or more of snow. Even today’s warmth and sunshine will likely not make a dent in those mounds.

Since everything will freeze again tonight, tomorrow isn’t looking too good, in my estimation. If the W&OD snowblower would go out now while the opportunity presents itself, the trail would be cleared and useable for the rest of the week…just sayin’.

[vern]

At 12:30 the WOD was untouched in Reston but for random footfalls. In this condition it will essentially be unrideable this week once the hard freeze hits tonight. A great opportunity to take advantage of the warmth for melting down to clear trail is being wasted.

[Author]

Posts