February 2015 Trail Conditions

[mstone]

@dbb 108528 wrote:

Rode to coffee in Shirlington this morning and saw FMR trail ready for the snow.

Thanks Arlington County Parks and Rec! We appreciate your efforts!

As a resident of Fairfax, I hate you. Here, we prepare for snow by making sure there’s enough room on the trail/sidewalk to put the snow from the street. Bonus points if you can get a pile large enough to last until spring.

[PotomacCyclist]

Now if we could only convince NPS to let Arlington plow and pre-treat the MVT too.

[dbb]

@PotomacCyclist 108532 wrote:

Now if we could only convince NPS to let Arlington plow and pre-treat the MVT too.

Or, even better, convince NPS to plow and pre-treat the MVT.

[PotomacCyclist]

I don’t think NPS has the money to do that, if reports from others on the forum and elsewhere are accurate. If anyone is going to plow and pre-treat the Arlington part of the MVT, it would probably have to be Arlington, or an authorized volunteer group.

[consularrider]

They’re pretty and white right now, we should go for a bike ride (again)!

Ok, I went out and played in the snow. At 6:30 pm, the Arlington trail brush had been out on the W&OD from Van Buren (yes all the way this time) to the Custis, on the Bluemont, and on the Custis. I’m not sure when, but there was already a quarter inch of snow. When I came back at about 8:30, there were about two inches of snow on those sections. Still it was much better riding than the streets. Unless I was riding in where the cars hadn’t driven, the snow tended to shift under my tires and on uphills I could feel the back wheel start to spin if I applied too much pressure (Schwalbe Marathon Winter studded tires). Be careful y’all.

[Arlingtonrider]

Shirlington area report: Just rode to Shirlington Village. S. Arlington Mill Road and the trail alongside it were wet but clear. The trail had been brined before the snow, so I think all the other brined trails should be in good shape too, except maybe for a patch under 395. The roads in Shirlington Village were another matter, but they’re working on them now. No lines at Best Buns yet.

[jopamora]

NPS plowed the connection from 14th St Bridge to the Jefferson. The 14th St Bridge and the MVT to the CCC had about 5-6 inches of powder.

[mikoglaces]

W&OD is plowed from East Falls Church to the Custis, and Custis is plowed too. Caution is advised. It was fine with studded tires this morning but I wouldn’t have ridden it without studs.

[PotomacCyclist]

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Overhead view of the MVT, from the Metro bridge.

A lot of the snow is already melting downtown in areas exposed to the sun. But everything is going to freeze again with the overnight low near 10F.

[dkel]

The W&OD just east of Shreve Road is completely untreated. I didn’t venture any further!

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[Powerful Pete]

1. Custis is all clear… a bit of mush/slush between Quincy and the turn-off on the WOD, but all of it is rideable. From Quincy to Rosslyn it is all in good shape.

2. WOD is perfectly clear from the Custis to East Falls Church.

3. WOD East from the Custis turn-off all the way down Weenie Beenie had not been cleared as of around 13:00 today.

4. Four mile run is completely cleared.

5. MVT has not been touched and was rideable (if struggling through the snow is your kind of thing) but getting worse by the minute as the snow was trampled/ridden/skied in.

[dbb]

As a follow-up to the conditions of Arlington’s trails and lanes, here was the Hayes Street protected bike lane at about noon today.

Arlington County did a superb job of getting the lanes cleared.

[Harry Meatmotor]

@Powerful Pete 108626 wrote:

5. MVT has not been touched and was rideable (if struggling through the snow is your kind of thing) but getting worse by the minute as the snow was trampled/ridden/skied in.

I’m going to go ahead and suggest that unless your ideal road conditions are the bombed out streets of Ramallah, MVT is going to be a bit of a challenge for anyone not on a fatbike. With a refreeze (and likely a hard refreeze) tonight, it’s going to be a borderline (truly) dangerous sufferfest for tomorrow’s commute, especially considering the near zero temps with wind chill. Be very careful out there, folks!

In addition to Powerful Pete’s report, the CC Connector was only cleared to the eastern end of the tunnel, but 18th St. and S. Eads are in great shape. I didn’t make it up to the 14th St. Bridge, but judging by the condition of the MVT my guess is that it’s a complete shit-show. So, even if you can skip the bulk of the MVT using a handful of bypasses, 14th St. Bridge is still going to pretty much bring the 100% suck.

[dbb]

@Harry Meatmotor 108634 wrote:

MVT is going to be a bit of a challenge for anyone not on a fatbike.

So, even if you can skip the bulk of the MVT using a handful of bypasses, 14th St. Bridge is still going to pretty much bring the 100% suck.

I think my route tomorrow for the sufferfest will be from Crystal City to Long Bridge Drive to Boundary Channel Drive, cross the wooden bridge to the LBJ Memorial and the Columbia Island Marina then downstream along the MVT to the 14th Street Bridge.

My experience is the 14th Street Bridge is often in pretty good shape.

That might minimize the amount of walkage.

[consularrider]

I was doing the Arlington loop starting just before noon.

– Custis – easy peasy from the W&OD to the Roosevelt Island parking lot. Unfortunately the fine folks from VDOT have dumped leavings on the north side of the (formerly) underpass of eternal darkness (under I-66 milepost 1). As the temperatures drop tonight there will be ice at that corner and under the underpass. Similar issue on parts of the Sprout Run overpass along I-66. The only cleared access trail is the Fairfax connector.

– MVT – Oh my God! What was I thinking? As long as I was riding on untrod snow, no worries I could keep a six to seven mph pace going and hold a steady line. The stretch from Graveley Point around past the airport was truly a B***H! You also have to be careful not to stray off the paved portion (or stay completely on the grass), any time you hip the lip of the trail, watch out!

– MRT – also easy peasy, just watch out for Cyndi’s nemesis – the ice on the western edge of the I-395 underpass.

– W&OD – Forget about it! Rode 4MR Dr from Shirlington to Columbia Pike and then tried to take the trail westwards. I could make no headway, so went up S 9th St (walking and dodging sledders). I rode plowed roads from Buchanan to Fairfax Dr. Then from the Custis junction to Van Buren it is all clear! Unfortunately the street plow dumped a big berm across the curb cut at Van Buren that you can not ride through. I’m too lazy to go back over with my shovel. The only other access trail that was cleared was at Ohio St (thanks SteveO!).

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