February 2016 Road and Trail Conditions – Is there still snow/ice out there?

[brendan]

@S. Arlington Observer 133788 wrote:

Sort of desparate for news of S Eads Street in Arlington, especially heading north from the 4MR trail. Would very much like to resume my cycling commute. Anyone been there in the last 24 hours or so?

I had to Elite your post because you posted at 12:01am on 2/1.

B

[bobco85]

As of tonight’s work by komorebi, myself, and a random fellow cyclist who helped us shovel, I can proudly say that one can safely bike from the Crystal City connector to the 14th Street Bridge without having to dismount. There are a few spots where the trail narrows, but the trail is rideable. Pics will be added on the “Shovel This Saturday!” thread here: http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?9855-Shovel-This-Saturday!

[TwoWheelsDC]

Although the temps were above freezing, there was definitely ice on some of the lesser-traveled roads and sides of roads. Definitely warrants caution until the sun comes out.

[Miked63]

@Terpfan 133950 wrote:

How’s MVT from 14th st to OT? Humoback bridge is now down to just a 50′ length of thick packed snow. The rest cleared up. The marina route now has good lines and mostly melted. So now im curious if I hit MVT by Slaters, how many (if any) times will I have to dismount prior to 14th St Bridge? Any word on it south of OT from condos down to Belle View? I’ve noticed most areas except those that had extra snow seem to have melted.

I made it home last night on the MVT from the 14 St. Bridge to the Tulane crossing on the GWP south of Belle Haven Park without clipping out. Maybe 2 or 3 dicey spots, but I had 35 cross tires on. Even on road slicks, you’d only have to hop off a couple times. It’s very rideable.

Edit: I took Royal through Old Town and avoided the MVT stretch between the split up to Slaters and Jones Point Park

[notinthe18]

Glad to see I didn’t need to come back and edit my post with pictures of Humpback yesterday 😮 :rolleyes:

I came home via Memorial to 110 last night — the 110 route is VASTLY improved EXCEPT there are a few humps of snow left. But if you’re riding it in the dark, please be careful — the snow humps are covered in gravel and are difficult to see, even with decent headlights. I just happened to be behind a jogger who was bobbing and weaving, otherwise I might have eaten it.

[AFHokie]

@DismalScientist 133948 wrote:

That wooden bridge is called the Trollheim in forum parlance

This brings up a good point; a forum glossary for the new members.

Heck for older members as well…there’s trail section nicknames that I’m still not sure where/what they mean

[PotomacCyclist]

@AFHokie 133973 wrote:

This brings up a good point; a forum glossary for the new members.

Heck for older members as well…there’s trail section nicknames that I’m still not sure where/what they mean

There’s a Forum Dictionary thread, pinned on the main board.

http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?2783-Forum-Dictionary

However, the definitions are added in separate posts in that thread.

[AFHokie]

@PotomacCyclist 133974 wrote:

There’s a Forum Dictionary thread, pinned on the main board.

http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?2783-Forum-Dictionary

However, the definitions are added in separate posts in that thread.

How about one a bit more concise and a little less equivocative

[Kitty]

@Tom H 133852 wrote:

Roosevelt Island lot and trail were still uncleared and nearly unridable this AM due to slush, even with 2.1″ tires on a 29er. Amazingly Roosevelt Bridge sidewalk was good!

That matches my experience. I made it as far as the lot, but had to turn around due to the slush field. Good to know about Roosevelt though! Once the approach is clear it will be good to get back onto my bridge of choice. (Indeed its narrow with little margin for error, but the minimal foot traffic makes it a faster, more pleasant ride than Key, with the bonus of not emptying into the M street crucible!)

That said, many thanks for the intel and suggestions on the 110 and Memorial option. It’s a great alternative to westbound on M in the evening, and by the time I head home, traffic is diminished to the extent that riding on the road on the bridge hasn’t been a problem.

[KWL]

I felt foolish clacking around on my studded tires for the first half of my MVT commute this morning. Then, after clearing the Humpback Glacier I came across the Sporadic Ice Fields of Upper MVT and was very glad to have them. It was 38°F when I left the house, but it must be much cooler along the Potomac. The slush from yesterday was ice. Melted runoff was a sheet of ice in many place.

[huskerdont]

@KWL 133984 wrote:

I felt foolish clacking around on my studded tires for the first half of my MVT commute this morning. Then, after clearing the Humpback Glacier I came across the Sporadic Ice Fields of Upper MVT and was very glad to have them. It was 38°F when I left the house, but it must be much cooler along the Potomac. The slush from yesterday was ice. Melted runoff was a sheet of ice in many place.

It got down to 31 where I live in Arlington. Not enough to freeze the puddles, but definitely enough to freeze the leftover rain and snowmelt in places where it was thinner. Foiled my attempt to take the single speed so took the CX bike, but I did see road bike tires out there @ 6:30 and they seemed to be doing okay (Custis route into DC).

[Steve O]

@huskerdont 133985 wrote:

It got down to 31 where I live in Arlington. Not enough to freeze the puddles, but definitely enough to freeze the leftover rain and snowmelt in places where it was thinner.

The air temperature does not have to drop below freezing to cause ice to form. Radiative heat loss from dark surfaces can cause water to freeze even when it’s in the upper 30’s. As proof, I was taken down this morning by completely invisible ice on a neighborhood road that was still in the shade even though the temperature was 38 and it never dropped below 32 all night.

[Rootchopper]

Here’s my blog post about yesterday’s commute from Fort Hunt (Mount Vernon) to Rosslyn. I used a 100 yard portion of the MVT on the way home, but otherwise avoided it altogether. Today’s ride in by the same route was ice free. Some of the traffic lights were annoying but I envy the folks in Del Ray because the Potomac Yard Trail is great.

https://rootchopper.wordpress.com/2016/02/01/taking-the-inland-route/

My biggest concern now is not ice it’s all the sand and salt and grit building up on my drivetrain.

[NickBull]

My route in was easy on studded tires and would have been feasible on road tires with a few little sections of hike-a-bike.

Kirkwood -> Lyons Village -> Custis -> Key Bridge -> C&O towpath -> Rock Creek Trail (under the Whitehurst) -> Ohio Drive -> E Basin Dr -> Maine Ave and then some miscellaneous surface streets.

Studded tires were not mandatory for any of this, but there were some sections of the Rock Creek Trail that still had short glacier fields that I wouldn’t have tried on road tires. The guy in front of me on road tires discovered to his chagrin that psychic friction is not enough to keep you upright if you hit the glacier at significant speed without even slowing down. The glacier field has two single-track ruts through it, so it’s possible he might have made it through if he had slowed down enough to pick his way through, though I’m not sure. If it were me on road tires, I’d just dismount and walk the thirty feet. With studded tires, the glacier field was essentially un-noticeable. But the studded tires are a lot of work to roll, so depending on conditions on my commute home, I might come in on road tires tomorrow and plan on hiking those little sections.

[hozn]

@kcb203 133951 wrote:

If it stays above freezing tonight, I might have to give it a try. Forecast is for 29 tonight in Reston, which could be a disaster with all the water and slush everywhere.

Yeah, I put on slicks since I was going to do the Bikenetic ride first. It was a little more frozen than optimal with slicks, but no falls (or close calls). I skipped the sections I expected to be extra slushy, though — took roads from Shreve to Clarks Crossing. Trail definitely had lots of ice crystals (I don’t love those crackling sounds), but it was not overly slippery.

[Author]

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