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

[KWL]

Trollheim has a nice continuous ribbon worn down to the boards. The MVT is clear from Rosslyn to 4MRT. Yes, that includes the Humpback Glacier. http://bikearlingtonforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=10848&d=1454460823

[Mario20136]

Greetings,

I am thinking of re-starting my daily commute from Vienna/Center Street to Ballston tomorrow 2/3/2016. I would like to find out the overall conditions on the bike trail from Vienna to Ballston. The last time that I checked, Vienna/Center Street was a skating rink.

I appreciate your feedback.

-Mario

[vern]

@Mario20136 134098 wrote:

Greetings,

I am thinking of re-starting my daily commute from Vienna/Center Street to Ballston tomorrow 2/3/2016. I would like to find out the overall conditions on the bike trail from Vienna to Ballston. The last time that I checked, Vienna/Center Street was a skating rink.

I appreciate your feedback.

-Mario

You are good to go. I rode the WOD from the Custis all the way to Reston tonight on slicks. As has been said several times in this thread, the area around the tennis courts just past Shreve is still a mess, but getting better rapidly. Otherwise, it’s all pretty clear. There are a few places between Park and Gallows where you don’t have much more than a tire track width to ride on (at least around 5:30 this evening), but those areas should clear up quickly with the continued warmth and tomorrow’s rain.

[secstate]

In contrast to RCP, the CCT was in admirable condition. Really a nice commute this evening. Sidewalks heading up the hill (toward the District) from the trail’s Mass Ave exit are completely covered on both sides of the road, unfortunately. Not a problem at 8:30pm but could be annoying during rush hour.

Anyone else feel like some drivers still have lingering anger from last week?

[AFHokie]

@PotomacCyclist 134070 wrote:

A multi-post thread is the only way to have a glossary or dictionary on this forum. There’s a character limit for a single post. Eventually the dictionary would have to be split up into multiple posts.

As far as agreeing on definitions, since they are all informal or slang or made-up words, there may never be agreement on them. We’re still trying to figure out what ELITE truly means.

Concise does not mean a single post. It means posts with a word and a short definition without 3-5 pedantic follow on posts. Of the 88 posts in the dictionary thread only two (the first not until post 72) define location nicknames: Trollheim & corkscrew-of-death. As far as common slang terms, the only two in the thread bandied about the forum with any regularity and defined in the dictionary thread are salmon and shoal. In current form the dictionary thread is not helpful.

[PotomacCyclist]

It’s just an informal endeavor. No one is getting paid to create a forum dictionary here. I think you may be taking the idea a little too seriously. Yes, sometimes there are confusing terms used, but it’s easy enough to ask. The forum dictionary was a throwaway idea. People can use it or not. You can combine the posts into a concise series of posts yourself and take ownership of the dictionary thread, if you like. It’s really not the most important part of the forum. It’s not really in top shape because most people probably don’t see it as something too important.

[ursus]

@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

seconded

[AFHokie]

@PotomacCyclist 134114 wrote:

It’s just an informal endeavor. No one is getting paid to create a forum dictionary here. I think you may be taking the idea a little too seriously. Yes, sometimes there are confusing terms used, but it’s easy enough to ask. The forum dictionary was a throwaway idea. People can use it or not. You can combine the posts into a concise series of posts yourself and take ownership of the dictionary thread, if you like. It’s really not the most important part of the forum. It’s not really in top shape because most people probably don’t see it as something too important.

Nobody gets paid??? Thanks for clarifying the obvious & thanks for the greenlight, your permission changes everything. If clearly not worth your time why spend so much disparaging the idea?

Over 100 new people signed up for BAFS this year; think some of those new forum members might find a coherent common word definition thread convenient? Or is it only worthwhile if you decide its useful?

[PotomacCyclist]

No. That thread is there because someone found it useful. But you have reported that it isn’t that helpful in its current form. I suggested that you can address that yourself without much effort, instead of complaining that the forum dictionary isn’t useful. That’s not meant to be an insult. If something doesn’t work well on the forum and it’s not too difficult to fix, then anyone can start working on the solution. It’s just as easy for you to fix it then anyone else. I responded because you pointed out the number of posts on that thread and the difficulty in using it, as if you were expecting me to fix it for you.

As far as I know, there are only a handful of nicknames that beginners might not be familiar with. Actually, since I don’t ride past most of the nicknamed areas too often, I’m not aware of the exact locations of most of them.

These are the terms that I’ve seen over the years:

Intersection of Doom
Trollheim
Underpass of Doom (or something like that)
Corkscrew of Death

and maybe a couple others.

Someone can simply put together that list and add it into a single post on that thread. If you (or whoever wants to handle this) aren’t familiar with a particular term, then it’s a simple matter to ask. Then the post can be re-edited to include the definitions. The list can be added at the bottom (although future posts will push that new list to the middle of the thread). Or the initial poster or a forum administrator can add the list to the first post of that thread. Many people have addressed many minor issues or improvements on the forum. I would consider working on this one, but I’m not that motivated to work on this item (mostly because I rarely ride past any of those locations).

I would suggest that each term be put into bold-type for easier reading. Then the definition can follow. Simple. Like this:

INTERSECTION OF DOOM
The intersection of N. Lynn St., Lee Highway and the Mt. Vernon Trail in Rosslyn, Arlington. Frequent site of conflict among road/trail users, although recent improvements have made that intersection safer than before. Long-term improvements are also planned.

TROLLHEIM
Wooden bridge along the Mt. Vernon Trail in Arlington, near the entrance to Roosevelt Island. Surface can get very slippery when it rains or snows. Reference is to a mythical Potomac River troll who appears to knock over cyclists at that spot. Is it the slippery surface or the troll that causes so many wipeouts? [This text can be edited to be more precise. I haven’t ridden past the bridge in a while, so I don’t remember exactly where it is.]

UNDERPASS OF DOOM

CORKSCREW OF DEATH

HUMPBACK BRIDGE
The bridge that carries the GW Memorial Parkway and the Mt. Vernon Trail over the Boundary Channel, just north of the 14th St. bridges. While the bridge is located on the west bank of the Potomac River, most of the bridge is actually located in DC, because Columbia Island is part of the District, not Arlington. The nickname described the former configuration of the bridge, which resembled a humpback. That decreased visibility of the other side of the bridge, resulting in many crashes over the years. But the entire bridge was rebuilt. The MVT now runs across a smooth and protected path over the bridge. [The old configuration required cyclists to perform a short but steep climb up to the bridge at each end. The path used to run inches away from car traffic with no protection. But a solid stone wall now separates the bike/ped path from the road lanes.]

HUMPBACK GLACIER
A phenomenon that developed during the Jan. 2016 Snowzilla blizzard on the bike/ped path over the Humpback Bridge. Fortunately, the existence of this “glacier” was brief. No one will miss it.

and so on.

Feel free to copy this text or ignore it completely if you are upset with me. Either is fine. But if my text is used, a credit would be appreciated (as long as it isn’t too insulting).

P.S. I would suggest that an administrator maintain the Forum Dictionary thread, since it’s pinned to the main sub-forum. The first post can be edited to include all the definitions in one place. If the character limit is reached for that first post, then take over the 2nd post, if necessary. And a 3rd post, and so on.

[bobco85]

Sounds like the Bike Arlington Forum needs a wiki! This would prevent definitions from getting lost in the mess of pages and posts and would allow users (i.e., us) to add much more information.

If we get a really robust wiki, we would be able to use it to include all types of information that would be highly useful to new members like location information for trails, nicknamed stretches/areas, slang definitions for random terms, contact information for road/trail/jurisdictional issues (snow, pothole, downed tree, emergency, etc.), and much more.

…I realize that by typing this, I have signed up to help create one. I have never created a wiki but will spend some time tonight nosing about the Internet to find out more information.

[Tim Kelley]

@bobco85 134194 wrote:

Sounds like the Bike Arlington Forum needs a wiki! This would prevent definitions from getting lost in the mess of pages and posts and would allow users (i.e., us) to add much more information.

If we get a really robust wiki, we would be able to use it to include all types of information that would be highly useful to new members like location information for trails, nicknamed stretches/areas, slang definitions for random terms, contact information for road/trail/jurisdictional issues (snow, pothole, downed tree, emergency, etc.), and much more.

…I realize that by typing this, I have signed up to help create one. I have never created a wiki but will spend some time tonight nosing about the Internet to find out more information.

You put it together and we’ll figure out some way to make it prominently appear on the main page or maybe included as part of registration?

[mstone]

creating a wiki is easy. maintaining a wiki is hard. like keeping a calendar up to date.

[DismalScientist]

Let’s see…
Our favorite forum members can have their own pages, which other members can modify by adding helpful information. This is going to be good.:rolleyes:

[vern]

WOD now essentially clear for at least one lane width from Reston to Shirlington, including through Glen Carlyn and the tennis courts at Shreve. There’s still about a 20 foot stretch at the tennis courts where lanes partially covered with some other splotchy slush that will probably melt this morning. I did see a rider in front of me this morning take a dive there into Dickie’s Ditch*.

*Vicegrip also claims some proprietary interest in this ditch.

[AFHokie]

May be slick & blustery out there tomorrow morning: National Weather Service Winter Weather Advisory

[Author]

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