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

[mstone]

@ursus 134480 wrote:

For some reason they did not use that route and rebuild the bridge when making the bike trail.

For some reason…$$$

[kwarkentien]

Path/Sidewalk Closure by Jefferson Memorial

In case you haven’t already heard or seen, there is a complete closure of the path/sidewalk between the CaBi station by the Jefferson Memorial and the George Mason statue/mini park. There’s fencing up and a big-ass hole in the sidewalk near the fire hydrant. I’m guessing some sort of water main break occurred. I’m assuming this blockage will be there for a while. There is no warning of the closure until you hit it. Ran into late last night riding nag back to VA from Bethesda. Only option to get around is to salmon up the roadway for a 100 yards or so to the curb cut for the 14th Street Bridge access (unless you ant to ride through the grass/mud up the desire path).

[DrP]

@Tania 134453 wrote:

I’m heading out that way today – Claiborne to Purcellville and then a road loop so I’ll report back. I’m told there is some ice at the Sycolin underpass and hoping goose creek isn’t flooded.

Thank you. Ended up doing W&OD. Definitely clear path (only occasional narrowing due to snow). There was some bad glass west of downtown Herdon which took out at least one tire (other cyclists – who then clued us into it). Used shoes to brush much of the broken Corona bottle off trail on return – should be safe for cycles and paws.

[sjclaeys]

@kwarkentien 134490 wrote:

Path/Sidewalk Closure by Jefferson Memorial

In case you haven’t already heard or seen, there is a complete closure of the path/sidewalk between the CaBi station by the Jefferson Memorial and the George Mason statue/mini park. There’s fencing up and a big-ass hole in the sidewalk near the fire hydrant. I’m guessing some sort of water main break occurred. I’m assuming this blockage will be there for a while. There is no warning of the closure until you hit it. Ran into late last night riding nag back to VA from Bethesda. Only option to get around is to salmon up the roadway for a 100 yards or so to the curb cut for the 14th Street Bridge access (unless you ant to ride through the grass/mud up the desire path).

That hole has been there for several weeks. NPS is good at starting projects, finishing them not so much.

[reji]

The city used Thaiss Park to dump a mountain of snow. Pic was taken today – I can’t even imagine how much was there before the melting began. But they still managed to keep the entrance/exit to the Fairfax County Cross County Trail open. Thanks, Fairfax City. Now if only we could get Fairfax County to even think about cyclist/pedestrian access.

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[mstone]

@reji 134508 wrote:

Now if only we could get Fairfax County to even think about cyclist/pedestrian access

The county doesn’t maintain very much, it’s mostly VDOT.

[ursus]

@mstone 134487 wrote:

For some reason…$$$

A typical reason.

[TwoWheelsDC]

Textbook wintry mix, but as of 6am, nothing was sticking and the roads were just very wet. I was a little annoyed to have to ride on studs, but my studded-tire bike is my only one with fenders. But there still is potential for slickness by the PM commute.

[Vicegrip]

W&OD clear from Falls church to Clark’s Crossing. Slight slushy spots here and there at the most road or trail.

[komorebi]

The MVT is flooded near the north end of the Washington Sailing Marina, by the s-curve. The trail is covered in several inches of standing water for about 50 feet.

[gibby]

@komorebi 134612 wrote:

The MVT is flooded near the north end of the Washington Sailing Marina, by the s-curve. The trail is covered in several inches of standing water for about 50 feet.

High tide on 4MR under Rt1 made for a real eeewwwww cruise thru all sorts of ummmmm ‘debris.’

[DrP]

@komorebi 134612 wrote:

The MVT is flooded near the north end of the Washington Sailing Marina, by the s-curve. The trail is covered in several inches of standing water for about 50 feet.

MVT around Memorial Bridge, while currently clear of water, looks like not much higher river levels will cause flooding (water at the grass level; high tide now past). Something to keep an eye out for if you are doing a later evening commute – possible they will be higher than this morning. But sounds like the s-curve mentioned here will be bad then too.

[PotomacCyclist]

@gibby 134614 wrote:

High tide on 4MR under Rt1 made for a real eeewwwww cruise thru all sorts of ummmmm ‘debris.’

E. coli is good for your bike. OK, I made that up. But it’s true that you’re likely riding through a lot of untreated sewage there. Millions of gallons of sewage have probably overflowed into the rivers and streams since yesterday.

[ursus]

@Tania 134470 wrote:

I was running late so I drove into Leesburg rather than parking by the skate rink on Claiborne.

It’s clear from Dry Mill (the first crossing there after King St) to the high school in Purcellville. We did a road loop out to Lovettesville and back but everything is clear and mostly dry.

I should have asked this as soon as I saw that you intended to travel the W&OD from Leesburg to Purcellville. I have probably not been on this part of the trail since early October. How is the reconstructed section at Clark’s Gap? Is it finished? Is there indeed less interaction with traffic? Is the replacement of the switchback an easier climb when heading westward? I am not asking about how much snow covering there is /was, just if the trail has been improved.

[consularrider]

@ursus 134647 wrote:

I should have asked this as soon as I saw that you intended to travel the W&OD from Leesburg to Purcellville. I have probably not been on this part of the trail since early October. How is the reconstructed section at Clark’s Gap? Is it finished? Is there indeed less interaction with traffic? Is the replacement of the switchback an easier climb when heading westward? I am not asking about how much snow covering there is /was, just if the trail has been improved.

I rode it in late December and early January and it is finished. The trail tends to have mud under the Charles Town Pike bridge. There is no interaction with motor vehicle traffic until you get to the second traffic circle (northern one) and the overall slope is less than the old switchback (which is still there). VDOT did not repave all of the trail from the second traffic circle to Simpson Circle and there is approximately 20 feet that is a little rough. Also note that there is no access from the trail to the southern of the two traffic circles if you want to take Dry Mill.

[Author]

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