January ’16 – Trail Condition: That time they predicted mind-boggling amounts of snow

[Subby]

There were packed parts of the custis which you could ride but they were few and far between. Once you pass under 66 coming up from the WOD, it’s bad. Had to walk a mile or so and get off at W&L HS. Van Buren St. down to the WOD is pretty bad too, but doable on studs.

DC looks like a slush bomb went off. Use fenders if you have them.

[Steve O]

Do not be lulled into getting on the Custis at Van Buren. It looks great:
Benjamin Banneker Park:
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Brandymore Hill:
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But once you go under the Underpass of Eternal Darkness, it’s pretty much unrideable. And there’s no good way out (the nearby streets are unplowed). I backtracked all the way to EFC.
Good news is that the connector trail from the basketball court to the Metro station is plowed.

I went farther east on streets and got back on the trail just before the parking deck (top of the E sister):
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I plowed through to Quincy, at which point it got even deeper.
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That’s all.
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[NickBull]

Feasibility study for riding the Custis to work. Conclusion: Not feasible.

W&OD is clear to (occasional) bare pavement between McKinley and the Custis. The Custis is just barely rideable with 2.2″ MTB tires between the underpass of doom (?) under 66 to N. Frederick St (Queen Anne School) where I gave up and rode home. Snow is 5 to 8 inches deep and in places it is loose enough so as to be impassable, while other places it is just hard work to ride but OK. It took me 23 minutes to ride the 1-1/2 miles from N. Frederick back to my house, so an average speed of just under 4 mph.

I think if I had fat bike tires it might just be possible to ride to work. But that depends on the whole Custis being clear at least to this depth, then Key Bridge sidewalks being clear (unless I tried the roadway, Ack!) and then the Rock Creek Trail being clear enough to Maine Ave. And it depends on having a fat bike, which I don’t!

Pictures below: W&OD near McKinley; Custis just north-east of underpass under 66, hill is unrideable; Custis, westbound near N. Frederick, loose snow here is also unrideable. I crashed once during this adventure when my front tire slid out sideways then CAUGHT; but I was only going 2 mph so damage was limited to a sore calf muscle where the frame whacked into the back of my leg.

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[jrenaut]

Downtown DC is mostly passable but no longer fun to ride. The streets that have been cleared are very wet. Many of the cross streets are totally covered, and it’s really tough to ride in this half-melted half-refrozen slop. I was doing well yesterday and the day before but today I had to walk a bit.

Drivers are also back in force, parking wherever they want. On 14th NW there is a row of cars at the curb, snowed in. The bike lane is full of plowed snow, then the first travel lane has become a parking lane.

I went to the store and back and changed my mind about doing any more riding today. It’s too disgusting out.

[PotomacCyclist]

More Metro station openings:

https://www.facebook.com/MetroForward/photos/a.236797613016402.72066.225880554108108/1190520180977469/?type=3&theater

EDIT – The Braddock Rd. station is now open.

The Blue Line is now operational from Largo, through DC and Arlington to King Street. It continues to Huntington instead of Franconia-Springfield. (Van Dorn Street and Franconia-Springfield stations remain closed.)

The complete Yellow Line is now open, from Huntington to Mt Vernon Sq. (Yellow Line trains end at Mt Vernon Sq. They will not continue to Fort Totten today.)

It appears that all of the stations in DC are open. All the stations in Arlington are open except East Falls Church.

Many of the outer stations in MD and VA have opened, but many have not.

Trains are running every 20-25 minutes.

REMINDER – MetroRail is free today.

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[mstone]

On local roads in my part of (western) Fairfax the riding is mostly great on studs: the plows have created a nicely dressed sheet of ice. Beware of cars, they have no control and will slide turning or breaking (fun to watch, but only from a distance). In spots where there’s a lot of sun & salt, you sometimes sink suddenly, which affects control if you have a nice speed on the ice. In areas with heavy traffic the brown slime is gross and best avoided. I’m going to try to go out early tomorrow before it thaws.

[consularrider]

@jrenaut 133233 wrote:

Downtown [Kyiv] is mostly passable … Drivers are also back in force, parking wherever they want. … [There are no] bike lanes, [any right] lane is full of plowed snow, then [shoveled sidewalks and] the first travel lane [have] become … parking lane …

You are describing my last two weeks of riding.

[fredmeews]

I was on the same section this morning. I figured I could jump off the trail & hit the side streets like Fairfax Dr, but unlike the trail, they were completely untouched!

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[hoffsquared]

Anyone try W&OD from Carlin Springs to end towards city and then Four Mile Run to Crystal City? Thx.

[DismalScientist]

I hear someone on our street called and claimed imminent childbirth. Now we have our street plowed. Score, suckers. I love the Arlington Way.

[mikoglaces]

I rode this afternoon from d.c. On Wilson Blvd. to Washington Blvd. to Fairfax Dr./Lincoln St. All very passable. I got off the bike to get a good look at Custis where Washington crosses it, near Glebe. It clearly had not been plowed, though there has been traffic on it.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@DismalScientist 133246 wrote:

I hear someone on our street called and claimed imminent childbirth. Now we have our street plowed. Score, suckers. I love the Arlington Way.

The West-siders always gaming the system. We’re still snowbound on Longfellow.

[vpik01]

Anyone on the Mt Vernon Trail between the Four Mile Run junction and 14th St Bridge? How about the 14th st bridge crossing for that matter?

I just finished putting my studded tire bike back together and will probably go take a look myself tomorrow morning.

[hozn]

The Custis near W&OD intersection was quite beautifully plowed. Almost none of the Westover or surrounding neighborhood roads have been plowed. So riding the MTB really only works when there has been enough traffic go really pack down a lane. Longfellow is awesome, at least briefly. I am not a fan of riding on pavement in these conditions.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@hozn 133251 wrote:

The Custis near W&OD intersection was quite beautifully plowed. Almost none of the Westover or surrounding neighborhood roads have been plowed. So riding the MTB really only works when there has been enough traffic go really pack down a lane. Longfellow is awesome, at least briefly. I am not a fan of riding on pavement in these conditions.

Longfellow is so packed down it seems nearly driveable….plowing that compacted mess is going to be interesting, I’m sure.

[Author]

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