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

[NickBull]

Has anyone tried to get from Georgetown to the area of Federal Triangle SW? Particularly Rock Creek Trail?

I usually would take Key Bridge, then cross the C&O on one of the bridges and ride down the towpath for a bit, then down to the waterfront riding the road under Whitehurst Fwy. From there I would take Rock Creek Trail past the Kennedy Center and eventually to Ohio Drive, bump onto sidewalks next to E. Basin and past the Jefferson Memorial and eventually over to Maine Ave.

Haven’t seen any reports on road conditions for any parts of this route.

Thanks in advance if anyone knows anything.

Nick

[hozn]

@Tania 133578 wrote:

According the W&OD FB page, the trail has been plowed from Smiths Switch to just east of Hunter Mill, heading towards Vienna and then from the other direction (heading west) they’ve made it from Idylwood Park to Gallows and also heading towards Vienna. Hopeful the two plows will meet in the middle today and with the weekend warm up we’ll have clear-enough trails on Monday.

This AM it was definitely not plowed through Reston Town Center — I think the plowing stopped at Smiths Switch (?) and starts up again [eastbound] just west of Wiehle. I figured “it can’t be so bad” yesterday; American Dream Way isn’t *that* far away. Well, turns out it was ~1.5 miles of walking

I’m hopeful, but a bit doubtful, that the plows will meet today — but fingers crossed. Fewer detours would be nice, especially the ones out here (Lawyers is better than the twisty roads north of Toll Rd, but not a stress-free commute). I’m glad I took the opportunity to get some experience on the road options this week, though; I feel empowered. I’m excited for my commute to be back down to ~1hr. I’m also excited that my new Xerxes tires get delivered today; maybe they will suck a tiny bit less!

Edit: I should probably note that in the evenings [non-frozen] the detours may also be faster than some of the plowed sections, which still left an inch or more of snow/ice/slush. I love the feeling of the front tire washing out in the slush and then [hopefully] finding pavement before it actually washes slides out. It is a lot of engagement — and lots of fun — riding in these conditions, but also a lot more work.

[Tania]

Quote:

I look forward to riding it frozen in the AM

@hozn 133591 wrote:

I love the feeling of the front tire washing out in the slush and then [hopefully] finding pavement before it actually washes slides out. It is a lot of engagement — and lots of fun — riding in these conditions, but also a lot more work.

Twice now in as many days, I’ve read your words and thought “man, he crazy.”

[hozn]

@Tania 133593 wrote:

Twice now in as many days, I’ve read your words and thought “man, he crazy.”

Well, it isn’t fun when I crash. Someday I will break my collarbone and never ride on ice again

[rcannon100]

@hozn 133594 wrote:

Well, it isn’t fun when I crash. Someday I will break my collarbone and never ride on ice again

Nah…. it hardly hurts a bit…. and the new bump on your shoulder makes a really cool coat rack.

What’s really cool is that it changed the mechanics of my arm. My forehand flick in Ultimate Frisbee got much better.

[dasgeh]

I rode in today. Custis -> Key Bridge -> M -> PA Ave. What everyone said is true. I’ll add: DO NOT TRY TO USE THE DOWNSTREAM SIDE OF THE KEY BRIDGE FROM THE CUSTIS. You can’t cross Lynn unless you can scale a berm with you bike, and then the sidewalk is an unclear mess. I believe this is NPS land, but I still think it’s an Arlington fail.

In fact, I think the clearing on the Custis is at best a B-. The lack of treating the bridges is a D.

@huskerdont 133564 wrote:

Has anyone reported it? I’ll probably report it myself anyway.

PLEASE REPORT THIS STUFF. I’ve been reporting what I hear, but it’ll be better coming from more people. And from multiple people. I reported stuff days ago that hasn’t been addressed. The form is pretty easy.

The broken Custis is a huge danger, both because it’s covered in snow/ice (reported via snow removal site, above), and because of the concrete (report to trails@arlingtonva.us). They need to at least make that spot visible – cone on the side, sign, florescent paint, something!

@Raymo853 133568 wrote:

I suspect not many of us use the Suitland Parkway Bike Path, but I was floored to see NPS clearing it of snow this morning. They were using dump drunks and a snow combine. I have never seen them do that before. Amazing. Amazing since the snow plowed off of the parkway was primarily deposited onto it.

Wait, THAT’s what they clear? Not the MEMORIAL BRIDGE. SMH!!!

I did get a reply from my contact at GWMP, and he’s going to try to plead for them to reallocate resources to clearing at least the downstream side of Memorial Bridge. This is a serious safety issue at this point. They have cleared parking lots, but not a major connect in/out of DC.

[dasgeh]

In case anyone is wondering what broken concrete on the Custis people are talking about

[vvill]

@Tania 133578 wrote:

According the W&OD FB page, the trail has been plowed from Smiths Switch to just east of Hunter Mill, heading towards Vienna and then from the other direction (heading west) they’ve made it from Idylwood Park to Gallows and also heading towards Vienna. Hopeful the two plows will meet in the middle today and with the weekend warm up we’ll have clear-enough trails on Monday.

See my post in this thread from yesterday for a photo (taken well after the 10:05am FB post ) – the “plowed” part of the trail west of the Broad St. bridge is not much lower than the unplowed part. Not really rideable even to Shreve. eminva confirmed this later yesterday as well. With some melting, yeah – maybe by Monday.

@dasgeh 133605 wrote:

I rode in today. Custis -> Key Bridge -> M -> PA Ave. What everyone said is true. I’ll add: DO NOT TRY TO USE THE DOWNSTREAM SIDE OF THE KEY BRIDGE FROM THE CUSTIS. You can’t cross Lynn unless you can scale a berm with you bike, and then the sidewalk is an unclear mess. I believe this is NPS land, but I still think it’s an Arlington fail.[/quote]

Yeah, I went to coffee club this morning using roads only. Drivers seemed okay with it.

[W Odie]

@Tania 133578 wrote:

According the W&OD FB page, the trail has been plowed from Smiths Switch to just east of Hunter Mill, heading towards Vienna and then from the other direction (heading west) they’ve made it from Idylwood Park to Gallows and also heading towards Vienna. Hopeful the two plows will meet in the middle today and with the weekend warm up we’ll have clear-enough trails on Monday.

While walking the dog at 11:55 am today, we saw the snow blower clearing the section of the W&OD between Gallows Rd and Cedar Lane.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10728[/ATTACH]

[huskerdont]

@dasgeh 133605 wrote:

I rode in today. Custis -> Key Bridge -> M -> PA Ave. What everyone said is true. I’ll add: DO NOT TRY TO USE THE DOWNSTREAM SIDE OF THE KEY BRIDGE FROM THE CUSTIS. You can’t cross Lynn unless you can scale a berm with you bike, and then the sidewalk is an unclear mess. I believe this is NPS land, but I still think it’s an Arlington fail.

In fact, I think the clearing on the Custis is at best a B-. The lack of treating the bridges is a D.

PLEASE REPORT THIS STUFF. I’ve been reporting what I hear, but it’ll be better coming from more people. And from multiple people. I reported stuff days ago that hasn’t been addressed. The form is pretty easy.

The broken Custis is a huge danger, both because it’s covered in snow/ice (reported via snow removal site, above), and because of the concrete (report to trails@arlingtonva.us). They need to at least make that spot visible – cone on the side, sign, florescent paint, something!

I have reported the Custis trail break as well.

The downstream side of Key Bridge is actually not bad all the way across; it’s only that little portion that has some ice on it. The obstacle they’ve plowed up is typical of the whole region. I understand it’s been a difficult situation and perhaps the first day or so after a storm they may need to plow things onto sidewalk cuts to get the roads clear for emergency vehicles, but almost a week later it’s rather pathetic that these remain.

[Terpfan]

What would NPS do if we just showed up with a little skidsteer and started clearing the trail? I was looking to see how much they cost to rent out of curiosity. They’re like $400-600 a week. Of course getting them from the rental place in Forestville to the trail could be interesting (where i was looking: https://www.hertzequip.com/herc/rental-equipment-all-equipment/earthmoving-equipment+loaders+skidsteer-loader) . Needless to say, I’m actually curious if there is some sort of law prohibiting citizens from just doing it ourselves?

[dasgeh]

@Terpfan 133617 wrote:

What would NPS do if we just showed up with a little skidsteer and started clearing the trail? I was looking to see how much they cost to rent out of curiosity. They’re like $400-600 a week. Of course getting them from the rental place in Forestville to the trail could be interesting (where i was looking: https://www.hertzequip.com/herc/rental-equipment-all-equipment/earthmoving-equipment+loaders+skidsteer-loader) . Needless to say, I’m actually curious if there is some sort of law prohibiting citizens from just doing it ourselves?

Well, it is motorized…

[PotomacCyclist]

It looks like most areas will be cleared of snow by Mon. or Tue. just from the mild weather and the warm rain forecast for Mon. (and also a possible thunderstorm on Wed., with temperatures in the low 60s).

[TriGirlSara]

I did a lap at Hains Point over lunch today on my cross bike, so I thought I’d give an update on conditions (forgot to bring my phone for pictures – sorry!). The gate was closed, but since I saw clear pavement and some joggers ahead of me, I decided to duck under and give it a try. There is about one lane fully cleared (down to the pavement), except for 3 icy patches about 15′ long on the side facing the airport. It was warm enough today that those patches were mostly slush, so I was able to slowly ride over them on my cross bike. Other than those 3 patches, it was in pretty good shape, and after the warm weather this weekend, I bet that even those patches will be gone. The pavement was generally wet from the melting snow, so I’d also be careful of any refreezing that may happen.

[Terpfan]

@dasgeh 133618 wrote:

Well, it is motorized…

True, but like a tree falling in the woods, would they ever know?

[Author]

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