July 2014 Trail Conditions

[consularrider]

I wondered what happened to my rack trunk.

[chris_s]

The W&OD has re-opened.

[Phatboing]

Gallows Rd bike lane, going towards Tysons – just south of Cedar lane, there’s about 123496 cars worth of shattered lights. I first noticed it on Monday, didn’t ride Gallows since, but the stuff’s still there, being evil. Another report for VDOT.

[n18]

The traffic light button at W&OD & Vienna/Maple AVE when going south stopped working, pressing the button even for a long time doesn’t work. Only the northbound direction works. This was at around 2:30 PM today, before the afternoon storms.

[hozn]

@n18 89521 wrote:

The traffic light button at W&OD & Vienna/Maple AVE when going south stopped working, pressing the button even for a long time doesn’t work. Only the northbound direction works. This was at around 2:30 PM today, before the afternoon storms.

Which way is “south”? East?

[JustinW]

Best Value (!) in road closures – for July 4 Memorial Bridge and many roads ringing the Mall are closed to cars starting at something like 6am. That means unfettered bikeability…and it is too cool to bike down Memorial Bridge’s center stripes with nary a car in sight! Just have to watch the many wandering pedestrians who sometimes don’t realize that bikes are about.

While it is not as wonderful as Bike DC it comes in a really close 2nd. I will need to plan on spending more time enjoying those closures next year.

[PotomacCyclist]

I did a lap or two along Constitution Ave. in the late afternoon. Ciclovia in downtown D.C. I saw many people on CaBi bikes, road bikes, hybrid bikes and pedicabs, going up and down the road. Basically an 80-foot wide bike path! (Or whatever the exact width is.)

I did have an issue trying to get to Arlington, until I realized that I could take the CaBi bike through the security checkpoint.

First time I’ve ever ridden CaBi on Constitution Ave., in the middle of 15th St. NW/SW and on Ohio Drive near the Tidal Basin. I’ve ridden on Constitution on the tri bike during races before, but never on CaBi. Pictures on the way…

[Arlingtonrider]

@JustinW 89541 wrote:

Best Value (!) in road closures . . . While it is not as wonderful as Bike DC it comes in a really close 2nd. I will need to plan on spending more time enjoying those closures next year.

RCannon100 and I were also enjoying it – and we shared the exact same thoughts!

[dbb]

Somebody has “begrimed” the MVT

Is this really necessary? In some cases these were but 100 feet apart.

The markings took the Crystal City Connector and they felt that painting the pavers was an acceptable approach.

Pro tips: Cue sheets and recyclable/removable signs at key locations. Spray chalk only lasts for a short time. Mark the turns on the grass rather than the pavement.

[americancyclo]

@dbb 89587 wrote:

Somebody has “begrimed” the MVT

Is this really necessary? In some cases these were but 100 feet apart.

Saw these on the W&OD too, Nats publicity?

[rcannon100]

@dbb 89587 wrote:

Somebody has “begrimed” the MVT

They go all the way up the Custis. They are spray painted on the board walk at Trollheim. This is getting more and more common. Last year it was purple duck tape that stuck around, well you can still find some of it. And I would opine that we cyclists are not immune. The spray painted slogans at intersections still exist. Not good.

[Geoff]

My wife, Cathy, and I rode down to Occoquan for lunch on Sunday. A good part of the way was on the Fairfax County Parkway Bike Trail.

Someone on this forum described this trail as being “utilitarian.” I think that is being kind. It is paved, but badly needs to be swept to rid it of sand, gravel, broken glass and other broken car stuff. Next, the vegetation needs to be cut back in many spots. There are places where half the trail width is unusable because of overhanging shrubbery.

If we could take care of those issues it would almost be up to the level of the Custis. Like the Custis there are sections that need to be repaved, but we can deal with that. The permanent problem, IMHO, is simply it is the Parkway trail and as such is quite close to the cars. Riding with traffic on country roads is one thing, riding with a steady stream of cars roaring by is something else.

After all that griping I admit we will likely ride it again, just not very often. I’ll probably take my commuter bike next time, not my nice road bike. But is there any way to get it swept?

[cyclingfool]

@dbb 89587 wrote:

Somebody has “begrimed” the MVT

Yeah, I saw these on the ride home Thursday as I raced the storms. It pissed me off. Whoever did it surely hasn’t been watching enough World Cup action, or they’d realize that they could have purchased spray chalk.

[MattAune]

@americancyclo 89588 wrote:

Saw these on the W&OD too, Nats publicity?

I saw these red/white W^ paint marks all the way out on Oaklyn Dr in Potomac. There are a ton on the W&OD, Custis, MVT and there were a bunch in front of the Marriott on Eads. I would love to know what the hell they mean, and more importantly who is responsible.

[mstone]

@Geoff 89598 wrote:

My wife, Cathy, and I rode down to Occoquan for lunch on Sunday. A good part of the way was on the Fairfax County Parkway Bike Trail.

Someone on this forum described this trail as being “utilitarian.” I think that is being kind. It is paved, but badly needs to be swept to rid it of sand, gravel, broken glass and other broken car stuff. Next, the vegetation needs to be cut back in many spots. There are places where half the trail width is unusable because of overhanging shrubbery.

If we could take care of those issues it would almost be up to the level of the Custis. Like the Custis there are sections that need to be repaved, but we can deal with that. The permanent problem, IMHO, is simply it is the Parkway trail and as such is quite close to the cars. Riding with traffic on country roads is one thing, riding with a steady stream of cars roaring by is something else.

After all that griping I admit we will likely ride it again, just not very often. I’ll probably take my commuter bike next time, not my nice road bike. But is there any way to get it swept?

Essentially, no–there is no money budgeted for basic maintenance of sidewalks and trails. Stretches of that trail have included driving through a couple of inches of loose sand or dodging significant debris or overgrown vegetation literally for years. It could be worse–at least there’s some accommodation that could someday be improved, as opposed to not having any ROW at all. (At least that’s what I tell my self to feel better about the park & trail situation in Fairfax.) The sad reality is that there are very few long, routes in Fairfax that don’t involve major roads, by design, and any long routes that haven’t been widened into major roads probably will be. All that said, there was a one-time allocation of funds to repave sections of the trail (for the first time in 30 years) and they’ve slowly been working their way south. (I just tried the stretch south of Franklin Farm Road this weekend; it was wonderful-I rode all over it, thinking “whee!!!” as I rolled down the hill.) It took decades for it to get as bad as it is, so hopefully the new sections will be good for at least a few years.

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