March 2015 Trail Condition Reports

[wheelswings]

@Phatboing 110659 wrote:

The slushfest between Cedar and Gallows turned out to be my undoing with the skinny slicks. My bike took a knee to the pedal and a crotch to the top tube, but is otherwise fine.

OUCH. That sounds miserable. Sorry to hear, Nimish. Sending healing wishes your way…. though I suspect a bottle of ibuprofen might be more useful!

[dkel]

@Phatboing 110659 wrote:

The slushfest between Cedar and Gallows turned out to be my undoing with the skinny slicks. My bike took a knee to the pedal and a crotch to the top tube, but is otherwise fine.

I put my skinny slicks on my commuter this evening, given the nice weather, and I’m hoping they’ll be ok for the Gallows-Cedar stretch tomorrow. (They’re 37mm touring tires; that’s as skinny as I have for that bike! :p)

[dkel]

@wheels&wings 110665 wrote:

OUCH. That sounds miserable. Sorry to hear, Nimish. Sending healing wishes your way…. though I suspect a bottle of ibuprofen might be more useful!

Or a bottle of whiskey.

[vern]

@Steve O 110645 wrote:

However, note that standing water on a dark surface can refreeze even when air temps are significantly above freezing. Just as a surface will get hotter than surrounding air from radiant heat from the sun, a surface can drop below ambient air temperature by radiating heat to the cold of outer space. This will happen more on a clear night than a cloudy night.

Case in point, there was black ice on my sidewalk this morning even though it never dropped below freezing last night.

I also noted some micro climates coming home. Places where there was snow on both sides of the trail were noticeably colder, and I suspect those types of areas might be susceptible to refreeze if the air temperatures drop enough. It’s cloudy, so that will hold in some heat.

[vern]

@PotomacCyclist 110662 wrote:

Are you thinking of the intersection of Eads and 18th? That was a construction site. But there’s a new problem a block over, at Bell St. I think it’s a storm sewer issue. The orange traffic cones are labeled ARL WSS, the Water, Sewer, Streets dept. There are other smaller potholes nearby too.

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No, I meant the spot at Bell. I walked by while they were digging the hole. It was deep enough that the men working inside, standing straight up, were below street level.

[consularrider]

@vern 110682 wrote:

I also noted some micro climates coming home. Places where there was snow on both sides of the trail were noticeably colder, and I suspect those types of areas might be susceptible to refreeze if the air temperatures drop enough. It’s cloudy, so that will hold in some heat.

I took the 4MRT from Columbia Pike to Glencarlyn around 6:30 pm and was amazed how much the temperature dropped going down into the “valley.” That section of the trail still has several snow covered stretches. I saw Wheels & Wings staying on the W&OD high road and I caught up to her by Bon Air Park.

On the W&OD there was still a section of snow under Arlington Blvd with no clear track through it.

The Trollheim at Roosevelt Island also has one snowy patch under the bridge shadow, but at least there is a narrow track through it.

[bobco85]

The Route 50 trail running from Pershing to Iwo Jima has debris but is free of frozen forms of water. The pedestrian beg button (and attached pole) were both taken out at Pershing/Route 50 (probably snow plow, but my jaded self would not rule out an idiot driver), so getting across will likely require a vehicle to be present.

4MR underpass at Mount Vernon Ave has some ice. MVT has a short section of double track under the 14th Street bridge.

@consularrider 110707 wrote:

I took the 4MRT from Columbia Pike to Glencarlyn around 6:30 pm and was amazed how much the temperature dropped going down into the “valley.” That section of the trail still has several snow covered stretches.

My ride tonight on the W&OD from Bluemont to Columbia Pike was the coldest part of my ride (had to stop for a little bit and warm my hands so I wouldn’t get frostbite in my fingers). Interestingly, crossing the 14th Street bridge into DC was the warmest part of my ride!

[consularrider]

I was just out picking up the newspaper, and the melt-off on my sidewalk and driveway in west Arlington has refrozen, so expect to find some ice on the trails on this morning’s commute. Ya’ll be careful out there.

[vern]

@consularrider 110714 wrote:

I was just out picking up the newspaper, and the melt-off on my sidewalk and driveway in west Arlington has refrozen, so expect to find some ice on the trails on this morning’s commute. Ya’ll be careful out there.

Yes, there was lots of refreeze this morning on the WOD west of Citizens Bridge.

[Tania]

W&OD refreeze (but rideable with care – even by me!) just east of the tennis courts along Shreve and then a little worse between Great and Little Falls. But again, I rode it and I’m a chicken. The ice was thin enough that the texture of the blacktop wasn’t completely covered. Likely all gone by now.

[ramblingrider]

It’s been a long while (I’ve been sick and traveling, blech), but I’ve finally got back to my biking commute. Northwest Branch Trail from Magruder Park is mostly clear. There is a mound of snow that blocks entrance to the park trail from the parking lot. The trail towards RI Ave to Armentrout is clear. I haven’t gone beyond that.

Most of the wet patches are water, although there are some icy spots that are visible. The bridges appear to be completely clear. Approaching Chillum Rd. remains icy and slushy– I wish PG Parks would maintain this area.

[Phatboing]

@vern 110717 wrote:

Yes, there was lots of refreeze this morning on the WOD west of Citizens Bridge.

@Tania 110722 wrote:

W&OD refreeze (but rideable with care – even by me!) just east of the tennis courts along Shreve and then a little worse between Great and Little Falls. But again, I rode it and I’m a chicken. The ice was thin enough that the texture of the blacktop wasn’t completely covered. Likely all gone by now.

All gone, as of 8.30ish. I hate this time switch, except when it means I get to skip refreeze zones.

[Steve O]

@Phatboing 110728 wrote:

I hate this time switch, except when it means I get to skip refreeze zones.

Um. You have that backwards.

[Phatboing]

@Steve O 110742 wrote:

Um. You have that backwards.

“I get to skip” = “I oversleep and am still groggy so I can’t help it”

The error is an example of the groggy part.

[NickBull]

Saw this fleet of snowplows near the SW9 boundary marker stone near the intersection of 18th St N and N Van Buren St. (near E. Falls Church metro). Are these what Arlington has been using to clear the bike path?

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[Author]

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