March 2017 Road & Trail Conditions
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@vern 157144 wrote:
It’s still pretty much ice packed.
I laid the bike (and myself) down west of Vienna this morning. Riding on the snow alongside the trail was fun for awhile, until I hit a sheet of not-snow.
Hurt my palm and thumb a bit (seems just bruised/strained), but otherwise unharmed. I should have gone mountain biking instead, which I suspect would have been a lot of fun, though may also have involved falling. Oh well. It’s probably a great time to take a couple of rest days Edit: yes, with studded tires (45NRTH Xerxes). I do sometimes consider getting more aggressively studded tires, but I should really just stick to the roads if I feel compelled to ride on days like today.
@hozn 157146 wrote:
I laid the bike (and myself) down west of Vienna this morning. Riding on the snow alongside the trail was fun for awhile, until I hit a sheet of not-snow.
Hurt my palm and thumb a bit (seems just bruised/strained), but otherwise unharmed. I should have gone mountain biking instead, which I suspect would have been a lot of fun, though may also have involved falling. Oh well. It’s probably a great time to take a couple of rest days Edit: yes, with studded tires (45NRTH Xerxes). I do sometimes consider getting more aggressively studded tires, but I should really just stick to the roads if I feel compelled to ride on days like today.
Thanks for confirming my decision to drive to the dentist. First time in a few years not biking. Humph.
Towpath is nigh unrideable. Chain Bridge is passable with studs/knobbies and some serious bike handling skills (the photo below shows the good part…it gets really bad just at the far point in the photo). The RCP trail below G-town has some stretches that remain completely iced over.
Folks who biked on those cleared trails in Arlington, I have some bad news. The County Manager has proposed cutting the trail snow clearing program ENTIRELY in his proposed 1 cent cut. You can see the full list here – trail snow clearing is #21 on page [!@&*$ why can’t they number pages!?!?!]. This would save a whopping $50k/year.
Also of interest is #5, which would eliminate the expansion of the street light program. DES says that it will take responsibility for trail lighting in the street light program if and only if it gets the funds for the expanded program. The Manager says DES is taking responsibility for trail lighting regardless, though I’ve never seen that on paper.
You may want to take a minute to remind the countyboard@arlingtonva.us (cc’ing the countymanager@arlingtonva.us) how important the trail snow clearing program is.
Oh, and if you have some time to bike over some counters on cleared trails today, that may be a good idea too
@dasgeh 157175 wrote:
Folks who biked on those cleared trails in Arlington, I have some bad news. The County Manager has proposed cutting the trail snow clearing program ENTIRELY in his proposed 1 cent cut. You can see the full list here – trail snow clearing is #21 on page [!@&*$ why can’t they number pages!?!?!]. This would save a whopping $50k/year.
Also of interest is #5, which would eliminate the expansion of the street light program. DES says that it will take responsibility for trail lighting in the street light program if and only if it gets the funds for the expanded program. The Manager says DES is taking responsibility for trail lighting regardless, though I’ve never seen that on paper.
You may want to take a minute to remind the countyboard@arlingtonva.us (cc’ing the countymanager@arlingtonva.us) how important the trail snow clearing program is.
Oh, and if you have some time to bike over some counters on cleared trails today, that may be a good idea too
To add some detail to dasgeh’s post, here are the County Manager’s notes on the option of cutting trail snow clearing:
Trail Snow Removal: Eliminate Multi-Use Trail Snow Removal Description of Current Service: As of FY 2015, DPR assumed responsibility for snow clearing on the County’s major multi-use commuter trails. This responsibility extends to almost 10 miles of high-volume, multi-use trails during the snow season and include the following: 5.2 miles of the Custis Trail from Lynn Street to the W&OD Trail; 1.25 miles of the Bluemont Junction Trail; 2.25 miles of the Four Mile Run Trail; and 0.4 miles of the Route 110 Trail. The County’s goal is to give these multi-use trails the same snow removal priority and response time as primary arterial streets. This snow removal is accomplished by using two specialized vehicles to treat and plow in small spaces and run with three-man crews.
Impact of Reduction: By eliminating the staff and equipment budget related to trail snow clearing, these major multi-use commuter trails will not be cleared of snow during major snow events at the top priority level. Snow removal will only begin after parking lots and other DPR assigned street routes are cleared.
I’m hoping this is just an exercise to study possibilities for and weigh the risks of potential budget cuts because so much work has been done to achieve the 10 miles of trail clearing that we get.
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