My Evening Commute

[Terpfan]

@eminva 116236 wrote:

Trollheim claimed another victim last night. It was wet, but not raining. I crossed Roosevelt Bridge (westbound) and was coming down the wooden boardwalk toward the parking lot for Roosevelt Island. Two tourists on CaBis were coming up the MVT and turned left in front of me without stopping at the stop sign. I tried to brake but crashed, as did the cyclist behind me. The bike is okay. My left hip got the worst of it and some road rash along my left side.

Couldn’t really talk to the tourists as they spoke very little English.

Liz

Glad you’re alright, but that sucks on crashing.

I spent about 20 minutes camped under trees by the welcome to DC sign at Key Bridge with another cyclist and other random walking guy. When I went down toward the MVT, I took it real slow, and lucky for me I did as someone else decided to come up what would have been his left side of where that little flexi-bollard is at the bridge over GWMP. He said sorry, but I was thinking he’s lucky I was going slow. Perhaps it was me that was lucky as I took Trollheim really slowly figuring it was an ominious sign and sure enough a runnner jutted right in front of me at the same nasty turn and I just barely stayed up. I totally empathize with you.

[bentbike33]

One thing I’ve noticed while heading up-river on the Trollheim in the evening is that cyclists descending from the Roosevelt Bridge almost never give an audible warning to those of us seeking to merge toward the Roosevelt Island parking lot, or for those looking to go left across their path with sight-lines blocked by the ever-burgeoning greenery next to the ramp.

Why is that?

I do my best to look up the ramp, but a hale and hearty “Rider up!,” bell-ringing, horn-honking, or some other attention-getting sound effect from the descenders certainly wouldn’t hurt, and might actually prevent an accident.

[Kolohe]

Northbound traffic has a stop sign. There’s no excuse for not slowing down enough to be able to look uphill to your left and yielding to downhill traffic, even it it involves coming to a complete stop because of the awkwardness of the turn.

(there’s is also no excuse for people that try to pass at that intersection, coming from any direction)

[DismalScientist]

Clearly what we need here is a boatload of traffic cones.:rolleyes:

[KWL]

I have enough experience at the Trollheim intersection (I’ve ridden through it over 9,000 times) that I check for downhill riders both upriver and downriver every time. It is getting harder to see past the foliage going downriver and it is never easy to look to the extreme left while going upriver. Cyclists who have no experience with the complications of that intersection are not going to always make the right decision. Like the IOD, it is a place to be wary.

And Dismal, the last time orange traffic cones were placed on the Trollheim (the site of the car crash damage), someone threw them over the side.

[rcannon100]

[IMG]http://blogs.c.yimg.jp/res/blog-87-6c/power_ooshima/folder/1537821/39/62898539/img_4?1391674462[/IMG]

[bobco85]

Well, while I was at work yesterday this happened in the apartment building next to mine: http://www.arlnow.com/2015/05/19/breaking-officer-involved-shooting-in-buckingham/

I successfully managed to avoid the news crews who seemed to be accosting anyone and anything that happened to be passing through my neighborhood and go to my bike shop (Performance Bike in Bailey’s), but sadly I was unable to get the problem (multiple spokes breaking) fixed (ended up ordering a new wheel so that will arrive next week). Being in a bad mood (I get moody when one of my “kids” a.k.a. my bikes gets “sick” a.k.a. temporarily out-of-order), I decided to do a night ride loop into Tysons from Arlington.

The high point of my ride was when I was crossing the bridge on Lewinsville Road (no street lights) over the Beltway where I was treated to a starry night sky over the glowing hum of the cars below in the new city. I find biking on Jones Branch Drive (save for the occasional bad patch of asphalt) very enjoyable at night because traffic is light, the athletic fields and lawns have an interesting hue to them, and the modern bridges and buildings are all lit up.

While riding back along the W&OD through Falls Church, I inadvertently found myself playing a game of chicken with an oncoming cyclist who was ill-equipped for the darkness and was riding partly on the middle line and partly on my side. He apologized as I swung wide almost going off the path to avoid him. He had a flashing blinky light and small light, and I had a blinky light on solid facing the ground a few feet in front of me with my headlight on low that works well with the reflective paint on the trail.

I even made an extension to my ride and went down into Crystal/Pentagon Cities to ride the Eads St cycletr- er, protected bike lane- and get a quick ride up the Air Force Memorial hill (training for the Air Force Association Cycling Classic Challenge Ride) before returning home and having ice cream (life is good when there’s ice cream in the freezer). There’s nothing like a nice night bike ride (and ice cream) to lift one’s spirits!

TL;DR version: I was in a crappy mood, went on a bike ride, avoided a collision in the dark, and the bike ride put me in a good mood.

[Terpfan]

@Kolohe 116301 wrote:

Northbound traffic has a stop sign. There’s no excuse for not slowing down enough to be able to look uphill to your left and yielding to downhill traffic, even it it involves coming to a complete stop because of the awkwardness of the turn.

(there’s is also no excuse for people that try to pass at that intersection, coming from any direction)

It’s just a bad intersection. Those coming downhill bomb it and that’s also a bad idea given pedestrian traffic totally ignores the stop sign. Folks going northbound routinely don’t bother to look (equally foolish–I go extremely slow through there). And folks going southbound seem to be passing each other, which I will never understand. Plus for those going downhill and making that hard right, they have to be extra careful as the board slits are a little wide and it’s very easy for slicks to get stuck in them.

[worktheweb]

Last night after work I went to the Nationals game with a friend who has season tickets. I biked down there and he took transit from near Chinatown. Even with the time it took me to unlock the bike and check-in at bike valet, I was a little faster getting down there. Bike valet is fantastic, it was nice being able to leave the bags on the bike and enjoy the game relatively unencumbered. The game was great too, we won in extra innings.

On the way home I had a few reminders of why I love this area so much. I went by some of the monuments at night and enjoyed the relative quiet on the roads. I had the MVT almost entirely to myself from DC to Alexandria aside from 2 cyclists and a pedestrian. When I got into Old Town I came upon a GEICO ad being filmed at King and Union with a handful of people watching from across the street (if you see one in the coming months with a guy selling peanuts, that’s the one). From there I decided to meander around the streets of Old Town instead of staying on Union the full way back to the trail.

There is something about riding at night on a warm evening that is truly magical. I think I’m going to have to find some more excuses to stay out late this Summer.

[americancyclo]

I’m seeing a lot of cars backed up with a W and OD crosses Shreve Road I also just heard sirens I hope everyone is okay

[americancyclo]

@americancyclo 116409 wrote:

I’m seeing a lot of cars backed up with a W and OD crosses Shreve Road I also just heard sirens I hope everyone is okay

A driver hit a cyclist. The cyclist had a cut in her elbow where the car hit her. The impact knocked the mirror off the car.
I told her about the waba crash app and she loaded it up on the spot while talking to a Fairfax county police officer.
She seemed ok but I cautioned her to evaluate tomorrow.

[Steve O]

@americancyclo 116413 wrote:

A driver hit a cyclist. The cyclist had a cut in her elbow where the car hit her. The impact knocked the mirror off the car.
I told her about the waba crash app and she loaded it up on the spot while talking to a Fairfax county police officer.
She seemed ok but I cautioned her to evaluate tomorrow.

Bruce Deming recommends in his book “Surviving the Crash” (which he was giving away at the Rosslyn pit stop–very cool) taking lots of pictures for documentation reasons. Too late for this incident, but just to keep in mind for the future.

Everyone: I highly recommend you obtain and keep a copy of this book.

[MFC]

@worktheweb 116361 wrote:

Last night after work I went to the Nationals game with a friend who has season tickets. I biked down there and he took transit from near Chinatown. Even with the time it took me to unlock the bike and check-in at bike valet, I was a little faster getting down there. Bike valet is fantastic, it was nice being able to leave the bags on the bike and enjoy the game relatively unencumbered. The game was great too, we won in extra innings.

On the way home I had a few reminders of why I love this area so much. I went by some of the monuments at night and enjoyed the relative quiet on the roads. I had the MVT almost entirely to myself from DC to Alexandria aside from 2 cyclists and a pedestrian. When I got into Old Town I came upon a GEICO ad being filmed at King and Union with a handful of people watching from across the street (if you see one in the coming months with a guy selling peanuts, that’s the one). From there I decided to meander around the streets of Old Town instead of staying on Union the full way back to the trail.

There is something about riding at night on a warm evening that is truly magical. I think I’m going to have to find some more excuses to stay out late this Summer.

MVT is a great night time ride in fall or early winter when its not too cold, especially when there is a full moon out (and no werewolves, of course).

[Terpfan]

@MFC 116418 wrote:

MVT is a great night time ride in fall or early winter when its not too cold, especially when there is a full moon out (and no werewolves, of course).

Minus the headlights from the cars.

[Tania]

I had a lovely allergy-induced asthma attack this am so I took it really easy coming home. As I was coming down from the TR bridge, a nice guy in an orange charm city jersey who was coming up the MVT actually stopped to let me go through. Then at IoD it looked like he was going to shoal me but he waited and gave me the “after you” gesture. Thanks bearded charm city dude! You rock.

Then I stayed behind some guy the whole way on the Custis/w&od to little falls (or great falls). Thanks for keeping me company even though you probably didn’t even know I was there and if you did then I enjoyed your pace. It was nice to have an easy ride and enjoy the weather, sights and honeysuckle along the trail. You rock too.

[Author]

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