My Evening Commute

[Tania]

@Steve O 143010 wrote:

I actually think the patch has sunk a little and could use some smoothing. It’s in a bad spot and, IMO, needs to be as consistent with the concrete surface as possible.

It’s definitely caved in since it was applied. It’s not much of an issue heading down the hill (the bad sinky spots are mostly in the oncoming uphill lane) and it’s not like too many people can maintain any kind of speed going up that hill! But a smoothing out would help for sure.

[huskerdont]

@Steve O 143010 wrote:

I actually think the patch has sunk a little and could use some smoothing. It’s in a bad spot and, IMO, needs to be as consistent with the concrete surface as possible.

I certainly wouldn’t mind it being fixed. I was looking down at it a couple of weeks ago and when I looked up, I discovered that a small car had been hiding behind that brick sign for the apartments there and proceeded to move forward right as I cleared the sign. Luckily I locked ’em up in time. I’ve been going down this trail since the early 90s and this was a first. I all the sudden couldn’t remember the sign being there before, and it turns out that it appeared sometime between 2007 and 2014 (perhaps I don’t notice things too quickly).

2007 vs. 2014: [ATTACH=CONFIG]12125[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]12126[/ATTACH]

(I suppose this thread should be moved to road and trail conditions if it continues.)

[KLizotte]

While walking to metro last night I saw a cyclist on a mountain bike go splat when he made a 90 degree turn and the back wheel skidded on a manhole cover. Fortunately he seemed okay after the fall and kept on riding.

Watch out for metal, potholes and grooves! It’s dangerous out there!

[GovernorSilver]

Man, I love the Boundary Channel Drive -> Long Bridge Drive -> S. Clark St. route through Crystal City.

No more Gravelly Point/DCA mess in the evenings! So refreshing… 😎

I did get fooled by the fork where S. Clark is on the right and 14th Rd. S is on the left. No biggie – I recovered by turning onto Crystal Drive then turning left to access our beloved Behind The Building route.

[huskerdont]

Was considering the airport loop, even though I had the fixie. Made the mistake of going across the upstream side of Memorial Bridge instead of Case Bridge. Thought about the pain it would be getting around the circle and over to the MVT (the old footpath to cross the parkway on upstream side is gone), said eff it, and went and had a beer outside at the Quarterdeck.

[GovernorSilver]

I love how Strava referred to the Long Bridge segment as a “sprint” – for me it was more of a crawl, in defiance of that very warm headwind that hit me as soon as I pulled out of the little parking lot onto Boundary Dr. and kept blowing nonstop.

I tried continuing from Long Bridge Drive onto S. Clark. That bridge climb on S. Clark, after the intersection with 12th St, was a challenge to my exhausted body. Fortunately, motorist traffic was very light, so I had some leeway as far as guessing where the Crystal City planners wanted me to ride, as the bike lane I was on disappeared before the bridge and was not to reappear for a while. Despite the bridge, I’ll probably keep on riding there, as it’s lot less busy than Crystal Dr. at that time of the evening. Just have to watch out for the occasional car shooting across the street to get to Rt. 1 – but even with that, this still beats the hazards of Gravelly Point/DCA.

[mello yello]

I hate those warm headwinds…
Yesterday was a slog. Hot, humid, windy, my legs felt like jelly and I think I didn’t eat enough during the day… bonking halfway home.

[GovernorSilver]

@mello yello 143148 wrote:

I hate those warm headwinds…
Yesterday was a slog. Hot, humid, windy, my legs felt like jelly and I think I didn’t eat enough during the day… bonking halfway home.

Oh man, did you stop anywhere to un-bonk? Our team at work was treated to lunch, so I was fueled up for the ride home.

I stopped at my favorite exercise station along Potomac Ave. Trail to work in a couple of sets of pullups, tuck-to-bent arm stands, etc. but that probably wasn’t the wisest decision in that heat, without a 2nd bottle of water or cold liquid of some sort. My stomach felt a bit queasy after that.

[mello yello]

@GovernorSilver 143157 wrote:

Oh man, did you stop anywhere to un-bonk?

No, pushed through it knowing there was dinner at home… arrived lightheaded and hungry. speaking of hungry… is it lunchtime yet?

[bobco85]

I got caught in Monday afternoon’s storm, but I did get the following screens from my bike camera while approaching Baileys Crossroads. My camera (ContourROAM3) was recording at 30 fps, and the following pics are one frame after the other:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]12181[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]12182[/ATTACH]

[Tania]

@Steve O 143004 wrote:

I suggested that they also repair the sidewalk where the snowplow damaged it at Quinn (I actually put in this request in the arlington app months ago) . Evidently that is not going to get a complete repair until the whole intersection is rebuilt. The trails manager said they could go out and smooth it over to make the concrete and asphalt surfaces flat. I hope he follows up.

I noticed this am that it had been patched again.

[gibby]

@GovernorSilver 143157 wrote:

Oh man, did you stop anywhere to un-bonk? Our team at work was treated to lunch, so I was fueled up for the ride home.

I stopped at my favorite exercise station along Potomac Ave. Trail to work in a couple of sets of pullups, tuck-to-bent arm stands, etc. but that probably wasn’t the wisest decision in that heat, without a 2nd bottle of water or cold liquid of some sort. My stomach felt a bit queasy after that.

I’d say that was more or a blast furnace headwind than a warm headwind, but in any event, I’ve discovered that potato chips are the miracle bonk prevention food- at least for me.
A couple handfuls of some good quality, salted chips and I feel surprisingly strong even on the worst of hot humid days.
I thought that my new potato chip fetish was just something bizarre that worked for me until I read this piece about a Cubs pitcher who was advised to do similar.. http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/39816/jason-hammel-wasnt-kidding-potato-chips-could-save-his-season

[huskerdont]

Really good commute with one head shaker. Westbound on F there was a car from Massachusetts that kept stopping in the middle of the left lane, with everyone stuck behind them (because the right lane is always blocked by double-parking and deliveries). They’d go forward a bit and then stop again. I finally darted between them and the blockages in the right lane, and when I looked down, the driver and passenger were *both* bent over their smart phones while completely stopped midblock in the left lane with no cars in front of them. I managed to make the lights in the sequence and left everyone else to their fate.

[DrP]

@Tania 143341 wrote:

I noticed this am that it had been patched again.

It was patched, but it was quite soft and getting ruts by ~7:20. And I know I acquired some of the patching material for a while.

[BTC_DC]

@huskerdont 143359 wrote:

Really good commute with one head shaker. Westbound on F there was a car from Massachusetts that kept stopping in the middle of the left lane, with everyone stuck behind them (because the right lane is always blocked by double-parking and deliveries). They’d go forward a bit and then stop again. I finally darted between them and the blockages in the right lane, and when I looked down, the driver and passenger were *both* bent over their smart phones while completely stopped midblock in the left lane with no cars in front of them. I managed to make the lights in the sequence and left everyone else to their fate.

Not sure about this time since you say there was another person in the car, but this seems to be increasingly common with all the Uber drivers trying to locate their passenger to pick up. Driving slow, starting and stopping, and keeping an eye on their phone.

[Author]

Posts