Personal Note

[lordofthemark]

Took the bus from Annandale to Gallows and W&OD. Rode to Reston Town Center and back. I won’t mention my times (though they weren’t that bad compared to what I recall of my times before on the MTB) – but I felt very good. Made it up the hill at Buckthorn Lane, both ways. Beautiful day, beautiful ride. Had sheperd’s pie and beer at RTC St. Patrick’s day festival, while listening to live Irish music.

Considering that I hadn’t been on the bike for two months, hadn’t ridden more than 3 miles since December, and that five weeks ago I was in a hospital bed with a high and unexplained fever, I am very, very happy.

Can’t wait to tell my doctor (whom I see this week) about my ride.

[lordofthemark]

rode again today, and not only was it transportational, it was the fastest way available to me to get where I needed to go (the return was more leisurely)

My wife has the car (we have only one) with her in NYC, and today was Purim. Didn’t want to miss the annual synagogue carnival, esp when Purim falls on a Sunday so I could also hear the morning reading of the Book of Esther (Queen Esther, btw was someone who would have been willing to ride on the roads of NoVa – “If I perish, I perish”.) I took the 16 bus from Annandale up Col Pike and got on the W&OD at Col Pike. Rode to Shirlington, than over the ped bridge to Alexandria, on Gunston to Valley and on Valley to Agudas. The hills on Gunston and that part of Valley were harder than I had expected. Without my bike I would either have had to take two buses, or walked from the bus -either would have taken longer.

At Synagogue I kept my helmet on – its customary to wear a costume on Purim and I didn’t have anything else for a costume – and it added to the visibility of biking(told a few people how I had gotten there.) Things wrapped up just before 2, and I wanted to get some more biking in so I rode to Del Ray : Allison – Old Dominion – Monticello – Birch – Holly – Mt Ida

As I rode up Mt Ida, I thought – why did the Alexandria bike map identify this hill – its not really that bad – than I came over the top and looked down – wow. At least I didn’t have to ride up it. I enjoyed riding around the back streets of Del Ray though I got a little lost – I forgot that the trail in Mt Jefferson Park went unpaved at a certain point, and didn’t want to take Kona on it, so turned on Raymond to Dewitt – I sort of zoned out while riding Dewitte – I forgot I was heading south, thought I was heading east to Potomac Yards and wondered why I didn’t seem to be getting there. Checked my map, and turned on Monroe. Took the brand new MUT north from Monroe along Potomac Ave (I assume the closed trail going south will reach Braddock Rd metro?) I really, really liked the development, the park, and the MUT. Switched to the road up near the shopping center, headed north to Arlington – got to take a look at the zig zag thing by the 4MRT.
So far good biking, on residential streets, on seg infra, and on the fairly bike friendly Potomac Ave. Crystal City – a bit less so. Disappearing bike lanes, bike lanes on grates, etc. I wanted to catch the 16 bus back to Annandale at the mall, so I wanted to head over to Eads. Arlington bike map showed a nice little short cut at 27th to Jeff Davis and then a little off road zig zag to Eads. Well 27th didnt work cause its one way for a quarter block right there, so I went to 26th and back around. The light at JD was not friendly to anyone trying to cross JD. And the little path to Eads – lets just say it really doesnt belong on a bike map. Then of course Eads is sort of a mess – bike lanes which disappear at odd spots, sharrows for short sections, and some nasty intersections. Went up 18th to check out the Hayes Street project, which looks nice – though the paint on the bike lanes is fading.

One more infra thing, actually signage – it would be helpful if (in addition to the other bike wayfinding signs) there was a sign indicating the way from W&OD MP 0 to the bridge to Alexandria. Yes I had my map in my pocket, but I still use wayfinding signs, as I don’t necessarily want to stop and take the map out all the time.

[brendan]

@lordofthemark 79720 wrote:

Rode to Shirlington, than over the ped bridge to Alexandria, on Gunston to Valley and on Valley to Agudas. The hills on Gunston and that part of Valley were harder than I had expected. … At Synagogue I kept my helmet on – its customary to wear a costume on Purim and I didn’t have anything else for a costume – and it added to the visibility of biking(told a few people how I had gotten there.)

Aww good memories, that’s where I went to preschool (’73/’74).

B

[dkel]

@lordofthemark 79720 wrote:

its customary to wear a costume on Purim and I didn’t have anything else for a costume

I wish I got to wear a costume in church! Oh, wait:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4984[/ATTACH]

I wear one every week. :p

[lordofthemark]

And it looks like you get to pedal!

[dkel]

@lordofthemark 79732 wrote:

And it looks like you get to pedal!

Yesss! Bike AND organ humor combined! Made my day.

And I’m a colossal nerd.

[JimF22003]

Since you appear to be getting pretty comfortable navigating around away from the bike trail, you might want to think about just biking down to the W&OD from Annandale. There are several quite safe ways to get there. I’m actually more nervous about putting a bike on a bus (I’ve never done it) than riding on the road

I can post up my usual routes if you like.

[lordofthemark]

I’ve been comfortable navigating away from trails on some roads, for some time. There are roads and there are roads.

Potomac Avenue – posted speed limit 25 MPH. Little traffic. Flat. Two lanes in each direction. So I boldly took the right lane, and cars easily and safely passed me by going to the left lane.

It’s different when the road is one lane in each direction. I find motorists are reluctant to cross the yellow center line – even more so when going uphill toward a crest. But that’s precisely where I go slowest. Generally they don’t want to go behind at not much above walking speed, till I crest the hill. On Gunston and Valley I had just that problem yesterday – despite the light Sunday morning traffic, I was passed within barely a foot, I think, a couple of times. It was very uncomfortable. I would have bailed and taken the sidewalk, but there were a bunch of pedestrians, dog walkers, etc.

There are quiet back streets (like some I rode in Alexandria yesterday, and some in Annandale) that are two way, but with no center line painted. Generally straight and flat streets with good visibility – so motorists are willing to move farther over to pass – and they are going more slowly anyway – and I can go faster.

I realize that one way to address this, to get comfortable on a wider range of streets is to get strong enough to go faster – especially on hills. That has been my goal for a while. I was hoping my new bike would help me – both by being intrinsically faster, and because with it I would bike more. Unfortunately the first few weeks after I bought it I was busy, and there was some difficult weather. Then I got sick. So this past weekend is the real beginning of my attempt to follow rule #5. I want to get stronger and faster to be more comfortable on harder roads, but I am not going to do that ON the harder roads. Meanwhile, as I get faster, the region slowly builds more segregated infra Even in Annandale, its getting a little easier to avoid the roads, now that there is sidepath access from my side of the beltway to the CCT. I’m not sure how long it will be after the bike master plan is passed (which should happen this summer) to striping bike lanes on Hummer and Annandale Road.

The other thing is, I LIKE riding trails. I have riden to the W&OD ffrom my door – up back streets to Gallows, over the beltway, and around the hospital and through Mosaic. The only part of that where I wimp out and take a sidewalk is on Gallows – no problem riding the roads around the hospital, or Mosaic. But for now I prefer to use my riding time/stamina going further on the W&OD (of course when I’m fast enough to consistently beat the bus it will only be the stamina factor.)

And I’ve never, ever had a problem putting my bike on the bus. The racks work fine. Of course if the bus gets into a collision, all bets are off, but that’s not that common. And I’d rather put my (not all that expensive) bike at risk, than see the inside of a hospital again any time soon.

[JimF22003]

That’s cool with me! Everybody should ride where they have fun and feel comfortable. I just wanted to see if you wanted some route advice. Getting from inside the beltway across Gallows is pretty nasty. There’s only a couple of good ways. I was thinking more of the route I use to get down to the Carlyn Springs area, for going Eastwards. There’s some hills going that way though, no getting around it.

It’s funny about the bus and the metro. I’m from the country — as I grew up in Idaho. I’ve only ridden the metro twice, and I freaked out about it each time, worried that I’d get lost or do something dumb. I used to ride the bus in Cincinnati, but never tried to put a bike on one. I always imagine a whole bus-load of folks giving me the stink-eye as I fumble with the bike at the front of the bus

[lordofthemark]

@JimF22003 79756 wrote:

That’s cool with me! Everybody should ride where they have fun and feel comfortable. I just wanted to see if you wanted some route advice. Getting from inside the beltway across Gallows is pretty nasty. There’s only a couple of good ways. I was thinking more of the route I use to get down to the Carlyn Springs area, for going Eastwards. There’s some hills going that way though, no getting around it.

It’s funny about the bus and the metro. I’m from the country — as I grew up in Idaho. I’ve only ridden the metro twice, and I freaked out about it each time, worried that I’d get lost or do something dumb. I used to ride the bus in Cincinnati, but never tried to put a bike on one. I always imagine a whole bus-load of folks giving me the stink-eye as I fumble with the bike at the front of the bus

You mean the route up Annandale Road? Being comfortable on the upgrade on that road would definitely expand my options, so attaining that comfort level is one goal. Whether I will attain that before the County sees its way to removing the parking from one side and striping a climbing lane, I don’t know.

As for transit – I grew up in NYC. Rode a city bus myself for the first time at 13, and a subway at 14. Rode the subway every day to high school.

And the folks around here, I find, are quite patient when I fumble with the bike. For one, when I’ve been doing it regularly, I can do it really fast. Second, as long as you appear to be making an effort to do it fast, its appreciated (like so much else in life.) I find it easier to do it faster on metro buses than on FFX connector buses – the racks work a little differently. If you can manage to do it at a crowded stop where lots of people are embarking, you don’t have to delay the bus at all – you get your bike on while other people are fussing with paying. And not to get too controversial, but I think seeing a middle aged white man (who doesn’t have obvious “issues”) get on a local bus in Annandale is enough of a surprise to most riders. Of course I try to be as polite and friendly to my fellow riders as possible.

[JimF22003]

You’ll have to give me a bus-loading lesson some time

Here’s the way I go from (approximately) my neighborhood down through Lake Barcroft, across Rt 7, and down to the W&OD:

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/4238402

It’s only on Annandale Rd for one block or so. I find the route through Lake Barcroft to be very enjoyable. Lots of ups and down there, but nothing too hard unless you’re just trying for punishment

[lordofthemark]

@JimF22003 79759 wrote:

You’ll have to give me a bus-loading lesson some time

Here’s the way I go from (approximately) my neighborhood down through Lake Barcroft, across Rt 7, and down to the W&OD:

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/4238402

It’s only on Annandale Rd for one block or so. I find the route through Lake Barcroft to be very enjoyable. Lots of ups and down there, but nothing too hard unless you’re just trying for punishment

Well that’s one I haven’t seen before. Traffic shouldn’t be an issue – but at 8 miles with a bunch of hills, and lots of turns and stop signs (many of which will really require a full stop, I imagine) it will use up quite a bit of my time and stamina before I reach the trail. Still worth trying, as a way to get in shape. And of course it gets me pretty close to Shirlington and north Alexandria, so there’s that.

[lordofthemark]

@JimF22003 79759 wrote:

You’ll have to give me a bus-loading lesson some time

Here’s the way I go from (approximately) my neighborhood down through Lake Barcroft, across Rt 7, and down to the W&OD:

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/4238402

It’s only on Annandale Rd for one block or so. I find the route through Lake Barcroft to be very enjoyable. Lots of ups and down there, but nothing too hard unless you’re just trying for punishment

Hmm, nothing too hard? Did it today as far as Fern and Sleepy Hollow. It was certainly easy riding in the sense that the quiet back streets had few cars, and I am feeling more comfortable in the lane for that first short section of Annandale Rd from the Gallows/Hummer intersection to the shoulder up to Masonville. But the hills, lets just it was a good work out for me By the time I had gotten to Sleepy Hollow I felt like I had had enough, and I had lost my cue sheet, so I decided to bag it and head home via Columbia Pike. The good news there was that I found a back street route around the church on the north side. The bad news was that meant one more challenging (for me) hill. Stopped to buy a pound of coffee at Beanetics (making all of this one very roundabout transportation ride.) The good news, they were bike friendly, in that they let me take my bike into the shop (there is no bike parking in that shopping center) The bad news, I bought coffee that was a good bit more expensive than I usually get. The good news, it should be good coffee.

[JimF22003]

Sorry if I undersold the hillage. When you ride the same hills all the time I guess you get used to the pain. I have a two-block 12% climb right out of my house. Tends to wake you up in the morning

[americancyclo]

@lordofthemark 82866 wrote:

But the hills, lets just it was a good work out for me By the time I had gotten to Sleepy Hollow I felt like I had had enough, and I had lost my cue sheet, so I decided to bag it and head home via Columbia Pike.

I haven’t ridden the trail through Holmes Run, but if that is doable for you, this route would get you to the same location with shorter mileage and 150 less feet elevation gain.

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/4507789

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