Road/Trail Conditions 2/14/2013

[vvill]

Not too bad now the sun is up, but there are still the odd patches here and there. I had a few too many slips on my skinny tires though.

[eminva]

The trails were a bit sketchy this morning. Ice on the bridges and especially at the W&OD/Custis T-intersection. Some black ice here and there, and frost along the trail.

And the boardwalk troll expanded his territory today. I went down! First time on the commute in three years. It was the W&OD crossing of Cedar, which was like a skating rink. Who would guess the trail would be fine but the busy suburban cross street would be untreated? Anyway, many Helpy Helpertons who had kindly stopped to let me cross were there to witness. The bike just slid out from under me while I was starting to clip back in. I was okay, the bike was okay, but the Helpys all sat there transfixed and unmoving, even after I had dragged the bike and my pride well out of the intersection. Thanks to the guy who asked if I was okay.

Be careful out there!

Liz

P.S. to Culimerc (I think) and crysb — sorry for not warning you about Cedar when I saw you going the opposite way. The sun was in my eyes and I didn’t recognize you until it was too late to say anything. Hope you didn’t go down, too.

[dcv]

i rode cx tires, too lazy to mount studded tires. got overconfident at the turnoff from WOD to Custis and went down / slid through. i’m not sure studs would have helped this morning, the ice is so thin there’s nothing for the studs to bite into.

[slowtriguy]

eminva, sorry to hear about your encounter with the boardwalk troll! I’m glad you were OK; sorry there were witnesses.

The ride from Falls Church City to Ballston via W&OD+Custis was fine in most spots, except for the wooden bridge over just east of Little Falls St, the sharp turns around the basketball court just east of the Sycamore underpass, and the W&OD/Custis junction. I had a rider in front of me as we went past the basketball court and she had a pretty sharp skid — and a nice recovery — coming around the corner. Watch it around the Custis/W&OD junction – lots of wet ice right there, but it seemed fine as long as you slow down before the turn. Safe riding.

[consularrider]

I got a late start this morning since I had to first drive (shock and horrors) my son to school because he had to be there early to start delivering singing valentines with the school’s Madrigal class. It turned out to not be such a bad thing, last night’s rain/snow had left a lot of moisture on the roads and MUPs so there was black ice, but no snow accumulation. Definitely issues on the streets in the shade. Being out made me rethink my bike choice and when I arrived back home, I got out my Raleigh M60 winter setup with studded tires. That will definitely feel like over kill on the ride home when it is sunny and close to 50°F.

I started out with the 4MRT about 7:50 am from home so I skipped the W&OD/Custis intersection and the wooden bridge over 4 Mile Run there. The wooden bridges in Bluemont Park were definitely ice covered. I could see the frost spots on the Custis, but took it easy and had no issues with my tires gripping.

[vvill]

The boardwalk troll almost got me yesterday! I had slowed a lot to make the “U-turn” going from TR bridge to southbound on MVT, but when I put my foot down I almost lost it again. My shoes were just as un-grippy on that surface as my tires.

I checked the OPM status hopefully before heading out this morning but with no delay, I went out around normal time. I had a slide out turning in traffic before I switched bikes, after initially losing grip on a few uphills. A bit sore now, I’m eating some chocolate to console myself. The studded tires will be overkill for sure on the way home but it’s good exercise anyway.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@vvill 43847 wrote:

I checked the OPM status hopefully before heading out this morning but with no delay

We got a robocall from ArlCo schools last night and I thought “sweet! they’re closing schools, maybe work will be cancelled!” Sadly, it was just a reminder about summer programs or some such.

[vvill]

Yeah I think they probably could’ve had a 1 hour delay or something, as there seems to be quite a few ice related car accidents reported. They usually err on the side of caution.

[DaveK]

Was planning on riding the loop on the way home… I wonder if sun and a little higher temps will kill all this ice by then. The C&O route home is definitely out.

[arlrider]

Still huge pieces of sheet metal blocking the way on the east side of the key bridge. Anyone posted about this or mentioned who to call to have them removed? I am sure someone has posted here on the matter since they have been there for a week, but I can never find anything on this forum.

[Tim Kelley]

@arlrider 43859 wrote:

Still huge pieces of sheet metal blocking the way on the east side of the key bridge. Anyone posted about this or mentioned who to call to have them removed? I am sure someone has posted here on the matter since they have been there for a week, but I can never find anything on this forum.

I hadn’t heard anything about that and I see most threads that get posted. FYI–DDOT maintains the Key Bridge: http://ddot.dc.gov/DC/DDOT/ If email or phone doesn’t work, they are quiet responsive over Twitter, I’ve found.

[DismalScientist]

I left at 8:00 taking the WOD and MVT. The only slippery spots were bridges on the WOD. (The WOD/Custis intersection was just wet.) 28s were fine. Were conditions worse the further west you got?

[DismalScientist]

@slowtriguy 43842 wrote:

Watch it around the Custis/W&OD junction – lots of wet ice right there, but it seemed fine as long as you slow down before the turn. Safe riding.

Just don’t make the turn.:rolleyes:

[vvill]

@DaveK 43855 wrote:

Was planning on riding the loop on the way home… I wonder if sun and a little higher temps will kill all this ice by then. The C&O route home is definitely out.

I think it’ll be fine.

I wanted to ride a bit more on my way home today too which is why I had the skinny tires in the first place. Oh well.

[slowtriguy]

@DismalScientist 43864 wrote:

Just don’t make the turn.:rolleyes:

Point taken!

I normally take the turn, but from time to time, it is fun to keep on going down the W&OD. Unfortunately, with Ballston as the destination, most days the extremes of sane route choices for me range between W&OD -> Custis -> Lincoln turnoff on one end and W&OD -> Bluemont on the other. So there’s not a whole lot of variation there. On the other hand, there are those days where I get lost and somehow end up taking the, uh, creative route…

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