The "Year" without a Winter?

[PotomacCyclist]

History and weather buffs know that 1816 was known as The Year Without a Summer. The northeastern U.S. experienced freezing temperatures and snowfall in May, June, July and August.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer

Looks like we may be going through the opposite right now. The latest forecast is for a high temperature of 70F this Sunday. If I remember correctly, this would mark the third consecutive month where the temperatures reached 70F. We had similar days in November and December, and now in January. These are supposed to be the coldest months of the year. The average high in D.C. in January is 43-44F, not 70F.

2012 was the warmest year on record overall for the U.S.

http://news.yahoo.com/us-roasts-hottest-record-landslide-180545899.html

While I don’t mind the moderate temperatures, this could be the 2nd consecutive winter where we receive minimal snowfall. How much have we had this winter? Maybe an inch in D.C. and Arlington? Last winter, we had maybe a couple inches of snow for the entire winter. (I don’t remember winter 2010-2011, but I do remember the big snowstorms of winter 2009-2010.)

Maybe I shouldn’t have wished for short winters so often. In any case, take advantage of the nice weather. We could be in for plenty of it. But could we pay for it with a brutally hot summer this year? I hope not.

Topic

[PotomacCyclist]

I remember some other big snowstorms, not just the big ones in 2009-2010. There was a big winter storm back in 1995-1996 with something like 8-12″ of snow. I seem to recall that we get a big storm about once every 5 or 6 years.

I also remember a big storm back in early 1983. I don’t know about the late 80s/early 90s since I wasn’t in the D.C. area in those years.

Interestingly, we had a mild stretch this past summer, from late July to mid-August, or something like that. I remember that the evening Crystal City Twilighter 5K race had very moderate temperatures, somewhere around 65 or 70F, which is cool for late July. Compare that to 2011 (or was it 2010) when we reached a daytime high of 101F on the day of the race. Even in the evening, the temperature was still 96F with a heat index of 100.

But the overall pattern of 2012 and now January is notable. Yeah, we do need to get more people riding bikes (as long as they aren’t passing gas!).

[DaveK]

@TwoWheelsDC 40261 wrote:

I’m taking my first shot at Mt. Weather. But instead of the Bluemont loop, I’m going to ride from Bluemont, out to Naked Mountain, and then back over Mt. Weather (hopefully). Mountains of Misery is only 4 months away!

My two cents incoming, not that you asked, but this is the internet, so…

I’d ride Mt. Weather from north-to-south instead of starting from the south. The reason is that the descent off the mountain to the north ends in an arrow-straight 5-6ish percent grade straight down to Rt 7 which is very high speed. The descent going south is more sweeping and ends in a clearly-marked curve and intersection that won’t leave you just slamming on the brakes.

http://app.strava.com/activities/32540567

[jrenaut]

@PotomacCyclist 40268 wrote:

There was a big winter storm back in 1995-1996 with something like 8-12″ of snow.

That was my senior year of high school, and they cancelled all our midterm exams. What a glorious winter.

DC weather is exceptionally normal. We have two weeks of gorgeous in the spring, two weeks in the fall, and in between it’s either too hot and muggy or too cold. I’ve lived no more than 70 miles from the center of DC my entire life, and that’s all I remember.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@DaveK 40280 wrote:

My two cents incoming, not that you asked, but this is the internet, so…

I’d ride Mt. Weather from north-to-south instead of starting from the south. The reason is that the descent off the mountain to the north ends in an arrow-straight 5-6ish percent grade straight down to Rt 7 which is very high speed. The descent going south is more sweeping and ends in a clearly-marked curve and intersection that won’t leave you just slamming on the brakes.

http://app.strava.com/activities/32540567

I think I phrased it poorly…I plan on starting north to south, like you said, from Bluemont, south over Mt. Weather, then to Naked Mtn. Then head back north from Naked Mtn and back up Mt. Weather from the south side. So basically an out and back rather than a loop. Seems like more fun than doing Tim Kelley-esque repeats up the south side. Between Mountains of Misery and the Alps, I have lots of long climbs to prepare for!

This is what I planned: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1995947

[Tim Kelley]

@TwoWheelsDC 40282 wrote:

Seems like more fun than doing Tim Kelley-esque repeats up the south side.

I was planning on doing a hills of North Arlington ride with a few strava segments thrown in is all…

[consularrider]

@Tim Kelley 40284 wrote:

I was planning on doing a hills of North Arlington ride with a few strava segments thrown in is all…

That’s me on Sunday morning, but without the Strava segments, or at least not on pupose.

[DaveK]

@TwoWheelsDC 40282 wrote:

I think I phrased it poorly…I plan on starting north to south, like you said, from Bluemont, south over Mt. Weather, then to Naked Mtn. Then head back north from Naked Mtn and back up Mt. Weather from the south side. So basically an out and back rather than a loop. Seems like more fun than doing Tim Kelley-esque repeats up the south side. Between Mountains of Misery and the Alps, I have lots of long climbs to prepare for!

This is what I planned: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1995947

Gotcha. Fun…? It’ll be great training in any case. Naked Mountain is pretty short but Mt. Weather is a grind.

[PotomacCyclist]

Is there a good, extended climb in Arlington? I know about some of the shorter, steeper ones (Walter Reed Dr., Air Force Memorial/Columbia Pike) and rolling hills like Military Rd., but most of those cover less than 1000 ft. horizontally. Something that might take 5 minutes or longer of steady, continuous climbing. I think some of the routes in DC might work, although the roads aren’t always bike-friendly (Wisconsin Ave.).

Obviously there aren’t going to be any 30-min. continuous climbs in Arlington, so I’m not expecting to find something like that.

---

After the spring weather this weekend, we’ll see more seasonable temperatures by Tuesday.

The warm weather is timed well for me. I haven’t actually done any riding in 2013 yet, because of my skinned knees. (Victim of an attack by a treadmill. See other threads for details.) But the skin has finally healed up. I might go for an easy CaBi ride tomorrow. Maybe a run too. I’ve been getting very antsy with the lack of exercise over the past 2 weeks. No serious knee damage. But with skinned knees, it would hurt just to bend them.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@PotomacCyclist 40305 wrote:

Is there a good, extended climb in Arlington? I know about some of the shorter, steeper ones (Walter Reed Dr., Air Force Memorial/Columbia Pike) and rolling hills like Military Rd., but most of those cover less than 1000 ft. horizontally. Something that might take 5 minutes or longer of steady, continuous climbing. I think some of the routes in DC might work, although the roads aren’t always bike-friendly (Wisconsin Ave.).

Obviously there aren’t going to be any 30-min. continuous climbs in Arlington, so I’m not expecting to find something like that.

26th St, from Military up to Glebe is about a mile, averaging 3%. It’s really more of a stair step than one long hill, with three steep climbs and a couple short flat spots in between.

http://app.strava.com/segments/660760

I also like Sleepy Hollow road, heading north from the Lake Barcroft area (lots of steep stuff back there too) into Seven Corners…nice and wide, with not a ton of traffic. The last stretch is a climb of Not quite a half mile at 6% grade. It’s also great to bomb down at hyper-legal speeds.

http://app.strava.com/segments/840459

[TwoWheelsDC]

@DaveK 40301 wrote:

Gotcha. Fun…? It’ll be great training in any case. Naked Mountain is pretty short but Mt. Weather is a grind.

“Fun” I guess. A couple hours of misery with some smug satisfaction at the end.

[JimF22003]

Patrick Henry, parallel mostly to Sleepy Hollow, is also a nice road to practice your “sit-and-spin” technique up a not-too-steep hill.

[PotomacCyclist]

Thanks for the suggestions. I’ll have to put these into the rotation for possible hill workout locations. I’m more familiar with the area around 26th St. so I may try that first. (But not this month.) If I get bored with that, or if the flat stretches break up the climb too much, then I’ll try some other hills.

I’ll also toss in some shorter, steeper (attempted) sprints up Walter Reed Dr. Looks like Columbia Pike is out of the picture though. The Air Force Memorial parking lot is now closed off as part of the demolition of the Navy Annex. The parking lot is gone for good. The asphalt will be ripped up soon, and sod will be planted in preparation for the expansion of Arlington National Cemetery.

[Tim Kelley]

Spending time in North Arlington is definitely the way to get in a lot of elevation change. For around here, I’d call more than 100 feet of climbing per mile a win: http://app.strava.com/activities/31344573

You’d have to get out to Skyline for some extended climbs. Or head up to Sugarloaf to do a few loops.

[DaveK]

@TwoWheelsDC 40308 wrote:

“Fun” I guess. A couple hours of misery with some smug satisfaction at the end.

One thing to notice if you’re not too deep in the pain cave – on the east side of the road about 2/3ish of the way to the top is the memorial to the victims of a plane crash on Mt. Weather back in the day. You’ll see an exposed rock wall that doesn’t look out of place with a bunch of small items on it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWA_Flight_514

[vvill]

If you’re game enough to ride on it, Lee Highway to Old Dominion is a steady gentle climb too.

http://app.strava.com/segments/668623
You would start from earlier than this segment – around Kirkwood + Lee.

PS Easy enough potential KOM for Tim probably, only one traffic light you might hit.

[Author]

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