TR Island Boardwalk Troll Claims Four

[txgoonie]

It was really bad yesterday. I inched along at maybe 4 mph thinking – no lie – what the term for a raspberry gotten on wood planks would be called instead of road rash. Wood rash? Path rash? (There weren’t any other people or distraction around so my mind was going weird places.) I went through around 9:00pm (with lights and blinkies of course) and think I actually ran into the troll herself. Jogging, wearing all black, with headphones in. That’s her, right?

[Dirt]

The last few days I’ve done the 180 degree turn at that boardwalk (going from northbound MVT to the ramp up to Roosevelt Bridge and the reverse). It is an interesting balancing act. I’ve been using 700×40 cyclocross tires with a little tread and less air pressure and they seem to get a little more grip. Definitely better than the skinny race tires.

Hope everyone is okay. The MVT Bowling Alley isn’t much fun when it is wet.

[txgoonie]

Oh, yeah. 700×23 Kalientes at 110 psi are freaking awesome to ride there

[Dirt]

@txgoonie 22166 wrote:

Oh, yeah. 700×23 Kalientes at 110 psi are freaking awesome to ride there

Been there, done that. Sometimes the big suspense is… will you be the bowling ball or will you be the pin…

[Mark Blacknell]

I’ve heard two very different explanations for the grey paint stuff, both directly from NPS. The first was that it was, in fact, traction paint intended to “help” cyclists. The second was that it’s paint to protect the boardwalk from damage at significant wear points (i.e., you all) and seal it against rot. Either way, the guy in charge of that kind of maintenance didn’t strike me as particularly worried about cyclists when I talked to him about it.

With that in mind, I always always slow way WAY down on that curve. Bikes behind me don’t like? Too bad. Heard too many of these stories for there to be any other reasonable approach.

[chris_s]

At the Gravelly Point meeting NPS seemed open to suggestions on what to do about the slippery boardwalks, so if you have a specific material suggestion you should pass it their way, especially if you can point to another boardwalk trail somewhere that you feel is significantly better – something to the effect of “Hey the suchandsuch trail in someotherpark has a boardwalk section which never seems to get slippery, you should contact them to see what they use.”

[dasgeh]

My new commute takes me from the TR bridge straight along the bridge (headed to Rosslyn). So I don’t have to turn on the slippery, but a couple times, I’ve had some close calls with cyclists who are turning to continue on the MVT.

So who is supposed to have the right-of-way there? It seems like the people coming from the south on the MVT have some sort of sign, but the people turning to continue on the MVT seem to think they don’t need to avoid those of us going straight. I thought it was like any T intersection — you have right of way if you’re going straight. Everyone turning yields. Am I wrong?

[Dirt]

@dasgeh 22184 wrote:

So who is supposed to have the right-of-way there? It seems like the people coming from the south on the MVT have some sort of sign, but the people turning to continue on the MVT seem to think they don’t need to avoid those of us going straight. I thought it was like any T intersection — you have right of way if you’re going straight. Everyone turning yields. Am I wrong?

If you are coming off of Roosevelt Bridge and continuing North to the Roosevelt Island parking lot, you are supposed to have the right of way. Traffic to the right has a stop sign. Traffic coming south from TR Island parking lot is making a left turn in front of oncoming traffic.

That said, I think few people heading south from TR Island parking lot put that much thought into it. Most just head into the bowling alley without really thinking about yielding to oncoming traffic. If there’s any traffic in the area, I slow way down… I slow way, way down if it is wet.

Pete

[TwoWheelsDC]

There have been times that I’ve thought about getting off my bike and walking because it’s so slick, but then I remember that my tires probably have way more traction than my cycling shoes.

[Dirt]

@TwoWheelsDC 22202 wrote:

There have been times that I’ve thought about getting off my bike and walking because it’s so slick, but then I remember that my tires probably have way more traction than my cycling shoes.

My recent falls have happened when I had to stop and get off to help others that have wiped out there. Fortunately those are usually just little tip-overs.

[JorgeGortex]

I wonder if WABA could work with NPS to sponsor a “power washer day?” Until a better solution is found this stretch of boardwalk needs to be cleaned. A gas powered power washer (or 3) and some hearty souls to use them could make the surface much safer just by blasting the goo off. Not sure how quickly it would come back, but it would be a start.

On the topic, I am not sure there is any substance you can put on the surface of those wooden boards that is not going to wear out and/or be slime covered itself soon enough. The constant shade, high humidity, nature of the surface makes it a goo breeding ground for sure.

-JG

[Author]

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