WaPo Article: "In Arlington, winter biking gets a boost with plowed paths"

[wheelswings]

@rcannon100 107697 wrote:

I don’t ride studs.

Me neither. Not on my tires, at least.

[cvcalhoun]

@hozn 107692 wrote:

Well, I figure that people that want to ride [constantly] through the winter simply have to own studded tires. There will always be the mornings that are simply dangerous because of frozen water on the trails. The plowed trails are easily rideable on studded tires, unlike deep snow that has been left on in years past. I guess I see studded tires like lights: you simply have to have them to ride through the winter (unless you have a part-time job [then you mightn’t need lights]). If you don’t have studded tires, you just get a few more rest days than the folks that do.

I don’t have studded tires, and I biked every day last winter (and every day so far this winter). When the bike trails aren’t rideable without studs, I use the streets. When my side street isn’t rideable without studs, I walk my bike to the nearest plowed street and ride from there. This is not Minnesota, folks–it really is possible to ride here year-round without special equipment.

[hozn]

Okie doke. I clearly overstated the need for studded tires. I don’t have a good street option to get to Reston, at least from Vienna west. Parts sure, but much of those roads are unfriendly to bicycles to say the least. It is true that dry pavement doesn’t need any special tires, so I guess at the core I agree with dkel et al. that fully plowing & treating the W&OD would make it better for everyone. And it is true that there are always places one can find to ride during winter here. It isn’t that big a deal.

Actually, I would suggest that MN has much better winter cycling conditions since they plow everything right away.

And finally, while you may not need studded tires to ride through the winter, there is plenty of special equipment needed, whether clothing, lighting etc. Oh and you will need a bicycle.

[PotomacCyclist]

Not everyone needs a bicycle, especially if you’re ELITE. Or a droid:

[peterw_diy]

@hozn 107704 wrote:

I would suggest that MN has much better winter cycling conditions since they plow everything right away.

And even they shut down Bikeshare in the winter: https://www.niceridemn.org/news/2014/11/03/146/thanks_for_a_great_season_well_see_you_in_2015

[dasgeh]

@hozn 107704 wrote:

Okie doke. I clearly overstated the need for studded tires. I don’t have a good street option to get to Reston, at least from Vienna west. Parts sure, but much of those roads are unfriendly to bicycles to say the least. It is true that dry pavement doesn’t need any special tires, so I guess at the core I agree with dkel et al. that fully plowing & treating the W&OD would make it better for everyone. And it is true that there are always places one can find to ride during winter here. It isn’t that big a deal.

Actually, I would suggest that MN has much better winter cycling conditions since they plow everything right away.

And finally, while you may not need studded tires to ride through the winter, there is plenty of special equipment needed, whether clothing, lighting etc. Oh and you will need a bicycle.

When we’re talking about cycling going mainstream, I think studs for our region are out of the question. Most people want a low-maintenance, out of the box solution. They don’t want to constantly put studs on and take studs off. I’d guess it’d be ok if you need studs for one long stretch, but with the weather we have here, we have to have non-stud options for the relatively short and time-separated spells when we get snow and ice.

PS, in Minneapolis, they only plow once there is 2″ of snow/ice on the trails. When I was there last winter, the trails weren’t plowed because the snow was only about an inch deep. It seems that people just keep studs on all winter (kinda like how they just keep Christmas lights up all winter).

Oh, and your point about Reston is well-taken — where there are poor alternatives, it’s even more important for bicycle-specific infrastructure to be plowed. We’ve got it good in Arlington, but we need to be very public about how this plowing is a good thing if we’re going to keep it in this political climate. We need people to thank the County Manager and County Board and stress how important it is to keep the program.

[vvill]

Doesn’t it depend where one lives though? I’ve had days where I’ve needed the studs for several blocks, and then not needed them for the rest of the day. Of course it’s possible to walk my bike for a couple miles over ice to the nearest clear street but it’s much more reasonable to just have studded tires (which I don’t really consider special equipment for regular riding in a locale where it often gets below freezing for 48hrs+). Here is a “plowed street”:

Sure, it’s not Minnesota but it’s not Florida either. And I’m sure there’s parts further out of town where plowing is even less rigorous (and are shaded and/or hilly) which complicates things further. Just ask Fairfax County Schools

[peterw_diy]

VDOT says the same thing — can’t plow unless 2+ inches. Otherwise it’s salt or brine.

Studs all winter FTW. Rule 5.

Plus the Springtime switch to featherweight slicks is really fun.

[jabberwocky]

@vvill 107713 wrote:

Just ask Fairfax County Schools

I tried, but as soon as I said the word “snow” they screamed “DONT SUE US!” and closed schools.

[Tania]

@dasgeh 107712 wrote:

When we’re talking about cycling going mainstream, I think studs for our region are out of the question. Most people want a low-maintenance, out of the box solution. They don’t want to constantly put studs on and take studs off. I’d guess it’d be ok if you need studs for one long stretch, but with the weather we have here, we have to have non-stud options for the relatively short and time-separated spells when we get snow and ice.

I absolutely suck at changing tires (it takes a half an hour — sometimes each — and a lot of bad words) so this for me is a huge impediment. And I’m not buying another wheel set for several reasons.

[hozn]

@vvill 107713 wrote:

Doesn’t it depend where one lives though?

I think that’s the heart of it. If you live in the city, or — now — in Arlington and commute into the city on the Custis, then you probably don’t need studded tires. I doubt I would ever put them on; as we know, riding with studded tires on dry pavement is masochistic. Maybe there’s one or two days when doing the trek would be treacherous due to ice and you take the bus instead. I’m happy for you that you have plowed trails and/or streets that aren’t highways. Commuting out the W&OD through a typical winter requires studded tires. But it’s passable now with just studded tires, whereas in the past deep snow has kept me off the trail; it simply wouldn’t be practical to ride for 2 hours to get to work. I also don’t consider studded tires special equipment. If taking studded tires on/off is too much work,you can buy a separate wheelset or just n+1 if changing wheels is too much trouble.

I guess at the heart of it I’m saying that 1) the current situation of snowblowing on the W&OD seems just fine to me [since I own studded tires] and 2) having studded tires for year-round riding doesn’t seem like too much to expect. I think point #2 is where folks disagree. And I’m sure there would be some increase in winter trail usage if it were plowed, but I’ll tell you that the W&OD is pretty empty out west even when the trails are clear. I’d love to know what the usage numbers are in the winter [and the summer for that matter].

[DismalScientist]

There will sometimes be days when you need studded tires for the streets in Arlington. Last year, the streets in Rosslyn were ice covered for a few days, let alone neighborhood streets elsewhere. Thinking that you’ll be guaranteed to ride everyday without studs is unrealistic.

[creadinger]

@DismalScientist 107728 wrote:

There will sometimes be days when you need studded tires for the streets in Arlington. Last year, the streets in Rosslyn were ice covered for a few days, let alone neighborhood streets elsewhere. Thinking that you’ll be guaranteed to ride everyday without studs is unrealistic.

Of course. But also, a 2-inch snowstorm, shouldn’t take the trails out of commission for weeks as the freeze-thaw cycle transforms the snow into a dangerous layer of ice.

I’ve visited my brother in MN in the winter. I didn’t see any of the bike trails, but I did see perpetually snow covered roads. It seemed to me that people just get used to driving on packed snow for much of the winter. It’s ok though because all of the ice is on the lakes and not on the roads or trails. Dry snow isn’t thaaaaat slippery on its own. It’s the ice that sucks. In MN, it’s often so cold that salt doesn’t work, and a thin layer of snow cannot be plowed away so you just drive on the snow. No big deal.

[KLizotte]

@creadinger 107729 wrote:

Of course. But also, a 2-inch snowstorm, shouldn’t take the trails out of commission for weeks as the freeze-thaw cycle transforms the snow into a dangerous layer of ice..

Yes we shouldn’t forget that pedestrians can’t use the trails either when it is icy (yes, one can buy spikes for one’s shoes but the vast majority don’t do that and simply stop using the trail till it is clear).

[dasgeh]

@DismalScientist 107728 wrote:

There will sometimes be days when you need studded tires for the streets in Arlington. Last year, the streets in Rosslyn were ice covered for a few days, let alone neighborhood streets elsewhere. Thinking that you’ll be guaranteed to ride everyday without studs is unrealistic.

In two winters bike commuting full time, I have yet to need studs in Arlington on any day when the federal government was open. I think that should be the standard the County clears to:if folks have to go to work, roads/trails should be clear enough to do so stud free. A broad swath of the population just isn’t going to keep switch tires, wheel sets or bikes with the frequency that would be needed to have studs when it’s icy here in the winter.

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