Wednesday Ice Commute: 01/12/2011

[OneEighth]

Sections of the W&OD were getting very slick about two hours ago—and not just the wooden bridges, which you would expect.
Good luck tomorrow, y’all.

[CCrew]

I rode from beyond Vienna to downtown (NW) this am. Was clearly the only bike to break snow until I got to Falls Church. On a hardtail MTB with 2.3 Nevegals.

Trailes are covered with about an inch of snow and in some place it’s gotten ice crunchies to it so you’re breaking through as you ride. As it gets more footprints it’s gonna be a rough handful.

So one of those tracks you see is mine

[Dirt]

I was about 10 minutes behind you.

[Chris Eatough]

Just finished my ride in from Silver Spring to Rosslyn on mountain bike with regular mountain bike tires (small knobs, no studs). Main roads were clear but a little wet and salty (missed my fenders today). Bike and Ped path across key bridge was untreated. Half inch of snow, but soft and rideable for now. Custis trail was similar. Some soft snow, some tire tracks. Probably getting slippery in places. In general, conditions are ok for biking, but use caution especially when turning or braking. Mountain bike tires or studded tires recommended.

[skreaminquadz]

Coming in from FC at 6:30am there were about 3 tracks on the W&OD ahead of me. I used the Nokian studded today, not sure I really needed them as there was a good 1/2 inch of snow on top of any ice that formed last night. But I have a feeling tomorrow morning will be quite different – a lot more ice. I’ll be keeping the Nokains on all week. I love morning rides with a light layer of snow on the ground – it’s absolutely beautiful!

[CCrew]

Studs. Isn’t that cheating?

[PrintError]

Studs are cheating! That’s why I love them so much!

That said, Herndon to Vienna today (then further on-road) on a set of Innova Tundra Wolf studded 26s. Trail was 100% snow, still soft enough to be enjoyable. Average speed was “snail” though and my legs got a whupping. Thankfully work gives me a 9 hour break between rides! This completes my 460th consecutive bike-to-work day, including all three of last year’s blizzards. Woo! (I’m proud of it).

Last night (Tuesday) was all ice rain until Buckthorn, which was 100% impassable on the pavement. Solid slick of ice, so we were all hoofing it in the dirt. Fine east of that until my turn off in Herndon.

[consularrider]

I managed to get home last night before the freezing drizzle started coating the trails. This morning I rode a combination of the W&OD/4MRT/MVT from Bon Air Park, past Shirlington and the airport, finishing up in Rosslyn. All three trails were in the same condition, a coating of about one inch of snow over granulated ice. The bike tire ruts and footprints from last night had frozen and contributed to a rougher ride. I encountered and Arlington County plow in Bluemont Park that was heading west (had started on the W&OD at Columbia Pike). The plow had cleared the loose snow, but the ice was still there. No salt was being spread, and the driver had lifted the plow to go over the wooden bridges. I use Schwalbe Maration Winter studded tires and they did fine on all the surfaces. The worst was going over the Humpback Bridge where melt off from the GW PKY had run over the bike detour and refrozen as solid ice. I encounterd one cross-country skier and it looked like several cyclists were having problems maintaining traction and were weaving all over the trail. Only saw one spot where someone had clearly fallen. There was also one spot on the W&OD where tire tracks showed someone had slid off the road and across the trail (saw a couple of those during the mid-December snowfall on the MVT.

[paulg]

My commute took me on 4MR from the treatment plant to MVT through Old Town and over the Wilson Bridge to Oxon hill then along the Oxon Cove trail. The mountain bike was a good choice as the knobby tires got fairly good grip on the snow and crunchy ice below.

It’s nice to report that a small snow plough was out clearing the Wilson Bridge trail all the way from VA to National Harbor and up the hill to Oxon Hill Road. I know this has been talked about before but the Wilson Bridge must get a lot less bike traffic than MVT in fact the tire tracks I saw this AM -3 on the Bridge – Many on MVT prove it. Why can’t the MVT get snow removal too?

Having said that with 1 inch of snow it was beautiful riding down into Oxon Cove Park in the morning sun with ‘first tracks’ on the road.

[ChrisJ]

Rode from NW onto the Mount Vernon to Regan to hop a train to Springfield today. Most of the trail was fine still snow covered. Little bit of ice. This was at 12 o’clock so the sun had been up for a while.

[Just161]

[URL=”ttp://twitpic.com/3ph7ca”]Here’s [/URL]the cycletracks at Pennsylvania Ave NW at 4th St. this morning. A little crunchy.

[Dirt]

Lots of ice on the way home. Definitely using the studs again tomorrow. W&OD from Vienna to the Custis is mixed.. some areas are clear, some are snowpacked (though a thin layer of snow) and some areas are ice. Custis is a little more clear, though there are some sections that are definitely icy. The “S” of certain death above Lyon Village is mostly clear, but there’s a serious ice patch going under I66 as you approach the shopping center. From Lyon Village to Lee Highway has a lot of snow and ice. Mount Vernon Boardwalks by Roosevelt Island are still snowpacked and slick.

See y’all tomorrow.

15th Street Cycleway

First tracks through Falls Church

[Tim Kelley]

Bike lanes from Ballston to Rosslyn were just about 100% clear this morning! A few patchs here and there, but regular mountain bike tires were fine.

[Just161]

It’s disappointing that the 15th St. cycletrack wasn’t plowed (if I’m seeing the picture correctly). Wasn’t that the point of widening it in the first place? DDOT?

[Dirt]

@Just161 1920 wrote:

It’s disappointing that the 15th St. cycletrack wasn’t plowed (if I’m seeing the picture correctly). Wasn’t that the point of widening it in the first place? DDOT?

I don’t think there’s room for a plow between the markers and the curb. I was just happy that it wasn’t buried in a big pile of snow.

[Author]

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