Wet & Slippery on W&OD and Custis this morning…

[slowtriguy]

Hi everyone. I rode through a few wet, leaf-covered places of note this morning on the W&OD and Custis. On the W&OD, the western slope of the Brandymore Castle hill (just east of the East Falls Church Metro) is coated in leaves, but not too slippery. On the Custis, just west of the George Mason underpass and again just east of the Washington Blvd underpass, there were dense layers of leaves on at curves on the trail — I almost slid on the eastern one.

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[consularrider]

If you like riding on wet leaves :p you should try the Bluemont to Walter Reed, my favorite ride to work in the morning. This beats out anything I’ve encountered on the Custis or the W&OD inside the Beltway. Many sections of it are totally covered with a thick carpet of leaves, but I skip the steep climbs up and down in Glencarlyn in the dark when the trail is wet.

[Dirt]

There were some fun sections on Custis in particular this morning. I’ll lug the leaf blower on next week’s commute a few days and clear out some of the bad areas.

[eminva]

@Dirt 10941 wrote:

I’ll lug the leaf blower on next week’s commute a few days and clear out some of the bad areas.

Anyone else posting this, I would think it was a joke. Dirt, I’m not so sure . . . .

Liz

[Dirt]

@eminva 10943 wrote:

Anyone else posting this, I would think it was a joke. Dirt, I’m not so sure . . . .

Last year I engineered a way that I could use the leaf blower while riding. It wasn’t really workable for the local multi-use trails. There’s too much other traffic on the trail for it to be safe. I used it on the sidewalks around my neighborhood though. It worked perfectly.

My idea was to just haul it and pull over to blow off the real trouble areas… you know… the parts of the Custis where the wind deposits 8-10″ deep piles of leaves in the middle of blind turns.

I often carry a push broom too. It helps clear up broken glass in the bike lanes or on Roosevelt bridge. I hauled a car bumper home that someone had left on Roosevelt bridge after a fender bender.

Roosevelt bridge tends to be no-man’s land for maintenance and clean-up. Virginia doesn’t want to help and DC isn’t expending the resources to clean off the bridge often enough.

[CCrew]

@eminva 10943 wrote:

Anyone else posting this, I would think it was a joke. Dirt, I’m not so sure . . . .

Liz

Funniest part is that the W&OD actually has a gas powered one on wheels they pull behind a truck to do exactly that!

[Justin Antos]

@eminva 10943 wrote:

Anyone else posting this, I would think it was a joke. Dirt, I’m not so sure . . . .

Liz

That’s amazing. I want to see this contraption!

[Arlingtonrider]

A few sections of Four Mile Run received a little extra trail love today too. Thanks for the inspiration, Pete. It was a beautiful afternoon for getting out on my bike!

[consularrider]

I was missing all the leaf build up in Four Mile Run this morning. Thanks Kathy.

Now if someone would only clean off east ramp of the I-395 overpass. I spun my rear wheel taking that turn on Saturday afternoon. I guess it’s my turn to ride with a broom.

[KLizotte]

@Arlingtonrider 11039 wrote:

A few sections of Four Mile Run received a little extra trail love today too. Thanks for the inspiration, Pete. It was a beautiful afternoon for getting out on my bike!

Wow, just add a black cape and pointy hat and you’ll be all ready for Halloween next year

Thanks for your clean up efforts.

[Author]

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