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I’m guessing this is a result of the suspicious package that was found last night http://www.arlnow.com/2011/06/13/breaking-news-police-investigating-suspicious-package-near-pentagon/ and no one removed the tape from the trail.

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Since I have lived in Arlington, it has never been too hot or too cold to ride. I hate the heat (and that’s anything above 80 degrees). but I just make sure to drink more water — before, during, and after. If it’s nt hot, I might not drink at all on my commute, but I amke sure to drink when it’s hot I probabky ride a tad slower, too, but that could be due to more people out on the trails.

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Since I have lived in Arlington, it has never been too hot or too cold to ride. I hate the heat (and that’s anything above 80 degrees). but I just make sure to drink more water — before, during, and after. If it’s nt hot, I might not drink at all on my commute, but I amke sure to drink when it’s hot I probabky ride a tad slower, too, but that could be due to more people out on the trails.

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I tend to use both a bell and say, “On your left” (and often, to non-cyclists, “Thanks,” when I pass).

I have noticed more and more people not saying/signaling at all. Lately, more fail to signal than signal. (I know that was the case last Friday, when I was actually keeping track for a while.) I think most are just too self-absorbed and they don’t care about anyone or anything other than themselves. They don’t signal when passing, they cut you off, they don’t stay to the right, they ignore the “bike traffic lights” on the Custis Trail, etc. It’s all part of a trend to less and less etiquette

Years ago, if you had a flat or other problem, it seemed like most people riding by would ask if you needed any help; now, it’s maybe one in ten. (As I fixed a flat, I counted one out of eleven.) The look of surprise I get when I ask someone if they need help also makes it seem like not many people ask.

People are taking their driving mode — once in their car, they’re the center of the universe — to their bikes.

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@Brendan von Buckingham 4051 wrote:

Riding the brakes on the turn, down to about 10-12 mph, I had 2 seconds (one thousand one, one thousand two) between first seeing the map and then getting to the map. That’s not a lot of reaction time.

If you can’t react that quickly, then slow down.

You know the map is there. Pedestrians — even tourists — have the right-of-way. You should be able to estimate whether there might be someone there and how fast you can go to stop in time. My morning commute goes right through there. At the time of my commute, there’s maybe a 1 in 500 — if that — chance of encountering someone there, so I go a little faster than I would at lunch time. Besides, there’s a Stop sign right past the map, so you’re just slowing down 20 feet earlier.

Tourists — oops, pedestrians — are one of the reasons I take the George Mason Brdige on the commute home.

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@jrenaut 4002 wrote:

It’s super awesome that the high tomorrow is supposed to be 95 F.

That’s about 30 degrees too warm.

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“non-specialty rider”?

To me, it comes down to where am I going, when am I going, and what am I going to do when I get there.

If I am going to ride around doing a few errand, like getting a haircut, going to the Post Office, stopping for lunch, and going to the drugstore, I’d probably wear regular clothes. It’s a bunch of “short” rides, stop and go, and I might not sweat as much. Commuting to and from work? Longer rides and bike clothes. The time of year mattes, too. In the winter, I’d probably wear cycling tights when cycling to the grocery store, but in hte summer, I might wear regular shorts.

The bottom line is wear what you’re cmfortable wearing.

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“Last I heard people stopped buying those things”

I didn’t say you had to buy them, just get some copies of The Express from co-workers. Besides, old ones work well, too. I Keep a few sections under my desk, under my bag. I just looked and on top is the Outlook section from The Washington Post — back in November 2009.

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“As for drying out shoes, may I recommend this: http://www.dryguy.net/DG10.html”

Just stuff wet shoes with newspaper. Replace the newspapers a few hours later, if necessary. The newspaper can still be recycled, too.

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@Mark Blacknell 3515 wrote:

This is neither legal nor recommended. I’m guessing those were three rather lost cyclists.

I know it’s not legal or recommended, but they did not appear lost. From the Humpback Bridge north, the trail is pretty obvious, too.

While I have seen some cyclists on the GW Parkway south of Alexandria, I’ve never seen them north of the Humpback Bridge. (Well, other than when BikeDC has used part fo the parkway.)

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“Hopefully this will stop bikes from blowing the intersection and getting rammed by cars.”

You’re kidding, right? Sorry, but the people that didn’t stop a month ago, will not stop now. I’ve stopped at that light twice, yesterday and one day last week, both times in the late afternoon. Last week, one bike blew by going west. (I recognized the commuter and I know he never stopped before, either.) Yesterday, two bikes, ran it, one going west, one going east.

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I get my “morning and afternoon cycling conditions” from weather.com. If it’s 75 degrees and sunny, people will be out and the trails will be crowded. If it’s pouring rain, the joggers and walkers will mostly be gone. If it’s in the 20s, I’ll have the trails mostly to myself.

The problem — to me — with “traffic reports” on the radio/TV is that I’d have to get them before I leave home/work. By the time I get to a problem spot, there is a good chance the “traffic” issue will be resolved. (If it’s snow/ice, I’ll have a good idea from weather .com) A bad traffic problem — from a motor vehicle perspective — can last quite a while, but most form a cycling perspective don’t seem to last very long. Right off hand, I can’t think of a traffic issue in the last 5-10 years, that has really been a problem. While radio traffic reports can be pretty much real time, I’m not listening to the radio (or anything else) when I am riding, so they would not help.

A blog, especially during the winter, with the status of the various trails, would be helpful.

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