[Alcova cyclist]

It’s possible the pedestrian had right of way, but that’s not 100% clear to me given the description. In DC, the only specific law I could find is that “The driver of a vehicle shall stop and remain stopped to allow a pedestrian to cross the roadway within any marked crosswalk, or unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, when the pedestrian is upon the lane, or within one lane approaching the lane, on which the vehicle is traveling or onto which it is turning.” If the pedestrian was indeed speeding up to create a conflict by entering the crosswalk (and therefore was not ” upon the lane”), it isn’t clear to me that they are entitled to right of way. If it’s accurate that the pedestrian “quickened his pace” and even then was only able to force contact by extending an object into the back wheel after the bike was through the crosswalk, then I don’t know that I buy the cyclist was in the wrong. It is certainly possible that we’re not getting a great description of the incident, and the pedestrian had to stop short to keep from getting hit and only then proceeded to assault the cyclist.

The Virginia law is a bit clearer about this, though not much, prohibiting pedestrians from entering a crosswalk “in disregard of approaching traffic” – which I always interpreted this to mean that a pedestrian (or cyclist) can’t dash into a cross walk in front of a car at speed, get hit, and claim the driver was at fault. They could enter “in regard of traffic” while the driver was far enough away to react even if that required the driver to slow/stop to allow them to finish crossing. I didn’t find any similar language googling DC law.

In any event, the pedestrian’s actions are so over the top unhinged that they really should be reported and absolutely constitute assault consummated by battery and probably a bunch of other charges too. Attempting to hit someone with a heavy bike lock chain seems pretty close to assault with a deadly weapon, though IANAL. There are traffic cameras all over DC, not to mention home security cameras and video doorbells, so there may well be video of the incident if you act quickly to file a report.

[Alcova cyclist]

Hope it’s not too late, but I am not the best about seeing and responding to new threads.

Biking to Pentagon is by far the best way to get there – You can get to pretty much any residential neighborhood within ten miles using only bike trails and neighborhood streets. There’s plenty of bike racks at pretty much all the entrances, and they’re much closer to the entrances than any parking you’ll get, unless you’re a flag officer, and maybe not even then. Downside is that none of it is covered (or wasn’t as of 3-4 years ago). The Pentagon Athletic Club is a great place to shower up if you have a long ride, but you do have to pay to be a member unlike most base facilities. You can enter directly into the PAC from north parking or take any entrance and walk through the Pentagon to get there.

There are easy bike connections to/from the Pentagon in all directions:
To the north and east, there’s a path from north parking through LBJ grove then through the marina and under the GW parkway — connects to the Mount Vernon Trail. At that point, you’re quite close to the 14th St bridge into DC if you want to go into the city. MVT can take you north to Rosslyn and then the Custis Trail heading west along I-66 (most North Arlington neighborhoods… then eventually connects to the Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) trail that heads further west through Falls Church and on to Vienna).

MVT can also take you south– You can go via the LBJ grove path mentioned above or cut also through Crystal City to catch the MVT further south, (near 18th street). MVT southbound connects to Alexandria and also the 4 mile run trail (4MR) that connects you to most of the South Arlington neighborhoods (and eventually the W&OD again).

For shorter distances… To the south into Crystal City/Pentagon City just head south on Eads, which has a bike lane (protected by parking lane much of the way). Connect to local western neighborhoods by climbing the hill past the child development center on Columbia Pike and then up Southgate and through Fort Myer (not a problem with a pentagon badge). This spits you out on second street and easy access to Penrose, Arlington Heights, Alcova Heights (my namesake), and Barcroft neighborhoods. Can also exit Fort Myer near the Iwo Jima Memorial for an alternate path into Rosslyn.

If you decide to live further out, you could also ride to/from a metro station, leave the bike there, and then metro into the pentagon. Many, many buses go to the pentagon, so you can do the same with bus commutes (most/all WMATA and local buses have a rack for 2 bikes on the front of the bus).

Don’t believe any bike map that tells you the route 50 bike trail is a reasonable route. It’s a trap. Unpleasant and dangerous.

Hope this helps!

[Alcova cyclist]

Well, after a stubborn backslide over the last week, I didn’t think I’d make it, but I did! From my starting weight of 193, my original goal was <180, which I revised to <175 part-way through. Final weight was 174.2. Thanks, Hancockbs, for setting this one up – it really worked to keep me on track. Knowing I “had to” post a weekly update publicly turned out to me a motivator for me (not sure if that’s a good thing or not, but it is what it is). Still have some work to do to get down to my final target range of 160-165, but thrilled to be back at a weight I don’t think I’ve seen since the year started with a “19.”

Here’s the final progression:
Starting weight – 193
Goal: <175
1/12 check-in: 189
1/18 check-in: 186.0
1/25 check-in: 184.4
2/1 check-in: 184.6
2/8 check-in: 183.0
2/15 check-in: 179.0
2/22 check-in: 180.2
3/1 check-in: 176.4
3/8 check-in: 174.8 – GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!
3/15 check-in: 178 – UN-GOOOOOOOOAL!
3/19 Final check-in: 174.2

[ATTACH=CONFIG]25245[/ATTACH]

[Alcova cyclist]

The current NOAA hourly forecast has most of the crazy weather before noon on Friday. Rain should end by early afternoon, with the winds down below 10mph just after sunset. In like a lion, out like a lamb…

[Alcova cyclist]

@Hancockbs 210038 wrote:

With a few days left in FS, I hit my goal weight today, but I’ll probably take it a little lower. BMI is currently 25.2

First day below 180# in a LONG time.
Left to right:
Dec 30 – 233
Feb 1 – 208
Feb 15 – 199
Mar 17 – 179.8

Simply amazing – What a transformation! If there were a wrap-up party I’d buy you a drink, or maybe a salad(?)

[Alcova cyclist]

Not a great week, tbh, with a bit of a bounce back up and over the goal weight. Still down 15 pounds from the start and within 3 pounds of final goal with 5 days to go.

Starting weight – 193
Goal: <175
1/12 check-in: 189
1/18 check-in: 186.0
1/25 check-in: 184.4
2/1 check-in: 184.6
2/8 check-in: 183.0
2/15 check-in: 179.0
2/22 check-in: 180.2
3/1 check-in: 176.4
3/8 check-in: 174.8 – GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!
3/15 check-in: 178 – UN-GOOOOOOOOAL!

[Alcova cyclist]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]24880[/ATTACH]
Starting weight – 193
Goal: <175
1/12 check-in: 189
1/18 check-in: 186.0
1/25 check-in: 184.4
2/1 check-in: 184.6
2/8 check-in: 183.0
2/15 check-in: 179.0
2/22 check-in: 180.2
3/1 check-in: 176.4
3/8 check-in: 174.8 – GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!

[Alcova cyclist]

Starting weight – 193
Goal: <175 - down from initial goal of <180 (might as well update my final goal too -- now 165)
1/12 check-in: 189
1/18 check-in: 186.0
1/25 check-in: 184.4
2/1 check-in: 184.6
2/8 check-in: 183.0
2/15 check-in: 179.0
2/22 check-in: 180.2
3/1 check-in: 176.4 – BACK ON TRACK!

[Alcova cyclist]

Starting weight – 193
Goal: <175 - down from initial goal of <180 (might as well update my final goal too -- now 165)
1/12 check-in: 189
1/18 check-in: 186.0
1/25 check-in: 184.4
2/1 check-in: 184.6
2/8 check-in: 183.0
2/15 check-in: 179.0
2/22 check-in: 180.2

I have basically stalled out for nearly two weeks. I think a lot to do with not finding time to get in a solid hour on the bike, and a little backsliding on diet. Still time to get back on glide slope though!

[Alcova cyclist]

Monday check-in:

Starting weight – 193
Goal: <175 - down from initial goal of <180 (might as well update my final goal too -- now 165)
1/12 check-in: 189
1/18 check-in: 186.0
1/25 check-in: 184.4
2/1 check-in: 184.6
2/8 check-in: 183.0
2/15 check-in: 179.0 (this was my original goal… now just 4 pounds to go for my revised goal!)

[Alcova cyclist]

Monday check-in:

Starting weight – 193
Goal: <175 - down from initial goal of <180 (might as well update my final goal too -- now 165)
1/12 check-in: 189
1/18 check-in: 186.0
1/25 check-in: 184.4 …so far, so good, but I feel like a back-tracking week is coming.
2/1 check-in: 184.6 (I can live with a 0.2 pound back-track. Just need to get back on glide slope)
2/8 check-in: 183.0

So far, at the FS half-way point, I am down exactly ten pounds. If I can stay on trend, I should finish FS below my new goal of 175

[Alcova cyclist]

As of 4pm on 2/5, it’s up over $4300! The food banks have been so stretched this past year, so thank you, rumipumi, for setting this up!

[Alcova cyclist]

@DrP 207023 wrote:

Did an Arlington loop this morning starting pre-dawn, so still below freezing, with 4MRT instead of W&OD for most of the way where they “parallel” each other. As the temperatures increase today, many areas will be wet rather than icy. Larger rutty areas will likely become slushy, but still an issue.

Custis: Clear except for melt-refreezing in a few spots. Spout run had a bit of refreeze, but oddly the yellow line was mostly clear. Longer access trails typically not in good shape.

MVT From Roosevelt Island to 4MRT: Mostly extremely clear other than refreezes (standard ice sheets present). Trollheim is well, as expected. Clear in the patched under I-66, but otherwise snowy-icy-crunchy, but passable (I was on 38s). Bridge just south of that passable, with care. Bridges at airport have a “lane” (~1ft wide) in each direction that are clear, except for refreezes, but passable with care.

4MRT: Clear until just south of Glen Carlyn Park – where the access from S. Arlington Mill Rd enters above the ford. At that point it is a icy, rutty mess. Recommend walking (tried otherwise and failed). Had to walk until it flattened out again on the other side of the ford – then escaped up to W&OD. Did go back to 4MRT just before Carlin Springs Rd (trail just north of Rt 50 and up hill was not cleared) and past the frisbee golf – that area was fine.

W&OD: small regions I was on it were just fine, including bridges.

Surprisingly not much different after a sunny day touching 50 degrees. Trollheim was maybe a little better, with a foot-wide single track in each direction clear except for a few 10-20′ stretches of slush + packed ice. Made it through on 40c road tires without feeling too squirrely. The airport bridges are starting to melt off, but still single-track for long stretches. Everywhere else is pretty much clear edge-to-edge. Melt still flowing over the trails all over, so beware morning ice (though it’s supposed to stay above freezing Thursday night).

[Alcova cyclist]

Monday check-in:

Starting weight – 193
Goal: <180 by end of BAFS (final goal is <170)
1/12 check-in: 189
1/18 check-in: 186.0
1/25 check-in: 184.4 …so far, so good, but I feel like a back-tracking week is coming.
2/1 check-in: 184.6 (I can live with a 0.2 pound back-track. Just need to get back on glide slope)

Oh, and Holy cow – great job so far Hancockbs!

[Alcova cyclist]

Monday check-in:

Starting weight – 193
Goal: <180 by end of BAFS (final goal is <170)
1/12 check-in: 189
1/18 check-in: 186.0
1/25 check-in: 184.4

…so far, so good, but I feel like a back-tracking week is coming.

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