[bentbike33]

@arlcxrider 219686 wrote:

…

Another LOL variable message display is on Rt 110, adjacent to Arlington Cemetery bike path. “NO LOUD MUFFLERS. IT IS THE LAW!” I’m sure that’ll snap the scofflaws into compliance.

Worried the loud mufflers might wake the dead, evidently.

[bentbike33]

There is some kind of work underway on the Carlin Springs Rd. bridge over the W&OD/Four Mile Run. W&OD Trail width is reduced to just over one lane. I don’t recall any signage warning about the situation, but I may have been paying more attention to other trail users in the area this morning.

[bentbike33]

@consularrider 218983 wrote:

Looks like the trail work at Iwo Jima may be done although the detour/construction signs are still up

Confirmed. They even made a trail entrance from Marshall Drive up near the Carillon.

[bentbike33]

@arlcxrider 218805 wrote:

April 11-15, and possibly also 18-22 (Monday-Friday). Upgrade of a 230 kV transmission line. The closed section is between approximately Claibourne Pkwy. and Cochran Mill.

https://www.novaparks.com/parks/washington-and-old-dominion-railroad-regional-park/updates/beginning-april-11-2022-dominion

https://www.novaparks.com/sites/default/files/2022-03/Ashburn%20to%20Pleasant%20View%20Postcard%20Feb%202022_FINAL-2.pdf

The detour is formidable (shades of the Reston Century route)

https://power-viz.com/W&OD-Trail/

Adventures in Cartopia.

[bentbike33]

Fify

[attach=config]27689[/attach]

[bentbike33]

@Serdar 211828 wrote:

Can someone please share a link to all the rules? I’ve heard of them and never read them all in one place. Thanks!

The Rules.

[bentbike33]

Also, “dark” in this part of the world means really dark, not Arlington dark. So, on the one hand you need to have a good headlight, on the other, any additional accessory lighting will make you highly visible.

[bentbike33]

@wheels&wings 211809 wrote:

Hi all,
I’m wondering if anyone is familiar with the Oakton, VA area. I need to get from Arlington to Coulter Lane in Oakton. It will be dark out in both directions, and I’m a bit spooked by fast winding roads with no shoulder.
Google maps puts me on the WOD, then a left on Hunter Station Road, a right on Lawyers Road, a left on Birdfoot Lane, and a right on Stuart Mill/669.
I am guessing these roads are not so safe for bicycle riders (?). Any intelligence or advice would be greatly appreciated. I’m always happy to take a longer route if it’s safer, and I don’t mind hills.
I have a week to figure this out. If it’s too risky I will use a car, but who wants to drive when you can bike.
Thanks for any insights!
wheels&wings

That route is probably your best bet. Hunter Station and Birdfoot are very steep climbs. Lawyers will be the busiest, but you are not on it for very long, and there are bike lanes between Hunter Station and Twin Branches. Birdfoot and Stuart Mill are sparsely traveled in my experience, although I cannot vouch for their condition during a weekday evening rush hour. In all these roads are popular with cyclists, so regular drivers are used to seeing them.

[bentbike33]

@Steve O 211711 wrote:

I see a lot of people voting for socks. I love socks as much as the next cold-footed person, but I’m struggling to understand how they will work as an identifier when we are out on the trails in the dark. I guess you could hang one from your helmet or something. But it still might be hard to see in the dark.

Maybe we can get a custom version of these.

[bentbike33]

@wheels&wings 211608 wrote:

After some months as a running commuter rather than as a bicycle commuter (while recovering from a crash), I’m back on my bike. It’s been mostly great, but I’d forgotten the extent of the vitriol that bicycle riders face from drivers in our area. Today’s example:

Riding eastbound on the WOD through Falls Church (on those amazing bike trails) after grocery shopping at Tysons Center, I witnessed a man on a bike carefully crossing one of the streets that run perpendicular to the trail. As he was crossing (westbound), a large SUV drove up and suddenly sped at him as if attempting to kill him. He rushed out of the way, clearly shaken and surprised by what had just happened. The driver (who was from my same demographic sector) stopped her vehicle in the middle of the intersection, put down her window, and commented to the effect that any outcome would be the bicycle rider’s own fault because bikes have a stop sign and cars do not.

I piped up, surprisingly politely, “Ma’am, you are driving a Suburban and…” at which point she flew into a rage and cut me off: “Shut up, you f-cking bitch!!”
“Why are you so nasty?” I asked, and then she floored the accelerator and was out of there. I’m kicking myself that I did not photograph her.

These sorts of interactions happen all too often, either purposefully or recklessly, as with the two children hit on bikes in Arlington in the past two weeks. And yet our counties so often choose to prioritize those traveling in 6000-pound weapons, like by installing stop signs only for those on foot or bike, or by insisting we use beg buttons to cross a street. Instead of protecting those traveling by foot or bike, such planning decisions are helping sick drivers like this one feel even more justified when putting our lives in danger.

I wonder, would SUV-woman rear-end a car stopped to allow trail users to cross, or just go screeching around it in the oncoming lane?

[bentbike33]

@Steve O 211597 wrote:

I remember back when riding on the Parkway itself (at least south of Old Town) was legal. I believe there were any number of weekend group rides along that stretch.
The road would be a far, far superior, and almost certainly safer, place to ride than the trail.

I wonder if it would be worth organizing something like a Critical Mass ride on the Parkway itself on a Saturday or Sunday with a big group of riders to raise awareness of the inadequacy of the trail?

Are bikes actually banned from the Parkway by Federal Law or have we just been bullied?

[bentbike33]

@SarahBee 211544 wrote:

Not sure how HF is going to ride in this…

Clearly, a tandem is required.

[bentbike33]

Did Pete live in Arlington, and if not would that be an issue for the Arlington Board? After all, Bikenetic is in Falls Church city.

[bentbike33]

Schmidt makes a great disk-brake dynamo hub.

I feel like there is a pretty big difference between tubeless 28mm tires (fast) and tubeless 32mm in terms of speed which may be related to the lower air pressure of tubeless, but then my bike is weird.

[bentbike33]

Too bad I’m out. A Shinkansen fairing around my bike would have been awesome.

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