[bobco85]

I just finished another “Let’s Bike” video. This one is for the Wilkes Street Bikeway in Alexandria. My video for this was long delayed, but I finally forced myself to do it (it doesn’t take long to make these videos as it’s a 2 step process: ride & film, then clean-up & add street names).

[video=youtube_share;Ax3WBj5olnw]https://youtu.be/Ax3WBj5olnw[/video]

[bobco85]

@Steve O 162403 wrote:

Actually, they weren’t there yet. It’s on July 22.

Interestingly, as a bonus- er, I mean, side effect – of my steroids granting me the ability to NOT fall asleep for much of last night (Friday was luckily the last day of my prescription), I did actually visualize and auralize the whole ride in my mind 2 times over which included traveling between stops and everything I plan on talking about at each stop. There’s a slight chance that a projection of myself led the group ride with projections of all participants weeks ahead of time and lordofthemark just missed us. That made my brain hurt, but it’s the best explanation I can conjure right now.

[bobco85]

@Steve O 162387 wrote:

I agree that it can feel really uncomfortable taking the lane, but it is truly the safer thing to do. Being buzzed is much worse than being honked at. Independence has, like, three lanes, so the cars can move over and around you. But you can’t be halfway; that’s even worse. If someone thinks they can squeeze by you, they will. Happened to me today, and I was a good 1/3rd of the way into the lane on my way to taking the whole thing when a pickup truck decided to buzz me as some sort of punishment I guess.

This x1000

I am more scared about being hit by a careless/distracted driver who doesn’t see me than being hit by someone having road rage. Just remember, when someone honks/yells at you, it means they SEE you and are actually paying attention to your presence (however annoying it is to them). The hardest part is gaining the experience, maintaining your confidence, and telling yourself, “This is where I should be in the lane to be seen.”

[bobco85]

@Judd 162381 wrote:

I’m going to have to upgrade to one of these for the Champion Trees: http://www.husqvarna.com/us/products/chainsaws/3120-xp/965960701/

42 inch bar on this bad boy! That’s 3.5 feet of saw. ::swoon::

(shakes finger disapprovingly) A leopard never changes its spots.

[bobco85]

Here’s some more information on Champion Trees in Arlington.

What Makes a Tree a Champion? https://environment.arlingtonva.us/trees/support-trees/makes-tree-champion/

List of Champion Trees in Arlington (also lists each tree’s exact location on a map): https://environment.arlingtonva.us/trees/support-trees/champion-trees/

Judd, sorry, man, but you are not allowed to access this information or go on the ride. We all know what your last name is, and it’s best for the trees :p

[bobco85]

@Steve O 162357 wrote:

Might as well make a southbound one next.

I tend to make these videos in one direction only, but that’s probably because there are so many other road segments, trails, and whatnot that I want to show. On that point, I will be filming this weekend for my next big planned video: biking the East Coast Greenway through DC (Greenbelt to Occoquan) 😎

[bobco85]

@lordofthemark 162313 wrote:

What time of day was that? I pretty much only ride it around 7AM on Thursdays (because WTFCC) and the intersections are almost always better for me than it showed on your video (although the lanes before the McDonalds and near the kabob place are blocked fairly often)

It was a little after 6 p.m. yesterday. For the most part, I really enjoy riding on Eads St as opposed to riding on Crystal Dr (bike lane blocker city) or the MVT (amateur hour) at pretty much all times of day, but it might be because I am very comfortable riding in and out of a protected bike lane. Also, things might show as closer than they really were because I have the footage playing at 300% speed.

[bobco85]

I realized I hadn’t made one of these “Let’s Bike” videos in a long time (since last year) due to all the SafeTrack goings on, so I decided to do some filming yesterday to make a couple of short videos of a few of the local bike routes. Eads Street is one for which I’ve been meaning to do a video, so here it is:

[video=youtube_share;vzPQ-TulGGw]https://youtu.be/vzPQ-TulGGw[/video]

[bobco85]

@accordioneur 162264 wrote:

My father-in-law’s family was run out of Cherrydale when he was a kid. Jews were apparently not welcome in Arlington at that time.

Wow, that’s a sad but definitely interesting story. If it’s not too impolite to ask, I would like to hear it sometime.

@Judd 162265 wrote:

Are we stopping by where Al Gore invented the internet?

Not on this ride, but I think I have a good collection of other interesting stops that I am steadfastly keeping secret until the ride (well, some are obvious based on the route, but I’m keeping quiet!).

[bobco85]

@accordioneur 162253 wrote:

What, no stop at the former HQ of the American Nazi Party … better known to this group as the meeting place of a popular coffee club?

I already knew the moment I had finalized the route and gathered my notes for it that there would be missing historical spots of interest; to include them all would involve a probable century-long multi-day ride that would neither be as digestible nor accessible as the 26-mile one I’ve planned.

If I remember, I will make sure to point this out on the ride as it is an interesting part of Arlington’s legacy (let’s not pretend Arlington has been a bastion of progressive values throughout its history).

[bobco85]

Good news: I finalized the route and other details for the ride! Look at the first post on this thread for the updates.

The format of the ride is based on the President’s Day Ride that Judd and komorebi led mixed with the drive-by style Purple Line and Silver Line rides that I led. There are ~25 different stops on the route. My goal is to keep things brief while also giving some interesting details and backstory (the show-and-tell will sometimes be more show and sometimes more tell).

I am also planning an Alexandria historical bike ride for early August, but I’ll provide more information after I’m done preparing this ride.

[bobco85]

Just off the Holmes Run Trail in Alexandria is a remnant of the past milling economy that was big until the end of the 19th Century. In the first 15 years of the 19th Century, Alexandria exported over 1 million barrels of flour from over 100 mills in northern Virginia.

Constructed from 1813-1816, Cloud’s Mill (also known as Triadelphia) was operated by James Cloud from 1835-1863 until Union forces took it over. You can get to the site where Cloud’s Mill stood from the Holmes Run Trail by crossing the bridge connecting it to Pickett St and heading a block west on Holmes Run Parkway.

While the mill is no longer in existence, a portion of the mill race (current of water that turns a water wheel; the channel is made to be narrow to make the water flow faster) was preserved and can be found off North Paxton St between Holmes Run and Duke Street. The location of the mill itself was on the south side of Holmes Run between Paxton St and Pickett St. I’m not entirely sure the exact location of the mill, but the satellite map shows my estimate. Note: Duke Street and Little River Turnpike are one-and-the-same. The full version of the 1860 historic map is available here: https://lccn.loc.gov/2001627680
[ATTACH=CONFIG]15056[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]15057[/ATTACH]

At the marker for the Cloud’s Mill Race, there is a mill stone and description that can be seen. While there, you will notice that there is a slight depression behind the mill stone. This is part of the preserved mill race that ran along the south side of Holmes Run from current Beauregard St/Morgan St to Little River Turnpike (there was a toll gate on Little River Turnpike at Holmes Run).
[ATTACH=CONFIG]15058[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]15059[/ATTACH]

The nearby townhouse complex was involved in preserving this portion of the mill race, and they even named their streets after Cloud’s Mill (even though they misspelled the name by adding an “e” so it’s more olde and sophisticated, I guess).

[bobco85]

@Kitty 162219 wrote:

Oh God, I am SO SORRY! I was put on prednisone for the first time during the latter half of Freezing Saddles and it was not fun. The only silver lining was that so many others had prednisone hell stories… so bully for comrades I guess?

My way of coping has been to be pragmatic about taking it. It’s working really well to clear up my poison ivy rash, so I’m willing to get through the rest of my prescription, but I’m ready for it to be over.

While I enjoyed the extra feeling of energy at first, I’ve had a lot of issues focusing on things and have thus grown weary of it. Every night, I’ve had the feeling of being able to immediately fall asleep simultaneously with the feeling of being able to do a million more things before bed. If I haven’t gotten a good deal of physical activity during that day, it’s even worse. My doctor advised me to take a benadryl in the afternoon to help with falling asleep, and that has helped.

Ugh, the professionals make doping seem so cool, but in real life it isn’t!

[bobco85]

I will be there as a cyclist who is currently doping* but will be cleaned up by then. I guess this means I’ll be able to “relate” to the individuals in the movie

* – Long story short: I’m really allergic to poison ivy/oak/sumac, got a bad rash all over my legs and forearms recently, and am taking oral steroids (prednisone) to heal from it.

[bobco85]

@Steve O 162177 wrote:

Note this is the same day as Tour de Fat. However, that is 4-9pm, so one could do both.

Thank you for pointing that out. I plan on going to the Tour de Fat, too, so I wanted to make sure there was a buffer of a few hours between both.

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