[bobco85]

@bobco85 148929 wrote:

Continued from my previous post, I eventually made it to Old Town Alexandria to see El Galeón, a replica of a 16th Century Spanish galleon, in the daylight. The line leading up to the ship to actually board and explore it was probably a few hundred people long, so I made my way around the lines to get pics.

looking from Founders Park
[ATTACH=CONFIG]12750[/ATTACH]

closer to the Chart House
[ATTACH=CONFIG]12751[/ATTACH]

I went out on a dock next to the one the ship was at – (left) view of the sails; (right) sense of scale from people aboard the ship
[ATTACH=CONFIG]12752[/ATTACH]

(left) view from the end of the adjacent dock; (right) a lady saw me about to take a selfie and offered to take this pic, but sadly she didn’t angle it correctly and the top of the shot was cut by the roof of the gazebo-like structure (I appreciated the effort)
[ATTACH=CONFIG]12753[/ATTACH]

The galleon is back in Old Town Alexandria from today, May 25, through Monday, May 29!

Here’s a site with more details: https://www.visitalexandriava.com/el-galeon/

[bobco85]

@bobco85 159428 wrote:

(Hyattsville, MD) – Based on reports both on this forum (kudos to Greenbelt, Brett L, and Bryan on Strava for alerting me to this) and the following Tweet https://twitter.com/MattDLiddle/status/859365117829550081 , the bridge directly west of the West Hyattsville Metro on the Northwest Branch Trail is closed for repairs for an unspecified length of time.

Update: the trail has been reopened.

Here’s the report that I saw on Twitter: https://local.nixle.com/alert/5971537/

5/24 – NW Branch Trail now OPEN. Temporary bridge repairs are complete.

[bobco85]

@lordofthemark 160513 wrote:

Do you think anyone knows what I am talking about when I refer to the Lucky Run Trail?

I do, but that’s because I added it to Google Maps (when Google Mapmaker was still around) 😎

[bobco85]

I think it’d be nice if we could have a sign or plaque giving a bio of Wayne Anderson and his contributions to the improvements in the area. Also, I’m in favor of referring to the section of trail as the Wayne Anderson Bikeway and getting some signage because calling it Four Mile Run Park Trail is confusing (I always have to explain that it’s the one in Alexandria).

In the meantime, I will start adding Wayne Anderson Bikeway to my future videos

[bobco85]

Wow, I’ve never heard of the Wayne Anderson Trail before!

After doing a bit of Google research, it appears that this section is the Wayne F Anderson Bikeway (full name): https://goo.gl/maps/qsy2LjpuMd42 (please correct me if I’m wrong)

Pages where I saw the Wayne F Anderson Bikeway referenced:

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1994/04/14/bicyclists-receive-a-boost/c5470e4a-6a80-4fff-a129-945335889fbe/?utm_term=.ed2fad88f50f
• https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/pedalers/SRDiES98IU8
• http://www.geocities.ws/dccues/great_falls_beyondhtml.html
• http://www.rundc.com/Doc/VA/Alexandria/Dangerfield.htm
• https://www.alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/localmotion/info/BikePed%20Meeting%20notes%20011110.pdf

Does anyone know why the name was dropped from common usage?

[bobco85]

It’s always nice to check out a newer area when biking. I’m glad you got to see more of what Fairfax has to offer.

The wet crossings on Holmes Run Trail north of Chambliss St are wet 24/7, recent rain only makes them temporarily deeper (especially that one crossing where you have to channel your inner Oregon Trail and ford the river).

The Annandale Rd (and Hummer Rd and Heritage Rd by extension) bike lanes are wonderful, although they are in the door zone in a few areas. Really, it’s a huge improvement to bike-friendliness and provides a great connection in that area.

The Gallows Rd total lack of pedestrian crossings as it crosses the Beltway is still a mystery to me. If a pedestrian wants to safely cross Gallows Rd in that area, they either must walk an extra 3/4 mile out of their way (east to the unsignalized crosswalk at Woodburn ES or west to the crosswalk at INOVA). It’s a really unfortunate oversight by VDOT.

[bobco85]

Also on my ride today, I rode the entirety and took pics of the new (eastbound one-way) Prince St and (westbound mostly one-way) Cameron St bike lanes in Alexandria.

I found them to be quite awesome, though I was more excited just for the asphalt to actually be smooth (my (can’t put this due to family-friendly forum) still feel those old potholes sometimes). The bike lanes feel wide enough to allow one to avoid the door zone in most cases, and the upgraded sharrows seem to work. There was, however, one short block of normal sharrows still around, but these were on Prince St just past Royal St and before the cobblestones that were looking to destroy my road bike along with my (still can’t post this due to family-friendly forum). All in all, pretty nice.

(left) start of Prince St bike lane from Diagonal Rd; (right) a couple blocks of upgraded sharrows
[ATTACH=CONFIG]14822[/ATTACH]

(left) Prince St bike lane starts again; (right) Prince St bike lane navigating around everyone’s favorite statue
[ATTACH=CONFIG]14823[/ATTACH]

(left) Cameron St starts from Union St with upgraded sharrows; (right) Cameron St has many more blocks of bike lanes than Prince St, and they’re awesome to ride on
[ATTACH=CONFIG]14824[/ATTACH]

(left) big changes to Cameron St as it approaches the King St Metro; (right) I love the wayfinding sign here on Cameron St
[ATTACH=CONFIG]14825[/ATTACH]

[bobco85]

After perusing Google Maps while researching a route, I was surprised to find that the satellite view of a couple sections of Route 1 near Fort Belvoir showed actual sidepaths along the highway. I decided to check it out today.

For starters, there is a continuous concrete sidewalk running on the east side of US-1 from Mount Vernon Memorial Highway to Fairfax County Parkway. On the west side, however, is supposed to be a paved sidepath. The sidepath is mostly passable with a few spots where one has to lift their bike over a small ditch and switches between asphalt and packed gravel.

(Quick note: I did not ride on any section that had a sign saying it was closed/no trespassing.)

at the intersection of US-1/Mount Vernon Memorial Highway; (left) looking at the intersection; (right) looking south at the sidepath
[ATTACH=CONFIG]14818[/ATTACH]

(left) a couple of ditches from curbs due to the many housing developments being built; (right) a few, ahem, “blockages” can be found
[ATTACH=CONFIG]14819[/ATTACH]

(left) I need a MTB’r to jump this gravel pile; (right) a completed section under Gunston Rd bridge which was awesome to ride on
[ATTACH=CONFIG]14820[/ATTACH]

(left) intersection of US-1/Backlick Rd which is used to access the southern end of the Fairfax County Parkway Trail; (right) intersection of US-1/Fairfax County Parkway, the only “Sidewalk Closed” sign I encountered, and future southern expansion of the US-1 sidepath in the distance
[ATTACH=CONFIG]14821[/ATTACH]

[bobco85]

Here’s the video or the ride I did (half with my brother) for this year’s Bike to School Day:
[video=youtube_share;ceiiIvFtCYg]https://youtu.be/ceiiIvFtCYg[/video]

Sadly, I was unable to use any of the footage from my rear-facing camera for the ride due to something I discovered on the ride: one of the screws attaching my bike rack (to which my camera was attached) had come loose and fallen off during all the bumpy gravel riding, leaving the bike rack loosely attached and adding much more bumpiness to the footage. I did, however, find a solution: I used a couple of screenshots taken from the rear-facing camera that weren’t too blurry.

Now, it’s time to work on my Bike to Work Day video!

[bobco85]

@DanB 160362 wrote:

Steve O …? I think he has them going back to 2000. Even more impressive: he knows where they are!

Steve O had them on display at the Ballston pit stop this morning. It’s cool, counting back the years with each color!

[bobco85]

I would add to all of this that you should let the kid know that this rule only applies to school crossing guards. There are still people out there who believe that cyclists are required to dismount when in a crosswalk.

[bobco85]

Is there a sign outside the CrossFit (northeast corner of the detour), too? I don’t see it in the pics but want to make sure.

[bobco85]

Thank you for posting the pics.

Just to be clear, is this crudely and quickly drawn map the actual route of the detour according to the signs?
[ATTACH=CONFIG]14795[/ATTACH]

It looks a lot better than I was imagining, although I understand that it is far from perfect. I’m glad actual signs are there, at least.

[bobco85]

What does it actually look like now?

I’ll take some pics of the situation during my lunch break if no one else has any.

[bobco85]

@Judd 160245 wrote:

Perhaps Steve O will lend some “Velocipedes Against Humanity Cards.”

Q: How did this get sticky?
A: Bobco’s videos on Youtube.

I still shudder a bit when I read that.

[Author]

Posts