[bobco85]

I’m excited for 2 new pieces of bicycle infrastructure that look like they are close to being completed!

The 2-way protected bike lane on the north side of Fairfax Dr between Glebe Rd and Wakefield St/Bluemont Connector (path leading to the Custis Trail) is really coming along. Right now, it’s a de facto sidewalk (a sidewalk is being built next to it, so peds will be separated), and it looks really nice, but it’s still not finished. If you choose to ride on it, be careful as the concrete and asphalt do not yet meet (I’m thinking another layer of asphalt is going to be added since the difference is at least 4 inches).

Looking west from the corner of Fairfax Dr/Glebe Rd
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Looking west toward Wakefield St/Fairfax Dr/Bluemont Connector
[ATTACH=CONFIG]14595[/ATTACH]

A new connection between Ashlawn Elementary School and Bluemont Park (and by extension, Four Mile Run Trail and W&OD Trail) looks almost complete. Ashlawn (my kindergarten alma mater, and yes, these things are important to point out) folks will have a new and safer way of getting across Manchester St on their way to/from the school. The path was being built as part of the renovation (read: major upgrade) to ballfield 3 in Bluemont Park, and the new ballfield even has cute baseball-shaped bike racks!

Next to the tennis courts, one can see the connection to 4MR and the baseball bike racks
[ATTACH=CONFIG]14596[/ATTACH]
Traffic calmed crossing of Manchester St
[ATTACH=CONFIG]14597[/ATTACH]

[bobco85]

Update in case folks didn’t see the other thread:
@Arlingtonrider 158467 wrote:

It sounds like a lot of people can’t make it and I know several others who would like to go to the Phoenix Bikes Makers Ball, which I forgot about (including me!), so April 20 HH is cancelled. Lots of other fun events going on this month though!

[bobco85]

SarahBee & drevil, I bolded the relevant text bolded for each of you:
@Steve O 157798 wrote:

Date: Saturday, April 15 (don’t let taxes be your excuse; they aren’t due until April 17)
Time: 10:30 gather, 10:45 roll out
Place: Washington Monument
Route & Destination: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/fullscreen/1502126047/

Midnight Saddles rides are social rides. We ride as a group at a moderate pace and end at a late night establishment. Then we share food, drink and company.

[bobco85]

On my morning commute today, seeing many other cyclists on my way, I was thinking about the numbers of people that were also biking today. I decided to look up the bike counter data to find the top 5 bike counters for the past year (April 10, 2016 – April 10, 2017). FYI, you can find more information here: http://www.bikearlington.com/pages/biking-in-arlington/counting-bikes-to-plan-for-bikes/counter-dashboard/

Here’s the Top 5 from what I could find (bicycles only, no peds) for the past year:

1. Mount Vernon Trail (Airport South) – 643,735 cyclists
2. 14th Street Bridge – 591,360 cyclists
3. 15th Street NW cycletrack (near N St NW) – 534,837 cyclists
4. Capital Crescent Trail #2 (tunnel) – 485,595 cyclists
5. W&OD Trail (just West of W&OD/Custis intersection) – 448,707 cyclists

Food for thought, but there are a lot us out there.

[bobco85]

I’m in, but did they change their bill-paying policy?

For those unfamiliar with this, we had a situation a few months ago where we were told that Cap City was no longer doing separate checks for large groups and that people’s checks were being grouped together in sets of 10. Having to figure out whose food/drinks were on which check was a huge PITA since typically folks are coming and going at different times due to proximity/family/life schedules.

Again, I’m still up for going, but I want to point out this problem.

[bobco85]

@Steve O 158390 wrote:

One of the menu items is a whole pie (serves 6-, which I think we should get. We need to order 3 days in advance. Let me know your preference:

• Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie (my fave)
• Sweet Potato Pie
• Chocolate Cream Pie

We can also request a custom pie if we like, so if you have a suggestion that you think we’ll all like, let us know.

I vote for either of the chocolate pies

[bobco85]

@drevil 158421 wrote:

Thanks for the vid, Bob. I try to make vids under 4 minutes, because that’s usually the longest I’m willing to sit and watch one unless it’s really compelling. If there’s a lot more footage that you want to cover, then I’d either make clips shorter or just don’t include as many because your vid was already 7 minutes long.

I like how you showed panning pics of interesting spots.

Also, I think it’s more interesting when you are chasing someone (or being chased) while doing a GoPro video. Bushes, streets, trees, jumps start to look the same if you don’t have someone up front or behind shifting weight, jumping around, etc. You should’ve jumped on that BMX track!

I’ve been given gigs and gigs of footage by my buds from my Sedona trip last month and the Douthat trip from which I just returned, I guess they’re expecting me to make a vid or sumthin’. Kind of a bummer because I hate going through it all when I could be biking instead

Here’s a teeny one I made of my buddy Bob who came across a stump (maybe 28″ high?) in the parking lot yesterday that he wanted to try to get over.

Thanks for the good advice! I like the focus on quality (interesting shots, shorter clips, etc.) over quantity (length of clips, extra pictures, etc.) along with aiming for a 4 minute “sweet spot” of video length. Out of curiosity, I took a look at my YouTube Analytics and found the Average View Duration to be about 2 minutes 36 seconds for the past year, so there is some data showing your opinion isn’t minor.

Looking at my video history, I tend to have 3 types of videos: day rides/group rides/events that run between 5-7 minutes, informative way-finding (including SafeTrack) which sometimes go longer than 10 minutes, and multi-day travel/year-in-review where 15 minutes works for me to properly share (and remember) people/places/things.

I’ll keep in mind the goal of a quick summary of events for future ride videos. Thanks, again!

[bobco85]

I finished a video of the various days of biking that I did while in Clearwater a month ago.

I had a tough time figuring out how to put the footage together since I didn’t have some sort of destination to focus on, but the video should show off the collection of trails both bayside and gulfside. I’m not entirely sure how to show collections of footage, but I’ll take any suggestions on ideas.

Here’s the video:
[video=youtube_share;QTexX9zgBVQ]https://youtu.be/QTexX9zgBVQ[/video]

[bobco85]

There are plans for a special night-friendly Easter egg hunt during the ride that involves a special prize, but I won’t say any more about it until the ride (only Steve O and I know :cool:). Hope to see y’all there!

[bobco85]

@TwoWheelsDC 158314 wrote:

Spring is always rough, but as cycling becomes more popular, I suspect each new spring will be progressively worse.

Evergreen post

[bobco85]

(Pentagon City/Crystal City, VA) – The southbound Eads St protected bike lane is still being finished between 12th St S and 13th St S. The lines have been painted, but since the flexposts have not been installed, cars are (surprise, surprise) parking in the bike lane. This is likely to be resolved in a few days, as every protected bike lane installation I’ve seen has had this occur (cars parking in the bike lane until flexposts are installed).

[bobco85]

(Alexandria, VA) – Sanger Ave between Van Dorn St and Beauregard St is undergoing road construction. The normally 2 lane road (1 lane on each side used for parking during non-rush hour times) has been narrowed down to 1 lane in each direction in one section. This is important because this portion of Sanger Ave is currently also being used for the Holmes Run Trail detour. Here is the section on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/4bdEmixNz9k

[bobco85]

If anyone wants/needs help getting there from north Arlington or parts west, I’m leading a bike convoy from Ballston that will pass through Rosslyn en route to Bier Baron.

Meet: 5:15 p.m. in front of the Ballston Metro escalator area
We should arrive around 6-6:15 p.m. at the Bier Baron.

Please let me know if interested.

[bobco85]

FYI, your video is set to only play on Youtube and not external sites like the forum.

Sounds like the driver didn’t even notice you were there because they didn’t LOOK.

This is not an excuse, but I can see how the driver probably waited for the last SUV to pass, looked to see that no one was coming straight-on from P St, and assumed it was clear before starting their turn. Then, when you avoided a collision with them and crashed, they probably were surprised to see a cyclist and thought that you were being goofy/imbalanced instead of perhaps realizing that maybe their actions were the reason for your reaction.

[bobco85]

Sorry to hear about QOTM’s likely broken pinkie. I’m guessing it’s her right pinkie because if she hit the wall (to her left going SB), she likely would’ve scraped it (ideal only to the idea of a broken bone) whereas the railing likely caught her pinkie. This is the drawback to those kinds of railings like on the 14th St Bridge (catch that with your hand/handlebar and you’re going down).

Also, it was a wiser choice to use the relatively flat MVT instead of heading uphill through Arlington’s neighborhoods since she was already feeling tired.

I’m glad to hear her love of cycling has not been damaged, and I hope she heals quick!

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