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I had to run to Mom’s yesterday. There were some issues with the signs, including a point where following the signs from Veitch and Lee to Vance, then Adams, you would see signs pointing you back to Veitch – i.e. in a circle. Similarly, there were signs pointing people walking and biking along the sidewalk of Lee to turn up Adams…

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And… if you have a moment to write trails@arlingtonva.us to describe your experience, especially if it could be done better, please do. I’m not confident they realize the impact of their mistakes.

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@VikingMariner 179900 wrote:

Re: ” You need side lighting to get their attention.”

Modern high-end lights are include the sides. Also a coming to a stop or low speed and turning the wheel left or right gets the attention of motor vehicle operators at trail intersections. Every ride I see traffic stop for flashing daytime lighting. Also see pedestrians with their backs facing me take note–in many cases turning their heads, waving, or saying thank you as I pass. Made up local rules on a website are no substitute for actual safety. The price of these lights have come down in the last two years. Everyone should get them and it’s only a matter of time before manufacturers make them standard equipment on high-end bikes.

In 50 years of cycling, flashing lights turned out to be one of the best pieces of low cost equipment that has certainly made my rides safer, and not just for myself. There is no way that even a strobe light in broad daylight even at 5 meters could impair someone’s version even if a person looked directly into it. But how do I know that? Because I see many more people with strobe lights on the trail–the number has probably increased eight fold and for good reason. Police strobe lights (even school bus strobes) have much more power on and off the trail. Why it is that we never this complaint during the day? These imaginary pains and complaints should just end.

New cyclists–don’t let these strange ideas distract you from taking the necessary steps to protect your safety and the safety of others.

This discussion reminds be of the helmet arguments back in the day.

So many things wrong with this post. On side lighting – the little bit of light coming through slits on front facing lights isn’t enough. You need something more substantial, lighting up your sides.

Yes, strobes can impair someone’s vision, and of course it’s worse on a dark trail at night. Our eyes work by adjusting to the amount of light they’re taking in at any given time. When that changes dramatically and quickly, our eyes can’t see well while they’re adjusting. That’s why you don’t hear complaints during the day. And that’s why strobes are worse than steady on a dark trail. These aren’t imaginary pains and complaints.

At the same time, yes, you should take appropriate steps to protect yourself. There isn’t an easy answer, and you should be aware that high powered lights, particularly on the blinky setting, can impair the vision of other trail users. You’ve got to balance the options at hand, the risk of not being seen and not being able to see yourself with the risk of blinding others. Be considerate of others while protecting yourself and you’ll get it right eventually.

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@kcjewett 179863 wrote:

For future reference, where is the IoD? I’m also kind of confused about the best way to get from the north side of 50 to the South side. I’ve been going through on the overpass right by the War Memorial (pictured), but it’s been a little hairy. Thoughts? Thanks!

The Intersection of Doom is not on that map. It’s the intersection of Lynn St and the westbound lanes of Lee Hwy/the off ramp from I66 (the eastbound have their own light there). The Custis Trail runs on the north side of Lee there, and has the “walk” signal when cars from westbound Lee/I66 ramp can turn right onto Lynn, creating a conflict.

So you’ve noticed that the only crossing of 50 is Meade Street. There’s a project to improve the Meade Street Bridge, but it that design could be better. I couldn’t hurt if someone wrote in and said that. I think the project is funded, but involves NPS, so is in a black hole.

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@huskerdont 179832 wrote:

I get that visibility is more important and more difficult on a roadway than on a trail. In retrospect, I think I’m more concerned about trail/road intersections, such as the IoD (and the two before it, which can also be dangerous). In the mornings I end up sometimes at that intersection with my light off because I was not successful in holding down the damn button for 10 seconds while bouncing down the hill with one hand on the handlebars.

When trails cross roads often (like the Custis in Rosslyn), I’m more forgiving about having blinkies. And yes, it’s unrealistic to expect people to switch from blinkie to solid quickly. But if you’re headed to EFC on the Custis, there’s probably time to switch it over.

But also, a front/rear blinkie doesn’t help you if you’re heading west bound on the Custis in Rosslyn. The drivers who can’t see you are the ones also heading westbound and turning right, northbound onto Lynn (or the side streets). You need side lighting to get their attention.

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@sjclaeys 179806 wrote:

Now seeing that Veitch is being resurfaced. Yay for getting bike lanes (or so I heard on the Twitter), but that makes for a less than ideal detour while the work is being done.

We’ve been told the project *probably* won’t start until the detour is over. Yes, we asked the County to coordinate and look into these issues. They did look into them, but they didn’t coordinate so well.

Note there’s also an Orange/Silver line closure during this time.

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@sjclaeys 179803 wrote:

Why not just take Scott St to 21st, which then crosses Lee Hwy to become Veitch? I’ve often gone that way with no problem.

Scott – Veitch doesn’t get your around the trail work, which is west of Veitch. You could take Scott – Veitch to avoid going on the sidewalk/trail beside Mom’s, but it’s like double the distance and that sidewalk/trail is super wide (save the STUPID curb cuts at Uhle)

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@hozn 179781 wrote:

Except the MVT, right? And the NVRPA-run W&OD is certainly open to interpretation.

But it’s good you can at least use the bike lanes in VA. Of course, TwoWheels is in DC, so that’s not gonna help him too much.

I don’t see how NVRPA can violate state law, so W&OD is fine (and ACPD agrees).

DC law says:

Quote:

1201.18Except as otherwise permitted for a motor vehicle, no person shall operate a motorized bicycle on any sidewalk or any off-street bikepath or bicycle route within the District. This prohibition shall apply even though the motorized bicycle is being operated solely by human power.
1201.19A motorized bicycle may be operated on any part of a roadway designated for the use of bicycles.

If a bike lane is a “bicycle route”, ebikes aren’t allowed, but I don’t see that in the law. Otherwise, a bike lane really seems like “part of a roadway designated for the use of bicycles.”

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@mstone 179785 wrote:

VDOT could not care less about anything other than LOS

True, but on this stretch, there are 3 lanes for <6k trips/day. Crazy. Plus, the road is currently two lanes all the way from Lynn to Scott, and there are no traffic issues. Veitch doesn't dump more traffic onto Lee than I66 siphons off. And Lee goes down to 2 lanes again at Kenmore. It really shouldn't not have been a big ask.

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Yeah, the suggested detour is … not great. This is what I would suggest (and what was discussed at the June BAC meeting):
[ATTACH=CONFIG]18165[/ATTACH]

Note this has westbound folk using 18th, leaving Key for accordioneur in the evenings.

I can’t believe they’re insisting on routing folks on the Lee sidewalk. FWIW, Arlington asked VDOT for permission to take the lane on Lee, like they’re doing down the hill (a mere 1/3 mile away), but VDOT said no, without articulating a reason that made sense. I’ve been in discussions about this detour for a while, and this is the first I’ve seen of that bump to 20th using Adams and Vance for westbound people. No idea why that’s there, or why, if you’re going to do that, you don’t continue on 20th St to Veitch (it’s a cute street – tiny for cars, but perfect for bikes. You should check it out). I also don’t understand why they’ve marked 2 bike routes, but no “pedestrian route” that’s ADA accessible (that dotted blue line involves a bunch of stairs).

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This may interest some: https://nacto.org/2018/07/11/shared-active-transportation-guidelines/

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@DrP 179777 wrote:

Not wanting to trudge through mud to Carlin Springs,

We really need to build that little connector trail from the W&OD to Carlin Springs. I vote we call it the “Jay Fisette spurt”.

In the future, if you’re on Carlin Springs at Kensington/where the W&OD connector *should* be, you can just take Kensington to get to the Bluemont, like in this map.

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@hozn 179773 wrote:

While I agree with that sentiment, it doesn’t sound like there’s much you can do legally with an e-bike on DC-area cycling infrastructure. In which case, I say embrace the road and go all in with 9,000 watts!

In Virginia, you can ride on all the trails and such, so there’s plenty to do. With Jump being associated with Uber, I’d expect more changes on the horizon.

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@kcjewett 179689 wrote:

Hi All,

Just joined the forum and hoping to pick your brains a little. If there are already good threads for this (as I’m sure there may be), please feel free to drop a link. I live in courthouse and work in Crystal City. I used to bike everywhere in college, but that was a much smaller city in Indiana (read: very flat). I’m excited to get back into biking and to get some cardio in while avoiding the Rosslyn metro station.

I know there are lots of serious bike commuters here, and especially in these early days, I want to make sure I’m not getting in anyone’s way accidentally, etc. My current route is up Arlington Blvd, through the War Memorial and around Arlington Cemetery, then the Mt. Vernon Trail down to Crystal City, which is pretty relaxed but I don’t think it’s the fastest. I’m starting with one day a week to get back into it, hopefully up to 3 by the fall.

Any advice or thoughts would be appreciated, thanks so much!

Kevin

Welcome!

As far as routing, if you’re a federal employee or DoD contractor, you have the option of commuting through Fort Myer. It may still be longer than your current route.

It sounds like you stay on the MVT to the Crystal City Connector. Depending on where exactly you’re going, you may look into using the 27 Trail from the ANC Metro, or going under the Humpback Bridge from the MVT to get to the Pentagon Reservation.

Actually, looking at the second map, I wouldn’t do that. I’d just use the 27 trail and get off earlier.

HTH

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@Dewey 179676 wrote:

And now the EU follows with a huge 83.6% anti-dumping import tariff on Chinese ebikes.

Source: Item 8 Final Provisions https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32018R1012

Whoa. Though I guess it’s good news for the Germans and Swiss?

And how did Giant and the other listed companies get the better deal?

BTW, law enforcement increasingly use e-bikes. I wonder if there are law enforcement related groups that would want to weigh in on getting these tarriffs removed from the proposal.

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