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A successful distribution effort! Thanks to the staff of Bike Arlington and the riders who participated. The number of walkers and ninja bikers illuminated was good. Parents getting lights for their kids, walking commuters wearing dark clothing and bike commuters without lights.

The prize of the evening was the illumination of a Chihuahua.

All in all, a fun evening that made a bunch of our neighbors safer.

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There may be an opportunity for some outreach with some runners clubs. While that might be limited to the most involved (responsible?) in the group, it may be a start. I’d think some topical materials in bike and running shops might help as well. It seems that good trails benefit everybody.

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A quick search suggests Brooks has some stuff for runners.

The mittens look intriguing http://www.night-gear.com/brooks-reflective-adapt-glove-793

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@baiskeli 10926 wrote:

I see hazardous dullards out on bikes every day on the trail.

I’d expect the dullards would be less hazardous if they just stood there.

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I’ll be there.

Dana

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I swapped the black RoadID band for a brighter one and strapped it to my helmet (one less thing to forget). I also have the same info on a laminated card behind my drivers license in my wallet (assuming the responder will take my license out of the wallet to read it).

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@jrenaut 10541 wrote:

I had to drive my wife the National airport at 4pm today. That was miserable. I was incredibly jealous of the few bikes I saw on the trails. They looked way happier than me, despite the rain.

Not wanting to salt the wound (well, just a bit), it was pretty sweet today. Traffic in DC sucked (possibly moisture induced stupidity) and the path across the 14th St Bridge was faster on the bike trail.

Great day began with an Arlington Loop with a ride in this afternoon for a meeting in bike clothes. Added a whole new dimension to the concept of casual Thursday.

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If you want the speed without the work, try the speed cameras in Cheverly.

The Washington Examiner reports today http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/maryland/2011/11/speed-camera-company-quits-cheverly-equipment-challenged that the speed cameras “clocked” “bicycles were clocked going 38 and 57 mph”

The only way I would make those speeds is if the recording device were broken.

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14th St Bridge to Crystal City

I regularly find myself on the trail from the 14th Street Bridge to the Water Park tunnel (or occasionally, the 4 Mile Run trail up to Eads) at that time. Most of that portion is open with good visibility. A challenging portion of the trail is the stretch where the trail runs alongside the GW Pkwy just south of Roach’s Run. Late in the day you get auto headlights right in the face in that area. In a couple years of riding that route, I’ve never seen someone that gives me pause. Lot of walkers/runners with your standard cohort of ninjas.

Last winter there was an occasional homeless gent sleeping under one of the bridges in the morning but I never saw any problems.

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Rode the South Trail from the Humpback this afternoon. The trail extends to the south around the Pentagon Lagoon (that seems to be what the Columbia Island Marina calls the pond) about 0.2 miles and stops at the base of I 395. Kind of a bummer as the end of the trail appears to be about 1/6 mile (straight line) from the Boundary Channel Drive underpass under 395. From the underpass, it could be fairly easy to connect to the Long Bridge Park trail/path.

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Holy crap Batman! 16.8 posts per day! Dirt’s most venerated status may be in jeopardy.

I fear Roscoe may be communicating with the single likely audience that serves to disprove the hypothesis – the members of this forum. I’d wager his thoughts are going unheard by those that have helped form that thesis.

Every day I’m sure each of us see a cyclist doing something boneheaded. It is those folks that would benefit from this discussion. Absent specifics (often difficult to provide), this has become something of a Talmudic discussion (how many angels can actually ride on a given bike?). While it has been fun to offer an opinion or two, the conversation seems to have deteriorated to something along the lines of “I’m right because you are wrong” Like most disputes, the truth is likely somewhere in the middle. Maybe I take a lane longer than is necessary or maybe the motorist is an ill tempered hothead. Both could be true, or neither. From a probabilistic perspective, the distribution of right-wrong is not likely to be binary. Most of our actions are likely to have a little of each in them.

Let’s look for specific, actionable things each of us could implement to make our use of the roads and trails a bit more harmonious. A great exemplar of that type discussion is the recent threads on flashing light use. Not only were they enjoyable, I learned something!

The collective experience of this forum has demonstrated an amazing ability to collaboratively focus on many of the cycling issues of the day and craft workable solutions/strategies. That has helped promote cycling in the area, which I think is one of the broad goals we all joined for. This thread might need to go down in the agree to disagree category.

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I’d like to offer a contrary opinion, particularly in light of my opinion that any of those “rudest people” probably aren’t on this forum anyway.

While I’ve been amazed at the stupidity of some cyclists/motorists/runners/pedestrians (choose one or more based on your personal experience), I am gratified (to a greater extent) by the kindness and concern of others. Absent a census to quantify who is who, my assessment is that many riders are pretty good folks.

Look on this forum at a couple of recent threads on bike lights, Dirt crashing to avoid ninjas, and those working to help riders get lights and reflective stuff. I’d argue that our fellow riders are a pretty classy group. The number of times I have been offered help along the trail when I’ve pulled off for some reason is pretty impressive. That has taught me to do the same, and likely made me a better person.

The contributions of the real hard core bikers that are willing to help marshal family rides, help with trail safety, help less experienced riders, make the trails a better place, and above all have some fun should be an inspiration to us all.

That said, is there something to learn from this thread? Without a doubt. I will (try to) call my passes more consistently, watch my headlights, and be a bit more sensitive when I take the lane in traffic.

Food for thought for all of us.

Dana

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I’ll explore the south Humpback Train during my commute on Monday and report.

Here was the note I sent to the Federal Highway Administration last night:

“Thanks for the improvements at the intersection of the 14th Street Bridge bike trail and the Mount Vernon bike trail. The turn is now easier and will help all riders. Eliminating the “speed bump” just south of the Humpback Bridge is also appreciated.

Any prognosis on repairing the trail down from the 14th Street Bridge where the trail was compressed by construction equipment in making the detour last winter? Water pools in the depression and that will present a safety problem as we get nights below freezing.

Thanks for your help.”

When I get a reply (they replied to the other two notes I sent), I’ll share.

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Nope. No equipment was visible this evening, although the repair would have been a piece of cake as they did the other two pieces of work.

Chance of that happening will increase with encouragement. The contact for FHWA is EFL.FHWA@dot.gov

I would expect that operators are standing by! Keep those cards and letters coming in!

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The trail on the north side of the bridge appears to go to the marina and the south trail seems to track around the Boundary Channel (correct name?).

The Federal Highway Administration has information and a graphic at http://www.efl.fhwa.dot.gov/files/projects/traffic/gwmp-1a97/detail-illustration1.jpg

More project details at http://www.efl.fhwa.dot.gov/projects/traffic-humpback-bridge.aspx

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