[Drewdane]

It’s almost always an on/off proposition for me. If I feel too sick to go to work, then I feel too sick to ride; I rarely just feel “a little under the weather”. Makes decision making easy, I guess.

[Drewdane]

@eminva 45462 wrote:

UPDATE:

The W&OD west of Dunn Loring (at least) to Vienna (at least) is impassable, IMO, without studded tires. There are two tracks worn in the snow/ice, one for each direction, but they are covered in black ice. I got off and walked the bike to Cedar and came home on surface streets. During my walk of shame, I had my first ever fall while I was not even on the bike.

I ran into another Freezing Saddles participant coming the other way and she said it was bad all the way from Falls Church.

Okay, now off to assess whether I need medical attention, and face up to my fears about this valuable company asset that was in my pannier on the side of the bike that went down . . .

Liz

The WOD from my house just west of the Rte 7 Overpass in Falls Church to the I66 underpass/WOD/MCT junction was littered with the occasional Ice Turd field, but was passable except for the wooden bridges, which required dismounting. MCT from the WOD to TR Bridge and into DC was fine.

[Drewdane]

@Subby 44995 wrote:

On the way in via WOD/4MRT/MVT I would say it is 50/50 that anyone rings a bell or calls out a pass. And the whole “covering your light” thing? Yeah almost no one does that.

I should probably start saying something.

I sometimes call out “On my left, I guess!” when people do that to me. Passive-aggressive, I know, but it makes me feel better.

[Drewdane]

@baiskeli 45157 wrote:

…so some cyclists can avoid having to slow down a little just to make a turn on a perfectly good bike trail. Hmmm.”

The point many have made in this thread is that the bike trail is far from “perfectly good” and in fact is not even “good enough”.

[Drewdane]

@thecyclingeconomist 43248 wrote:

I have yet to meet “the pink one”… he’s like the wizard from Oz… always out there, mysterious and wonderful, just pink rather than green in this case.

He’s actually a hateful bastard. He says nice things to disarm you, then sticks a pump into your spokes just when you least expect it.

[Drewdane]

@DaveK 44914 wrote:

I never go this way, can someone snap a pic of this? I’m insanely curious.

Ask and ye shall…

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2469[/ATTACH]

[Drewdane]

@Mark Blacknell 44929 wrote:

It’s one guy that lives there, and he’s been known to have the occasionally friendly conversation with folks. Yes, it’s private property*, but I hope folks will just let him be. Been there for years, and never – to my knowledge – has he been a problem to anyone.

*Possibly the most valuable piece of undeveloped private property in DC, depending on what the judge sez.

Indeed. I’ve heard he’s been deported once or twice, and just headed back each time. I guess Home really is where your heart is, whether it’s a McMansion in Loudon County or a rudimentary shelter behind a makeshift fence on the bank of the Potomac!

[Drewdane]

Me: Commuting home from DC on the Custis/WOD on an unseasonably warm January evening.

You: Ninja drafter (*sigh*)

Me: Slowing down on the approach to the I-66 underpass to safely pick through the plethora of pedestrians, dog-walkers, moms with strollers, small children, etc. taking advantage of said warm evening

You: While passing me shortly afterwards, calling back “there’s such a thing as being too careful!”

Me: SMH/Facepalm combo…

[Drewdane]

@baiskeli 44511 wrote:

But I thought you just said they were.

What’s the advantage of the parking lot?

I’m not sure how you came to that conclusion. To answer your question though, I refer you to the posts by Dasgeh and TwoWheelsDC – I can’t improve on what they wrote.

[Drewdane]

@baiskeli 44504 wrote:

Well, if the trail and lot are the same, just don’t hop the curb.

They aren’t.

[Drewdane]

@Greenbelt 44497 wrote:

Advisory criteria saltfall is expected this afternoon in parts of North-Central Prince’s George’s county. Salt levels may accumulate to as much as one-quarter to one-half inch in favored locations. After being crushed down by car tires, salt may powerderize, and blowing and drifting salt could be a hazard.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2450[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]2451[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]2452[/ATTACH]

This time of year, I carry a rag and a bottle of lube in a ziploc bag in my pack, just for a quick chain wipedown at my destination.

[Drewdane]

@baiskeli 44498 wrote:

The trail works fine. It’s not optimal, but it works. You simply have to slow down a little to use it. It’s not a dirt road, or a busy highway, or a narrow strip full of broken glass. It’s a trail. It’s usable.

The parking lot works fine too, and it is closer to optimal than the trail. It is every bit as safe as (if not safer than) the trail, and is rarely busy enough that bicyclists would pose an additional hazard to themselves or others.

IMO, the biggest hazard to using the parking lot is the potential damage to my wheels from hopping the curb while the jersey barriers are in place.

[Drewdane]

bilsko;38149 wrote:

eminva took a picture

Daaaamn!

[Drewdane]

@baiskeli 44042 wrote:

It’s too bad there isn’t a trail going past the parking lot that you could use instead.

Too bad the trail going past the parking lot is unsuited to cyclists’ practical needs for reasons mentioned upthread.

[Drewdane]

Aaand, after several months of blissfully unimpeded traversal of the TR Island parking lot, the damned barriers were back again this morning. Argh.

Back to jumping the parkway-side curb again…

[Author]

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