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No downed trees or clogged drain-induced deep puddles today and the geese kept away from the trails. So, even with rain, all was good.

However, there was a car in the greenery below the MVT just south of Trollheim, facing the wrong way (clearly from a state that does not require front plates because it had one that said “Farm Use”. Maybe it should have stayed on the farm (and it looked like a pretty standard non-farm vehicle to me) and the torn-up grass showing that it came from the parkway. Again. People on this forum keep asking why NPS won’t improve Trollheim (especially at the split) to reduce falls even if something like 75% or cyclists have fallen on it. Well, they do not seem to want to fix the parkway where a car goes off the road about once every two or three months, so why would they bother with us. I do fear one of these times such a car taking out trail users.

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Tree down on MVT just north of Trollheim (just south of parking lot and trail to Roosevelt Island).
Covered in vines (none looked like poison ivy) and a bit tall/wide so can be difficult to cross, especially with bikes catching on the vines.
I believe I sent a message to NPS (one is never sure with those forms).

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Spotted goslings this morning along the MVT. Only one family grouping, but I would guess more are out there. Time to watch for the over protective parents who like to attack trail users.

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Yesterday morning was a great ride, except for witnessing a brainless move at IOD. Cyclist passes me at Ft Myer Dr Custis crossing as we head towards Lynn. The signal at Lynn turned to a solid hand as he passed the monolith, but he kept going and seemed confused/annoyed that he had to stop in the middle of the road for the cars and forced them to allow him through (honking, as they should in this instance) in the last few seconds of their green. Definitely an idiot, but not sure if the brainless type or self-absorbed type (likely the latter with a good bit of the former).
Definitely not a PAL.

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I had the cutest attempt at being CAT6’d on the way home. Cycling 4MRT by the disc golf course, a kid coming towards me, quickly flipped direction and tried to keep ahead of me. Spinning for all he could, looking back to see if he was beating me or not (bit of a smirk on his face too). While he was pedaling much faster than I was, his wheels were way too small to outrun me. He looked maybe 7 years old.
I told him he was a great cyclist, but his wheels were too small, today.

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@drevil 177878 wrote:

Dangit! I knew I shoulda taken a pic from this morning’s CPCC at Board and Brew!… but I didn’t.

Does this count though?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]17848[/ATTACH]

Are the rules “picture” or “photograph”? If the former, I think interpretations like yours should work, especially if someone can vouch for your presence. But I am just watching this game.

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I was pleasantly surprised that 4MRT and W&OD seemed clear of (majority) of the mud, sand and muck that was there in the morning (I turned off at Bluemont, so did not make it to the Wilson underpass, but I am assuming it was cleared).

This morning biking on the Custis, there was no water as described yesterday – the drain area was cleared of mud and muck.

I sent a thank you note to Arlington trails about it.

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@NovaEbike 177478 wrote:

It was quite floody and muddy out there this morning. The underpass on W&OD at Bluemont was really dangerous. The creek flooded and brought a LOT of mud and sediment onto the path that wants to pull you down. Same with the underpass under Carlin Springs.

The underpasses on 4MRT where they’re doing construction was also REALLY muddy, not slick but it COVERED me and my bike. That next section with the dip before the right hand turn was just as bad.

And path next to the 4MR river coming up to the MVT was flooded in 3 sections, some 6-8″ deep.

So SUPER fun commute. Be safe out there

When I heard that I-66 was closed due to flooding at Spout Run, I decided not to take Custis to MVT thinking the trail would be flooded and I wasn’t sure how high the tide was so thought parts of MVT might be flooded. So, I took W&OD and 4MRT to Meade to Army-Navy Dr. I expected the Wilson underpass to be flooded and was surprised to see little water, but there was a lot of muddy sand even before one got close, so I bailed and crossed Wilson instead. Agree with all the assessments of NovaEbike. I just told a co-worker that I didn’t get rained on this morning, I got mudded on. And my gear looks it.

4MRT itself is flooded at all the lower fords. I didn’t look at the trail under Carlin Springs Road as I was trying to avoid all the debris (the water was clearly very high at some point), so not sure if it were flooded, but I would guess it is covered in debris. The ford south of the dog park at Glynn Carlin Park was not flooded (it is a high one), but there is a large tree butted up against it. Not sure how that will shift as the water recedes.

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@semperiden 176806 wrote:

Trollheim was surprisingly clear this afternoon (except for a small patch under the bridge). MVT from Georgetown to 4MR was clear.

This was excellent news to see this morning. Took Custis – MVT – LBJ Grove – Pentagon

The Spout Run ice rink was still present, but smaller than the descriptions I heard yesterday – the westbound lane was clear or very thin ice so I and a runner decided to take that instead of the eastbound as we should have. Otherwise only some clumps of snow/frozen slush still on trails, especially in the shadowed areas, like the I-66 bridges over Trollheim (and those were quite passable).

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@mstone 176767 wrote:

Honestly, I have to fault the ped on this one. They are literally right at the edge of a lit segment, in the shadows between the lights–I’m pretty careful behind the wheel but I’m not sure I would have seen her either. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO9iRUx5wmM Look at the time between 2 and 3 seconds–the feet basically appear out of nowhere. There are no reflectors on the bike wheels or tires. And the pedestrian doesn’t seem to be looking up at the lights on the car, or reacting at all–did they just assume the car would stop? Clearly the driver was being paid to do a job that they weren’t actually doing, but I’m not sure how much of a difference that made.

Just like drivers don’t understand how dangerous a lot of what they do is, I don’t think pedestrians/cyclists always understand how hard it is for drivers to see something that’s not lit or reflective when driving on a road filled with a lot of brightly lit objects that are making it hard to see darker objects–the pedestrian can see fine and assumes that the driver can as well, but that’s simply not the case. (And that only gets worse when a young cyclist is using what they can see to guess what an older driver can see.) I know a lot of people take the reflectors off their wheels because they’re uncool or something, but really the reflectors are usually the only thing I see when approaching a cyclist. (Dim blinkies are way less visible than a reflector bouncing back a significant fraction of the ~1400 lumens I’m sending down the road.) The wheel reflectors are the only thing that will typically be visible when approaching from the side as in this case. And the street lights only make things worse if you’re not under the streetlight.

Also, the comment about the road design being fatally bad is absolutely correct. At the very least, there should be a light at the crossing. Except then they wouldn’t be able to pretend that there isn’t a crossing. I would predict that their response, if any, will be a fence.

Possible ped was at fault or partially at fault – as a ped I always cross very quickly in situations where I do not have a walk signal (and sometimes when I do), but oh so many people seem to feel that they can stroll or saunter. I do not know the expectation there – some places have more expectation than others.
The images we see on youtube are not necessarily what the person in the drivers seat will see nor what the sensors can detect – I find that camera images are typically darker than what my eyeballs see. And the sensor system should have a greater ability to sense differences.

I do wonder what the vehicle would do around here with deer. Or anywhere with other animals. They do not wear reflectors (if I can figure out how to get the W&OD herd to wear them, I will try it). They appear to walk, jump or run suddenly into a path. They are difficult to detect, but if self driving cars continually hit deer, they won’t be used. If the algorithms and sensors could sense deer, this cyclist would probably not have been hit.

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Camera footage now released. See on NPR page: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/21/595941015/police-in-arizona-release-dashcam-video-of-fatal-crash-involving-self-driving-ca

Looks like (1) she was crossing from the paved median to the side with the desire trails. (2) The driver was not paying attention at all. And likely (3) the sensors either weren’t working at all or the algorithm is not good enough. (as someone who works with/develops sensors and algorithms to find things in data, I know these things are only as good as all the cases the develops thought of, if that good. Pedestrians not at cross walks at night should have been thought of and designed for).

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W&OD was plowed in Arlington.
Worst area on trail between Custis turn off and first bridge. All bridges bad but passible if you take the right line (only flintstoned for one bridge). Some patchy areas bad.
4MRT parallel to W&OD was plowed (as far as I could see).
4MRT underpasses (I-395 and Glebe) were fine in the actual underpasses, but some patchy ice that will likely clear soon was on the approaches.

Army-Navy Drive PBL mostly clear eastbound – entrance area can be avoided, but area at top of hill (in shadow of the big wall) was thin snow (like more snow came after they cleared it).

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@KWL 176711 wrote:

The MVT from Key Bridge to 4MRT was slushy and fun on the Pugsley. It will be terrible tomorrow morning if the temps dip below freezing. Thank you Arlington County and Alexandria City for the trail clearing. Too bad it all stops when one gets to Federal land.

Now I am torn. Tomorrow morning do I ride the cleared Custis to the uncleared MVT to LBJ grove to Pentagon City or the uncleared W&OD to the cleared 4MRT to Eads? Or do I assume that the Washington Blvd trail is cleared so do Custis to Ft. Myer to Washington Blvd? Anyone been on the Washington Blvd trail between the cemetery area to Pentagon?

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I walked the Custis between the Ballston connector and W&OD (returning at 7 pm). The Custis was cleared from W&OD to past the Ballston connector and I presume to MVT, since they usually do that. The W&OD from Custis towards East Falls Church was cleared as far as I could see. Heading in the other direction, the W&OD looked partially cleared but could have been from use rather than plow, and I couldn’t see far. The Ballston connector was cleared. The entrances to the Custis trail were not plowed, but some were partially cleared by use.

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I was thrilled on my commute home on Wednesday – they cleared the bike lane on Army-Navy Drive from Joyce south and west to the Apartments! I didn’t have to divert into the buffer or road as has been needed frequently due to branches, rocks, glass, etc.

I was thrilled on my commute home on Thursday – they cleared the bike lane on Army-Navy Drive from the Apartments to the Country Club! I didn’t have to divert into the buffer or road as has been needed frequently due to branches, rocks, glass, etc.

It was getting bad – and crazy bad after last week’s wind. I also sent a note to thank the county.

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