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Beautiful morning for a ride. Although apparently so beautiful all the fair-weather riders were out in matching kit today too. 10min earlier to the monolith than yesterday but a count of about 75 greater than yesterday. At least everyone was pretty courteous today.

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Custis detour is well marked if you are on the Custis already. However, if your usual entry point is on Harrison or Frederick, there is no indication until you get to the trail itself, although you may notice a detour sign from the side as you whiz past them going down hill to the trail. I did only get close enough on Harrison to notice that there was no closure on the eastern access trail entrance at Harrison St so there may have been one before actually at the trail, but you would still enter the access trail before you had knowledge, especially if you were coming northbound on Harrison. I looked down Frederick St as I passed and saw no signage until the trail itself. Signs southbound on Harrison and Frederick just before 10th about using 10th for the detail would be useful.

Bobcats or the like in the cul de sac at Aberdeen, so perhaps they will be starting the second portion today?

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@Tim Kelley 121878 wrote:

Update!

Any idea what the detour route might be? Or is it a wait and see?

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@Crickey7 121574 wrote:

In my version of the Idaho stop, I throw a potato at a rider who does what the rider in that video did.

You must be weighed down quite a bit with potatoes when you ride. I easily see a few for every ride I am on and quite a lot on my long rides.

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@DrP 121070 wrote:

As of last evening, that Hose (or whatever it is) did have cones around it and was wrapped in yellow tape, so it is a little more obvious now.

Also, this morning as I was on the Custis, I glanced up the access trail at McCoy Park (near 21st street) while passing and noticed a tree across the path. I reported that to Arlington County.

The hose now has added blocks around it making it harder to go over since you need to avoid the blocks to find an area to ride over the hose. And more cones. They would be better off adding ramps over it.

Tree cleared.

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@GovernorSilver 121131 wrote:

Burned by the weather forecast again!

Rode the Metro in because of the 60% chance of thunderstorms from 3 PM to 9 PM or whatever. Could have been enjoying an evening commute ride right now.

In March, when I came to accept that my “reasons” for not commuting by bicycle were actually excuses, I too looked at the weather each morning and made a decision for what the later day would bring. After a few days of having it be wrong, I decided that if it weren’t pouring rain or blasting snow as I left in the morning, I would bike in to work . If it really were impossible to get home by bike, then I could metro. In general I have found that occasionally waiting a bit or donning my rain gear were all that was needed to get home. Once I stopped for a few minutes under an underpass to wait out the worst of some rain. I have been rained on going to work a few times, but oh well. No metro yet.

They really cannot predict weather very well here by the nature of the area (mountains throw a big wrench in things), especially since the predictions cover the state of MD, DC, and most of the state of VA. It is too large an area to be right consistently, especially for storms.

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As of last evening, that Hose (or whatever it is) did have cones around it and was wrapped in yellow tape, so it is a little more obvious now.

Also, this morning as I was on the Custis, I glanced up the access trail at McCoy Park (near 21st street) while passing and noticed a tree across the path. I reported that to Arlington County.

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Should I expect a reply from them? I e-mailed the superintendent address yesterday about the Poison Ivy I spotted, but have not heard back. Not even an “thank you for contacting us” type reply.

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Thank you very much! Numbers 2 and 3 were the same plant as number 1. I will let NPS know that they might want to clean up those areas and possibly check more of the trail – there is far more growth south of 495, but I didn’t get that far yesterday.

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I am glad to hear that my commute to work will be a little smoother soon, and less likely to bump my panniers off.

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A little late on the update, but trail was open Friday evening, although detour signs were still up (and may have been Thursday evening, but I followed the detour signs then, just in case.).

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I was thinking that I was finally going to have a week without being rained on any evening commute home, until that localized shower hit me as I was approaching and riding through Ballston. Sure, the sun was shining and it was light and refreshing rain, but you had to get me.

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Detour signs!

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I tried Arlington Mill as a detour last night (thank you for letting me know that worked) after, just for the extra exercise, I rode to the signs telling me the trail was closed because how was one to officially know that it were closed until you got there. Note that these are the same signs as before, basically at the closure, nothing at the intersection before it. There were two traffic cones on the southern Arlington Mill connector with no purpose (they got lost? Ran away? Falls Church policeman wandering the neighborhood?) So this trail closure is just like what they have been doing to the trail along S. Arlington Mill Dr in Shirlington on and off about a week or two ago. Namely, you do not see it until you have to turn around and go back a ways to make a safe change in plans, although in that case at least, you could go around the signs and keep on the trail since they were working to the side. They would never do this to cars – they would have a sign of “road closed ahead, local traffic only” at the last intersection.

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Just so people know, the closure is on the Four Mile Run Trail. The closure is small, but there is no way around it and no warnings at the last chance to turn off the trail (Yes, I needed to backtrack last evening). It is between the two exits to Arlington Mill Road. If coming from the South, you should turn off on to W&OD at that nasty little hill by 9th street (between the two fords) or get off on Arlington Mill Road itself, although I am not sure that you can get back on the trail with the access on Arlington Mill Road (no idea what that street looks like). If coming from the North, you should get on to the W&OD at Glencarlyn Park, although perhaps it is possible to go up the exit to Arlington Mill Road (I couldn’t tell from the W&OD) and still no idea what that road looks like. Oh, and you can smell the issue from before Columbia Pike.

Why can’t they post detour signs?

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