[gibby]

They’re also back at TJ Memorial making stops at the bottom of the 14th St Bridge for not taking to the sidewalk on the short one-way stretch of road.

[gibby]

@scoot 138005 wrote:

But it’s all relative, right? Sounds like it would have been worse in a car.

Yesterday was too windy, too cold, sun in my eyes, drivers gone bonkers–but yet compared to taking metro–No Contest!
And this morning was what makes it all worthwhile- slight tailwind, legs feelin good, bike not squeaking, warmer weather in the air…

[gibby]

Lots of walking and CaBi commuters on the MVT from CC heading downtown. I expect the evening trail rush hour will fairly congested with the returning hordes, joggers, plane spotters..

[gibby]

@Starduster 136399 wrote:

Hi. I have not been on the Mt. Vernon Trail, specifically the Reagan National (DCA) section, since they started the road construction and exit ramp removal project. I missed the debut of the mulch cycling surface…lucky me. What’s it like currently?

if you really want to experience the joy of the Mulch Run, you could hop a barrier and go off road :cool:… otherwise the newly-paved section is mostly done, with construction on the shoulders.

[gibby]

@komorebi 134612 wrote:

The MVT is flooded near the north end of the Washington Sailing Marina, by the s-curve. The trail is covered in several inches of standing water for about 50 feet.

High tide on 4MR under Rt1 made for a real eeewwwww cruise thru all sorts of ummmmm ‘debris.’

[gibby]

@Terpfan 133744 wrote:

Thanks, I will just huff it over the Longbridge route tomorrow I suppose. Tricky part will be remembering how to connect to mvt from there rather than Memorial as it lools like 14th was done. Anyone been by the marina? I recall reading it was a mess. Hence wondering if the footpath around lake may be just as easy as marina.

As of Friday evening, it still required some bike hauling, but part of that was due to riding on road slicks. The wooden bridge should have a wide enough path by Monday morning, tho the path thru the park may still be crunchy. The parking lot was rideable, even on Thursday, and the deadly icy patches should be gone. Humpback Bridge still had a section with about 2 feet of snow, but once thru that, it should be pretty smooth up to the 14th St Br.

The biggest problem may be figuring out which layers to wear in this crazy temperature swing.

[gibby]

@Judd 133476 wrote:

Sad story… the tire tracks on the left in the first picture are mine from the time I over optimistically dragged my bike through LBJ both before and after I over optimistically dragged my bike over a portion of the Mt. Vernon trail.

The one benefit of an frosty morning is that the snowpack up to Humpback Bridge is solid enough to walk on without sinking in. HB seems to be a major snow dumping ground and a slow slog over.
14th St Bridge is totally snow free–they clearly didn’t go one inch further than they needed to so as not to touch any portion of the ramp on the VA side.

[gibby]

@dasgeh 133357 wrote:

NPS GWMP confirmed that they have no plans to clear the MVT at all this year. I have no idea how effective Mother Nature has been so far. You might want to focus on the on road connections (get to Boundary Channel Dr, then use the 27 Trail, if that’s cleared, to the Memorial Bridge, which is supposed to be clear).

The good news is that they are engaged and at least talking to us.

Probably not surprising that bike trail clearing is near the bottom of their priorities- esp. considering all the budget cuts Congress has imposed on NPS.
In the FY2016 NPS budget, the only mention of ‘bicycles’ is for additional racks in Golden Gate Park.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/federal-eye/wp/2015/03/25/national-park-service-delayed-11-billion-in-maintenance-last-year/
http://www.nps.gov/aboutus/upload/FY-2016-Greenbook.pdf

[gibby]

@jrenaut 133349 wrote:

According to pictures on Twitter, it’s clear.

Wow, that’s a first! I figured we were in for at least a week of slogging thru the muck there.
I’ve held off riding the Long Bridge route since I figured it meant bike hauling thru the marina park and across 14th Br. Hafta give it a go tomorrow..

[gibby]

I was talking to a colleague at work the other day about biking in this weather and she said “Oh, it’s like going skiing.”
Ding!
Exactly!
Fortunately no ski boots, but all the rest of the clothing gear is the same.
…nice n toasty..

[gibby]

Walmart garbage day. I knew there was a reason they existed!

[gibby]

Nice to see some fellow travelers this morning on the MVT (tho with that brutal wind in my eyes it was hard to see much of anything).
It was pretty lonely last week as I was apparently 1 of only about 3 people working downtown.

[gibby]

drizzly! chilly! foggy! Ahhhh fond memories of December riding in the PacNW..

[gibby]

@creadinger 129949 wrote:

For your entertainment, I’m just going to leave this here….

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273793754_CARBON_FIBRE_MASCULINITY

The corelations and conclusions of this paper are so bizarre (?, i can’t even think of the right adjective) that I couldn’t look away and had to keep reading… and re-reading.
Perhaps the writer is trying out for the Pistorius defense team or looking to become a trial expert in the burgeoning field of carbon fiber insanity defense.
Here’s someone who tried to de-crpyt the logic-
https://medium.com/@yooks/when-feminism-meets-carbon-fibres-d4f5ef89b21a#.snu4n7x5q

[gibby]

I’ve done this a couple times during the earlier part of the day and can imagine the dread of doing it during evening rush hour, but if you don’t mind going a few blocks further afield, Q St. goes all the way across town. It’s basically a 2 lane street (1 1/2 lanes at times) with very low volume traffic and the lights were pretty well timed for a decent cruising speed.
Or N St works too, once you get past about 17th St.

[Author]

Posts