[huskerdont]

@Judd 196968 wrote:

I think Arlington is pretty great to ride in. I feel much safer riding in Arlington than I do in DC. Compared to other places I’ve lived riding in Arlington (and even DC) is waaaay better than most cities I’ve lived or visited. It could be much better.

I kind of agree with this, but I think it depends on where you are riding in Arlington (and also DC). In general, in DC the traffic is going slower. There are many more opportunities for conflicts, but those conflicts are likely to be at slower speeds than, say, Lee Highway or Military. But if you just ride the trails in Arlington, and you are attentive at the intersections, it does feel safer.

[huskerdont]

@Dachs6 196933 wrote:

I wonder who made those tracks?!

The Germany one is der Bierpuncheur. Der H on the leaderboard.

[huskerdont]

@Emm 196927 wrote:

I’m with huskerdont on this one. Sometimes I’ll drive up behind 2 bikes. If they’re solid lights, they can be mistaken at a distance for poorly shaped rear car tail lights. Blinky lights are always either peds or bikes so I recognize those quick.

At the end of the day though when I’m driving, the first thing I consistently see are reflective things. The ones on the back of ortlieb panniers are AMAZING. I saw and noticed those wayyy in advance of any other red light on a bike I was driving behind earlier this week. Giant reflective patch = clearly not a car so I immediately knew I needed to up my caution level. I’ve also gotten comments from cars that they loved them when they saw mine while driving behind me at night.

Reflecting backpacks like the Oertleib and the stripes on the Banjo Brothers such are a huge passive help in any cases where there are headlights.

I would like to modify my original post though; the cyclist was probably a decent bit less than a mile away. While we drove a mile at 55 or so, of course he was cycling along at 15 to 20. There’s math that can determine that distance, I’m told.

[huskerdont]

@dasgeh 196910 wrote:

I have biked a lot for a long time, and I do not think a blinking light helps identify bikes. It just makes it hard to tell how far away you are.

As a cyclist who is also a motorist, I have to disagree. This summer, for instance, driving along Shore Drive in Virginia Beach (where a bike lane sits right next to 55-mph traffic), I remember having my attention drawn to a cyclist by his blinky who turned out to be almost a mile away. Registered to me subconsciously before I was fully aware of it that there must be a cyclist ahead.

[huskerdont]

@run/bike 196852 wrote:

Honest question: how do you convey to the front strobers that they ARE a legitimate safety hazard on the trail after dark. I’m not advocating an expletive-laden tirade or anything, but a kind (and firm) “Please turn off the strobe!” in the roughly two seconds that you’re passing them seems pretty reasonable to let someone know they’re really not being cool to their fellow trail users. (I’ll admit to deploying this a few times recently after dark on the Custis, where the strobe effect bouncing off the sound walls was completely blinding) Passive aggressive? I don’t know. Again you only have 1.5-2 seconds of interaction in passing. You could always stop and block their path to convey your request, but that could be perceived as, you know, aggressive-aggressive.

I’m also pretty sure strobers know exactly what they’re doing. It only takes one encounter with someone running a front strobe for any normal person to be like, “yeah, definitely shouldn’t do that to anyone”. And a strobe being a strobe, there’s no way for the operator to claim that they didn’t know it was in that mode or forgot to switch it to solid. Dude, you KNOW.

NOTE: When talking about strobes I mean legit bike lights operating in strobe/flash mode, not those 3 lumen planet bike blinky lights. Run those bad boys all you want in whatever configuration. We’re cool.

It’s difficult to communicate anything in those few seconds in a way that might not be perceived poorly, at least for such as me, so I’ve pretty much stopped any efforts like that.

I do think some strobers are oblivious. I have forgotten myself once or twice, including last year’s FS finale when I pulled up at Hains Point. If they’re oblivious, a word could make a difference, but if they know what they’re doing and don’t care, what are you going to do.

[huskerdont]

@sjclaeys 196760 wrote:

Had a runner this morning purposely shine their light into my eyes and yell out “How does that feel?!” I yelled back “Great!”.

Was this on the Custis, perhaps near Lee Hwy? Could be the same guy who said almost exactly the same thing as he ran me off the trail a few years back; we very nearly came to blows as he followed me into the verge yelling aggressively. (I picked up my steel bike and shoved it toward his face and he backed off.) Funny thing is, my helmet light had not been in his eyes until he ran me off the trail and came after me since I turn it away from people when riding.

If the same guy, that dude is bad news and a problem waiting to happen–surprised it hasn’t already.

[huskerdont]

Glad to be on Wintry Mixtes, the best team. Or the 24th best. We shall see.

[huskerdont]

@jrenaut 165928 wrote:

I think the plan is Crooked Run, Rocket Frog, and Old Ox. All these options, though – gives me some goals for Freezing Saddles.

I don’t know if you ended up doing this, but I went to Lost Rhino twice over the weekend, and also scoped out Crooked Run and Rocket Frog for future trips. Obvs the easiest of all is Old Ox, but Crooked Run and Rocker Frog were pretty easy as well. I love Lost Rhino, but that ride over there is def. not family friendly. The two-lane portion is one thing, but once you cross 640 and get on the 4-lane–that actually seemed worse. Lots of SUVs doing 50+ mph and cutting back in front of me aggressively. Perhaps they would behave better toward a family than a single male though.

Laughably, there were intermittent pathways in some places. One started from Hampshire Park near the W&OD, but it just ended in the middle of some mud; after that I just stuck to the road. Perhaps they are planning to continue it and connect the pathways up eventually.

[huskerdont]

@lordofthemark 196582 wrote:

Also a lot of trail users have limited English language ability.

And some people can’t hear at all, whatevs, you can’t fix everything.

[huskerdont]

@Crickey7 196571 wrote:

Bells and lights. The two great trail debates that will never be settled.

As well as helment laws and the Idaho/Delaware/Oregon stop.

[huskerdont]

@secstate 196558 wrote:

I got my bell precisely to avoid using my voice!

Don’t get me wrong, I have bells on most of my bikes. I’ll use the bell in certain situations and the voice in others. But especially on the Custis and MVT where it can be pretty bumpy, taking the hand off the hoods to reach for the bell, to me, is more dangerous than a simple “passing on your left.”

[huskerdont]

@secstate 196489 wrote:

There’s no real solution to this. The bells annoy some people, others (like me) nearly jump out out their pants if a bike passes without audible warning.

To many pedestrians, especially those not familiar with local trail conventions, a bell, especially a loud one, just means “get out of my way.” I use my voice for this reason, but of course, that annoys some people too.

[huskerdont]

Mine show up without any tagging, but it’s usually only one per ride, and not necessarily the default (1st) Strava photo.

[huskerdont]

Always partial to orange bikes and snow.

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[huskerdont]

The only trail more beautiful than a full trail is an empty one:

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