[JeffC]

@mrkenny83 19680 wrote:

This morning, I had my first passing-gone-wrong incident.

I was on the wood/bridge portion of MVT (by the TR Bridge/66) and there was a woman jogging in the center of the route. I ring my bell way far in advance to no avail. I start yelling “passing on your left” with no success. As I get closer, I get panicky and louder – “I’M ABOUT TO PASS ON YOUR LEFT, PLEASE MOVE OVER TO THE RIGHT!”

I realize she can’t hear me, so I begin my deceleration. As I’m approaching her, out of nowhere, she spins around to begin jogging in the opposite direction (now towards me). I have to break harder/faster…. and since I’m on the wet wood, my rear tire fishtails, I fall, and skid about 5 feet.

The woman looks down at me and yells “F**K YOU A**HOLE! YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO WARN PEOPLE WHEN YOU’RE NEAR THEM”

I waived as she flicked me off and continued her run. I couldn’t help but hear the sound of another cyclist fall/skid. I wonder if she was the culprit there, too…..

Have a great day lady.

Wow, hope you are better. If I had been in your shoes, unless the woman was pregnant, I might have taken physical action. This is yet another reason why our bike infrastructure is not that good and why we need separate bike only paths. My dream is to some day have the Custis be bike only from say 4 to 7 pm from April through September.

[JeffC]

Towels can be a problem. The typical bath towel is way too large and thick and a hand towel is too small. I found some towels on line that are thin and about mid way in size between a bath towel and a hand towel. I don’t need much more to dry myself and I only use it once before laundering. It’s also annoying to have to lug around a large towel in my gear when I really need something just a bit bigger than a hand towel. I’ve never had problems with it drying, think I picked up a dozen for $15, they kind of remind me of the gym towels they hand out at places like Golds Gym.

[JeffC]

At one time I kept bike clothes during the day in a small locker in a different part of my office building but the air flow was so bad that the clothes started getting mold spots.

I have a small office and on the side of a metal filing cabinet which is out of view, I affixed two small hooks (they have an adhesive backing). i put my shorts on one and shirt on another. On a coat rack on a hanger, I put my towel. I only wear my clothes once per commute and always start with fresh ones in the morning. This is another reason to go slow in the morning since those clothes will be around for 9 hours or so and I have to wear them on the return trip.

I don’t use air freshener but a colleague noted a smell once so I use now a 16 oz container of odor absorbing gel. CVS sells it for about $5. It does not smell to me and works pretty well and can easily be kept near your clothes yet out of view.

[JeffC]

After a very busy winter (thanks to moderate weather), I have been stalled a bit too on biking over the past two weeks with various ailments.

As to recovery, there is definitly a recognized process called “muscle memory” wherein ones muscles and central nervous system having once been acquainted with a type of physical endeavor, more quickly readapt to it than if learning it anew.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_memory

[JeffC]

I’ll continue the dog pile on the NPS theme here. I ride on the Falls Church City Streets, the W&OD, Custis Trail, and Mt. Vernon from Rosslyn to the 14th Street Bridge. My understanding is that the Mt. Vernon at this stretch is administered by the NPS. By far and away, this is the worst part of my ride in terms of trail quality. It’s narrow and badly rutted but there is plenty of space to accomodate widening.

I’ve often thought that getting in and out of DC is the worst part of my commute. One would think that DC and the NPS could come up with some better bike lane solution to get from the 14th St Bridge to say the Smithsonian or Metro Center. As it is, cyclists are forced to share crowded sidewalks or crowded roadways. It’s pathetic that on the entire National Mall, we could not have a narrow stretch clearly marked and cordoned off for cyclists across its length; it is easy enough to cross it width wise though. This would be nice for the tourists on their CaBi rides as well.

But on that stretch from the 14th St Bridge to the Mint Bureau, I would love to have a bike lane on the road going with the traffic flow and one on the sidewalk going the opposite direction. This would be safer for peds, bikers and cars. Why don’t I think it is going to happen soon?

[JeffC]

Yup I saw it too this morning about 8 am. The PP were giving two people tickets.

[JeffC]

I may chime in again in a few days after I focus in on bad spots but here is what comes to mind immediately:

1) West of Glebe Road geographically, as one is headed eastbound there is a slight downhill slope and then a mostly flat yet curved area until one reaches a short climb over the I66 offramp to Glebe Road. On the downhill stretch I describe, the trail is badly rutted in both directions, each direction I find myself lifting my bum out of the saddle. It is a little worse on the eastbound side as most east bound riders will try to ride on the westbound lane. One really gets slowed down on the westbound side.

2) East bound after pond/mystery chimney to S Curve of Death, there is a small rest area with a covered bench and drinking fountain, as you continue to head east, there is a blind curve. It would be nice to have a mirror there on both sides and a sign reminding peds to stay right because bikers pass even when they cannot always see.

3) As one continues east from this spot there is a small hill, then a rapid descent. At the flat crest of the hill where speed is not an issue, there are some bad ruts that force most east bound people to the other lane. Then there is a descent and a long mostly flat straight away.

4) The descent flattens out and is then next to I66 for awhile. This stretch is in poor condition until the overpass at Lee Hwy. There is a patch of black asphalt meant to correct something that actually makes it worse. Then a bit farther east some very bad ruts that nearly every east bound rider scoots over to the other lane for.

5) I expect congestion on the part of the Custis in Rosslyn but it could be eased by some wider pavement cutouts as the sidewalk merges into the street. These cutouts from the pavement into the street are barealy wide enough for two bikes to pass abreast or for a biker to pass a ped.

[JeffC]

@vvill 18272 wrote:

Agreed. Generally if there is not much trail traffic and the pedestrian/runner is going slow and steady I will go as far left as possible and just ride past. I’ll call or use my bell otherwise. With cyclists I’m still not sure. I passed someone mashing really slowly on a Custis hill one time and got a “call your pass!” or similar but there was no one else around and I passed well clear from them. Often I will call for cyclists and get zero acknowledgment. And of course I’ve been passed with no call many times – which I don’t mind except when it’s a group of 3+ pacelining downhill.

To be clear, I don’t mean “startle” as in giving somebody a heart attack but more startle as to make somebody running in the middle of the trail be aware they are on a shared path and cannot meander like they have consumed a six pack.

LOL, the slow masher was probably me. What’s wrong with saying you are passing every time? As has been stated here many times, the Custis has parts in poor conditions and is treated as a de facto one lane trail in certain locations with many riders veering in the other lane to avoid rutted spots. Maybe the other biker sees something like glass or debris or something ahead that somebody coming up behind does not, maybe the other biker is going to turn but is too lazy to signal and does not think anybody is behind them. Even if the trail appears clear to you, it might not be to somebody with better visibility, nothing wrong with saying you are passing and lots of good reasons to do so so, this coming from somebody who gets passed a lot.

[JeffC]

After 5 years of regular commuting, I have gotten into a habit of announcing my intention to pass each and every time. Since I am slow, it is usually peds, not bikers I pass. The typical response is nothing, then less frequently the acknowledgement waive. I appreciate those that waive, it tends to the be the hardcore runners who stick far to the right that get the need for this. In my experience, the start of spring brings the kind of casual minded, inattentive peds who lack situational awareness and don’t understand that sometimes at narrow spots, blind turns, and steep slopes where bikes might have to pass abreast peds need to be alert.

The more aloof and distracted peds are and especially when they are in the middle of the trail, the louder is my warning. A few times, maybe once a year, I have had peds get hostile with me. I can only hope that startling these people out of their complacency may force them off the trail. There are plenty of places to walk in a distracted, inattentive manner without creating dangers for others. I still am befuddled as to why North Arlingtonians find the Custis an attractive place to walk at evening rush hour.

[JeffC]

@baiskeli 17897 wrote:

I think a bike control light like the ones further up would work. The problem is cyclists going through the flashing red hand, which is designed for pedestrians who are almost out of the intersection. Cyclists enter the intersection long after the hand starts to flash, and that coincides with the green for cars. If cyclists only crossed in the green part, there would be no conflict. I always stop and wait if the hand is red, simply because I have kids who need me not to die, plus I don’t like death myself either.

I think right on red is already illegal there. It’s right on green that is the problem.

My thoughts exactly and I treat it the same way. If bikers just took turns and only crossed when the white walking figure was present, rather than when the red hand was flashing, many problems would be minimized.

[JeffC]

I’ll try to make it at 5:30 but with my job, a sick wife, and two young kids at home, it may be tough to manage.

Regarding swag, this has to be the worst foreign language cover ever, it’s almost a Wierd Al parody, but it almost has as many hits as the original, Money Boy’s Dreh den Swag Auf:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCfm-vWuQRk

[JeffC]

What’s that expression about not trying to walk and chew gum at the same time? I see people do all sorts of absent minded behavior while talking on a cell phone. Think about how often you see regular people who are NOTtalking on cell phones/texting walk into a street or zig zag back and forth or walk into other people/objects? Not that often. Now how often do you see a person on a cell phone/texting do the same? A lot more. It’s why we had the April Fools trick about the app to alert car drives to those pesky peds and bikers.

I’m not saying the guy was innocent but I do observe people engaging in all sort of unusual, absent minded, almost drunk like behaviour while on a cell phone/texting and trying to walk. Maybe he was just absent mindedly staring at the ground while talking?

[JeffC]

@GuyContinental 17639 wrote:

I’m really curious about this perspective- I’m so delighted to have ANY path, especially one as long and well maintained as the NoVa trail network, that it never really occurred to me that it should be bike only. Yes, it would be nice and all, but the way MUTs get built is through compelling recreational and multistakeholder benefits plus commuting benefits. Also, given local density, where would a bike-only path run? I’d much rather advocate for near-universal bike lanes and deal with the human-slalom for the 4 months a year that it is a problem.

I freely admit to being a bit spoiled by having spent time in places like Davis, California and Boulder, Colorado where there are bike only paths. Although I have never seen them, I undestand that Minneapolis has some too. I also spent a lot of time in Germany. As an example of German bike infrastructure, in the city of Frankfurt am Main (western one, not eastern) along most major roads lke Bockenheimer Landstrasse (say comparable to Lee Hwy or Route 50 in Virginia) there is a double side walk with one side clearly for peds and another clearly for bikers. It is clearly marked. Peds know not to use the bike one and vice versa. Granted bikers there don’t go as fast and distances are not as long. But when I think about comparing that type of German infrastructure with biking along the rutted, narrow, not repaved in 25 years and crawling with peds MVT, it’s just not even close.

[JeffC]

Putting it on a trail does not congratulate cyclists. If anything it seems ironic and reminds me of how much farther we have to go to place it on a MUP/MUT which is not solely dedicated to bikes at least part of the time. In that case, a MUT/MUP is basically a glorified sidewalk and as a bicyclist you frequently have to slow down to a walking pace which is not at all bike friendly in my view.

I know some jurisdictions have bike only paths, hopefully Arlington will be one at some point.

[JeffC]

I’ll probably make it as that place is about 1 mile from my house and I have been meaning to try it. I can even walk to the subway that day and stagger home.

I think the entrance may technically be on Lee Hwy. Does anybody know if this location is replacing the now closed Bear Rock Cafe? If so, the entrace is definiitely on Lee Hwy.

[Author]

Posts