[JeffC]

You know I saw them again today around 7:45 am and I think they were actually doing something useful, namely calibrating the walk signals. Usually for the past several years I get stuck headed eastbound at the red light on Ft. Myer and when I can cross Ft. Myer by the time I get to Lynn St the signal is flashing red so I step not wishing to play a human “Frogger” video game while 5 cyclists fly past me in the face of angry motorists.

Today though as I got to Lynn St the signal was still on to cross and it looked like the motorcycle cops were trying to set the signal so that more cyclists coming from Ft Myer St could make it through Lynn on a clear signal rather than a flashing red hand.

[JeffC]

@brendan 17518 wrote:

Sometimes it’s just not safe to signal by taking your hand off the steering/brakes. An emergency maneuver counts as one of those times. I’d fight that in court, not caring if I risked losing.

Brendan

Not sure about DC or park service lands, but in Virginia, you are definitely not required to signal while riding a bike if doing so means you will lose control of the bike. See this: http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+46.2-849

[JeffC]

At first glance I thought it might be serious. Once I saw and heard the dead pan acting in the video I knew what the idea was. It is sad that at first glance it might even be conceived of as serious. I’m going to post on my Facebook page and see how many people think it is real.

[JeffC]

@americancyclo 17160 wrote:

Somebody tell JeffC he can ride the Custis again for a day.

I’m all over it, the cold is fine as long as it is not in the teens.

[JeffC]

The common thread of many complaints about idiot cyclists and drivers is why people consistently do reckless and dangerous acts that ultimately save them no time, e.g., the driver who speeds up to pass me for a yellow light only to be stuck 1/8th of a mile ahead at the next red light. I don’t have any obvious answer for why people do such stupid acts over and over. It’s a disconcerting observation about human nature though. As a cyclist and father of two young kids, I know I have gotten much more cautious over the years. In a crowded place like DC with a bunch of type A fanatics this type of uncivil behaviour it is aggravating and much at odds with what I witness elsewhere.

It reminds me of reading about the recently deceased UCLA Political Scientist James Wilson and his “Broken Window” theory, namely that the more decay such as broken windows and grafitti one sees, the more it acts as a green light for others. There is something similar with driving/biking behaviour. When one constantly sees moronic behaviour as described in this thread, it seemingly gives a pass to others to act that way, e.g. everybody else is texting and driving even if it is against the law so why can’t I?.

The best that we can do is to always be on our best behaviour out there, tell others that don’t announce they are passing to do so next time, etc. Through your own actions, be the change you want to promote to others.

Ultimately though, I think it takes lengthy public campaigns to change perceptions. The anti drunk driving campaign has been very successful in this regard but sadly most campaigns seem to be failures–can anybody remember the nationwide push to “Drive 55”?

[JeffC]

I am a slow rider, have heavy bikes, and on both of my bikes I have rear view mirrors. I tend to get passed by about 2/3rds of the bikers in the spring/summer/fall, and most in the winter. Most of the people that I can tell are commuters (tell tale signs are backups or panniers) usually announce they are passing. Today, with the nice weather, there was an upsurge of road bikers and in the short stretch when I was on the MVT (after 14st Bridge) and Custis (until Veitch Rd), I got passed about 5 roadbikers, none of them gave a passing signal. Each time I said “Say you are passing next time” and never heard anything. I think it is a good idea to announce passing to fellow bikers because with the poor quality of the trail, many riders veer into the other lane at places to avoid rutted areas (especially true on the eastbound Custis just before the Lee Hwy overpass behind the Italian Store). Even with a mirror, I cannot always tell when a biker is approaching and making the move to pass. So just say you are passing, each and every time. It’s like driving behind a person who never gives a turn signal, it can be annoying, so just do it.

I always announce passing to peds. I appreciate the ones who stick far right and give a hand jesture that they hear me so I know they won’t do anything stupid like turn around without looking. On the odd occasion when I walk the trails, I try to stick as far right as possible. I have a dog and would never take him walking on the trail, nor would I ever take my 6 year old there for a bike ride, both are bad ideas.

Today was a great day for the Custis Trail alternate route.

[JeffC]

@5555624 16924 wrote:

If you can hit the east end of the Custis Trail by 3:30 p.m., you’ll beat the rush. You’ll be early enough to beat the “after work” runners and there are only a few bike commuters.

That’s what I would have thought. However, I left my office in DC yesterday at 4:40 and made it to the Custis about 5:00 pm and it was very quiet. It usually picks up behind the Italian store and then is bad all the way until it hits the W&OD. However, in that entire stretch, I only passed perhaps 6 peds the whole time. While I thought the weather was nice, it may have been just overcast enough to have deterred some peds.

The worst part of my commute was getting out of DC, lots of peds milling around the Jefferson Memorial and the buses were totally clogging the access to the 14th Street Bridge to ferry tourists to see the Cherry blossoms.

[JeffC]

I left my house in Falls Church about 6:20 am and made it to work in downtown DC about an hour later. I specifically left early to beat the rush and hope I can beat the rush in the aftenroon since I am on my slow bike and don’t feel like taking the alternate route. The fog/mist/drizzle was surreal, worst I can remember but kind of fun to bike in. The bike traffic was pretty light.

I did notice a big increase in joggers though. I theorize that there are fewer peds that use the Custis Trail as a commuting route so that there are fewer peds on it around 7:30 to 8:30 am when most bikers use it. But earlier, there may be more peds jogging before they then drive to work in their Prius. Why not just bike to work in the first place?

I like seeing tons of bikes but not tons of peds. It takes too much effort focusing on passing gaps and everything else, it’s as much attention as driving in heavy traffic. I wish there was a bike only path or that they would adopt some highly restrictive rush hour ped rules (like no leashed dogs, no walking two abreast etc.). I would hate walking that having bikes whoosh past my shoulder all the time, I’d be worried about getting hit by a bike if I was walking two abreast there.

[JeffC]

I think the hills on the alternate westbound are a bit worse than the Custis Trail. However, once you no longer need your cue sheet (because you have internalized the route) and you factor in that you don’t have to stop all the time for peds, I think the route is easier. I agree that the worst spot in general is 16th St, pavement is kind of bad. However, in general I think the streets are smoother than the Custis Trail, only a few parts of which have been recently repaved.

I still ask myself, what is so attractive to walkers and runners about the Custis? Most of it is next to a freeway! I would never walk/jog along that unless the other choices were really bad.

[JeffC]

Since I don’t commute by bike every day, it is easy enough for me to just go on the days in the spring/summer when t-storm chances are minimal. It is also important to be mindful of the forecast. There is a significant, yet subtle difference between the two most typical t-storm forecasts for our area, isolated and scattered. Isolated is only a 20-30% chance whereas scattered is a higher chance, 40-60%.

http://kocoweatherblog.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/isolated-vs-scattered/

If it is a day when I would otherwise commute, I normally go when it is only an isolated t-storm forecast.

I have to put in a plug for my weather resources.

The Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang blog gives excellent forecasts and detailed radar maps as well.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang

As to other weather/radar maps, I have found that the ones on the Fox 5 DC webpage work best for me although there is a lot similarity of course between the different offerings.

[JeffC]

Monday 3/12 was nice on my route (W&OD/Custis/MVT/14th St and reverse in the evening). It was a bit colder in the morning whick kept some bikers awy although truth be told, I never have problems in the morning. The afternoon commute saw a big increase in peds and tourists, first weekday of daylight savings always results in that in my experience. I noticed quite a bit more tourists riding the CaBi bikes in DC and on the MVT between 14th St and Memorial Bridges.

Wednesday 3/14 I came in early and needed my lights at 6:30am, trails were pretty quiet. I’m expecting this afternoon to be bad but since I am leaving around 4:30 hoping I may beat the rush. Most afternoons (except Mondays), it will be time to break out the Custis Trail alternatives.

I can deal with some obnoxious road bikers on time trials what I relly can’t stand is having to frequently slow to a walking pace so some people can walk side by side while both on headphones (happens a lot, are they really carrying on a conversation?). More than twice on my commute and I start to get frustrated. It’s especially dangerous around blind curves.

The one obnoxious thing about newbie road bikers is how they can be oblivious to timing a passing of peds. I’m always scouting people ahead of me and coasting or accelerating trying to time my pass so I don’t have to slow down to a walking pace to pass. Sometimes I’ll be coasting and a roadie will fly past me (no audible signal of course) only to come to a walking pace crawl a few yards later because he did not time his pass. If he just would have coasted for a few seconds, he could have passed the ped and then me without coming to the near dead stop.

Did anybody get caught up in the bomb scare on the 14th St bridge last week in the afternoon? The walkway was cordoned off while police investigated a suspicious duffle bag, had to turn around back to DC and bike over to the Memorial Bridge to avoid it.

[JeffC]

I was showing a friend of mine some photos of my regular commute. For some reason I had a photo of that little pond and the chimney structure. The first response my friend had was that the chimney was part of some elaborate barbeque or cooking structure. Neither of us have ever seen this structure up close so cannot say for sure.

[JeffC]

@pfunkallstar 15656 wrote:

I took the alternative route yet again yesterday. I need to find a viable, i.e. non Wilson Blvd, alternative for the last stretch, but otherwise it is great! Can’t remember who said it, but Arlington side streets are amazing. If I ran, which I don’t, I would totally get off the Custis and on to some side streets.

I always take the Custis in the morning, it’s never much of a problem then. There is a big upsurge in walkers once daylight savings time starts in a few days which also usually coincides with warmer temps. The alternate way to Falls Church is really useful in those nicer temp days, especially Tuesday through Friday. Monday for whatever reason is not so bad.

Hmm, the route I took never required me to go down Wilson, perhaps you live farther south. I live about 1.5 miles from EFC Metro and took the route I indicated in an earlier email, basically Veitch, Key, 13th, Quincy, 15th, 16th and then behind Westover I take Lexington to 22nd to Sycamore to get to EFC and then take some side routes to get on to Hillwood.

[JeffC]

@pfunkallstar 15606 wrote:

Yeah, riding in on the Custis this morning was like being a human/bike pinball hybrid! Perhaps my favorite moment was the girl on the MVT wearing the Georgetown shirt running directly in the middle of the trail, it looked as though she was trying to jump from stripe to strip – mind blowing! I passed her and she looked pretty grumpy that I had disturbed her. So Veitch it is!

Don’t you just love that. You might have disturbed her sense of entitlement. At least most winter joggers know to stick far right. I kind of expect this type of behaviour on the MVT though, the scenery is distracting. With my mountain bike at times on the MVT I have just been known to pass by just driving on the grass.

[JeffC]

@PrintError 15467 wrote:

And my favorite was a gentleman who deliberately ran me into the grass leaving my workplace one evening, twice. I returned the next morning and swung by the security office (real police, not rent-a-cops), where they were able to pull up the tape and later “have a conversation” with the driver. LOVE it.

What a jerk. I bet that guy got fired for that.

[Author]

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