[Just161]

It’s disappointing that the 15th St. cycletrack wasn’t plowed (if I’m seeing the picture correctly). Wasn’t that the point of widening it in the first place? DDOT?

[Just161]

[URL=”ttp://twitpic.com/3ph7ca”]Here’s [/URL]the cycletracks at Pennsylvania Ave NW at 4th St. this morning. A little crunchy.

[Just161]

Wow, Mykeru, what a crappy crappy thing. I don’t think you escalated the situation – in fact, I’m impressed you stayed as calm as you did. I’ve reacted much worse in similar situations.

Something about being behind a windshield makes you forget that the world around you is still full of living, breathing fellow human beings. The willful anger that driving can induce in otherwise normal people is frightening.

Not sure if it would help, but you could send your letter to DDOT or NPS or someone and see if they could put up a sign or something? Maybe it’s just wishful thinking, but we shouldn’t let these kinds of things go completely unreported. At worst, reporting and complaining does nothing. At best, it might help the situation in the future.

Glad you and bike are okay.

[Just161]

I’d say, just please keep them in a separate thread or sub-topic, so if I don’t want to see it I don’t have to. It doesn’t seem terribly relevant to this forum.

But clothes fashion while bicycling is a legit topic, especially for getting non-riders to ride. For a more tasteful (in my opinion) look at bikes and fashion, check out District Citizen Cycling, or Cycle Chic.

[Just161]

Elizabeth,
I did the “clockwise” loop of Mt. Vernon south > 4 Mile Run NW > W&OD NW > Custis east on Saturday afternoon, and the trails were in excellent shape. Dry, ice-free. Some were even salted.

Buyt you’re right, some of the wetness from this weekend might stick around, caught in this freeze-thaw cycle we’re looking to be in this week. Mt. Vernon and Custis usually dry out pretty well in this kind of weather – I can’t speak for W&OD, CCT, or 4-Mile run. Anyone else have any insight?

[Just161]

@WillStewart 1503 wrote:

I plan to bike to the Leesburg Park and Ride, load the bike on the bus (I now have the required badge), disembark at West Falls Church Metro, and then access the W&OD and Custis trails to reach Ballston.

Will – you’re just taking the bike through the metro station, right? Not passing through the fare gates to get on the train?

[Just161]

I checked this out last night, and it looks like the bike-only signal is going to be the solution. As of last night at about 9pm, there was a traffic signal contractor + truck out there parked on the NE corner of the intersection, looked like working on the bike-only light in girllonabikedc’s pic above.

Of course, there was 1 bus marked with 1-800-MARINES, 2 black SUVs and 4 black Lincoln Town Cars with US government plates PARKED IN THE CYCLETRACK on the west side of 15th near the White House entrance barrier.

Now I see what you all were saying earlier – when a car parks in the cycletrack, it leaves NO room to bike around. You’re forced to swing out and squeeze into the southbound auto lane — heading northbound, this is directly into oncoming traffic coming at you head-on. Pretty scary and dangerous. Parking enforcement will be crucial here.

[Just161]

@Dirt 1450 wrote:

Okay, so there *is* an easy way to get from Penn. Ave to 15th St. Cycleways. Wait for the right arrow and ride across. Works both ways.

Great picture, thanks Dirt. So there’s a phase when the only car movement is for Penn. Ave. westbounders turning right to northbound 15th? I.e., no left arrow like in your picture? Don’t southbound 15th cars turning left onto eastbound PA cut across the sharrows during that phase?

This is hard to describe. I think I need to just go and look at it!!

[Just161]

@girlonabikedc 1437 wrote:

But still, bad planning DDOT! The barriers to keep cars from driving/parking in the bike lanes should have gone up BEFORE the lanes were painted.

Thanks for the northbound update. I agree they need barriers to fix the parking situation, but I’ll cut DDOT some slack here. This is brand new stuff, and everyone’s just still getting used to it – bikes and cars alike. I’m just happy they’re doing it!

One question: if you approach 15th from the Pennsylvania Ave cycletrack, is there a way to turn right to head north on 15th? A bike-only turn signal maybe?

[Just161]

Snapping a photo and posting to http://dc.mybikelane.com/ is a way to vent frustration, but I’m not sure how much it helps!

[Just161]

@SWrider 1351 wrote:

I do my commute in my work clothes year-round.

SWrider – how long is your commute? I’m impressed you can swing work clothes even in the summer heat.

[Just161]

I used to commute 9-10 miles each way… I could do it in work clothes on the shoulder seasons and in winter on a more limited basis, but most of the time I preferred riding in non-work clothes. It just gets too hot in the summer! Especially if you have any uphills. I would suggest trying to carry clothes in your panniers (non-iron or wrinkle-free is helpful), and try to keep as much work stuff at work (like shoes). You don’t have to carry one set each day – leave some one day, pick ’em up later, etc. On days you don’t bike, use the commute to transfer clothes to or from work. Do dry cleaning near work rather than home. Oh, and keep some spare clothes at the office just in case the system goes awry sometimes!

Or, since you end at Union Station, try the BikeStation there!

Good luck.

[Just161]

Yes – I was having trouble on the southbound (i.e., north side heading south) side. Haven’t tried it yet the other way.

[Just161]

Darn! I was getting hopeful that they might be fixing the giant potholes in the sidewalk on the south side of the Memorial Bridge. You know, the ones that have been fenced off for like 6 months, taking up 75% of the sidewalk!!

Oh well.

[Just161]

Did you have to do anything special to make the thing go? Stand over a certain area? Stomp your feet? Do a bike dance?

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