[kcb203]

@hozn 133943 wrote:

W&OD is in pretty good shape from Falls Church to Reston.

Hill near tennis courts is still a slushy (and now a few inches of water too).

There are still a few slush sections between Gallows and Vienna.

There are some longer slushy stretches between Vienna and Clarks Crossing.

But on the whole I would say 90% of the trail has a at least a strip of pavement. I might even ride slicks tomorrow (but if I do I will take the Beulah detour).

If it stays above freezing tonight, I might have to give it a try. Forecast is for 29 tonight in Reston, which could be a disaster with all the water and slush everywhere.

[kcb203]

@PotomacCyclist 133619 wrote:

I shoveled out an entire CaBi station this week. I ended up very sore for the next 3 days. (My forearms are still kind of tight.) Fortunately I don’t think I need to shovel any more stations. Most of them have reopened in my area.

While the initiative is good, Mother Nature might do the work first. There is going to be a significant amount of melting, especially on Sunday through Wednesday. I would guess that most roads, sidewalks and trails will be clear or nearly clear by Mon. or Tue. just from the mild weather.

There could be rain on Monday. With temperatures around 60F, that is going to melt a huge amount of snow. It will stay above freezing on Mon. night and Tue. will be back in the mid 50s. Then more rain and a possible thunderstorm on Wed., with temperatures back up to the low 60s. Only the largest snowbanks will survive all those mild temperatures and warm rain. The exceptions will be some shaded areas (likely on the MVT).

The snowbanks will be tough to handle manually. I’ve seen a lot of trucks and front loaders clearing some of them out. Since most streets are now plowed (I think?), the trucks can focus on clearing those out. I would be inclined to let them handle that work. I can’t even imagine how long it would take to shovel out a 7-ft high snowbank by hand.

The areas under the 14th St bridges and the Crystal City connector on the MVT could remain trouble spots. But the warm rain could clear out even those areas.

How about we shovel the mountains of snow back in the street and let nature take its course?

[kcb203]

Drove from Falls Church to Reston. I could see from the toll road that the W&OD is totally snow covered where it goes under the toll road. And the trail along Fairfax County Parkway is non-existent. The snowbank where the WB toll road exit ramps hits FFX Cty Parkway is a 12′ mountain of snow.

[kcb203]

I think the Bluemont trail may have been plowed. I say this only because a friend who lives near it complained on Facebook that the nearby trail was plowed before her street.

[kcb203]

What constitutes riding? Does the rider have to be astride the saddle? And what is a bicycle? Can I strap a frame and wheels to my back and go cross country skiing?

[kcb203]

Kicking myself for leaving my mountain bike in Richmond at the in-laws after Christmas. I rarely ride it up here anyway and didn’t have room in or on top of the car. And I can’t put studded tires on my cross bike because they’re tubular wheels. I need to buy a cheap set of disc clincher wheels for the cross bike for versatility.

[kcb203]

I’m kicking myself for leaving my mountain bike at the in-laws in Richmond at Christmas. We didn’t have room in the car, and I only had a rooftop carrier for one bike, so I brought back my cross bike. I’ll be back down there for Monster Cross in mid-Feb to retrieve it.

Unfortunately, the cross bike has tubular tires, so I can’t put on studded tires. My other three bikes don’t do well in the snow (carbon racing bike, tri bike, 1987 Cannondale racing bike converted to fixie). I recently sold my other cross bike with clinchers, and I donated a hybrid to Phoenix bikes that I hadn’t ridden in years. I’m seriously thinking about buying a fat bike this week, but don’t think I’d really get much use out of it.

[kcb203]

Someone always places two orange movable bollards in the bike lane on NY Ave just east of 15th Street. Usually they are on the edge, but today one was right in the middle of the bike lane. One advantage of the cold weather was that I rode with flat pedals and boots instead of clipless pedals and shoes, which dramatically improved my ability to deliver a knockout kick to the obstructing bollard as I rode by.

[kcb203]

There are some poor trees just west of Vienna that have had every branch removed, but Dominion didn’t put them out of their misery and just cut them down entirely. I don’t understand why a tree that is 30′ shorter than the power lines needs to be destroyed like this, when it could grow for 25 years before it became a threat.

[kcb203]

Hello. I’m Keith. I live on the Arlington/Falls Church border and try to bike to work three days a week. I split time between DC and Reston, so you’ll see most of my riding is split between those areas, though I also like to hammer the North Arlington hills every now and then.

I’m kind of a cold weather wimp, though, but am trying to be a little tougher this year.

[kcb203]

@Sunyata 130923 wrote:

My theory is that the winter air is more dense; therefore, more resistance. At least, that is my story and I am sticking to it (almost 2mph slower this morning than I was last week!).

I just plugged some numbers into analyticcycling.com, and the difference between 15F/-9C and 95F/35C is 30 watts at 22.37 mph (.3 CdA, 85kg rider+bike, .005 rolling resistance). The colder rider has to put out 241 watts to get the same speed as 211 at the warmer temps. And it’s worse than that because we’re much less aero in the winter with all the warm clothing flapping around.

[kcb203]

I’ve now had three commutes without a single ELF sighting, whether of the motorized mini-car or Santa helper variety. Yippee!

[kcb203]

I bought a generic carbon FR-602 last year that I built up into a cross racer (tubular, Di2, hydro disc, 1×11 gearing, <17 lbs). It has relatively slack geometry for a cross frame. Internal cable routing, BSA bottom bracket, 135 rear spacing, disc wheels. I've been very happy with it.

[kcb203]

I work at 7th and I and from the White House take NY to H Street. H Street is a good eastbound road for cycling.

[kcb203]

My concern about the ELF is more practical. I haven’t seen it out in the dark yet. Maybe it’s just my good luck, or maybe he doesn’t ride in the dark. But the danger of that thing barreling down the trail is magnified in the dark when I can’t see how big it is or whether it’s in my lane. It reminds me of the old Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride at Disneyworld where there are train sounds and a huge train headlight barreling down at you as you ride through in a little car thingy. Only when you’re about to get hit do you realize the headlight has no train attached and is just following a track on the ceiling.

Look at about 1:40 into this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWu6OThkq14

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