[kevinal]

For what it’s worth, the following is on the current (23 Feb 2017) WTOP website:

Roosevelt Island project will close car access for months
By Rick Massimo February 22, 2017 8:04 pm
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Kayakers paddle past the Rosslyn, Va., skyline, seen from Theodore Roosevelt Island in the Potomac River. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

WASHINGTON — Starting next week, visitors won’t be able to drive to Theodore Roosevelt Island for a few months.

The National Park Service said Wednesday that on March 1, they’ll close the parking lot for repaving and start realigning the Mount Vernon Trail, a project that they expect to last until late spring.

Along with realigning the trail, the park service is raising and widening it, as well as putting new curbs and gutters in the parking lot, the park service said in a statement.

Pedestrians will still be able to get to the island, and bicyclists on the Mount Vernon Trail will be able to use a detour to get around the construction, the park service said.

Drivers should park either at Daingerfield Island or Columbia Island, both of which are on the Mount Vernon Trail, or at public parking lots in Rosslyn, which the service said is the closest option.

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© 2017 WTOP. All Rights Reserved.

[kevinal]

@TwoWheelsDC 155239 wrote:

As of this morning, the C&O was bone dry and in essentially optimal condition. The caveat here is that I only rode the short section between Fletchers and Chain Bridge, but based on my experience there’s no reason to think the rest of the trail would be any different. Given the temps this weekend and the holiday, I’d say be prepared for maddening foot traffic between Carderock and Great Falls unless you’re planning to roll through pretty early.

Thanks for the info. I also ride the C&O on my commute, but only the stretch between Key and Chain bridges. Reviews of the trail between Georgetown and Harper’s Ferry often cite the bumpy ride and mud. While I assume the latter isn’t an issue right now, I’m also assuming that the former problem is caused by riders using tires that are too narrow and over-inflated. My tank has 50mm tires running between 30 and 50 psi; I’m hoping that I won’t encounter anything that they can’t smooth out, but I’m not sure, and riding 60 miles and back on a washboard isn’t the way I’d like to spend my weekend.

[kevinal]

When you say that the Pentagon does “a VERY good job of clearing” the snow, does that mean that you can ride a bike on the cleared paths? I’ve also noticed the orange poles along the bike paths and assumed that someone has a plan to keep them clear this year. However, I wonder whether it’s really possible to remove ice and snow off a bike path well enough to make for a reasonably comfortable and worry-free ride. I remember trying to commute a time or two last year when the MVT was more or less cleared, and both times I turned back home; between the hidden ice and the patches of uncleared snow, the ride was jarring, treacherous, and not worth the effort.

[kevinal]

I rode up the C&O from Georgetown to Chain Bridge this morning, and it was dry as a bone. I was expecting mud and a few puddles, but nada.

[kevinal]

@kevinal 119847 wrote:

Thanks for the updates. I thought seriously about taking the C&O canal this morning, but bailed and took my alternate route to work, instead; from the info above, I’m glad I did. It’s too bad that something can’t be done about the drainage on the canal; it’s such a beautiful ride, but a heavy rain turns it into a gooey mess.

On the other hand, I haven’t had to water my tomatoes in almost a month.

[kevinal]

Thanks for the updates. I thought seriously about taking the C&O canal this morning, but bailed and took my alternate route to work, instead; from the info above, I’m glad I did. It’s too bad that something can’t be done about the drainage on the canal; it’s such a beautiful ride, but a heavy rain turns it into a gooey mess.

[kevinal]

Has anyone ridden the C&O canal recently, particularly the part from Georgetown to Chain Bridge? Give the amount of rain we’ve had over the past several weeks, I’ve avoided it for the muddy swamp I suspect it to be and have been taking alternate routes to work. However, I’d like to switch back to my C&O route, but don’t want to find that I’m up to my bottom bracket in muck.

[kevinal]

Try weather.gov instead of weather.com. In my experience, the predictions are just as accurate (if not more so), and you don’t have to put up with the annoying ads (weather.gov being the mouthpiece for NOAA).

[kevinal]

If cost isn’t an issue, you could get some heated sock liners from Gerbing. The bonus of these is that they’re super versatile, so you can wear them while skiing, cycling, out for a walk, etc…

Neat solution. Unfortunately, the cost is indeed prohibitive.
Kevin

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