[LhasaCM]

Go Cats!

[LhasaCM]

In case anyone is interested in the Metropolitan Branch Trail: it is pretty good between Franklin and M Street as of 8:15 this morning. A few notes:
1. There are a few really sketchy parts, notably the crossings with the construction/maintenance yard entrances at R and T.
2. Between R and M, there are a few decent flat/clear icy patches. No real rutting of which to speak, so I was fine rolling over it with 700×40 tires, but a few folks with skinnier tires chose to Flintstone it. (Not sure if it was out of an abundance of caution or necessity.)
3. The ramp down to M Street, especially in the 180 turn, is dicey.
4. As always, it’s clearer on the southbound side (the northbound side is where drainage fails, so there’s a lot more icy build-up).

The M/1st Street cycletrack portion is in good shape; there are a few spots where plowed snow from the road (or sidewalk) intrude on the trail, and a few flat/clear icy patches that I had no issues with rolling over. Just be extra careful for inattentive pedestrians as stopping is harder than normal, especially at the crosswalk between K and H where there’s a fair amount of ice surrounding it.

[LhasaCM]

@chuxtr 157006 wrote:

Slicks in the snow!

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Very nice. We also rocked our slicks today.

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[LhasaCM]

As of 10AM, the Metropolitan Branch Trail was pretty clear between Franklin and R Street NE. The transition from 8th onto the trail was a mess, and south of R it looks like one pass had been taken, but there was a good half inch or more of slushy ice in parts.

The cycletrack was passable (half a lane clear) on M Street NE between the trail and 1st. Once you make the turn onto 1st, things were a lot better. They were making another pass south of K street as I rode by.

(For reference – I rode in on my regular bike – 700×40 tires – with my daughter on the trailercycle for the MBT part)

[LhasaCM]

@Judd 156943 wrote:

In a Ferris Bueller moment, W&W and Steve O will discover that riding a bike backwards doesn’t erase HP laps from ol’ Judd Lumberjack.

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Just watch the water!

[LhasaCM]

@LhasaCM 156851 wrote:

Barring a second half comeback by NU (in which case I’ll be busy), I think I’ve talked my 5 year old into making the trek…gotta maintain that second place #kidical standing

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

No 5 yr old, but I think I got permission to go. See everyone there.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

[LhasaCM]

Barring a second half comeback by NU (in which case I’ll be busy), I think I’ve talked my 5 year old into making the trek…gotta maintain that second place #kidical standing

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

[LhasaCM]

@hozn 156735 wrote:

Strava’s APIs are down (again), apparently.

Not that they know it (http://status.strava.com/)

It looks like they had some other non-API issues earlier this morning (a spike in upload failures around 9AM, and a 1PM drop in Garmin uploads that seems to have corrected itself with a corresponding spike shortly thereafter.

[LhasaCM]

@dasgeh 156715 wrote:

_Anyone_ averaging 20MPH on the trails is probably riding unsafely. There are plenty of people who can do it on non-e-bikes, and more who can do it on e-bikes. It’s not the “e”, but the behavior that makes it a problem.

On roads, in order to average 20MPH for the trip, you’re probably talking about averaging 25mph or so while you’re going, to make up for stop signs, etc. There are plenty of people who can do that on non-e-bikes (but not as many as 20mph), and again, more people who can do that with e-bikes. So e-bikes make that commute accessible to more people.

So – as someone newish around here (the forum, not DC), is this a fair summary of the issue?
1. Some people can go fast on bikes.
2. More people can go fast on bikes with motors.
3. Motorized tricycles can also help people go faster.
4. How far someone can commute on a bike depends on the usual time/distance/effort calculations which depend on many many many factors.
5. If you’re too big/too fast to be safe on a trail, don’t use it.

[LhasaCM]

@cvcalhoun 156712 wrote:

I realize that. But I thought we got Social Butterfly points even though not infiltrator points.

It looks like the leaderboard only shows the top 5 for Social Butterfly points, then a complete leaderboard for infiltrator points. So my 1 point(!!!!) doesn’t show up either.

[LhasaCM]

@Crickey7 156408 wrote:

There are a few somewhat funky neighborhoods right along MacArthur and the Canal. Very outdoors-oriented, popular with those people who like to kayak, canoe, run and bike along the Canal. Lots of older houses in very eclectic styles, and a few tear-downs.

That is another good suggestion of a place to look. The distance from Metro somewhat helps the affordability issues over there.

[LhasaCM]

@Crickey7 156392 wrote:

Y’all are hurting my feelings. But I don’t really disagree.

I’d still say this particular situation is one where the funkier lifestyle might not be worth the added transportation hassles, which would be bad by any mode. And if the kids are taking the Dutch language classes, you’re going to find yourself in Bethesda 6 days a week.

Sorry – I’m not trying to hurt any feelings. Just toss them aside momentarily… But yes, if you know you’re going to be spending a lot of time at x, it makes sense to try to make that as convenient as you can, all else being equal. But, it’s a balance. Generally speaking, homes in Takoma Park will be cheaper than Bethesda (e.g., Zillow states a media per square foot list price of $317 for Takoma Park vs. $513 in Bethesda), but that would be (somewhat? equally? more than?) offset by the time spent in traffic/cycling/metro/whatever to get around, especially in this scenario.

[LhasaCM]

@secstate 156385 wrote:

I agree with what people have said on the cycling-specific stuff, but just want to emphasize: Takoma / Takoma Park is a wonderful neighborhood, unique in many ways in the DC area in terms of its level of community organization, investment in maintaining an appealing and specifically local commercial core, neat gardens, and embrace of off-beat neighbors. It is a great place to live.

Bethesda is staid in comparison, but the CCT does make it incredibly convenient.

Edit: I’m not knocking Bethesda specifically (I’ll leave that to my FS team captain), just pointing out that Bethesda and Takoma are not exactly close substitutes.

Agreed – there is more to life than just cycling infrastructure, and in a vacuum, I (personally) would choose Takoma over Bethesda. However, given the constraint of the kids going to school in Bethesda – it becomes a question as to whether or not the charm/allure/positives of Takoma outweigh the associated transportation headaches.

[LhasaCM]

@isaNLtoDC 156237 wrote:

Hi there!
We will be moving to DC from the Netherlands very soon.
We are used to biking with kids rain or shine and we would love to keep doing this in DC.
I am looking at where to live and I have a few questions that I can’t find answers to on the maps, as great as they are.
Our kids will be going to school in Bethesda close to Sangamore Park and one of us will be working close to the Mall. Although I am getting a lot of recommendations in favor of living in Bethesda, I think Takoma Park might be lovely too.
However I am not sure how it would work bike-wise.
On the days where kids would need to be dropped off at school, the bike commute would be TP-Bethesda thru the Capital Crescent Trail then Bethesda-the Mall, and in the evenings, this would be much shorter – the Mall to TP following the Metropolitan Branch trail.
Questions:
-I did find the bike trail that links Silver Spring to Bethesda, however I can’t find any bike routes going from Takoma Park straight into Bethesda thru DC. Is it that the area is unsafe/too much traffic? It does seem to me that it would be a shorter distance bike across DC than up to SS then down to Bethesda. What am I missing here?
-how safe is the Metropolitan Branch Trail from the Mall to TP (especially at night). It looks like it’s mostly a share the road trail,not a separate trail. Am I correct?

Thank you in advance for any advice! We are very excited about the move and thrilled to see how biking has gained in popularity in the US since we last visited a few years ago:)

A few thoughts:

• The Metropolitan Branch Trail from Union Station to TP is OK. It is a separate trail from NoMA to Franklin Street, and mostly share the road past the Brookland Metro Station. The connection from Brookland to Takoma Park is still an interim route. It’s usable, but a little wonky at times (especially going up the hill past the trash transfer station).
• The “straight into Bethesda” through DC from Takoma Park is complicated by Rock Creek Park. Depending on where in TP you are, going up to the trail in Silver Spring is not that much out of the way distance-wise, and probably a bit nicer.

Also – do you have a distance limit to what you’re willing to do at a time? It’s about a 25 mile loop to go from Takoma Park to Bethesda to “the Mall” and back to Takoma Park, and about 8 miles or so from downtown to Takoma Park or about 12 miles from downtown to Bethesda.

[LhasaCM]

I’ve only seen one as part of a broader cycling course (so you couldn’t just stay in the wheel as it was built)

https://www.facebook.com/RaysMTB/videos/970996536308754/

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