[lordofthemark]

Here we go, the Roadmaster Ultraterrain Extreme, in all its glory.

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[lordofthemark]

I’m thinking of trying that – anyone use it regularly? Does it work? Have enough people used it to create a “desire path” through the grass?

[lordofthemark]

@DismalScientist 47839 wrote:

How about the Crystal City metro and using the connector and MVT?

I live in metroless Annandale – I ride to the Pentagon metro to access buses, not the metro itself. I could try going to the busstop across from the mall – but that works for the 16 bus, won’t work for the express buses when I try commuting, I’m not sure it will be that much easier, and it doesn’t look like as pleasant a place to wait at the Pentagon.

[lordofthemark]

Today I saw someone riding with a dog in his basket, someone riding with two dogs attached by some kind of leash type thing, a couple of tandems, and a cyclist drafting some segways (that would have been me, but I was headed the opposite way). Oh and a defacto cycle track created when a tourist trolley got stuck and backed up traffic by the tidal basin. All in all an interesting day – only really bad cyclist behavior was a guy I saw from the bus, who was salmoning for a couple of blocks on Lee highway near Cherrydale.

[lordofthemark]

@mstone 46600 wrote:

The key is identifying right of way. The parks are existing public land, the power line rights-of-way generally aren’t. (And utilities are generally unwilling to allow trails unless required by the original easement.) So while there may be downsides to running trails in parks, the alternative for an extensive trail system is probably a much lengthier and expensive eminent domain process which realistically won’t happen while most of us are still alive.

Hmmm. back after the derecho there was a lot of talk of undergrounding power lines, and how costly it was. I wonder if somehow an undegrounding project could be combined with a trail, to get Dominon buy in (that may be too costly to be realistic though)

[lordofthemark]

@essigmw 46782 wrote:

I spied Lord of the Mark wating for the 17 bus at the Pentagon last night – we had a good talk about Bike to work day. remember you can join us any Friday at Coffee Club –
it is like each week’s mini Bike to work day celebration.

Now that I’ve officially “decloaked” I guess I should post a pic of my bike (which I did not have with me that day – I was waiting for the bus, admired essigmw’s bike and we started talking about bike to work day).

[lordofthemark]

There are some great opportunities aside from trails through parks – a trail along I495 (where the power lines are?) would vastly improve access from Annandale. Each time I ride over the Gallows Rd bridge over 495 it occurs to me what a good place that would be for a trail.

[lordofthemark]

@ShawnoftheDread 45927 wrote:

The Cross County Trail is also pretty flat in many parts, and just a short ride away from you.

Edit: Never mind, I just noticed the distance you’re trying to do. CCT only has a few miles of flat.

I did the CCT the other day, its fine. What I disliked was on the way back, when I was tired, having to ride up from Wakefield Park to the ped bridge and then do the hills on Americana. Its not that I don’t ever want to do hills, I just sometimes want a ride that doesn’t involve them.

[lordofthemark]

@TwoWheelsDC 45911 wrote:

The flattest you’re going to get is the C&O Towpath, which isn’t paved, but would be a great ride on a MTB. If you can get to Rosslyn or Georgetown, you can get on there and ride all the way to Pittsburgh without leaving the trail, if you’re feeling particularly spunky

I didn’t think of that – this what I’d like to do. I can get to Rosslyn easily on the 3A, and then its just across the Key Bridge to the towpath. Sounds like a great ride to do.

question – will I go much slower on the towpath due to the surface than I would on a paved road/trail?

[lordofthemark]

@creadinger 45748 wrote:

On the mountain bike if I put more energy into the pedals I would still go the same speed because it was heavy with big tires. So I always figured why bother to work harder? I’ll just ride across the Georgetown Branch Trail at my moderate pace and get to work in about the same time.

Would it be correct to say that the MTB is at a significantly greater disadvantage on uphills (either long steady “easy” uphills like say outbound on the WOD part of the Arlington loop, or more dramatic ups and downs (like east bound on the Custis, or the many ups and downs I have locally here in Annandale) than it would be on flat terrain?

My bike rides seldom take me to completely flat terrain, so I’m not even sure what my speed on such terrain (for an extended period of time) would be.

[lordofthemark]

I am hesitant to start the bike infrastructure debate – (greater seperation from traffic vs better positioning at intersections, etc)

I personally am comfortable riding on the side path there – I’ve ridden on the bike lane on Gallows n of I66 and didn’t find it that intimidating. There are already issues of conflict with pedestrians on the side path by Mosaic, at least on a nice weekend day. If things there thrive as the County intends, pedestrian use will increase and the side path will become increasingly difficult for cyclists. Also IIRC there’s nothing comparable on the east side, if you are trying to access businesses on that side.

[lordofthemark]

To be fair the dude at FB was only trying to sell me a $650 bike, which was probably the cheapest in the store.

“but I would also agree that riding at 5mph on pavement is probably not going to work wonders.”

er, how about 7-8MPH?

“The hardest part for me when I was on my weight-loss journey (50+ pounds in 2 years) was staying inspired. Part of that is the sense of flying. Being on a nice bike helps that. You really WANT to get on it and ride. You probably work more on the big heavy bike, but you enjoy it more on something a little more lively.”

I guess this is why buying a bike is on my list.

[lordofthemark]

I did Woodburn to Wellness blvd to the right by the mental health institute (not sure what that road is called) up by ronald mcdonald village to Willows Oaks Corp. Most of the way riding in the lanes was fine. Thats basically around the south and west sides of the hospital, instead of the east and north sides.

Williams and Eskridge DO connect, right near the Williams/Javier intersection. That connection is one of the public benefits of the Mosaic project (for auto as well as bike traffic) Unfortunately on Eskrdige construction equipment working on an upper floor of one of the new townhouses blocked the northbound travel lane this AM while other construction stuff blocked the sidewalk – but traffic was so light that passing into the opposite traffic lane momentarily appeared safe.

So it turns out this is definitely a bikeable route from Annandale to Mosaic.

[lordofthemark]

Welcome to my neck of the woods Yes, those signs are bizarrely small. Like VDOT is embarrassed to actually ask drivers to yield. I think the extension of the sidewalks is not supposed to happen till the Annandale Transportation plan with a complete rebuild of LRT happens, and I do not there is currently any funding for that.

[lordofthemark]

@Greenbelt 45372 wrote:

Nope — haven’t needed roadside assistance in 2 decades. Car engines are so reliable now, as long as you replace your tires, battery, belts and hoses before they’re shot, and know how to change a tire, I don’t see much need for need for roadside help. Plus with cellphones, Google, you could call a tow truck anyway, don’t need AAA to find one for you.

The tow trucks come faster when called by a roadside assistance service, IIUC. And they will have a reliable one when you off in south Succotash (young folks may trust Yelp reviews found on their Iphones to determine who is reliable) That said, we use All State motor club – there are plenty of motor clubs other than triple AAA. Its really not that hard a business to get into.

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