[oldbikechick]

It was my evening commute that reminded me how much I love my normal commute on the MVT and Custis. Today, I needed to go to South Arlington – Walter Reed/Columbia Pike area from the 14th St bridge. On Google maps, it looked simple. In the pitch dark, it was a bit creepy going under the GW Parkway, trying to find the deserted path through some sort of park to the little bridge leading to the Pentagon. Would have helped to have seen it once in the daylight. Or have some much bigger light than I have. Then on some sort of sidewalk next to Washington Boulevard, crossing a no-man’s land of on-ramps and off-ramps to get to Columbia Pike. I didn’t see a single other cyclist on this route. How do folks normally commute from that area?

[oldbikechick]

@GregBain 68637 wrote:

My guess is clearing the trails isn’t cost beneficial. – but maybe we can find out:

Question for the forum – What percent of winter riders are on this forum? I’m guessing it’s pretty high ~ 75%. How many forum members are there? How much would you pay to have the trails cleared for your commute? (I’m topping out at $10 b/c that the cost of parking at my office / ~round trip metro)

We need minimum of 1,000 people to each pay $10 per snow event (see $10,000 estimate from somewhere near the start of this thread – I forget which trails that is for, but it wasn’t for all Arlington trails).

If we went to Arlington with 1,000 signatures on a form that said please bill me $10 when it snows and Arlington has the trails cleared within 24hrs I think there’s a pretty good chance they’d do it. – At least a much much higher chance than if we just said please clear the trails. (Maybe next year snow clearing signatures are collected along with blinky-light distribution?)

I think we’re a small enough group that this doesn’t have to be a tragedy of the commons situation. If there are a 1,000 forum members we could collect $10 in cash now and get the contractor to be on standby for 1 snow fall and then reassess for the 2nd snow fall. – If you think that there’s no way that would happen, then I think you’ve answered the cost benefit question – unless you think that a high percentage of the forum are free-riders (riders – get it). Personally I think we’re all ELITE citizens who would be happy to pay for the things we consume (like cleared trails).

Why not just organize to clear the trail? I’ve thought of this before, as I slog through the streets waiting for the trail to clear. Between all the cyclists and joggers, if there were a few snow blowers and some shovels and enough people, it might be doable. How could it be organized? “Friends of the Custis?”

[oldbikechick]

@Tim Kelley 68544 wrote:

Details? Link?

I have two and I can’t remember which one she wore, but looking at the tags, one is Pearl Izumi skull cap, just the plain thin stretchy one, and the other is “BEC-TECH” which is also thin and stretchy, but has a little nap to the fabric to make it cozier. I also find that her face gets cold pretty quickly in the weehoo, but a kid’s size neck gaiter did the trick (we picked that up at a ski shop a few years ago)

[oldbikechick]

@Tim Kelley 68544 wrote:

Details? Link?

OK, I have two and I can’t remember which one she wore, but looking at the tags, one is a Pearl Izumi plain black thin probably polyester stretchy fabric. The other is “BEC-TECH” also stretchy, but a little nap on the fabric to make it cozier.

[oldbikechick]

I got a very nice Bike Arlington vest yesterday – thanks guys! One question – do they come in small sizes? I got a large one and I think I might be able to use it as a sail on windy days

[oldbikechick]

My daughter wore my under helmet skull cap (or whatever they are called) with ear flaps. Since it is so stretchy, it fit her fine.

[oldbikechick]

@JFF 68469 wrote:

I suppose one could not find a better spot than directly across from Arlington Hospital.

It’s probably morbid, but this is what I always tell myself about my commute – the only on-road section is all within a few blocks of the hospital, so I figure if I’m going to be hit, that’s as good a place as any. Although I’m also pretty watchful for erratic behavior through there, since I figure many folks driving to the hospital are likely to be distracted, looking for parking, pre-occupied, etc. I hope the cyclist is OK.

[oldbikechick]

OK, the horse is almost beaten to death, but I think it is safe to say that no one is probably blinding anyone on purpose, but we are all experimenting with what works and what doesn’t for safety, being able to see, etc. I have no idea what my light looks like. I think it is angled down, but who knows. No one has ever complained. I never put it on blinky mode because the one time I did that, on the street, just the reflection of the flashes off other things nearly blinded ME. Why on earth would they make a light that does that? Of course, that one day I did have it blinking, in the early daylight, I still had a car pull out right in front of me. My sense is that I am under-illuminated for the road part of my commute, and about right for the trail. I think telling folks nicely if their lighting choice bothers you is probably a good solution. Otherwise, how would we know? I am considering some Christmas lights, but hopefully those won’t be too bright

[oldbikechick]

Right turns on red should be outlawed. They are not common in other countries. When I lived in France, I asked if right turns were allowed at red lights and they thought that was hilarious. Why not left on red, or straight on red too? Why not just have a stop sign then?

[oldbikechick]

what you need is one of these:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3964[/ATTACH]

[oldbikechick]

Thanks for the good ideas. We will need to get a regular babysitter and try all of them We were in the mood for nature, so we ended up riding up through Rock Creek Park and then over to Bethesda and back down the Capitol Crescent trail. It was a beautiful ride with fall colors. Also got to ride on the parkway for a bit since it was closed for the marathon, but the marathon was done. It was a bit sad to see all the trash left behind by the spectators though.

[oldbikechick]

http://missspokesbikepathetiquette.blogspot.com/

[oldbikechick]

Now if you could just find a way to make the blinkies unattractive to kids, I might actually be able to keep one on my bike…

[oldbikechick]

Did my first bike commute to work since the shutdown. It felt great to be back in the saddle. It’s amazing how much the light situation changed in just a few weeks though! And I swear the MVT got bumpier, or maybe I just pumped up my tires.

[oldbikechick]

@DismalScientist 66937 wrote:

Perhaps you should take this up with the Friends of the W&OD. http://www.wodfriends.org/safety.html

These rules are eye-opening. It’s bad enough that cyclists are recommended to dismount and walk at crossings, but horseback riders?!!? That makes no sense and would be a lot less safe. It makes me feel better about ignoring the suggestion as a cyclist as well.

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