[Oldtowner]

It wasn’t a problem this year, but in previous years there has been a problem with ice on the MVT overpasses that kept refreezing everyday. Some kind of treatment on those would be helpful.

As for plowing, my backup to the MVT is the PYT and through LBJ. The LBJ connector should be a priority.

[Oldtowner]

@kcb203 128278 wrote:

I know you like to think you’re a lawyer, but you’re not. The federal law merely gives the CPSC jurisdiction over low-speed electric bicycles that otherwise would be regulated by a different federal agency, probably NHTSA. The superseding clause prohibits states from imposing additional safety requirements beyond what the CPSC requires, but it does nothing to limit state or local authority to regulate where they may be used. Can Virginia require that a electric-assist bicycle be sold with lights rather than just reflectors because the CPSC only mandates reflectors? No. Could Virginia require the use of lights nevertheless to operate at night on the roads? Yes.

And as I said before, your ELF is motorized. It is not a motor vehicle under Virginia law, but it is motorized. Similar to the federal level, the definition that it shall not be “deemed to be a motor vehicle” removes authority from the Virginia DMV and certain sections of the vehicle code regulating motor vehicles. It does not mandate that a park authority must permit motorized bicycles on trails it has designated for nonmotorized use. Can NVRPA ban bicycles from Scott’s Run Nature Preserve? Yes it can. Can it ban motorized vehicles from the W&OD? Yes it can.

You can try all the twisted legal arguments you want, but you seem to lack the basic social skill to know that you’re not wanted on the bike trails. Drive your car somewhere else.

I’ve wasted enough time on this. Time to get back to my day job as a regulatory lawyer who deals with this type of crap all day.

but, but, but…..the CPSC has spoken!

[Oldtowner]

You: Cyclist on Royal St headed south around 5 pm (red shirt, silver fenders, red light on back but little else stood out)
Me: Car behind you the whole way.

Stopping at every stop sign/light. Keeeping up with cars between blocks. Staying aware of traffic in front and behind. Predictable, alert, lawful to a T. What is this madness? If every cyclist rode like this I dare say we’d be a lot more welcome around here. I salute you,sir. I hope you are one of us!

[Oldtowner]

It’s just north of the wooden bridge on the curve.

[Oldtowner]

@PotomacCyclist 125813 wrote:

There are some suggested detours and info about the construction project on the October trail conditions thread:

http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?9353-October-2015-Road-and-Trail-Conditions&p=125811#post125811

Thanks! Didn’t see that thread.

[Oldtowner]

Earlier this week, the Alexandria Police were running a cyclist trap at Jefferson and Royal. The motorcycle officer was ticketing some cyclists and warning others. I could not tell what the criteria for getting an actual ticket was. The annoying part of this trap was that I watched motorist after motorist not come to a complete stop at the same intersection and no tickets or warnings for them. They were slowing, but they were not stopping. In addition, some people were clearly texting at the same time. This does seem to be a case of selective enforcement.

I got an email last night from the OTCA encouraging members to attend the meeting tonight because “the local bicycle lobby” was going to be there in “an attempt to intimidate the APD into curtailing the issuing of traffic tickets to bicyclists who refuse to stop at Stop Signs and otherwise endanger pedestrians, automobiles, and other bicyclists.”

What’s obvious is there needs to be a safe North-South bicycle option through Old Town and nothing like that seems to be on the horizon.

[Oldtowner]

34 pounds of Chinese technological wizardry. No bit of needless weight is left out. The innovative brake lever placement screams speed!

[Oldtowner]

@GovernorSilver 124250 wrote:

Got a little careless turning right from Pendleton to get on MVT in Oronoco Bay Park – missed the path altogether and got on the grass/dirt to the left of the path, and wiped out when I tried to roll onto the path, because of the steep rise of the path in relation to the grass dirt. Bruised my right knee, but didn’t realize it was bleeding quite a bit until I arrived at work.

Tried my Papal Visit Alternate Route #1 as posted on the other thread – turned left onto E. Basin Dr. instead of right after crossing 14th St. Bridge, then rode on Ohio Dr. Got a little lost looking for the Park Police parking lot, found it, cut through it, earning a stare from a cop, took the Case Bridge MUP to L’Enfant Plaza. I started to regret my route choice on the other side of the Case Bridge MUP when I had trouble descending into the park due to the sharp curves. By the time I was riding on Maine Dr. I was in full regret mode. I think there might have been a bike lane but it was obliterated by construction. Fair amount of traffic, but no worse than N. Capitol St.

Leaning strongly towards taking my chances with Madison for my morning commute during the Papal visit, since they’re not supposed to seal off the area entirely until 10AM.

Hope that knee is feeling better!

There must be a reason why people go around East Basin, but I just go straight after the 14th Bridge and then turn right on Ohio Drive and then head towards Hains Pt. Then I take the sidewalk at the Case Bridge right up and over. It has to be faster then going around the long way.

On the other side of the bridge I take G St up to 4th. It’s a pain, but That’s gonna be my work around. I really don’t like how they have taken to closing off 15th at Maine.

15th and Madsion are both in the area that is going to be closed as of Tuesday night. Wednesday morning will be bad all the way around.

http://wtop.com/pope-francis-2015-us-visit/2015/09/popes-d-c-visit-to-cause-street-closures/

[Oldtowner]

Going the other way, I actually saw this group on MacArthur Blvd last weekend. I remember them because they were riding three abreast, which I thought was unusual. What’s the protocol (not the law) for large groups like this for sharing the road?

[Oldtowner]

@Rod Smith 122744 wrote:

Saturday 168 miles most without rear shift cable. Over 10,000 feet of descending. Included a baker’s half dozen gravel roads; Sugarloaf Mountain Road, Peters, Poffenberger, Bennies Hill, Quarter Folly, Featherbed and Clover Hill. Three mountains, Sugarloaf, Catoctin (via Mountville Rd. plus Mar Lu Ridge Rd.), and South Mountain via Arnoldstown to Gathland. This ride put me in the top 60 in the National Bike Challenge and within 150 points of first place for the State of Maryland.

Sunday, no ride. Ended my streak of Sunday centuries at 14, dropped about ten places in the NBC and back to 200 points behind Brad Francisco.

I am humbled by this report. I lost my rear shift cable on Sunday! What a nuisance on such a glorious day! My response to the problem was far less commendable.

I was doing MoCo, River Rd, Falls Rd, etc. – that’s some great riding over there. I tried to jerry rig it, but just couldn’t keep it the chain off the small cog. My knees would strenuously object to riding 30 miles home in that gear. Had to call for SAG support (wife) because it was too early for any other options.

[Oldtowner]

Me: Riding north on the MVT this afternoon just north of Northdown road.

You: Gray SUV (with MD tags) slowly backing up on the MVT back up the hill to Northdown Road after having been somewhere down the trail past the houses.

Drat, so close to finding that secret backroad to Washington DC. It’s so narrow there it’s hard to understand how a driver could actually mistake that for a road. These trail incursions just never seem to stop!

[Oldtowner]

Parking is definitely not free at National Harbor, but I assume will be free at MGM. It’s just not easy to get from one to the other except by car.

[Oldtowner]

National Harbor was built for car access only. The whole development is sealed off from the rest of PG County so even walking there is difficult. Parking, of course, is not free. Parking fees seem to be part of the business model.

You won’t have to use the crushed shell trail to get to MGM. It is already accessible via paved trail, but there will be an eventually busy street to cross to actually get there. I don’t expect any crosswalks. That’s just not the way this place was designed. I wonder how people are supposed to get from National Harbor to MGM. I imagine a shuttle bus system. Walking or cycling does not seem to part of the plan. The whole transportation plan seems really poorly thought out.

[Oldtowner]

I actually saw this policeman with the radar gun on Friday morning. He was arriving at the bottom of the overpass that goes over River Road to catch southbound cyclists. It was Friday about 9:30am so it was just after all the rush hour crowd was gone. He said hello to me with a grin on his face, but didn’t have the gun on me yet because he was just setting up. I was only doing 16mph for some reason. Not that he could tell, anyway. At the time I told myself, “that can’t really be a radar gun for a speed trap….” He didn’t have either a motorcycle or a bicycle.

[Oldtowner]

You: Woman in Black Audi behind me on Union Street in Alexandria this morning.

Me: Following slow pick-up truck (15 mph) and stopping behind him at every stop.

You: Honking furiously at me and pulling up parallel to me on my left and trying to pass me, then riding next to me (in the opposite lane).

Lady, seriously? I can’t go any faster than that truck and neither can you.

[Author]

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