[Oldtowner]

This is why my pedals take street shoes, too. I wear regular waterproof low duck boots when it gets below 15 degrees. Feet never get cold or wet. Waterproof socks fill the gap between the rain/snow pants and the shoes. In general, I find in weather that cold, ski clothes are the only way to go.

[Oldtowner]

Thirteen up from the basement unloaded; load panniers (still inside) than down 4, a walkway, and then down 4 more to street. Once at work it’s about 8 up. Last year had 20 more up at work. Could have taken the elevator, but at that point, why?

A steel frame with two loaded panniers is a little hard to handle, but the fully loaded ride is so smooth, it makes it all worth it.

[Oldtowner]

@cyclingfool 67294 wrote:

Me: Riding my bike to work, trying to follow the law and no salmon by the Jefferson Memorial.

You: The Park Police cop (tag number I412263) who parked in the crosswalk along E Basin Drive, adding one more obstacle to the legal path, even when there was TONS of space along the curb in the street.

Me: Took a picture of your car and sent an email to NPS lodging a formal complaint. Please stop parking here!

This is the nth time in the last month or so, where n=4 or 5 and sadly, where in all likelihood, n=n+1, barring my letter having any impact.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3920[/ATTACH]

You were lucky. When I went by this same spot around 8:30 there were FOUR more NPS cruisers parked along side this guy. With a cyclist coming the other way, we had to stop to negotiate this roadblock. Even salmoning would not have helped.

[Oldtowner]

@Rootchopper 66246 wrote:

A co worker told me that back in the late 70s or early 80s a group of volunteers built the trail (unpaved) through Belle Haven Park.

The NPS is great but their unwillingness to make basic safety improvements and changes to the GWMP and MVT is foolish and contrary to the public interest. They need to do something about the at grade crossing of the GWMP just south of Memorial Bridge. They need to allow bike commuters to park at Belle Haven and other parks along the MVT. They need to make major safety improvements near Belle View Boulevard where crashes happen with sickening regularity.

I’ve been riding the MVT since the Carter Administration and I don’t ever remember it being unpaved through Belle Haven. Now there is a nearby unpaved trail that goes through Dyke Marsh. Maybe that is what they built.

I can understand NPS not wanting their parking lots to be just for bike commuters. They are the Park Service, not WMATA. And the NPS does do a decent job of regularly repairing the wooden bridges and grinding down root bumps. If only some of the other trails did that. The NPS also did a nice job with the City of Alexandria with the trail through Jones Point.

Yes, there are some dangerous places on the Parkway that are made worse by the ridiculous speeds motorists go, but it’s a beautiful park and the NPS has done a good job with it over these many years. Heck, in the old days there wasn’t even a center line on the trail and all those at-grade crossings at the airport were as dangerous as they were unavoidable. The NPS takes its time, but things have been slowly improving for almost 40 years.

[Author]

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