[paulg]

I rode 4 mile run to MVT to Old town across the Wilson Bridge and up the Oxon farm/Cove trail this AM. Some care needed in places.

4 Mile run under the Potomac yard bridges was 90% clear but I only rode from the Alrington Water Treatment Plant

MVT down to Old Town was still pretty bumpy ice in places especially the bridges. The mountain bike was a good choice.
(By the way this is off topic but the trail around the Marantz Power Plant was closed for some kind of Hazmat oil spill cleanup that’s been going on for a week. Anyone know what’s going on? ) I rode the trail anyway and wasn’t told to leave. ( There are no detour signs up )

Wilson Bridge was a breeze. Ploughed and cleared all the way to Nat Harbor and up the hill to Oxon Hill Road.

Oxon Cove trail had been ploughed so was mostly clear but had some slick icy patches and still snowy sections.

Again just like the last snowfall it’s amazing that two lesser used trails (wilson bridge and oxon cove) can be ploughed and cleared but not the most heavily used Mount Vernon Trail.

[paulg]

My commute took me on 4MR from the treatment plant to MVT through Old Town and over the Wilson Bridge to Oxon hill then along the Oxon Cove trail. The mountain bike was a good choice as the knobby tires got fairly good grip on the snow and crunchy ice below.

It’s nice to report that a small snow plough was out clearing the Wilson Bridge trail all the way from VA to National Harbor and up the hill to Oxon Hill Road. I know this has been talked about before but the Wilson Bridge must get a lot less bike traffic than MVT in fact the tire tracks I saw this AM -3 on the Bridge – Many on MVT prove it. Why can’t the MVT get snow removal too?

Having said that with 1 inch of snow it was beautiful riding down into Oxon Cove Park in the morning sun with ‘first tracks’ on the road.

[paulg]

I saw this sign too. I also noticed the one set up at the North end of Old Town again just facing the trail and not the road.

Does anyone know why the signs were put up at this time? Have there been complaints or accidents?

I rode through today and it seems they’ve taken the signs away, so they were only shortlived or maybe just moved somewhere else. Maybe the snow had something to do with their removal.

My experience of riding the mount vernon trail through Old Town is that I follow the Idaho stop and what I find sometimes is that if I stop for a car that has arrived at the intersection first they will wave me through first. Doesn’t happen every time but maybe there is still some goodwil amongst us road users.

[Author]

Posts