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according to my weather app, it’ll be 48 degrees at 8am and will get up to 60 by 1pm. So an absolutely beautiful day to be riding the towpath! Come join me!

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Looks like eagles have been spotted near MM24.  Come join me and help me spot them!

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I’m not too sure scoring is the issue, but rather awareness of the purpose of FS.  I think people join up thinking biking might be fun now and then during the winter.  They don’t really care about scoring, but rather think it’s a low stress way to maybe get them out of the house a couple of times a month.  Pointing out in bolder letters that it’s a competition and most competitors are expected to bike a lot to help their team succeed, might weed out some of the people who might not otherwise pay attention to scoring.

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In

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I’ll be there

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1/21/23

Next to the W&OD trailhead in Purcellville.

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

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Hi everyone, I’m Paul and this is my first year. I’m looking forward to doing more commuting and hopefully getting my numbers up.

I’m for team mukluks. Anything that makes me think of warm feet is going to be a plus.

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@Steve O 221602 wrote:

Can we get a clarification on what a “winter” sport is? Is it any sport, just put the word “winter” in front?

• Winter hike
• Winter football
• Winter soccer
• Winter Ultimate
• Winter run
• Winter kickball
• Winter baseball
• Winter hang-gliding
• …

I think if you can find it in the list of the last Winter Olympics sports, it should count.

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I plan to be there.

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@Sunyata 220757 wrote:

There is no need to do anything with Zwift rides. They will automatically be tagged by Strava as indoor trainer rides.

Awesome. Thanks!

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@consularrider 220740 wrote:

“Rule #3: Stationary trainer rides don’t count. Mark your rides as such or include #NOBAFS in the title to exclude them. Take your bike outside and ride it some distance across the surface of the earth in order to earn points. Manual entries will also not be accepted.”

You can also tag the ride in Strava as indoor

Thanks. I’m not clear on how the rides are calculated, by human or machine. They automatically get marked as ZWIFT, so no human would mistake them for a ride outdoors. If a machine needs to see the specific tag, that’s another matter.

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@dasgeh 135705 wrote:

So resources are really tight. And to be honest, they don’t have to listen to us. They don’t even have to sit down with us. Of course it’s good government and good policy, but realistically, there’s no stick if they don’t. We’re talking to the GWMP folks — the other NPS areas in this region are not even at the table. National Mall is not even talking to us. We need to make sure there are carrots in this for the GWMP, so we can entice the other areas to the table.

To be very blunt and overly simplistic, this has a big effect on Arlington residents, Arlington has already determined it’s important enough to plow the trails they control, and Arlington is rich (relatively speaking). The carrot should be that we’ll plow, or pay to plow, every inch of the MVT that’s within our borders (yep, I acknowledge that some inches are elsewhere). Yes, I know we don’t own it, but that should be less of a concern than the fact that the residents need it.

I’m _very_ glad there’s progress being made here, but the obvious answer is that it’s ridiculous that between my house and work, there are at least four different authorities responsible for trails, and nobody wants anyone else to touch their stuff. From my house I have the W&OD, Arlington, and the NPS if I want to go one way. I have VDOT if I want to go another. My commute to work shouldn’t rely on the whims of these various organizations. I think Arlington is making huge strides in taking responsibility for the situation, but our eventual goal needs be that the network works as a unit, regardless of who “owns” it.

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@bobco85 135666 wrote:

This route is more-or-less what Dismal is describing: https://goo.gl/maps/D5iEw6Asy6L2

• Eads St is on the opposite side of Four Mile Run and serves as a continuation of Commonwealth Ave
• Long Bridge Drive (not Road) runs as a connector to Boundary Channel Drive from Crystal Drive (both run on the east side of I-395)
• Boundary Channel Drive runs along the northeast side of the Pentagon and is a good access to LBJ Grove, Columbia Island Marina, and the MVT near 14th St Bridge
• Route 27 is Washington Blvd
• Route 110 is Jefferson Davis Highway
• Fort Myer Drive is the southbound equivalent of northbound Lynn St which will take you between Arlington National Cemetery and Key Bridge in Rosslyn (the 2 roads combine to create Meade St)
• The route is less useful if you need to go farther east in DC, though

Hopefully, that clears things up.

Thank you!! That’s super helpful.

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@DismalScientist 135657 wrote:

I think if the initial position is that the entire MVT needs to be plowed, you may get less cooperation than if you highlight the major connections to the bridges, which are: the Route 27 trail to memorial bridge, sidewalks south of Key Bridge, MVT from Lynn/Lee to TR bridge (if open), and through the marina to the 14th St Bridge. The entire MVT between Alexandria and Rosslyn can be avoided by using Eads, Long Bridge Road, Boundary Channel, Route 27 trail, 110 trail, and Fort Myer Drive.

I would love to have you expand on that last sentence, because I have no idea what some of those are, and I’d very much like to take a look at their potential for my commute. I punched a bunch of those terms into the Google and came up short on most of it.

You may be right about levels of cooperation, but I really, really hope the position of Bike Arlington and the county as a whole isn’t just to deliver routes going out of Arlington. The entire MVT within our borders is such an obvious goal. There are 6 steps in your alternative vs the easy to communicate, easy to use, and more than a little beautiful MVT. We need to push for the good stuff.

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@DismalScientist 135642 wrote:

The W&OD between Shirlington and Custis is controlled by NVRPA, not NPS. It is my understanding that they refused Arlington’s offer to clear it for free.

Understood. Though I would love for the NVRPA to get in on this discussion, too, I was referring to the Mount Vernon Trail between Four Mile Run in the south and the Custis in the north, not the W&OD. That whole section needs to be plowed. It gets a ton of commuter traffic, and just picking out a section or two would leave a lot of people stranded. It would be like only plowing a section or two of Arlington Blvd. It’s just not that useful unless you plow the whole darn thing.

As the most visible trail network in the county, and one used for a ton of commuting, the whole Arlington Loop is very important. It’s wonderful that the NPS is giving this serious consideration. The NVRPA also needs to get on board. But I think the most important thing that needs to happen, and it looks like it is (thanks, guys!), if for Arlington to continue to push the issue with these other trail authorities. Arlington needs to look out for it’s people on it’s turf, even if others technically are responsible for the maintenance. Diplomacy.

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