[PotomacCyclist]

The Weather Channel is trying to name the storm “Winter Storm Jonas.” Their naming scheme is unofficial, so I doubt any non-Weather Channel outlets will use that term.

http://www.weather.com/storms/winter/news/winter-storm-jonas-forecast-january-20

[PotomacCyclist]

Even with a 32-lb bike, or 59 lbs loaded, 1900 miles in 41 days, on a single-speed bike, is still quite a trek.

[PotomacCyclist]

I accidentally placed a pin at the wrong location for a bike rack, at 1900 Anacostia Fwy, Washington, DC 20020, USA. That pin should be removed, if possible. I added a note to indicate that the pin placement is incorrect.

I added a 2nd pin in the correct location, to the southwest of that location.

[PotomacCyclist]

In case anyone is flying in/out of National Airport in the near future, MWAA has a new snow-melting machine capable of melting 135 tons of snow an hour. It won’t help with the MVT but it should help the airport to reopen a little sooner. (I’d expect the airports to close at some point on Fri. and probably all day on Sat. I don’t know about Sun.)

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/breaking_ground/2016/01/snow-is-coming-heres-how-reagan-national-will-make.html

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10549[/ATTACH]

[PotomacCyclist]

This is the general Amtrak bicycle summary page:

https://www.amtrak.com/bring-your-bicycle-onboard

I haven’t used Amtrak’s bike service at Union Station, so I can’t offer any specific tips. But it’s always better to arrive a little earlier, so you don’t have to rush, or in case you can’t find the correct entrance. The Union Station area is very busy with cars, buses, cyclists and pedestrians.

If you plan to take your bike on the MetroRail system in DC to Union Station, note that bikes are not allowed on Metro trains between 7 and 10 am, and 4 to 7 pm on weekdays. Since you might be arriving during the Cherry Blossom Festival, there might be further restrictions on busy holidays. Check the WMATA/Metro site for further details, especially closer to the Festival.

This is the general bicycle policy page on the Metro website: http://www.wmata.com/getting_around/bike_ride/

Good luck and enjoy your visit to DC. If you do arrive during the Festival, be prepared for very busy traffic, especially pedestrian traffic around the Tidal Basin where many of the cherry trees are located. The views are great and it’s interesting to see people from all over the world, but you do have to bear with the jam-packed sidewalks during the peak bloom dates.

[PotomacCyclist]

The survey link doesn’t work.

[PotomacCyclist]

I would change the thread title if I could. But I am powerless to do so…

I read that some commuters were stuck on the roads for more than six hours last night.

Everyone knows about the snow arriving tomorrow. But be aware that winds of up to 30-50 mph are also expected during the storm!

[PotomacCyclist]

Good thing I got off CaBi well before the snow started falling. In the late afternoon, I was more wary of riding through the piles of Canada geese poo along the Anacostia River than about snow. I checked in the bike and took Metro back, long before the snow and ice arrived. I did see that the Potomac River was already partially frozen over, even in mid afternoon.

[PotomacCyclist]

25 traffic crashes reported in Northern Virginia tonight, 163 state-wide in Virginia.

http://www.wusa9.com/story/news/local/virginia/2016/01/20/100-accidents-reported-va-snow-creates-traffic-nightmare/79091316/

Expect everything to be a mess tomorrow morning. And on Friday. And Saturday. And Sunday.

[PotomacCyclist]

So you’re saying there are benefits to cycling?

Can’t say that I’ve found any $1,500 items? I’ve seen old bike tires and I think I saw an entire bike stashed in the woods out in Maryland, although I didn’t ride closer to verify whether the bike was abandoned. Maybe someone was having a picnic in the middle of the woods. Or doing something else. I didn’t bother to check.

[PotomacCyclist]

One minor change already: 32nd St. S. near the Arlington part of Potomac Yard/Crystal City will close permanently next week.

https://www.arlnow.com/2016/01/19/32nd-street-to-permanently-close-next-week-for-new-art-facility/

The street is only about 50 ft. long. It connects Rte. 1 with Eads St. I’ve never had a reason to ride on that exact street. It doesn’t directly connect any bike-specific areas. If you take that street, you have to cross Rte. 1 or ride along the sidewalk on Rte. 1, neither of which are pleasant experiences.

Perhaps some people use that small street. But after next week, they will no longer able to do so. The street is marked in blue as an On-street Route on the Arlington bike map.

[PotomacCyclist]

So anyone here going to make an uneducated amateur guess on the snow totals? For Friday and Saturday, and possibly Sunday?

Based on nothing at all, I’ll say:

Fri. 8 inches
Sat. 7 inches
Sun. 2 inches

Weekend total: 17 inches

** This prediction is not based on any weather model or science at all, only a cursory glance at recent weather news articles. I have no idea if I will even be close. Maybe as close as I was to winning Powerball last week, which was not very close.

The winner of the prediction contest gets one free snowball on Saturday. Pick-up only.

[PotomacCyclist]

Tim Waggoner (“Lucho”), a former top-level Ironman triathlete and current coach, ultrarunner and podcaster on Endurance Planet, recently cut up a smaller plastic bottle in half and used the two halves as makeshift windblockers. They don’t cover the tops of his hands though.

Besides the problem of the sharp edges of the plastic, it seems that the plastic bottles wouldn’t keep out the cold as well as the neoprene versions do. Bar Mitts aren’t 100% effective but they do help a lot.

[PotomacCyclist]

I should have clarified that they only closed the above-ground tracks during Snowmageddon (I think). Either way, since I was heading to Pentagon City/Crystal City, the above-ground closures stranded me in downtown DC. It would be the same situation today if I were foolish enough to venture downtown this Friday.

I agree that above-ground heaters would be nice. But I think people would object to that expenditure when it would have such little use. It’s fairly rare that we get more than 6 inches of snow at a time in DC/Arlington. Actually, the federal DOT is now prohibiting WMATA from spending on anything other than safety improvements (and previously scheduled projects and general maintenance), because of the federal takeover of the safety oversight. (I think that policy is nonsense. They keep talking about zero tolerance of unsafe conditions on Metro, but everyone overlooks the near-daily deaths on the roads. That doesn’t seem to bother anyone, which is frankly bizarre to me.)

I think critics would say that the 14th St. Bridge heaters would only serve those traveling to the Pentagon/Pentagon City/Crystal City, because the Metro lines go above-ground again after Crystal City. While the heaters would benefit me, I wouldn’t be able to make a strong enough argument in favor of them, given how infrequently they would be needed. I’ll just stay in Arlington on Friday. Or maybe bike down to Alexandria briefly, if the snow isn’t too bad in the morning or early afternoon.

[PotomacCyclist]

And now the models are converging:

“Every major computer model is now forecasting double-digit snowfall totals for the D.C. area Friday and Saturday.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/01/19/forecasts-converging-on-serious-friday-saturday-snowstorm/

The W. Post is still holding back on specific predictions. But at a certain point, precision doesn’t matter when it comes to practical concerns like gov’t/business/school closures and transportation difficulties. With a high likelihood of at least 4-8 inches, it’s safe to say that the federal gov’t will close on Fri., along with all the private businesses and organizations that follow their lead. I would be very surprised to see schools opening on Fri. except maybe some places to the southeast of DC.

More relevant here, cycling will be very challenging and inadvisable. The drivers who are out on the roads will have difficulty seeing cyclists through the heavy snow. I don’t plan to make any bike trips of significant distance that day. If anything, I might just ride on empty, local streets on CaBi to escape cabin fever, but nothing more than that.

One decision that is dependent on the amount of snow is Metro’s policy of when to close above-ground lines and stations.

http://www.wmata.com/getting_around/safety_security/snowmap.cfm

“Metrorail can operate very close to a normal schedule in snowfall of four to six inches. … When snowfall approaches eight inches, it’s a different story.”

They don’t say cite the exact amount of snow that will cause them to shut down above-ground lines. “Approach[ing] eight inches.” If current forecasts are correct, we will be close enough to that point where Metro will likely close the above-ground lines. Maybe not in the morning but likely in the afternoon. If you take MetroRail (or Metrobus), keep this in mind.

Back in the days of Snowmageddon, I got stuck in downtown DC. I thought Metro would be available, but they announced a surprise closure hours before there was any accumulation that day. However, there was still a lot of snow on trails and grassy areas from the storm a week before. There were no taxis at all in downtown DC. Very few private cars either. No Capital Bikeshare back then. (That would arrive later in the year.) If CaBi had been in place, I could have taken that. But as it was, I had no bike or car, Metro was closed and no taxis were available. So I walked back to Arlington. The 14th St/George Mason Bridge path had about 6-12 inches of snow from the week before. Walking on that put me dangerously close to the top of the railing, but there was no alternative, unless I wanted to walk down the middle of the road lanes on I-395. One minor slip on that frozen snow pack and I could have fallen over the edge of the railing. At least it felt that way.

That was definitely the most miserable commute I’ve ever had, one I don’t wish to repeat. So I won’t go anywhere that a Metro above-ground closure would strand me. At least now there is Capital Bikeshare. But even they have a policy of closing during some major weather events. It’s possible that they could shut down the entire system to keep people from biking around in the worst of the snowstorm. Don’t rely on CaBi during a blizzard because it may not be available.

I think the only places that stayed open during Snowmaggden/Snowpocalypse were a couple restaurants and coffee shops. Maybe some will stay open this Friday too, especially if the snow totals are closer to 4 inches than 12+ inches.

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