[PotomacCyclist]

Next step: Educating people about what the lines mean. You’d think that people would understand, based on an analogy with roads. But apparently not. Many people assume that just because they are passing someone on their side of the trail, that they have right of way on the wrong side of the yellow line. If oncoming riders have to veer off, so be it.

On the other hand, I encountered an older fellow who seemed to think that he was not allowed to cross the yellow line at all, even when passing someone and when there was clearly no oncoming bike/pedestrian traffic in the other lane. That guy tried to squeeze past me in the lane without crossing the yellow line. (I was running at the time.) It was a long straightaway. I could see that there was no traffic in the other direction for at least 100 feet.

Sorry. I just get a little grumpy about trail etiquette or the lack thereof.

[PotomacCyclist]

It’s probably best to avoid that section entirely. From Union St., you could turn R on Franklin and take the various side streets over to S. Washington St. If you turn L from Franklin and R on Green St. and L on S. Washington, then it’s just a couple blocks south to the Wilson Bridge. If you’re not comfortable with riding on Washington St., then you could ride on the sidewalk for two blocks.

That’s the route I took a couple weeks ago. That was actually the “official” detour that day. The signs indicated that the MVT was closed just beyond the connection to Union St.

Even if the section between Union St. and S. Washington St. is now open, I’ll probably take the Franklin St. detour until the trail has been repaved under the bridge.

[PotomacCyclist]

It looks like the 2011 expansion (32 stations) could get pushed back to November. At first DDOT said October. Now they are saying October/November. I’m guessing that really means November. It’s only a minor inconvenience though.

[PotomacCyclist]

The Alexandria city council is expected to make a final decision soon.

I think they should install one station near the King St. Metro station. Then add four stations in Old Town and one station closer to Old Town North.

They should also coordinate with the FAST Potomac Yard group and see if they are willing to sponsor a station or two in the Alexandria section of Potomac Yard. FAST already sponsors the existing station at S. Glebe Rd., just across the border in Arlington. (The Crystal City BID co-sponsors most of the other Crystal City stations, but not the S. Glebe Rd. station.)

Extra stations in the Potomac Yard area of Alexandria would tie together the Crystal City and Old Town stations. The infrastructure is also in place. Both the Mt. Vernon Trail and the new Potomac Avenue trail (and road) are available for cyclists. The Potomac Yard stations would draw members because of the shopping center and the restaurants nearby.

[PotomacCyclist]

Great idea. I got lost during a group run on the Custis Trail last year. So many side turns and branches off the trail. Four Mile Run Trail can be confusing too, with all of the connections with W&OD and local park trails.

[PotomacCyclist]

If I ever win the lottery, I might sign up!

I don’t understand the part about advertising restrictions in the District though. There are plenty of ads on buses, taxis, trucks, bus stops, billboards, Metro stations, and even people who carry or wear portable billboards and signs. Are people really going to notice whether CaBi stations have ads too? Both public and private organizations display ads. What restrictions are they talking about?

[PotomacCyclist]

I’ve passed by a rider or two with speakers on the bike. I wasn’t pleased either. It’s incredibly annoying to other trail users, and the cyclist seemed to be just as distracted as cyclists and runners who wear earphones. I think it’s a bad idea unless you know that you aren’t going to ride near any other cyclists, runners, walkers or cars.

[PotomacCyclist]

If CaBi signs off on such a deal, they could front-load a multi-year contract. Then they could use the early money to expand the system. Installation and bike purchases cost more money than maintenance (although bikes do need to be replaced on a regular schedule). I think London has a 5-yr deal with Barclays. Many pro sports arenas have 10-yr or 20-yr sponsorship deals for naming rights. That would be the way to go.

Hopefully the rapid expansion of the system brings in a lot of revenue from new members (annual, monthly, weekly and daily) so that the sponsorship money would be less vital in future years.

Even if a system-wide sponsor didn’t renew, CaBi could still pursue multiple smaller deals. Companies could go for less expensive deals to sponsor individual stations or groups of stations (such as “all Crystal City stations” or “all downtown DC stations”). That poses less risk for sponsoring companies. CaBi has also started up small-scale deals with groups like Kimpton Hotels (or it could be a different hotel group) for hotel guests to receive complementary CaBi weekly memberships. Groups like the Crystal City BID and the Potomac Yards group have already contributed to the system in return for having stations installed in their neighborhoods.

I agree that CaBi shouldn’t put all their eggs in one basket, but they seem to be smart about pursuing many different sources of funding.

[PotomacCyclist]

A primary sponsor would mean a massive expansion of the system. The sponsor’s ads on the Minnesota and London bikes are understated and simple. I wouldn’t mind seeing something like that on CaBi.

If a major company agreed to a deal similar to the Barclays deal in London, CaBi could nearly double the size of the system immediately (though implementation would be delayed so that the bikes and stations could be manufactured and delivered, and station locations could be determined). Central DC would be well covered by that point. Many of the new stations could be used to expand into new neighborhoods or to fill in areas with only spotty coverage. CaBi could move into Alexandria, Shirlington, Bethesda, Silver Spring and other suburbs much sooner.

[PotomacCyclist]

Construction on the Washington Blvd. bridge over Columbia Pike will start next spring. The new bridge won’t be finished until 2015.

The new bridge will allow for a wider sidewalk on the north side of Columbia Pike. The ramps to the northwest of the bridge will be redesigned. That will allow for room to extend the Washington Blvd. bike trail down south to Columbia Pike. Currently there is very little room on the west side of Washington Blvd. for a trail on the final block of the proposed trail route.

The new designs will be more convenient for cyclists. But 2015 is a long way away.

[PotomacCyclist]

I just took a look at the Bobby McKEY’S website. Among the songs playing in the background is a Journey song. Does that mean (soon to be former) Mrs. Salahi is going to be there? I hope not! (For those not up on their DC-area gossip, she ran off with Neal Schon, the guitarist for Journey, this month, just before the Salahi winery had a bankruptcy auction.)

Pretty funny. I think it’s good for the DC area to have some places that don’t take themselves too seriously. A lot of places are either formal, “work hard/party hard” bars or hipster hangouts. Marty and Bobbi Mohan-Culp need their own place too.

[PotomacCyclist]

Is that the completion date for the entire project? If so, it’s possible that the bike trails would be in place before then. Hopefully…

Or maybe the bike trails will be the last part to be installed.

But now I’m thinking about Potomac Avenue in Potomac Yards (Arlington/Alexandria). The road and bike trail are both complete. The road hasn’t officially opened but the trail (and the road) are usable for cyclists. Maybe it could be a similar deal on Arlington Blvd. Instead of waiting until fall 2013, cyclists would only have to wait until… late summer 2013.

[PotomacCyclist]

The Rte. 50/Arlington Blvd. Trail at and around 10th St. North is being renovated and expanded. But the process will take quite a long time. The intersection of Arlington Blvd. and 10th St. will be completely redesigned, including the roads. That area is going to be a mess until the construction is finished.

Once the project is complete, there will be bike/pedestrian trails on both sides of Arlington Blvd. The trails will be wider and brand new. It should be a very nice ride, but it will also require a lot of patience to wait until the work is complete.

[PotomacCyclist]

I did a few nighttime rides on the trails last year, but not many this year.

Since you’re in the Pentagon City area, you have some other options. You can do loops along the bike lanes from Pentagon City to Crystal Drive. Then head down to Potomac Ave, which rarely has much traffic. Keep going past Potomac Yards to the section that is officially closed to traffic. Can’t get much safer than a road where no cars are allowed.

Potomac Avenue is now fully operational from end to end. All the street lights are in place and the pavement is now smooth. You can ride all the way from Crystal City down to Main Line Blvd. and the Monroe Ave. bridge. Once you cross the bridge, you can make your way over to Slaters Lane. Then turn right onto Abingdon Drive and left on Bashford Lane. Turn right onto Royal St. From there you can make your way through Old Town and head onto the on-road part of the Mt. Vernon Trail on Union St. if you like. You’ll have to make a few turns to get over to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. You can ride over to MD if you want.

I probably wouldn’t ride on the southern part of the MVT at night. Some of those sections can be quite steep, with sharp turns. That’s not really safe in low visibility, not to mention the safety issues.

I managed to do a 3-hr. ride on Monday (on my slower mountain bike), just by riding around Pentagon City, Crystal City, Potomac Yards, Old Town, Woodrow Wilson Bridge, National Harbor and back again, although I did some slow riding while I was looking around National Harbor and Old Town. I didn’t have to deal with much car traffic at all. The busiest section was probably Crystal Drive, and that’s not bad outside of rush hour.

***
You could also extend the ride in the other direction, by heading north. Instead of taking the MVT, go over to the Pentagon parking lots and take the Washington Blvd. trail adjacent to the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial. (The Memorial is a very somber and inspiring sight at night, with all of the benches lit up from below.) You’ll have to deal with some sub-standard sidewalk sections along Washington Blvd. You will also have to take the infamous grade crossings south of Memorial Bridge. But at night, there’s very little car traffic. It’s much safer than during the day.

Head over to Memorial Bridge and ride into DC. Some of the trails on the western part of the Mall are closed for renovations, and Constitution and Independence Avenues are not for the faint of heart. You could turn south onto Ohio Drive and take that toward West Potomac Park. But I don’t know if I’d recommend riding in the park at night. There are way too many people running and walking around the island loop wearing completely dark clothing. I really don’t get it. It’s unsafe for them, and for you. If you’re going fast and run into one of these people, you’ll probably be hurt more than they will. You’ll go flying off your bike. So unless you have a very high-powered light or you slow down a lot, Hains Point is not the best place to ride after dark.

The 15th St. cycle track is one option. Most of it is safe. You’ll probably hear different opinions about the safety of the areas along the northern part of the cycle track. They’re generally much safer than they were 15 years ago, but you should still exercise caution. Downtown DC is much easier to navigate at night because there are far fewer cars than during the day. The major thoroughfares will still have a few aggressive drivers. But many of the secondary roads are relatively calm.

You can ride for quite a while in either direction, heading south and east to National Harbor, or heading north to Memorial Bridge and DC.

[PotomacCyclist]

Google Maps doesn’t show any bike trails connecting to National Harbor other than the Wilson Bridge trail. Oxon Hill Rd. is recommended as an on-road route, but the bike lanes don’t extend that far in either direction. Some of the neighborhoods to the north and east have a reputation for high crime rates.

As for scenery and sightseeing, the only spot that I’m aware of in that area is Fort Washington. But there are no trails down to Ft. Washington. I guess you could try the two-lane local roads, but those don’t look very appealing in the street view on Google Maps. You can get a view of Ft. Washington from across the river, by riding down on the Mt. Vernon Trail.

I didn’t have any problems with the security guards. Maybe they only bother larger groups of cyclists. I never had to walk my bike anywhere. I didn’t see any “Bikes Must Dismount” signs. (Yeah, the signs should read “Cyclists Must Dismount” but I often see “Bikes Must Dismount” signs. Doesn’t make any sense. The bikes aren’t going to dismount.) I thought there used to be signs last year, but I don’t remember.

I don’t think I’ll visit there too often, but it’s a nice change of pace. It’s very peaceful to ride up on the bridge and see the lights of DC and Alexandria from afar. (Note: There are several planned dips in the trail on the bridge. These can be quite hard on skinny road bike tires. Beware.) The view of the bridge itself from National Harbor is spectacular too. I’d like to check out the Waterskiing Santa some year. It’s kind of funny that that has become a new DC tradition. Other cities have their parades. We have Waterskiing Santa, accompanied by his waterskiing elves and reindeer. No joke.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]397[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]398[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]399[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]400[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]401[/ATTACH]

[Author]

Posts