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I haven’t had a lot of bad experiences with e-bikers and have found most of them ride them responsibly. It is even hard to tell they are using them, until you see their speed with little riding effort. I do have reservations with the 10% of them that ride them like crazy though. You will think that it would be easier for them to gain the momentum lost when going around people or slowing on blind curves, but I guess they just love to be jerks.

I remember the first time I saw the Gearcrusher. He attempted to go through a red light in Rosslyn going downhill, when a car that came out of nowhere almost hit him. “Pheww!” he exclaimed laughing. Two blocks later, a car was going to turn just before he was passing and he burst into expletives. Interesting character.

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Really nice morning for a change. Even the gusty headwind was enjoyable. I even forgave the (at least 3) cyclists/runners/walkers jumping into the trail without looking at both sides right when I was passing.

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Rode through George Mason Drive and Shirlington Road yesterday evening. Didn’t see anything new.

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Guy decided to draft behind me at MVT for at least 4 miles. A ‘thank you’ or at least a ‘nice butt’ would have been nice.

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@Birru 160266 wrote:

This is me a lot of times. I really want to make sure I have enough time to safely complete a pass, especially if there’s more than one cyclist ahead of me. Other times, I may find that folks ahead of me aren’t really going appreciably slower, so I may drop back a few lengths and match pace, while not being right on their wheels.

Same here. If I see someone that is going more or less the same speed and I don’t have a straight long path ahead, I wait until the way is clear before passing. I also don’t get too close to the other cyclist.

I did that this morning between the 4MR detour and MVT, so could have been me? I have issues with pollen allergies, so I become a bit soft spoken at times during my ride and have heard complaints about not calling my passes (even though I do call them), so I have finally decided to invest on a bell for my “good bike.” Hopefully I can have it for BTWD tomorrow, I have a feeling I will need it.

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Rain shoes? Rain boots? Rain shoe covers? I commuted on my rubber sandals this morning. I hope I don’t get athlete’s foot.

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@lordofthemark 159641 wrote:

By the way, yesterday, or maybe it was the day before? – I was at the place where the 4MRT crosses the Walter Reed. There was a car blocking the entire crosswalk..

This happens way to often between Columbia Pike and Shirlington Rd. Traffic cameras are quite unpopular, and I am against them, but this is probably a good use of them. It would bring Arlington a lot of money.

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Thanks! I have been meaning to try the Columbia Island/Pentagon/Army Navy route for a while and I am glad others recommend it. I have done the MVT/Washington Blvd/Pentagon route before and don’t like the bumpiness of it.

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@Alcova cyclist 159479 wrote:

I think I might have seen this play out too – saw another cyclist yell at two clowns passing unsafely heading south just before Gravelly Point.

I don’t normally ride the MVT, but was riding to a kids event at Wakefield HS straight from work so was off my usual route. For the whole stretch across 14th ST bridge and then MVT down to 4MR I was thinking “How do people ride this every day? People on this trail are freaking nuts!”

I prefer to take the Custis + W&OD + 4MR instead of MVT in the evenings at this point. It adds a few more miles, but I feel somewhat less anxious. Although I gotta say, there was someone playing soccer and someone playing basketball on the trail yesterday… There is no escape.

On that note, I was almost hit twice today crossing while the ped signal was on. One of them saw me and tried to beat me to it, and came less than a foot from hitting me. I always try to get to a ped crossing when turning left because I feel safer, but it is not always the case. I have always wondered, giving that Virginia law considers us a vehicle on the road, are we considered pedestrians while doing this? Would I be entitled for damages if someone ever hits me and I survive?

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Just to add to this, I think they should eliminate that left turn or at least find a way to make it more obvious that you are going against one way traffic and you have a one way lane all the way at the end.

I have been driving at night about 5 times in this area during the past year, and in 2 occasions, there have been people driving the wrong way because they missed the left turn. Which means it happens quite often. I have turned there and I can see why.

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@TwoWheelsDC 159147 wrote:

You mean this guy?

I got there maybe 5-10 minutes after it happened. Seemed like he either hit another car, or was hit, and caromed down the hill. Similar thing happened a couple years ago and took out a nice chunk of the trollheim.

Yes! Guess I’ll be on the lookup for cars at that section from now on…

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@Zack 159142 wrote:

Riding home on the MVT last night, I came up behind another cyclist at the northern airport bridge and waited to pass as usual since it is a blind corner. Another pair of cyclists pull up behind me waiting for a clear line of sight too. Then suddenly, a fifth cyclist starts passing us all just as a northbound cyclist comes flying around the blind corner. Luckily, everyone avoided each other but man, I don’t remember an uptick in jerk cyclists this time last year. But in the past few weeks, it seems some folks act just like bad drivers!

That same scenario has happened to me before, just that that one time nobody was coming from the other direction, my heart stopped for a second because if somebody was coming the other way it would have been a bad accident.

I crashed at that site about a year ago. A slow cyclist was trying to pass a family at the blind corner, I was going downhill close to 20mph and had nowhere to go. I avoided the hit, but I braked with such force, that my handle bar twisted and I crashed 100ft after. Always be careful at that section, slow down and have your brakes ready.

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Was wondering a couple of days ago if cars ever fall off into the trail just after Trollheim ends, going southbound. It is a curve and the trail is below the highway. Judging by the mud marks on the trail and the car being towed away at GW parkway, that might have happen this morning.

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@cvcalhoun 157681 wrote:

My morning commute was a lot more satisfying than last evening’s commute. With my knee feeling better, I was able to bike and not have to take Metro again. That was a lot better than last night’s experience of:

* Having the train single-tracking on the wrong side, meaning I had to go to the right side, take an elevator down, walk to the other end of the station, and take an elevator back up. (Yeah, that was a joy with the bad knee!)
* Having the platform so crowded that people were standing a floor above it and looking down rather than attempt to get on it.
* Having the sign saying single tracking was on the other side (which it wasn’t), instead of telling you when the trains would arrive and where they were going.
* Having two trains go by the wrong direction before one came going the right direction.
* Arriving at my station too late for a bus, and having to take a cab.

Remind me, why exactly would anyone prefer Metro to a bike? Other than injuries that prevented them from riding a bike?

I rode the Metro a couple of times this past winter because of rain/wind and both times I regretted it. Any bike ride, no matter the conditions is better than riding the mess that is Metro.

Today I struggled in the good bike. Haven’t felt gusts that strong all winter, but it only added 5 minutes to my commute instead of 30 minutes to an hour and the added frustration.

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Four Mile Run up to Columbia Pike is very good as of this morning. W&OD from Columbia Pike to Custis has a lot of ice patches, but was very much passable with my 32s, just proceed with caution/go slow. Once you hit the Custis trail up to Rosslyn it is almost spotless. I was really surprised I didn’t see any cyclists at all.

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