[slowtriguy]

West Street (Falls Church)->W&OD->Washington->Westmoreland->Van Buren->W&OD->Custis->15th->Quincy->Fairfax->Ballston was pretty straightforward this morning.

There was a narrow strip of bare pavement along most of the W&OD between West and Washington, except for three significant patches of bumpy ice: between Spring and Oak, just west of Little Falls, and just east of Little Falls. Smooth sailing east of Van Buren – just minor scattered patches of mostly smooth ice. The basketball court ice rink was 99% dry.

Rideable with care on 2.5″ semi-slicks.

[slowtriguy]

@Steve O 109257 wrote:

IF YOU TURN RIGHT OFF THE OUTBOUND CUSTIS ONTO THE W&OD, READ THIS
There is a lot of water on the W&OD just after the intersection. I don’t know when it is going to freeze, but if you take this corner at the usual speed, and it’s turned to ice, you will suffer a serious crash. I recommend extreme caution to assess the condition of the trail before you zoom around the corner.

Steve O, thanks for the heads-up! It was pretty slick there when I went through about 1730; I slipped a little just walking to take these pictures.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7927[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]7928[/ATTACH]

There’s also a potentially dangerous patch of ice at the corner by the basketball courts in Banneker Park:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7929[/ATTACH]

There are a few short (~1-2 bike lengths) icy stretches through Banneker Park, but those two areas are by far the worst.

[slowtriguy]

I said that “It’s illegal to flip a U-turn from the curb mid-block…”, and scoot asked:

@scoot 108946 wrote:

Really? I’ve never heard this.

to which I have to admit thinking, “You know, I’m really not sure I was right for Virginia…” (being an import and all). So I went looking and found this via LIS:

§ 46.2-845. Limitation on U-turns.
The driver of a vehicle within cities, towns or business districts of counties shall not turn his vehicle so as to proceed in the opposite direction except at an intersection.
No vehicle shall be turned so as to proceed in the opposite direction on any curve, or on the approach to or near the crest of a grade, where the vehicle cannot be seen by the driver of any other vehicle approaching from any direction within 500 feet.
(Code 1950, § 46-230; 1958, c. 541, § 46.1-214; 1989, c. 727.)

Maybe there’s a more recent law, and/or maybe Arlington has a law that supersedes that one, but I think that first sentence means what the driver did was illegal.

But then I am most definitely not a lawyer, so I should probably shut up now.

[slowtriguy]

You: driver at the curb by Washington-Lee High School, flipping an illegal U-turn 10 feet in front of me.

Me: cyclist heading south on Stafford, alert for jerks.

You *might* want to consider a few things: (a) it’s illegal to flip a U-turn from the curb mid-block; (b) it’s dumb to flip a U-turn any time you don’t have an unobstructed view of oncoming traffic — which you couldn’t have had, what with that school bus passing you and all; (c) it’s a little snowy and icy around this morning.

Outcome: INSTA-KARMA when you ram your car head-on into a snowbank.

Me: Riding past, shaking my head and laughing at the insta-karma.

[slowtriguy]

Repeat of yesterday’s ride, but a bit earlier – Falls Church to Arlington, 0740-0805.

No issues of any kind Spring->Lincoln->Westmoreland->Van Buren->W&OD->Custis->stub to 15th before Stafford. The trail is basically dry the whole length I rode.

Happy riding!

[slowtriguy]

Falls Church City (West and Broad) to Ballston, 0800-0835

Didn’t even bother trying to ride on the W&OD before Banneker Park. West->Lincoln->Washington->Westmoreland->Van Buren fine, just wet in spots.

W&OD->Custis AWESOMENESS from Banneker Park until the Harrison Street underpass. From then until the exit to 15th between Taylor and Stafford, mostly fine with a few slushy stretches.

15th->Quincy->Fairfax largely fine with a thin layer of slush that had me riding out in the lane, but folks were amazingly well-behaved today.

All easily rideable on 26″ semi-slicks, not least because of Dirt’s truing my rear wheel at Bikenetic yesterday — thanks again, Dirt!

[slowtriguy]

Was tossing some salt I found onto the black ice patch by the basketball court near EFC this morning. Another cyclist stopped to help. It was slowtriguy, who was just added to Yetti Betties & the A2. Great meeting you. Hope to see you at FCC soon.

Great meeting you, Steve O – and a great idea to move the salt over. Good to ride with you for a little while, and with a bonus Dickie + consularrider sighting to boot.

I’ve been trying to get out to FCC, but mornings are constrained by dropping off Miss slowtriguy at school and the day job shortly thereafter. I’m hoping to be there next time FCC and school break correspond, though.

[slowtriguy]

Nerve-wracking ride home via streets (Arlington & Falls Church) and trails (Custis, 4MR, W&OD) – 1715-1750ish.

I rode Fairfax through Ballston to the Custis, then Custis for a short while before bailing onto side streets due to slick conditions. Streets were better but still not great. I crossed 66 via Ohio St, then picked up the 4MR for a short distance to get back on the W&OD, which I rode until van Buren. I took Columbia to Maple to Park and side streets after that.

The whole way varied between just wet, wet and a little slushy, crunchy ice that tires broke through to pavement, and loose graupel/hail. Either my confidence sucks or it actually was dicey on semi-slicks, but in any case I’d prefer not to do that ride again any time soon. Studded tires or knobbies would probably have made it better, though.

On the other hand, it still beats Metro!

Safe riding, all.

[slowtriguy]

Quick scouting report – W&OD Shreve to Custis intersection and back, 0800-0825

Snow was coming down steadily and sticking on Citizens Bridge and the bridge at Little Falls. It was just beginning to stick lightly in spots between Great Falls and Little Falls and atop the Brandymore Castle hill. Smooth, wet sailing overall.

I saw a total of one other rider the whole time.

[slowtriguy]

Quick report – Custis & WOD from Fairfax to Shreve about 1700-1725.

Fairfax and Custis are just wet except for one spot of thin slush just west of the Harrison overpass. WOD is just wet until Banneker Park, then slushy to Van Buren. Van Buren and the WOD are wet until the bridge just east of Little Falls, which is snowy. WOD from Little Falls to Great Falls is a mix of thin slush and wet, and then just wet from Great Falls to Shreve except for Citizens Bridge, which is snowy.

All of this was easily rideable on 26″ semi-slicks. It might get slick as the temperatures drop later. Safe riding, everyone!

[slowtriguy]

I walked the W&OD from Spring to the EFC metro about 0745-0810 today. The roads through Falls Church seem largely fine, but the trail is a mix of partially clear, icy, and snowy. I saw lots of knobby tracks but most of the trail ride would have been beyond my comfort zone, personally. The trail just east of the Washington Blvd crossing is an ice rink, and the connector from the W&OD out to 19th just above Van Buren was similarly sporty.

I took a few pictures; these two seem representative on average for the W&OD segments I walked.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7380[/ATTACH]
Looking west just west of Great Falls

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7382[/ATTACH]
Looking east just east of Great Falls

[slowtriguy]

I rode the Custis from the Fairfax on-ramp to the W&OD, and then the W&OD out to West Street in Falls Church City around 1500-1530 today. At that time, the Custis and W&OD were just wet until you reach the Sycamore underpass — awesome plowing! After that, the trail had been plowed but still had about 0.5″ of packed snow, with some icy footprints and bumpy spots until Van Buren. Van Buren was packed snow with some ice. The trail from the 19th Street connector to Washington was partially plowed. From Washington to West, someone has been out there with a small plow and scraped it down to about 0.5″ of packed snow, with a few clear spots and one or two icy bits.

I rode the whole way on semi-slick 26″-ers with lowered pressure.

Be on the lookout for ice later tonight and tomorrow AM, though.

[slowtriguy]

You: two guys riding aggressively EB on the W&OD between Virginia Lane and Grove in Falls Church about 0745 today

Me: solo guy riding non-aggressively in the same direction, same place, roughly same time

Guys, the morning commute is really not a time to be racing down the W&OD, especially on a nice day when it is relatively crowded and when sun glare is an issue. Also, in case nobody told you, squeezing between two people walking side-by-side with a stroller in one lane and a solo runner coming the other way in the other lane is obnoxious — and doing it at speed is dangerous and stupid.

And holy cr*p, are you lucky you have good brakes and could stop in time to avoid colliding with that truck at Grove. You really shouldn’t blast through stop signs like you were about to — at the very least (and I’m not debating legalities or philosophies, just practicalities of not being creamed by cars) slow the hell down and look before rolling through. I really don’t want to see anyone get hurt. I could hear what the driver said after you pulled that stunt, and he was right to say every *&*#)(@#*&@)(# syllable.

On the plus side, I think I learned some new curse words from said driver, so there’s that.

[slowtriguy]

You: Guy on black and red road bike, in-ear headphones, and WABA sticker on the back of your helmet
Me: Guy on the green mtn bike, waiting at the W&OD crossing of Washington Blvd about 0745 AM

I regularly see folks make the careless choice of running this light, which I honestly don’t understand.

That said, it takes an extra level of carelessness to run the light when there are cars moving through the intersection, with the light, and less than two feet from you. Thankfully, you stopped in time to avoid a collision, and even backed up to the sidewalk before going ahead and blatantly running the light.

The light that changed to green for us less than 15 seconds later.

Were those 15 seconds really worth nearly getting creamed by oncoming traffic that had the light and the right-of-way? I encourage you to reconsider your priorities, fellow rider.

[slowtriguy]

I bike to work because I’m much happier when I do, because it saves me time and money, and because without riding to work, I would never have learned how to say “Stay back, man, I’ll cut you if you come closer” in pissed-off mallard. (quack quack quaCK QUACK QUAAAAAAAACK, in case you’re interested. I learned that yesterday.)

[Author]

Posts