[ursus]

@huskerdont 180963 wrote:

So many of us do this that it’s a wonder anyone uses it at the most crowded times.

The MVT really is substandard at this point, with the exception of the sections that have recently been redone.

“Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.” — Yogi Berra

[ursus]

@creadinger 179094 wrote:

Goddamn, really!? In no way, does that resemble a road. Wow. So now I’m guessing the next step will be to install bollards to make even more obstacles to weave around, in addition to all the pedestrians…. 😡

There are indeed bollards now.

[ursus]

I think that it is necessary to use a bell when passing someone absorbed in listening to music. They MAY hear the bell; they WON’T hear my voice.

[ursus]

I rode the Custis eastward toward DC today. I thought that all of the posts here saying that the trail was open again were fake news because the signs warning that the trail was closed ahead have not been removed.

[ursus]

Does anyone know if Bike-O-Meters count scooters?

[ursus]

Two items to report. I could have missed it if they have already been posted.

1. The short detour on the CCT a bit west of Georgetown which involved riding over an old bridge just south of the trail is no more. I actually started to enjoy that detour.

2. There is a detour on the W&OD west of Herndon which will only be around through Friday. There is a portion of the trail consisting of two somewhat steep dips followed by rises. The two are fairly close together. The detour starts at the bottom of the first dip and meanders around south of the trail, rejoining trail immediately after the rise following the second dip. (I went through it the other way after crossing the river at White’s Ferry.)

[ursus]

Does anyone know if the work is on schedule to finish by the end of the week?

[ursus]

@Crickey7 180406 wrote:

Alternatively, you could head down to the towpath right there (if going North) and hop back on MacArthur at Old Angler’s.

Isn’t the washout detour on the towpath from the spring rains between those points? See mile 8.8 here. Although that detour is only 0.2 mi long, the one time I took it, it was a quagmire from more recent rain.

[ursus]

Thinking about geese, have they already flown south for the winter? I didn’t see any in or near the baseball fields in West Potomac Park early this morning while waiting for the official opening of Hains Point.

[ursus]

Is it my imagination, or is there more construction this year all over the DMV than in past years? It seems like every ride which I make involves some sort of detour.

[ursus]

Early this morning, when it was still dark, I took the detour for the first time. I was going westward. I had no trouble finding Veitch. Thank you VA for putting up street signs, not like the trouble I had following a route due to the Purple line construction in MD. Then I turned right on 18th, and again right on Cleveland and jogged left onto Calvert. At the bottom of the hill I saw a locked gate with a long explanation. I said to myself, this is odd. Why did they lock the gate. Well it looks like I will have to take the longer detour. Thankfully I turned around to the right and saw the path I was supposed to take.

[ursus]

It looks like that for a month, the Bridge to Nowhere goes nowhere at either end. :p

[ursus]

@Crickey7 179829 wrote:

First of all, I’d like to say I’m not going to give anyone a hard time about a blinkie on the trail. It rates low on the list of grievances, but it’s still an annoyance, and I think that on most trails, it’s unnecessary. It’s also distinguishable from road use in that on the road, there are typically lots of lights present, and one more isn’t much of a factor. Also, unless it’s a two-way bike lane, you’re usually not aiming it directly at another cyclist. On the trail, our eyes adjust to the lower ambient light levels. A blinkie is jarring and mildly uncomfortable. But still, again, it’s a matter of being extra polite, not being safe or unsafe.

JMHO. Blinkies are fine on trails. I am overjoyed when pedestrians have them and happy when bikers use them. I have a problem with high-powered lights operated in blinking mode especially those that strobe.

[ursus]

I haven’t posted about this before here, but since it is a sore spot with me, I will. I try to twist my light to the side when someone is approaching. I find it very difficult to actually dim the light by partially covering it with my hand, probably due to my age which requires both hands on the bar. No one has ever complained when I do this and sometimes I get thanks, so I assume that this is fine. My light from Light & Motion has three brightness levels plus flashing. I almost always use the lowest of the three levels which is fine for me to see and of course saves on running time, so dimming it that way is impossible. I think that others have also stated that the blinking mode is very disconcerting to approaching traffic and I don’t use it. (Edit after huskerdont’s post. mines strobes.)

On occasion I do not twist the light due to the fact that I don’t see the oncoming traffic until the last minute because they themselves don’t have a light or often even useful reflectors. This happens mainly with pedestrians but sometimes with other cyclists. The Reston area on the W&OD seems to be the worst for some reason — it may just be because there are a lot of people there.

The problem is not nearly as acute on roads as on trails, probably because roads are much wider. When one sees a cyclist on a trail it does not become a problem until (s)he gets quite close. When one gets that close on a road the angle is much greater and it is not a problem. OTOH cars using their brights can be a problem.

[ursus]

@sjclaeys 179806 wrote:

Now seeing that Veitch is being resurfaced. Yay for getting bike lanes (or so I heard on the Twitter), but that makes for a less than ideal detour while the work is being done.

Where on Veitch?

[Author]

Posts