[VA2DC]

Prince William Forest is an often-overlooked “oasis” just off of I-95 in Triangle, VA. It has the usual national park amenities–camping, cabins, hiking trails, organized hikes, ranger talks, and…biking. According to the park website:

For the on- and off-road cyclist, Prince William Forest Park is a favorite place for bicyclists. Over twelve miles of paved roads and 9.2 miles of gravel roads are available.

Three miles of the park Scenic Drive are a dedicated bike lane providing a paved, relatively flat surface ideal for beginning bicyclists. More experienced cyclists with mountain bikes have the option of off-road biking on any of the ten fire roads in the park.

[VA2DC]

N Rhodes St bridge and upper Arlington Blvd to N Meade were blocked off to cars this morning, but I was able to bike through there. Not sure what the closure was about.

[VA2DC]

@zsionakides 162431 wrote:

Most people that aren’t listening to music are good about waving or some other acknowledgement that they heard the bell. I do the same when I’m out running to reciprocate that I appreciate the passing notice.

My experience is that I get acknowledgement from well under a quarter of the people who I “ding” and then pass. Sometimes, runners or walkers will move to the right or at least move out of the center or even left side of the trail. But rarely do I get a hand wave or other signal to acknowledge “yeah, I heard you” or “thanks for giving me a heads-up.”

Whether walking, running, or cycling, I give a little wave with my left hand whenever someone signals by bell or voice. It just seems prudent to let them know that I know that they’re there, and they don’t have to wonder whether I’ll suddenly stop short or pull a crazy Ivan as they’re passing. And I like to let people know that I appreciate the warning.

[VA2DC]

@elbows 162362 wrote:

This morning, my commute was ruined by close passers on Independence Ave. I certainly didn’t set off to take that route but a motorcade and trail closures near the Reflecting Pool steered me to Independence Ave. I was nervous about taking the sidewalk because a lot of people where using it and with the fences up, I wasn’t sure where it would take me. How bad can 1/2 a mile of Independence Ave be, I thought? It was awful. Tons of speeding and passing within inches of me. I was hit from behind by a close passing driver on Columbia Pike this spring and I’m still not over it.

Would appreciate advice on where to report this. NPS? I don’t expect action but if NPS has enough resources to go after kids selling bottled water, they can at least read my complaint.

I agree with you about Independence. Occasionally, as an alternative to the Mall, I’ll take it westbound to 23rd on the way home. I never feel very comfortable taking the lane on Independence. Once the light changes at 17th, Independence “feels” more like a divided highway as cars ramp up speed. On the other hand, I haven’t *yet* had any bad encounters by taking the right lane westbound.

We chose to take the north sidewalk after the detours this morning. About midway along Independence where there’s a crosswalk, the sidewalk was blocked off with police tape and a park office standing guard. We had to dismount, walk the bikes around the blockade, and resume the ride in. I guess that the area was cordoned off to keep someone from planting an explosive device in the big electrical control box near the crosswalk.

You could report this to the White House (https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/06/28/vice-president-mike-pence-attend-wreath-laying-ceremony-korean-war), but I wouldn’t hold my breath for a response.

[VA2DC]

@DrP 161709 wrote:

Speaking of bollards…Who is going to turn left from Fairfax onto Wakefield and turn immediately right before the sidewalk? I only see possible pain with this one.

I’ve seen a car drive onto the sidewalk from the turn lane from northbound Glebe to eastbound Fairfax in front of the Suntrust Bank. I’m not advocating for bollards, but I could see someone crossing Fairfax from the Holiday in on Wakefield and trying to turn into the bike lane. More likely though will be drivers heading south on Glebe and turning right on Fairfax. I could see someone trying to use the bike path as a service lane.

[VA2DC]

@KLizotte 161254 wrote:

Wow, morning commuters are an entitled angry bunch. Drivers, if you are in that much of a hurry, please leave the house earlier!!!!

Indeed! Just this morning heading east on Jefferson Drive, I started filtering by a string of cars held up by a Circulator bus that itself was waiting for a tour bus to pull out of the Circulator bus stop at 12th. The windows were down on the last car in the line, and the driver started honking and flinging f-bombs for the traffic ahead to get moving.

1. Dude, the cars ahead of you have nowhere to go until the Circulator bus pulls over. Honking won’t make them move any sooner.
2. The Circulator bus can’t pull over when the stop is (unlawfully) occupied already. Yelling at it doesn’t alter that fact. Actually, the Circulator finally pulled over past 12th St, since the tour bus wasn’t moving. Everyone is trying to get somewhere, and this is a tourist destination. There are lots of drivers, including tour bus drivers, just trying to navigate the streets as best as they can. Deal with it.
3. The speed limit on Jefferson if 15mph. If you are in that much of a hurry, take Independence or another street.

[VA2DC]

@EasyRider 161166 wrote:

Perhaps the bicycle education programs I mentioned earlier can teach pedestrians to walk their dogs on the right shoulder of the trails, rather than down the middle of the path, as so many seem to do.

^^^This. Why is it that dogs normally are trained to heel on the handler’s left side? In most cases in the U.S. at least, dogs, the people walking them, and the others they may encounter along the way would be better served with the dog to the handler’s right side. On the MUPs, this lets the dog walk in the cooler grass and obviously helps to keep them out of harm’s way in the middle of the path.

[VA2DC]

To move onto quieter streets earlier in the ride, a bit of a modified box would only add little extra distance. From Quincy southbound, left on 10th St N by the library, right on Nelson, cross both Fairfax and Wilson at the light, right on 7th (or 6th or 5th) to left on Oakland. Should be minimal traffic from 10th St onward.

[VA2DC]

@CykelFlicka 160582 wrote:

biking back via the Mall is playing tourist frogger.

While the oblivious tourists can be frustrating, I choose to embrace the chaos rather than fight it. After all, I’m guessing that many of our visitors see few, if any, bike commuters in their home communities. So just being out there and being a PAL helps to spread the word about bicycles as transportation. I find that the biggest bottlenecks are at the two crosswalks over 17th St. If I take the southern crosswalk heading west, I often skirt toward the WWII Memorial parking lot toward the left and continue on the mostly empty path running by the Korean War Memorial. On the northern crosswalk, I typically cut over to the gravel paths around Constitution Gardens, which again, are mostly devoid of tourists. Since I prefer to take the south side of Memorial Bridge, I try to photobomb as many selfies as possible cutting across the front of the Lincoln Memorial. When I see visitors enjoying the monuments and memorials for the first and perhaps only time in their lives, I find that my own perspective becomes less jaded.

[VA2DC]

@f148vr 159732 wrote:

I recently started doing the Heisman when approaching a busy crosswalk i.e. GW Pkwy crossing from MVT to Memorial Bridge, it was far more effective than those flashing lights! I can stop motorist from 60 to 0 in 3 seconds flat!

You wear a leather helmet and carry a football on your rides? Seriously, though, what do you do to bring traffic to a halt? :confused:

[VA2DC]

Based on some of the comments in this thread, I purchased the Take-a-Look mirror to mount on my visor. Any suggestions on where to place it and how to adjust it to get a decent field of view? I’ve tried moving it forward and backward on the left side of my helmet visor, angled it up and down and from left to right. But I found that it’s very sensitive to micro-adjustments, and I have a hard time being able to see what’s behind me and to my left–such as car traffic running next to a bike lane. When I angle the mirror down a little, I just see a bunch of my left shoulder. Angle it up slightly, and I’m looking at the sky behind me. I ride a touring bike with drop bars with the saddle slightly higher than the handlebars. Any tips on how to use and adjust the mirror would be much appreciated!

[VA2DC]

@nailpeter 154234 wrote:

You can easily register found item in online lost and found platform like http://www.missingx.com/. It’s helpful for item or property owner to find their item and get back.

I wasn’t aware of this platform. Has anyone had any luck with it? It claims 1.4+ million items found.

[VA2DC]

@huskerdont 151552 wrote:

Wires could be from a lot of places, but I’ve usually assumed they were from shredded steel-belted radial tires.

Are there that many folks driving around on bald tires? Yikes!!!

[VA2DC]

@Emm 151528 wrote:

I’ve found some hair-strand fine wires embedded in my tires that way.

I’ve found hair-strand fine wires in my tires a few times too. I’m always surprised to find a 3/16″ bit of fine-gauge wire barely protruding through my tire with just enough exposed to pierce the tube, and wonder how it got there. Are people leaving wire brushes by the side of the road that eventually disintegrate? Or do the wire bits come from headphone and charging cable wires that get dropped on the road and are slowly pulverized by passing vehicles, leaving little bits and pieces ready to snag the next passing bike tire?

[VA2DC]

How about a tent whisk with its own little dustpan?

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