[VA2DC]

@eminva 140802 wrote:

We are coming off the Custis.

We will ride on Fairfax Drive. Before we transition from trail to road I will stop and do a mini Traffic Skills101 briefing. I will discuss the pitfalls of bike lanes and where to position oneself in a bike lane (all things we cover in WABA classes).

Thank you for the alternative suggestions — I will mention these so they can try them out on their own if they don’t like Fairfax.

Liz

My experience is that the sketchiest parts of that Fairfax segment are waiting to cross from the north side of the Fairfax to the south side at Wakefield in front of the Holiday Inn (the first light after coming off the Custis connector). Just a looonggg beg light, and lots of traffic that may or may not respect it going onto and coming off of 66. The other part that might concern a new rider is waiting in the bike lane to cross Glebe, where there are cars to your left waiting to go straight across and cars to your right turning right onto Glebe. When cars in the right lane have the green arrow (and even when they don’t), they tend to zip past you pretty quickly. Only pedestrians crossing Glebe will slow (sometimes) them down.

There’s a good-sized patch of gravel and debris as you start to cross Glebe at that intersection, and you have to swing into the through-lane or right-hand turn area to avoid it. Both maneuvers put you into the traffic flow. There’s also a lot of broken glass, gravel, and debris in the bike lane on the north side of the pedestrian island once you cross Glebe. Again, to avoid it, you need to stay in the car travel lane until you pass it and can swing back into the bike lane. I submitted a service request on both of these spots a week ago, but it still only shows up at “Submitted” on the county’s tracker.

[VA2DC]

@chris_s 140784 wrote:

I’ve had some decent luck with 9th St as a Fairfax Drive alternative. Experienced cyclists will likely hate it because it’s slow – you have to interact with a lot of ped traffic and cross a lot of unsignalized intersections, but it’s SO pleasantly light on traffic.

There’s no perfect way to get there, but there are several decent alternatives. All are much more comfortable for the inexperienced. Green is my recommended route, yellow & orange are alternate options. The orange alt requires threading through a narrow gap next to a gate so I don’t recommend it for newbies.

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I take Fairfax Dr. past Ballston all the time. Around 7:30-8:00 am, I don’t find much of a problem with vehicles parked in the bike lanes or potential dooring from Glebe to Stuart. There are almost always buses in front of Ballston, and sometimes commuter buses dropping off just before Stuart. And there are a lot of cars entering Fairfax and turning right off of Fairfax into garages or onto the side streets.

The 9th St alternative can be tricky to navigate, there’s a lot of pedestrian traffic. Plus there are 2 long beg lights: first to cross Fairfax in front of the Holiday Inn, and then to cross Glebe at 9th. As an alternative comfort route coming from Custis, I suggest going north on N Wakefield, right on 11th St N, and then right on Stafford (or a block earlier at Stuart). Wakefield and 11th are pretty calm, although Stafford can be busy. Stuart requires cutting through the dead end, but that does have the advantage of cutting out almost all of the vehicle traffic. This route only requires 1 beg light to cross Glebe at 11th, but there are several stop signs along 11th.
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[VA2DC]

@Tim Kelley 139360 wrote:

On this ride series, spaces are capped and there may be an occasion when a walk-up would be turned away. (Tomorrow seems like there should be plenty of space, so don’t sweat it)

The point of the ride isn’t to make money. The 10 dollar fee also deters people from just signing up well in advance and deciding not to come. We’ve found that a small fee makes people feel like they have some skin in the game.

If you don’t want to spend the $10 and do a walk up that’s fine…but the money does go to help allow WABA put on this type of programming in the future. (guilt trip)

Thanks for the explanation. The fee schedule makes sense now. This one looks like fun.

[VA2DC]

Why is there a pay-ahead reservation fee but free for ride-day walk-ups? The pricing seems to discourage pre-registration. A lot of events (e.g., DC Bike Ride) have escalating prices to encourage early registration.

[VA2DC]

I believe that I saw a few of the youngsters on the way in this morning. Great to see them out there!

[VA2DC]

Thank you, Arlington County or perhaps the good samaritan who swept the thick coating of gravel from the bike lane going up Court House hill–15th St N westbound heading from N Rhodes to N Courthouse Rd. Much appreciated, one less potential wipeout hazard to worry about!

[VA2DC]

Around 8:00am, more than the usual number of bikes on Fairfax Dr to Clarendon Blvd heading to DC. Several CaBi riders, which is a bit of a change. Probably 8-10 bikes waiting at the light on Jefferson Dr to cross 14th St, vs. a more typical 2-3.

[VA2DC]

Marshall Dr. between N Meade St. and the drive to the circle around Iwo Jima was closed this morning. I had to backtrack to the path that cuts through Iwo Jima past the Netherlands Carillon.

[VA2DC]

@Arlingtonrider 136310 wrote:

Maybe ask VAtoDC what his office plans to do with the lockers they’re getting rid of? If they’re in good order, it seems like someone should be able to re-use them somewhere!

That’s a good thought, Arlingtonrider. But the old steel lockers are in bad shape and are pretty rusted out. There’s enough rust flaking off that I can see daylight all along the bottom of the one that I use. I don’t know how soon these will get replaced, but I’m hoping that mine holds up at least that long! I’m guessing these lockers will go to a recycler.

[VA2DC]

@consularrider 136131 wrote:

@VA2DC 136111 wrote:

Could be from Kyiv, crosswalk curb cuts also serve as entry ramps for parking on the sidewalk (or driving the wrong way on a narrow one way street).

Sounds what I saw on a visit to Lisbon years ago, where sidewalks were used for parking, making streets the default place for walking!

[VA2DC]

@bobco85 136103 wrote:

I said this last summer, but this rings true yet again. Only took 12 hours, too! I’m adding this to the wiki under “Murphy’s Law of Drivers.”

So true. At the “Y” intersection leading from northbound Glebe Rd. to eastbound Fairfax Dr. just past World of Beer, I saw a car turn hard right at the pedestrian crosswalk onto the sidewalk. The only thing that stopped her is an orange cone that’s been there for a long time marking a hole in the pavers. Admittedly, the sidewalk is very wide there, and the brick pavers might make it look like a cobblestone road, but it took a lot of effort to make the sharp right onto the sidewalk instead of the gentle turn following the road itself. Fortunately, she realized her mistake and was able to back onto the road and continue on her way.

[VA2DC]

@americancyclo 135908 wrote:

If I were making that commute, I would not cut through the central core of DC. I’d go the route through SW and either the 14th st bridge, or up Ohio to the Lincoln and then across the Memorial Bridge. If you do go that way though, I’d take the 110 connector by Iwo Jima into Rosslyn, but that way you’re adding more GWMP crossings than you need to, so nevermind.

I take the evening commute along the Mall and over Memorial Bridge. If you stay on the south side of the Mall, you can take the path that skirts the Korean War Memorial and avoid most of the tourists on the paths near the Reflecting Pool and the sidewalk along Independence. For the most part, cars seem to be respectful of the crosswalks around Lincoln Memorial Circle and coming off of Memorial Bridge. From the downstream side of Memorial Bridge, crossing Washington Blvd hasn’t been a problem for me, as cars are slowing down approaching Memorial Circle. Usually, the car in the nearby lane will stop, and then the car in the 2nd lane will stop too. IMHO, the diciest crossing is the ramp feeding onto Memorial Dr from GWMP and 110. The cars on the ramp heading eastbound toward the District look to the left for vehicular traffic and often take off without looking to the right for westbound pedestrians or cyclists entering the well-marked crosswalk. Then it’s across Memorial Dr at the crosswalk at the Metro entrance onto the path at the 110 ramp to Iwo Jima.

[VA2DC]

My friend, ballston runner, reported the bizarre fox attack to animal control last night. They said they may put out flyers. But be on the lookout in that area. And if anyone knows the other young woman who was running, encourage her to see a doctor. ballston runner went to the ER last night and is getting the rabies vaccine.

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