Arlington County Pre-Treats Bike Trails

Tomorrow we may have and inch or two of snow, starting around 4-5 am. Maybe.

There had been discussion of more allocation of resources to clear snow from "mixed use" (that is, bike) trails, but I had not realized this could include pre-treatment before the snow. On my way home today, turning off the Mount Vernon Trail onto the trail along Four Mile Run, I noticed the tell-tale lines on the pavement indicating some kind of vehicle had come through and applied some kind of treatment in advance of the snow's arrival.


Looking away from Shirlington, you can see the application of some sort of liquid treatement both coming and going

Apparently this is where the vehicle turned around since a fair amount was spilled.


Looking towards Shirlington, you can see that the narrower trail means just one direction of application

I have no idea how helpful this will be. Find out tomorrow, most likely.

Arlington County (VA) and Trail Plowing

March 9 I sent the following as an email to the Arlington Bike Coordinator; later I submitted a revised version to the County Board on their website.

It appears that over the winter the County decided to switch from salting trails to plowing. (I leave near Rt 7 and Walter Reed and ride down the trail along Walter Reed, then down the trail along Four Mile Run to the Mt Vernon trail and then in to DC that way.)

I am surprised by the timeliness of some of the plowing that happened - in particular, the that runs parallel to Walter Reed between Rt 7 and Arlington Mill Drive was plowed recently very quickly after the snow - this makes a lot of sense since if you are going to plow trails (and not salt), it should happen fast before the snow turns into ice from people walking on it.

The different this past week was very noticeable between the trails I use in Arlington and the Mt Vernon Trail, which was untreated and unplowed. The main thing was that the trails that were plowed become clear and useable by a regular bike quickly and the Mt Vernon trail was only rideable until Thursday either by riding very carefully or by having a bike with studded tires (which I have).

Plowing isn't a perfect solution - Tuesday in particular some trails had been plowed before my morning ride but the result was that the asphalt (with the 15 degree weather) was coated with a thin sheet of ice instead of a thicker layer of ice and snow so that a regular bike would not have traction - it would have been impossible to ride without studded tires. But by that afternoon the situation was already better, and Wednesday morning the Arlington trails were rideable (with care) while the Mt Vernon trail was not. Still, I think plowing is better than treating with salt etc.

The plowing is good. Thank you.

Plowed trail near my house - makes a big difference!

This kind of systematic effort to clear trails used by cyclists (and others, of course) following snow storms is new this year in Arlington, and there was enough snowy weather for some experimentation. The first round was to use salt/road treatment type applications on the trails, which isn't great if you want to walk a dog using the trail and also is hard on the bicycle and the surrounding environment since the salt/chemicals aren't confined to the trail (asphalt). Plowing is a lot better, and the County shifted to that, which is great.

Better still would be to have a little less snow.

Limits of Cold Weather Commuting

As in, my limits. Well, my limits and the limits of my cycling equipment.


My ice commuter, for better or worse

Today was the second day I rode back and forth the ten miles between my house and Capitol Hill with the trails pretty icy and in reasonably cold weather, particularly in the morning. In my years of commuting in more or less all weather, it is fairly unusual to have sustained cold such that the trail conditions didn't change that much between two days. In a few places some salt had cleared areas, but it was not like the second day was a huge improvement. (Mostly the trails are not treated.)

This morning it was cold, for here at least, at around 12-14 F - around -10 C. It was colder than yesterday and since it took me over an hour to get to work, my fingers were starting to get cold on one hand - but overall my cold weather biking clothes work OK at least down to this temp. But I need to keep moving, spinning, to maintain my warmth.

The bigger problem is with my bike and my fitness (my "fitness" in the broader sense of being physically ready for such an endeavor). The bike is an old Giant that I have only ridden in the last few years when I want to take advantage of the studded tires I have mounted on it, and that's it. The bike could use some adjustments. The rear brakes in particular don't work well in these conditions and of course when it is slick the front brake can't be used (much) without instantly causing a crash so the poor rear brake performance isn't helpful at all. (I should fix that!) The 1.95 inch wide tires with the studs are lovely for traction when the surface is mostly flat/smooth but if there is accumulated snow or snow+ice they have a terrific amount of road (or I guess snow) resistance - the width isn't helpful.

But it does work. Two days running I rode back and forth on a lot of slick surfaces and didn't fall once. And I got back and forth.


The Gravelly Point area of the Mount Vernon Trail; another riding north as I head south

I don't see too many other riders on the trail on a day like this. Today I saw two riders coming the other way on my ride home (total) - one was a commuter and the other fellow just seemed to be out enjoying the fun to be had. The photo above shows the commuter I saw, chugging along. He did not, I think, have studded tires - he was riding a cyclocross sort of 700 size tire bike and was hugging the right edge of the trail. I am familiar with this approach - basically you stay away from where other riders have been riding and especially stay away from icy sections. The narrow tires cut through the snow OK and you have traction but it very tiring to maintain this kind of straight-ish line.

My approach with the wide mountain bike tires is to stick to the middle where the snow is pounded flat and where there is compacted snow on ice and try to skirt as much of the clear ice as I can. The studded tires will allow some riding on clear ice, but you can't brake or steer (much). And sometimes you hit a bump and the bike simple slides. The studs aren't a perfect solution.

It's an adventure (or something like one, for me) but I'm glad to have the weekend now to rest up. I don't know if I could do more than two days running of this. I was unhappy this morning to pass a guy walking his bike on the Mount Vernon Trail near the airport, on one of the bridges - he had a very nice bike, but apparently was having no luck staying upright. He didn't look like he was dressed as warmly as me, and walking . . . I didn't have anything to help him with this problem, so I just kept going.


A snow-bike patent for a set of attachments from 1900 - but my problem was ice, alas

I have a sort of cyclocross bike that is presently out of commission with disk brakes - I should get some studded tires for that thing when they are on sale so I have a bike to ride in this kind of weather with working brakes and have narrower tires to cut through snow. For next year. Yeah.

Plywood Trail Replacement Wearing Out

The problem as of June 1 2013 - 100s of pounds of cyclists pounding these plywood sheets, day after day

About 1 3/4 miles from my house, along Four Mile Run on the bike (or mixed use) trail, Arlington County installed a temporary (one hopes) bypass storm drain pipe across the trail during the first week of May (2013). They built a ramp (or bridge) over this so that the trail is still usable. It is built out of plywood and the construction techniques leave something to be desired now that it is clear that it is going to be up for longer than say a week. The construction, not great in the first place, is gradually failing. Lawsuit alert!

The original execution had plain sheets of unpainted or treated plywood such that when it rained they were a bit slick. It struck me as obvious that the boards should be painted or treated with something and at that time throw some sand into the mix to add some traction. So I contacted this County with this brilliant observation:

My comment, made May 8 2013

Subject : WEBSITE COMMENT: Temp bridge over pipe -- ATTN: trails

Comments : On the bike trail along s glebe rd about 1/4 mile s of I-395 there is a new temporary plywood ramp over a pipe. This ramp is getting tire residue and is plain wood. When wet it is slick for bicycles. Can't you paint it and throw some sand on the paint for safety?

Thank you.

The County is fairly responsive. I was slightly amused by the notion that "exterior surfaces are slippery when wet" as being something they couldn't address but whatever.

First reply, May 9 2013:

Michael,

Thank you for writing about the ramp on the Four Mile Run Trail at South Glebe Road. Most exterior surfaces will be slippery when wet, but I will forward your observation to the unit who is working with the contractor. They may have a surfacing material with more traction for the ramp.

I was surprised (and I suppose pleased) to get a follow-up message soon after.

Second reply, May 10 2013:

Good Morning Michael,

Again, thank you for notifying trails of the condition of the bike trail ramp during the rain. The contractor has placed non-skid mats on the ramp to increase friction when bikes ride over it. Please see the attached picture for your reference. If you have any additional concerns in regards to the temporary bike ramp on S Glebe Rd, please do not hesitate to contact me.


Photo sent me by County showing how they solved the problem of slickness during rain (as of May 10)

This is a case of what happens when one (in this case me) is not very clear. I don't really see how strips like this solve the overall problem since there is plenty of area that is not covered by the traction material. And it doesn't address what is turning out to be more of a problem, which is that the untreated/unpainted boards are suffering under a higher level of pounding/usage than the County or this contractor imagined. I would not have guessed that a temporary structure of this quality was intended to serve this long - and apparently longer. Who knows how long.


June 1 - looks OK at this distance, although one railing clearly bowing in


Closer examination reveals somewhat wavy deck

The contractor chose to run the plywood longwise but it wasn't wide enough to cover the entire deck, so they have two sheets of plywood, one larger and one smaller, running side by side. Amazingly dumb. It would have been much better to run the plywood sideways so there is no "seam" running the same direction as the direction of travel.


Looking in other direction, clear that main sheet of plywood coming up

In the first picture in this blog post, another problem is clear, if you think about it. Cyclists are mostly are not used to riding on ramps like this and it isn't that wide - so they pretty much want to be in the middle (notwithstanding the little yellow striping that suggests this is some sort of miniature divided highway). Because many cyclists are apparently not used to be presented with problems of this sort, they try to cross in both directions at the same time as other cyclists or as pedestrians even though common sense would suggest that it is a bit risky. The County supplied signage warns as you approach in one direction "bump" (???) and "slow" (that's OK, I guess) in the other.

I will send the County a link to this blog post and perhaps they will make it better.

Or not. We'll see. . . . .

Capital Bikeshare Adds Shirlington (VA) Station Today

Not there this morning, there during evening commute

This is about a mile from my house, which is closer than I thought Bikeshare would be getting at this point. I haven't been able to think up a case where this would be helpful or useful but intuitively it seems like a good thing that there is one here. There is one right near my office on Capitol Hill. Who knows ~~~