Sunday, mid-day - despite the excellent weather, not really that many riders out - any many were part of a local event supporting a national "Police Unity Tour" (by bike). The riders had event numbers on their clothes.
Came up upon this fellow heading north on the GW trail near National Airport
Riding with gun
I guess maybe this is a work-related activity? I don't see the need for this guy to be riding with his sidearm. I wasn't able to work out what jurisdiction he was from.
When the first diamond frame bicycles became popular in the 1890s they were often called "wheels" - the national cycling association was called the "League of American Wheelmen." We have moved from "wheels" to "bikes," but the bicycles have remained remarkably the same over more than 100 years - elegant in their efficiency and simplicity. And many of the issues that we think are new? They were around then too.
Showing posts with label Arlington. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arlington. Show all posts
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
Four Mile Run Trail Flooding
Minor flooding of trail along Four Mile Run under Route 1
This is part of my morning commute - the heavy rain combined with the tides can lead to some flooding at this location, the low point of the trail along Four Mile Run. You can see that earlier the high point was perhaps 2-3 inches above where it is now. There was one time last winter after one of the heavy snows when there was a heavy rain storm that also melted snow and the flooding was probably a foot higher than this - I pulled myself along the fence to keep from peddling underwater. This was a dumb thing to do since bottom brackets are generally not watertight and enough grease was washed out that the bottom bracket started to emit rather amazing creaking noises. Always learning something . . .
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Overdue Bicycle Parked at Library Branch
Bicycle parked at Aurora Hills Branch Library, Arlington VA
You can't leave your bike locked up at one location for more than five days, or it gets removed. To where is a bit vague.
Tag on bicycle parked at Aurora Hills Branch Library, Arlington VA
I guess we won't have any books published like Bicycles Locked to Poles with its photos of bicycles in New York City (in various states of disassembly, mostly attached to poles with chains as heavy or heavier than the bikes themselves).
Friday, September 30, 2011
Shirlington - Officially "Bike Friendly"
New sign on bike trail near Shirlington - that one in the middle
A crew appeared today and installed the sign stating this is a "bicycle friendly community." (I realize I don't know if those signs stating the distances to various places were there before or not - I don't think so.) The sign faces the bicycle trail, as this picture mostly makes clear. There are several problems with this:
* The ones who need to hear this kind of thing more are the motorists in the sense of, "hey, don't run over the cyclists; this community is supposed to be bicycle friendly!" Ironically this sign is posted right at one of the worst crosswalks for cyclists in Arlington. Arlington is bicycle friendly, and by the way try not to get hurt crossing this street with cars zipping off 395.
* I suppose pointing this sign celebrating the League of American Bicyclists' designation of Arlington as a "bicycle friendly community" is fine but in the end, it's deeds not words. We aren't going to think, "oh yeah - Arlington loves cyclists because they put up this sign. We are going to think that because of useful things that the County does for cyclists (and their safety), which does not include the layout of this particular intersection (from a cyclist perspective).
It reminds me of socialist realism to have a sign proclaiming the glories not of today's reality but tomorrow's shiny future.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Closing Four Mile Run I-395 Underpass
Approaching underpass to I-395 from Shirlington side, Friday commute
After considerable amounts of rain overnight, Four Mile Run apparently flooded the bike path underpass for I-395. By the time that I arrived on my commute, around 7 am, I think the flooding was already gone but I chose not to investigate and rode around (the old way, over 395 on the pedestrian bridge and down Martha Custis).
In the evening the barriers had not been "officially" removed but someone had pushed them aside.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Wheels & Bikes at Shirlington
Bike rack in front of the Shirlington public library
So, why the locked up "extra" wheels at this bike rack? How did this happen? (These photos taken early Saturday morning before they are obscured by other parked bikes.)
Bike rack in the Harris Teeter parking garage at Shirlington
100 yards/meters or so away, we have this sad Mongoose that has lost its wheels - perhaps they are locked in front of the library!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Patriotic Recumbent Bike
Saturday, June 4, 2011
14th St Bridge to GW Parkway Bike Trail Detour Still Wanted
Fence opened allowing access to what was a temporary detour
When construction work closed off the regular route (now restored - see photo below) a presumably temporary detour was put in that was eventually paved (see photo above). Now that a detour isn't needed, the Park Service has installed temporary fencing along the top of short "cut-through" to prevent its further use, but people who like the idea of a shortcut (perhaps cyclists, perhaps walkers/runners) keep opening the fence up. Last night when I rode home, it was closed. By now I'm sure it's open again.
The USPS "authorized" route
It would make sense, I think, to have stairs (or something bicycles wouldn't try to use) instead of the old detour to pull some of the foot traffic away from the busy intersection (admittedly not busy at this time of the morning) shown in the photo above. In the meantime, we have this silly situation where there is a "sometimes" option that wasn't very good as a detour and isn't any better as a shortcut for combined bicycle-foot traffic.
I didn't get a photo of it, I'm sad to say, but one morning a cyclist had ridden up the cut-through only to realize that the fencing closed him off, and instead of disconnecting the fencing (or turning around), he had put his bike over the fence and was in the process of climbing over to join it. Hmm . . .
Monday, May 30, 2011
New Stop Sign, GW Bike Trail
New stop sign added for traffic coming off the 14th St Bridge (from DC) - sorry, lousy phone camera photo
A new stop sign has been added where traffic coming from DC on the 14th St Bridges meets the north-south George Washington Parkway bike trail. They have also added some helpful (I suppose) directional information - "trail north" and "trail south" for example.
The stop sign is in a somewhat unorthodox location - instead of being on the near side of the intersection, to the right, it is across the intersection, in the middle. I don't see that this clarifies the situation and it may just confuse things.
My favorite - "dismount before crossing"
For bike traffic northbound, there is a "dismount before crossing" sign, apparently pertaining to the humpback bridge a 100 yards on. The Park Service seems to have lots of these "dismount" signs to put up (to no purpose). Also, the sign is on the left side rather than the more conventional right side (presuming I am understanding who it is intended for correctly).
Aside from all this signage, this intersection is a mess for the kind of mixed cycling/walking/running going on here. Neither the north-south trail nor the one coming from the 14th St Bridge are wide enough.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Voice of America Covers DC Bike to Work
A good set of photographs from this month's Bike to Work day in Washington DC is on the Russian language VOA site - scroll down and the slide show launches. Knowledge of Russian not required.
As associated article in Russian isn't much for non-Russian speakers, but Google translate will render something like (but not exactly like) English - certainly it is understandable, if quirky.
Often in machine translation, the story becomes more dramatic in the telling, such as, "Move along the wide roads designed for a more dimensional and fast cars with gasoline engines - it's not only scary but dangerous. Therefore, local authorities began to pay greater attention to road safety. Cyclists immediately responded to these steps, rushing into the streets en masse."
I will be on the lookout for these cyclists storming the streets of DC.
(Not even slightly connected with bicycles, the translation business reminds me of the infamous Time article about Madonna's interview supposedly translated from English to Hungarian and back - which turns out to be an urban legend.)
As associated article in Russian isn't much for non-Russian speakers, but Google translate will render something like (but not exactly like) English - certainly it is understandable, if quirky.
Often in machine translation, the story becomes more dramatic in the telling, such as, "Move along the wide roads designed for a more dimensional and fast cars with gasoline engines - it's not only scary but dangerous. Therefore, local authorities began to pay greater attention to road safety. Cyclists immediately responded to these steps, rushing into the streets en masse."
I will be on the lookout for these cyclists storming the streets of DC.
(Not even slightly connected with bicycles, the translation business reminds me of the infamous Time article about Madonna's interview supposedly translated from English to Hungarian and back - which turns out to be an urban legend.)
Sunday, May 22, 2011
My BikeDC 2011 Experience
The last time I rode in BikeDC was in September 2001 - the George Washington Parkway portion was removed that year because it was something like ten days after September 11 and they could get the police support required (or something). I'm not a person who likes crowds but I have had this interest in riding on the GW Parkway so once it was clear that the weather would be OK this year (for a change - last year was a downpour) I signed up.
The event has a more or less rolling start - I got there (having ridden in on my bike from home) about 15 minutes are the first riders hit the course from just west of the (U.S.) Capitol, riding off through closed (to cars) streets in downtown DC, crossing the Roosevelt bridge into Virginia and heading north(ish) on the George Washington Parkway and heading a few miles down the Parkway before turning around and heading back up the Parkway, then the official route crossed back into DC for the finish (but I just road home).
Sparse (relatively speaking) bike travel in downtown
Starting 20-25 minutes after the initial bunch seemed to work out well at this point - not too much (bike) traffic.
Not long before the Roosevelt Bridge, we rode through a short tunnel
After crossing the Roosevelt Bridge and approaching the GW Parkway, the bikes bunched up more.
Here you get a sense of the mix of riders - there are some spandex "we could go a lot faster types" but the crew on the tandem are just rolling along and then there are kids, too.
Nearing the GW Parkway
Beyond the Key Bridge the bike traffic became quite heavy - the bikes only had one side (two lines) of the divided highway, with bike traffic in each direction confined to one lane (with cones down the middle). Round about now I began to wish for more common sense and more common courtesy from my fellow riders. As we climbed, relatively slow moving (bicycle) traffic filled the entire single outbound lane. Some people riding uphill nonetheless impatiently tried "on the left" when what they meant was, "you're in my way; I want to go faster." Some crossed over into the oncoming lane (for bikes - usually a lane of traffic in the same direction) to pass the entire column, then pull in with the other riders (who would more or less have to let him or her in).
Some riders barreling down the GW Parkway on the return side presented a more intimidating picture - here there were some people whose cries of "on your LEFT" really sounded like "OUTTA MY WAY or I may run into you."
Now this sounds like chaos, but probably it was one in 250 or less that was acting in this way, but when you have thousands of riders on a few miles of road, 1-in-250 makes an impression.
Fortunately all the bike crashing I saw was small-time stuff and no one was significantly injured. I observed several obviously (or one assumes) really new riders fall for no particular reason and on the Parkway, fortunately while moving only a few miles per hour, a bike turned into another causing a tangle of metal and rubber.
Nearing the turn around to head back on the GW Parkway
Last but not least - the one guy I saw who wasn't wearing a helmet, wearing a WABA jersey.
Yeah, image is a bit out of of focus, so his head looks funny - but there isn't a helmet on that head is what you can see readily enough. I don't believe wearing a helmet was required, but still.
The ride continued southbound on the GW Parkway and was, I thought, supposed to continue to the Air Force Monument, but at the Arlington Bridge there was some sort of accident (involving a cyclist? not clear at the time, or now for that matter) that had many emergency vehicles and a medevac helicopter. About a quarter mile beyond that was a turn around again on the GW Parkway to circle back and return into DC. Having had enough of a BikeDC experience for one day, I moved over to the GW bike trail and rode the eight or so miles home.
I guess overall I had an enjoyable experience, but I can't say I feel much of an urge to do it again at the moment, either.
The event has a more or less rolling start - I got there (having ridden in on my bike from home) about 15 minutes are the first riders hit the course from just west of the (U.S.) Capitol, riding off through closed (to cars) streets in downtown DC, crossing the Roosevelt bridge into Virginia and heading north(ish) on the George Washington Parkway and heading a few miles down the Parkway before turning around and heading back up the Parkway, then the official route crossed back into DC for the finish (but I just road home).
Sparse (relatively speaking) bike travel in downtown
Starting 20-25 minutes after the initial bunch seemed to work out well at this point - not too much (bike) traffic.
Not long before the Roosevelt Bridge, we rode through a short tunnel
After crossing the Roosevelt Bridge and approaching the GW Parkway, the bikes bunched up more.
Here you get a sense of the mix of riders - there are some spandex "we could go a lot faster types" but the crew on the tandem are just rolling along and then there are kids, too.
Nearing the GW Parkway
Beyond the Key Bridge the bike traffic became quite heavy - the bikes only had one side (two lines) of the divided highway, with bike traffic in each direction confined to one lane (with cones down the middle). Round about now I began to wish for more common sense and more common courtesy from my fellow riders. As we climbed, relatively slow moving (bicycle) traffic filled the entire single outbound lane. Some people riding uphill nonetheless impatiently tried "on the left" when what they meant was, "you're in my way; I want to go faster." Some crossed over into the oncoming lane (for bikes - usually a lane of traffic in the same direction) to pass the entire column, then pull in with the other riders (who would more or less have to let him or her in).
Some riders barreling down the GW Parkway on the return side presented a more intimidating picture - here there were some people whose cries of "on your LEFT" really sounded like "OUTTA MY WAY or I may run into you."
Now this sounds like chaos, but probably it was one in 250 or less that was acting in this way, but when you have thousands of riders on a few miles of road, 1-in-250 makes an impression.
Fortunately all the bike crashing I saw was small-time stuff and no one was significantly injured. I observed several obviously (or one assumes) really new riders fall for no particular reason and on the Parkway, fortunately while moving only a few miles per hour, a bike turned into another causing a tangle of metal and rubber.
Nearing the turn around to head back on the GW Parkway
Last but not least - the one guy I saw who wasn't wearing a helmet, wearing a WABA jersey.
Yeah, image is a bit out of of focus, so his head looks funny - but there isn't a helmet on that head is what you can see readily enough. I don't believe wearing a helmet was required, but still.
The ride continued southbound on the GW Parkway and was, I thought, supposed to continue to the Air Force Monument, but at the Arlington Bridge there was some sort of accident (involving a cyclist? not clear at the time, or now for that matter) that had many emergency vehicles and a medevac helicopter. About a quarter mile beyond that was a turn around again on the GW Parkway to circle back and return into DC. Having had enough of a BikeDC experience for one day, I moved over to the GW bike trail and rode the eight or so miles home.
I guess overall I had an enjoyable experience, but I can't say I feel much of an urge to do it again at the moment, either.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Bike to Work Day, 2011, Arlington VA
Inadvertantly part of a "new rider convoy" near National Airport on the GW Parkway bike path
Since I pretty much bike to work every day, I am never quite sure what to think of Bike to Work Day - at least this year the weather was mostly good (in the afternoon it clouded up and at least a few drops of rain fell some places). The number of riders for this "event" looked pretty impressive, but the fair weather aspect of this is fairly apparent when compared to earlier in the week when it had been rainy.
In the photograph the barbed wire is more noticable - normally I am looking forward I guess and don't even see it.
As riders get into the District, the group disperses
I tried to take some other group photos of "convoys" but my camera had focus issues. Oh well, maybe next year!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Bikes that Live Outside & Snow
Friday, March 18, 2011
Detour Closed; Bike Trail Restored
The newly restored bike trail, from the new approach to the Humpback bridge
Detour is closed, new routing (much like the old) is restored with new asphalt
The new asphalt already continues across the new bike portion of the Humpback bridge.
I didn't take anyone's photo, but an amazing number of people ignored the open trail in front of them and slowed to turn up the detour and couldn't figure out that all they had to do was . . . continue up the open trail in front of them. Habit forms quickly, I guess.
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