winter continues
Tue 1/15/2019 8:15 PM
Yesterday I worked from home; Federal worksites were closed by the weather.
Biking to work today was a challenge. I expect the Canal towpath has a lot of snow and mud. And that's National Park Service, so they're furloughed - not that they plow the towpath nor the Capital Crescent Trail.
The sidewalks along Old Dominion Drive were partially cleared, but many stretches were unrideable. The street itself is busy and has no shoulders. After 3/4 mile (1.2km) there's a bike lane, but it wasn't entirely cleared. The Custis Trail has been plowed, but it had many spots that I expect will be ice patches tonight. And where the trail had bridges over or along I-66 there was rough, compacted, unrideable snow.
The trail approaching Roosevelt Island was unexpectedly clear. Roosevelt Island is NPS again, and they don't plow. But this was somehow passable today. Beyond the parking lot the trail was mostly snow, and unrideable up to the bridge. Things were better on the bridge itself; the sections in the sun were wet slush. This may also freeze into rough, unrideable ice after sunset. Off the bridge, approaching the Kennedy Center, there was more rough snow on the sidewalk, and at the end of the "chute" the people who cleared the Kennedy Center sidewalks left a pile of snow blocking access to the bridge. What kind of people pile the plowed snow where it blocks a thoroughfare?
The rest of the ride to work was better. The DC streets were all fine. Bike lanes were not as good. The "protected" bike lane I saw was unusable; it was protected from any possibility of plowing.
The places I had to walk the bike added about 15-20 minutes to the trip. The temperature, up to 40°F/4.4°C, no notable wind, was pleasant. I'm planning to take less trail and more street for the ride home tonight.
I expect Key Bridge (into Georgetown) had clear sidewalks, and has no isolated approaches. Key Bridge has a lot of foot traffic; there are always pedestrians during the day, and usually a few at night (if I come home that way). Seeing other cyclists is not unusual. (Chain Bridge and the Roosevelt Bridge have little walking traffic, and rarely at night. It's mostly a function of what's at each end of the bridges.) But I'm not fond of biking M Street through Georgetown - heavy traffic, and awful pavement.
Tuesday 22:00
I took Key Bridge coming home. Its sidewalks were plowed - not completely, but with enough room for cyclists to overtake pedestrians. And there was still pedestrian traffic, even at night. No long, snow-covered approaches to get to the bridge. Near the White House there's a (double-wide) 2-way protected bike lane on 15th Street; this has been plowed, although there's still snow/ice berms that make getting into/out of the bike lane at intersections a challenge. And in Virginia, after the Custis Trail crosses I-66, I took Lee Highway - 3 lanes each way, and a bike lane westbound (but not eastbound, why?). The bike lane wasn't entirely clear, but this stretch of road has little traffic at night and there was no reason I needed to be in a bike lane.
Wednesday 16:00
I took Lee Highway and the Key Bridge in to work today. It was much clearer/easier going than the Custis Trail along I-66 and the Roosevelt Bridge.
As I passed the Executive Office Building (next to the White House) someone took my picture. He looked like he knew what he was doing, so I looped around and asked if he could send me a copy if it looked OK. He asked me to make another pass. He was trying out a new flash. It was a sunny afternoon, but the sun was behind me and that is very much an appropriate situation for using a flash. He was also interested in the recumbent - but not interested enough to sit on it and see how it felt.
Wednesday 22:00
40°F/4.4°C felt quite pleasant; no appreciable wind. A month ago 40° was the point where the commute became challenging. Acclimating.
In Arlington I can see that some streets have already been treated again for more snow.
Thursday 13:00
They've forecast more snow tonight and tomorrow morning. Possibly an inch (2.5cm).
Thursday 16:00
People along Old Dominion Drive still haven't all cleared their sidewalks, so there's still places where I have to walk the bike. (The road is clear, but it's a busy road, one lane each way, and I go up that 0.75mi (1.2km) hill at 8-9mph (12.8-14.5 kmph); drivers would not be happy.)
But lots of places were clearer than yesterday, so I decided to have another go at the Roosevelt Bridge. The sidewalks were clear, until the boardwalk and the bridge. It looked like they had been plowed - except NPS doesn't do that to begin with, and they're on furlough. The gates to Roosevelt Island itself were closed. (It's an island, so access is by a footbridge.) Then came the boardwalk - lots of snow, packed lumpy by traffic, unrideable. I think the difference is heat from the ground under the asphalt (and its black surface, adding to the heat for the ground to retain before the snow cover), and ambient air under the boardwalk. Other possible explanations? No plowing on the boardwalk because the metal plows would damage the boards. Or the boardwalk isn't rated for the load of a truck? (I know it can handle a SUV, because I helped someone lost drive backward on it. The hill up to the bridge was better (asphalt), and then the VA end of the bridge was unrideable. It curved a bit to the main portion of the bridge, and was mostly clear, and rideable. At the DC end it curved more and cleared more - maybe this was being back over dirt, or lining up for more sun. And then there was still that pile of snow at the end left by the nimrods who plowed the Kennedy Center sidewalks.
There was a lot of salt on Pennsylvania Ave. The lane with the most traffic had blown most of it away, but the other lanes looked ridiculous.
With the shutdown and furloughs I've been getting my favorite parking space every day. (There's no cars in this photo, either.)
Thursday 23:00
It started snowing earlier than I expected, so I decided to not leave early, with hopes that my normal schedule would match a gap in the weather. The snow was tiny flakes when I left, and it tapered off by the time I got to Georgetown. The roads were wet, but there was no accumulation. (I'd seen a lot of salt on Pennsylvania Ave this afternoon.) There was more snow in Virginia, a little sticking on the trail, but nothing on the roads. At home I'd say there was a new half inch (1.25cm) in the yard.
I saw lots of plow/dump trucks waiting for salt (where that new structure was put up, replacing the rusted (and now demolished) salt tank). There were trucks staged and waiting in DC, too.
I found an email from an unfamiliar sender. It turned out to be a photo of me, taken on my way in yesterday. Cool!
Hmmm, EXIF suggests it's been Photoshopped.
Friday 01:42
I just sent a comment to the Kennedy Center about piling snow blocking the bridge access. If their comment page had allowed more room I would have told them I've seen theatre patrons arrive that way, walking across the river on the bridge. I don't know whether they lived in Rosslyn, or parked (free) at Roosevelt Island to save money. The river view on that walk is quite nice.
Friday 16:00
There's been more melting since yesterday. Last night's snow is already gone. The Old Dominion sidewalk is mostly rideable.
There was an anti-abortion march/rally today. When I was about 5 blocks from the Capitol traffic suddenly got congested. Looking around the truck in front of me, I could see brake lights most of the rest of the way to work. If I'd been driving a car (and been able to see that far) I'd have considered it futile. (Some drivers were making U-turns.) On a bike - tedious. Failing that, we can walk our bikes on the sidewalk, and still make progress.
Another couple of blocks (much faster biking than driving), and the congestion became gridlock. The (unprotected) bike lanes are mostly melted clear - and generally not wide enough to be useful for cars - so they let bikes (and scooters) get through this mess. My office is next to Union Station, but that's only about 3 blocks from the Capitol.
They were setting up hundreds a lot of porta-potties outside Union Station last night - in the (light) snow - which also caused congestion problems trying to get away from the office. I was wondering why they were doing it last night. I was aware of the Women's March this weekend, but I hadn't heard anything about the March for Life. (I hadn't heard anything about this same march last year, 2018/Jan/19, also noted for congestion in my bike log.)
Sunday 01:14
What news I've heard of the Women's March has been uneventful. The day here was overcast, but I think they were done before the rain. But there was another story from Friday, Students in 'MAGA' hats mock Native American after rally. [Later: That story took enough turns that I'm glad I have a posting lag.]
There's a major storm coming through, but it's 40°F/4.4°C and it's not going to get much colder tonight (a 4°F/2°C drop?), so it's rain, and it won't be snow. Farther north, places are expecting as much as 2' (60cm) of snow. The next 2 nights are going to be very cold, forecast of 13°F/-10.5°C, but dry. Rain again Wednesday, but going up to 50°F/10°C, not snow.
Monday 02:30
I forgot about the (super blood wolf) total lunar eclipse. It was nearly over when they mentioned it on the BBC, sad that cloudy London didn't get a good view of it. The last quarter or so of the partial shading was left. It's also seriously cold here - 17°F/-8.3°C - so standing around outside is a bit severe. The skies are partly cloudy, and the moon is high in our sky, so there is a view.
[This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/1044535.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]
Yesterday I worked from home; Federal worksites were closed by the weather.
Biking to work today was a challenge. I expect the Canal towpath has a lot of snow and mud. And that's National Park Service, so they're furloughed - not that they plow the towpath nor the Capital Crescent Trail.
The sidewalks along Old Dominion Drive were partially cleared, but many stretches were unrideable. The street itself is busy and has no shoulders. After 3/4 mile (1.2km) there's a bike lane, but it wasn't entirely cleared. The Custis Trail has been plowed, but it had many spots that I expect will be ice patches tonight. And where the trail had bridges over or along I-66 there was rough, compacted, unrideable snow.
The trail approaching Roosevelt Island was unexpectedly clear. Roosevelt Island is NPS again, and they don't plow. But this was somehow passable today. Beyond the parking lot the trail was mostly snow, and unrideable up to the bridge. Things were better on the bridge itself; the sections in the sun were wet slush. This may also freeze into rough, unrideable ice after sunset. Off the bridge, approaching the Kennedy Center, there was more rough snow on the sidewalk, and at the end of the "chute" the people who cleared the Kennedy Center sidewalks left a pile of snow blocking access to the bridge. What kind of people pile the plowed snow where it blocks a thoroughfare?
The rest of the ride to work was better. The DC streets were all fine. Bike lanes were not as good. The "protected" bike lane I saw was unusable; it was protected from any possibility of plowing.
The places I had to walk the bike added about 15-20 minutes to the trip. The temperature, up to 40°F/4.4°C, no notable wind, was pleasant. I'm planning to take less trail and more street for the ride home tonight.
I expect Key Bridge (into Georgetown) had clear sidewalks, and has no isolated approaches. Key Bridge has a lot of foot traffic; there are always pedestrians during the day, and usually a few at night (if I come home that way). Seeing other cyclists is not unusual. (Chain Bridge and the Roosevelt Bridge have little walking traffic, and rarely at night. It's mostly a function of what's at each end of the bridges.) But I'm not fond of biking M Street through Georgetown - heavy traffic, and awful pavement.
Tuesday 22:00
I took Key Bridge coming home. Its sidewalks were plowed - not completely, but with enough room for cyclists to overtake pedestrians. And there was still pedestrian traffic, even at night. No long, snow-covered approaches to get to the bridge. Near the White House there's a (double-wide) 2-way protected bike lane on 15th Street; this has been plowed, although there's still snow/ice berms that make getting into/out of the bike lane at intersections a challenge. And in Virginia, after the Custis Trail crosses I-66, I took Lee Highway - 3 lanes each way, and a bike lane westbound (but not eastbound, why?). The bike lane wasn't entirely clear, but this stretch of road has little traffic at night and there was no reason I needed to be in a bike lane.
Wednesday 16:00
I took Lee Highway and the Key Bridge in to work today. It was much clearer/easier going than the Custis Trail along I-66 and the Roosevelt Bridge.
As I passed the Executive Office Building (next to the White House) someone took my picture. He looked like he knew what he was doing, so I looped around and asked if he could send me a copy if it looked OK. He asked me to make another pass. He was trying out a new flash. It was a sunny afternoon, but the sun was behind me and that is very much an appropriate situation for using a flash. He was also interested in the recumbent - but not interested enough to sit on it and see how it felt.
Wednesday 22:00
40°F/4.4°C felt quite pleasant; no appreciable wind. A month ago 40° was the point where the commute became challenging. Acclimating.
In Arlington I can see that some streets have already been treated again for more snow.
Thursday 13:00
They've forecast more snow tonight and tomorrow morning. Possibly an inch (2.5cm).
Thursday 16:00
People along Old Dominion Drive still haven't all cleared their sidewalks, so there's still places where I have to walk the bike. (The road is clear, but it's a busy road, one lane each way, and I go up that 0.75mi (1.2km) hill at 8-9mph (12.8-14.5 kmph); drivers would not be happy.)
But lots of places were clearer than yesterday, so I decided to have another go at the Roosevelt Bridge. The sidewalks were clear, until the boardwalk and the bridge. It looked like they had been plowed - except NPS doesn't do that to begin with, and they're on furlough. The gates to Roosevelt Island itself were closed. (It's an island, so access is by a footbridge.) Then came the boardwalk - lots of snow, packed lumpy by traffic, unrideable. I think the difference is heat from the ground under the asphalt (and its black surface, adding to the heat for the ground to retain before the snow cover), and ambient air under the boardwalk. Other possible explanations? No plowing on the boardwalk because the metal plows would damage the boards. Or the boardwalk isn't rated for the load of a truck? (I know it can handle a SUV, because I helped someone lost drive backward on it. The hill up to the bridge was better (asphalt), and then the VA end of the bridge was unrideable. It curved a bit to the main portion of the bridge, and was mostly clear, and rideable. At the DC end it curved more and cleared more - maybe this was being back over dirt, or lining up for more sun. And then there was still that pile of snow at the end left by the nimrods who plowed the Kennedy Center sidewalks.
There was a lot of salt on Pennsylvania Ave. The lane with the most traffic had blown most of it away, but the other lanes looked ridiculous.
With the shutdown and furloughs I've been getting my favorite parking space every day. (There's no cars in this photo, either.)
Thursday 23:00
It started snowing earlier than I expected, so I decided to not leave early, with hopes that my normal schedule would match a gap in the weather. The snow was tiny flakes when I left, and it tapered off by the time I got to Georgetown. The roads were wet, but there was no accumulation. (I'd seen a lot of salt on Pennsylvania Ave this afternoon.) There was more snow in Virginia, a little sticking on the trail, but nothing on the roads. At home I'd say there was a new half inch (1.25cm) in the yard.
I saw lots of plow/dump trucks waiting for salt (where that new structure was put up, replacing the rusted (and now demolished) salt tank). There were trucks staged and waiting in DC, too.
I found an email from an unfamiliar sender. It turned out to be a photo of me, taken on my way in yesterday. Cool!
Hmmm, EXIF suggests it's been Photoshopped.
Friday 01:42
I just sent a comment to the Kennedy Center about piling snow blocking the bridge access. If their comment page had allowed more room I would have told them I've seen theatre patrons arrive that way, walking across the river on the bridge. I don't know whether they lived in Rosslyn, or parked (free) at Roosevelt Island to save money. The river view on that walk is quite nice.
Friday 16:00
There's been more melting since yesterday. Last night's snow is already gone. The Old Dominion sidewalk is mostly rideable.
There was an anti-abortion march/rally today. When I was about 5 blocks from the Capitol traffic suddenly got congested. Looking around the truck in front of me, I could see brake lights most of the rest of the way to work. If I'd been driving a car (and been able to see that far) I'd have considered it futile. (Some drivers were making U-turns.) On a bike - tedious. Failing that, we can walk our bikes on the sidewalk, and still make progress.
Another couple of blocks (much faster biking than driving), and the congestion became gridlock. The (unprotected) bike lanes are mostly melted clear - and generally not wide enough to be useful for cars - so they let bikes (and scooters) get through this mess. My office is next to Union Station, but that's only about 3 blocks from the Capitol.
They were setting up hundreds a lot of porta-potties outside Union Station last night - in the (light) snow - which also caused congestion problems trying to get away from the office. I was wondering why they were doing it last night. I was aware of the Women's March this weekend, but I hadn't heard anything about the March for Life. (I hadn't heard anything about this same march last year, 2018/Jan/19, also noted for congestion in my bike log.)
Sunday 01:14
What news I've heard of the Women's March has been uneventful. The day here was overcast, but I think they were done before the rain. But there was another story from Friday, Students in 'MAGA' hats mock Native American after rally. [Later: That story took enough turns that I'm glad I have a posting lag.]
There's a major storm coming through, but it's 40°F/4.4°C and it's not going to get much colder tonight (a 4°F/2°C drop?), so it's rain, and it won't be snow. Farther north, places are expecting as much as 2' (60cm) of snow. The next 2 nights are going to be very cold, forecast of 13°F/-10.5°C, but dry. Rain again Wednesday, but going up to 50°F/10°C, not snow.
Monday 02:30
I forgot about the (super blood wolf) total lunar eclipse. It was nearly over when they mentioned it on the BBC, sad that cloudy London didn't get a good view of it. The last quarter or so of the partial shading was left. It's also seriously cold here - 17°F/-8.3°C - so standing around outside is a bit severe. The skies are partly cloudy, and the moon is high in our sky, so there is a view.
[This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/1044535.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]