night rider
Tue Apr 14 02:00:00 EDT 2020
I tried my first Covid night jaunt. I was working (from home) until 23:00, and it was 23:45 when I left. I did the same ride as Sunday, out the W&OD trail to Hunter Mill Rd (a few miles beyond Vienna) and back. It was about 50°F/10°C, fine with a jacket and long tights. It was still a bit windy. (The South had tornadoes Sunday, and the remains of that storm was still clearing through here Monday morning.)
Those disappointing gloves are wearable at 50°F with a tail wind. Not snuggly warm, but not cold either.
But in contrast to the congestion I've seen on the various trails every day I've ridden, I saw no one else - riding, running, walking, walking dogs, pushing strollers - no one else on the trail. And very little traffic on the roads, so no traffic to wait for at the hazardous crossings.
When I've said the trails were crowded, you were probably thinking we were ignoring social distancing. Well, if people stay on the pavement, you can't be 6 feet away from the people going the other direction. But a lot of people walk 2 abreast, regardless of the traffic, so a lot of passing happens about a foot apart with oncoming traffic. I'm not worried about social distancing; I'm worried about collisions. (I scared a couple of dogs Sunday. Neither was in peril, but one didn't hear the bike until I was almost next to it, and I think the other (big puppy) was just freaked by the recumbent; it was skittish when I came back the other way and it could see me approaching.) The trails aren't designed for this much traffic. And if you think cars and bicycles are not a good mix on the roads, bicycles, runners, and walkers are not a good mix either unless they make the trails a lot wider.
This particular trail also allows horses, although I haven't seen any lately. There's a separate, unpaved trail. The mountain bikers tend to like it, so that's another conflict with the horses. And the side trail often crosses the paved trail. They never imagined the trails would be popular and busy when they designed them. They never imagined people would commute on them. They should have imagined that more and more people would be living along these corridors, and more people would want to use the trails simply because there would be more people.
I didn't bother with the facemask tonight.
Tuesday 15:30
I squeezed in another ride before work today. (We're expecting rain tonight.) For variety, I went across Chain Bridge and toward town on the canal towpath to get to the Capital Crescent Trail. I took this out, across the trestle at Arizona Ave and into Montgomery County. It took me a while to get out of the house, so I figured I had time for only 15 miles (24.14km). Dorset Ave turned out to be the place to turn back. It's hard to imagine a railroad running through a residential neighborhood like that. (The CCT was once a branch line of the B&O RR between Georgetown and Silver Spring.)
There weren't many people out on the towpath, perhaps because there was some mud after the storms Sun/Mon. The CCT had some bike traffic in DC, and added foot traffic and kids on bikes in Montgomery County, getting rather busy where the trail was more level north of River Rd. 62°F/16.7°C felt a bit chilly.
Wednesday 21:58
I'm not staying inside, but I'm staying away from people.
I had a 13:00 meeting that I'd forgotten, so that cut into a couple of daylight hours I might have used for a ride. But that should let me end my day earlier too, for a night ride.
But the day was a zoo (major network problems at our failover site, with some minor problems at the active site). And we've got some evening work scheduled Wed/Thu/Fri. And my manager keeps sending texts that are interrupting and distracting, so the work's not getting done very quickly (plus the servers we do first are really slow/old servers). And my cell phone's reception problems are unacceptable. Except it's not my phone; work provides it.
Thursday 02:33
Another night ride - 17.14mi (27.584km). This was a rambling route, and riding on some major streets that aren't generally welcoming to/tolerant of bike traffic. But there's hardly any other traffic.
I rode up Old Dominion Dr (but in the road, not on the sidewalk) to Lee Hwy (US 29) and then turned south on the unfamiliar Woodstock St to Glebe Rd (major artery), continuing south to Arlington Blvd (US 50). I turned west on the access road and then moved to the main roadway after crossing George Mason Dr, and continued through Falls Church to Fairview Park Dr. Turning south there would go to a previous worksite (oddly enough, now my current employer's headquarters), but I turned north. Then east on Lee Hwy (where I saw the night's only pedestrian, a guy carrying a skateboard?) to Hollywood Rd, and north/east to West St. This put me on a commute route from years ago, through Falls Church and back to Arlington/home.
Friday 17:16
That milk (sell by 2019/12/20) is finally gone, on cereal for today's breakfast.
Sunday 03:25
Another night ride, 23.17mi (37.29km), the no-planning/no-maps ride out the W&OD trail to Hunter Mill Rd and back. It was colder than I expected. The bike said 42°F/5.6°C when I took it out of the shed, and that's what I was dressed for. But at my turn-around it was 32°F/0°C. My toes' complaints were justified. I checked the temperature coming back. 31°F/-0.6°C west of Vienna, 33°F/0.6°C east of Vienna, 35°F/1.7°C near the beltway (and the person sleeping rough), 37°F/2.8°C in Falls Church, and 36°F/2.2°C when I got home.
Even though it was colder than Monday night, there was more "traffic". Perhaps because it is a weekend? Just outside the beltway, past Sandberg St, there was someone sleeping on a bench - sleeping bag, and a pile of belongings adjacent. Out past Vienna I passed someone out walking. And non-trail traffic, almost back home, I overtook 3 people (teenagers?) walking spread apart in the street. (The street used to be 2 lanes + parking each way, and is now 1 motor lane, a painted buffer, a bike lane, and parking (each way), so there was plenty of room for 3 kids and overtaking traffic.)
There was also more car traffic. I had to wait for a car at a (normally-busy) trail crossing.
I decided to take more streets (instead of the trail) coming back through Falls Church. The only oncoming car turned out to be a police SUV. (You can't tell when all you can see is headlights.) I must have been a surprise, a (recumbent) bike out at 03:00. Good lights, no traffic to impede, socially distanced - go on about your business....
I used a shoelace from my mask (not wearing it for night rides) to measure the width of the trail. If the shoelace is really 27 inches (package label), then the trail is 11.25 feet (3.429m) wide. I think 10 feet (3.048m) is a standard trail width. That maybe does allow for 6 feet (1.8m) separation when passing - if there's only 1 person going each direction. But that's not what I've been seeing on my daytime rides. There's often 2 people, side by side, going each way. That leaves very little clearance. Add dogs on leashes, kids on leashes, strollers, and bikes.
Monday 15:00
I went for a ride before work, 10.81mi (17.397km). Down George Mason Drive to the Bluemont Junction Trail to the W&OD trail, and east to Columbia Pike. There were people out, some with masks, but not what anyone would call congestion.
Monday 18:56
I've been working outside this afternoon because my phone reception was unuseable in the basement today. I've seen a lot of people going by on bikes.
Monday 23:00
I'd hoped to go for another bike ride tonight, but a coworker sent me a "reminder" that I was covering her shift. Note: the first mention of something is not a reminder. So it turned out to be a slightly long day, when I need to be working short days all this week to avoid unapproved overtime.
Today makes 6 full weeks of working from home. (We started earlier than most, on Tuesday March 9th.) [This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/1138727.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]
I tried my first Covid night jaunt. I was working (from home) until 23:00, and it was 23:45 when I left. I did the same ride as Sunday, out the W&OD trail to Hunter Mill Rd (a few miles beyond Vienna) and back. It was about 50°F/10°C, fine with a jacket and long tights. It was still a bit windy. (The South had tornadoes Sunday, and the remains of that storm was still clearing through here Monday morning.)
Those disappointing gloves are wearable at 50°F with a tail wind. Not snuggly warm, but not cold either.
But in contrast to the congestion I've seen on the various trails every day I've ridden, I saw no one else - riding, running, walking, walking dogs, pushing strollers - no one else on the trail. And very little traffic on the roads, so no traffic to wait for at the hazardous crossings.
When I've said the trails were crowded, you were probably thinking we were ignoring social distancing. Well, if people stay on the pavement, you can't be 6 feet away from the people going the other direction. But a lot of people walk 2 abreast, regardless of the traffic, so a lot of passing happens about a foot apart with oncoming traffic. I'm not worried about social distancing; I'm worried about collisions. (I scared a couple of dogs Sunday. Neither was in peril, but one didn't hear the bike until I was almost next to it, and I think the other (big puppy) was just freaked by the recumbent; it was skittish when I came back the other way and it could see me approaching.) The trails aren't designed for this much traffic. And if you think cars and bicycles are not a good mix on the roads, bicycles, runners, and walkers are not a good mix either unless they make the trails a lot wider.
This particular trail also allows horses, although I haven't seen any lately. There's a separate, unpaved trail. The mountain bikers tend to like it, so that's another conflict with the horses. And the side trail often crosses the paved trail. They never imagined the trails would be popular and busy when they designed them. They never imagined people would commute on them. They should have imagined that more and more people would be living along these corridors, and more people would want to use the trails simply because there would be more people.
I didn't bother with the facemask tonight.
Tuesday 15:30
I squeezed in another ride before work today. (We're expecting rain tonight.) For variety, I went across Chain Bridge and toward town on the canal towpath to get to the Capital Crescent Trail. I took this out, across the trestle at Arizona Ave and into Montgomery County. It took me a while to get out of the house, so I figured I had time for only 15 miles (24.14km). Dorset Ave turned out to be the place to turn back. It's hard to imagine a railroad running through a residential neighborhood like that. (The CCT was once a branch line of the B&O RR between Georgetown and Silver Spring.)
There weren't many people out on the towpath, perhaps because there was some mud after the storms Sun/Mon. The CCT had some bike traffic in DC, and added foot traffic and kids on bikes in Montgomery County, getting rather busy where the trail was more level north of River Rd. 62°F/16.7°C felt a bit chilly.
Wednesday 21:58
I'm not staying inside, but I'm staying away from people.
I had a 13:00 meeting that I'd forgotten, so that cut into a couple of daylight hours I might have used for a ride. But that should let me end my day earlier too, for a night ride.
But the day was a zoo (major network problems at our failover site, with some minor problems at the active site). And we've got some evening work scheduled Wed/Thu/Fri. And my manager keeps sending texts that are interrupting and distracting, so the work's not getting done very quickly (plus the servers we do first are really slow/old servers). And my cell phone's reception problems are unacceptable. Except it's not my phone; work provides it.
Thursday 02:33
Another night ride - 17.14mi (27.584km). This was a rambling route, and riding on some major streets that aren't generally welcoming to/tolerant of bike traffic. But there's hardly any other traffic.
I rode up Old Dominion Dr (but in the road, not on the sidewalk) to Lee Hwy (US 29) and then turned south on the unfamiliar Woodstock St to Glebe Rd (major artery), continuing south to Arlington Blvd (US 50). I turned west on the access road and then moved to the main roadway after crossing George Mason Dr, and continued through Falls Church to Fairview Park Dr. Turning south there would go to a previous worksite (oddly enough, now my current employer's headquarters), but I turned north. Then east on Lee Hwy (where I saw the night's only pedestrian, a guy carrying a skateboard?) to Hollywood Rd, and north/east to West St. This put me on a commute route from years ago, through Falls Church and back to Arlington/home.
Friday 17:16
That milk (sell by 2019/12/20) is finally gone, on cereal for today's breakfast.
Sunday 03:25
Another night ride, 23.17mi (37.29km), the no-planning/no-maps ride out the W&OD trail to Hunter Mill Rd and back. It was colder than I expected. The bike said 42°F/5.6°C when I took it out of the shed, and that's what I was dressed for. But at my turn-around it was 32°F/0°C. My toes' complaints were justified. I checked the temperature coming back. 31°F/-0.6°C west of Vienna, 33°F/0.6°C east of Vienna, 35°F/1.7°C near the beltway (and the person sleeping rough), 37°F/2.8°C in Falls Church, and 36°F/2.2°C when I got home.
Even though it was colder than Monday night, there was more "traffic". Perhaps because it is a weekend? Just outside the beltway, past Sandberg St, there was someone sleeping on a bench - sleeping bag, and a pile of belongings adjacent. Out past Vienna I passed someone out walking. And non-trail traffic, almost back home, I overtook 3 people (teenagers?) walking spread apart in the street. (The street used to be 2 lanes + parking each way, and is now 1 motor lane, a painted buffer, a bike lane, and parking (each way), so there was plenty of room for 3 kids and overtaking traffic.)
There was also more car traffic. I had to wait for a car at a (normally-busy) trail crossing.
I decided to take more streets (instead of the trail) coming back through Falls Church. The only oncoming car turned out to be a police SUV. (You can't tell when all you can see is headlights.) I must have been a surprise, a (recumbent) bike out at 03:00. Good lights, no traffic to impede, socially distanced - go on about your business....
I used a shoelace from my mask (not wearing it for night rides) to measure the width of the trail. If the shoelace is really 27 inches (package label), then the trail is 11.25 feet (3.429m) wide. I think 10 feet (3.048m) is a standard trail width. That maybe does allow for 6 feet (1.8m) separation when passing - if there's only 1 person going each direction. But that's not what I've been seeing on my daytime rides. There's often 2 people, side by side, going each way. That leaves very little clearance. Add dogs on leashes, kids on leashes, strollers, and bikes.
Monday 15:00
I went for a ride before work, 10.81mi (17.397km). Down George Mason Drive to the Bluemont Junction Trail to the W&OD trail, and east to Columbia Pike. There were people out, some with masks, but not what anyone would call congestion.
Monday 18:56
I've been working outside this afternoon because my phone reception was unuseable in the basement today. I've seen a lot of people going by on bikes.
Monday 23:00
I'd hoped to go for another bike ride tonight, but a coworker sent me a "reminder" that I was covering her shift. Note: the first mention of something is not a reminder. So it turned out to be a slightly long day, when I need to be working short days all this week to avoid unapproved overtime.
Today makes 6 full weeks of working from home. (We started earlier than most, on Tuesday March 9th.) [This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/1138727.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]