DC/VA Commuters: Avoid the S-Of-DEATH
 

Thanks to the investigative work by a fellow forum member, I present the alternate route to the S-Of-Death (click for bigger):

http://home.gwu.edu/%7Ebdcheung/shortcut.png

Red = bad
Green = good

Grade crossing of the Highway of Death, eh?
hmmmmm.......

If you go down to the light, you can pawn all your worldly goods. ;)

At least with the highway of death, if I get into an accident there's a possibility of recourse!

Good work BD, better than my verbal description of it. For those giving the alternate route a try on the eastbound run, note that there is no "at grade" crossing as cc_rider suggested, it's all flat where you cross the 66 on ramp and Lee HWY and well regulated with cross walks and a stop light.

Thanks guys. I'll use that next time, crossing a freeway onramp beats wrecking on a tiny pebble, leaf, or road stripe.

I'm not sure I'm using "at grade" correctly. I mean that when you cross the 66 onramp and Lee Highway, you are on flat ground, that is not travelling uphill or downhill.

I was using "at grade" to mean crossing Lee Highway directly instead of going over it.

Although my actual point was about stopping at the pawn shop. ;)

I hate that at-grade just as much unfortunately. I just putt-putt like grandma down the hill. I work just off Courthouse, I've run that exit from the trail in the past and run through the houses on the hill to the office. I just prefer Custis to Veitch and that way, or I run the streets (Fairfax and Clarendon/Wilson)

-R

"The S of Death"... you're making it sound like fun, you know... ;)

That area is effectively just north of me, so whether I'm going east or west on the Custis, I skip the S-curve.

Heading east going home at night, I take the "exit" just before the S-curve (green section) and then stay on Lee Hwy to Highland.

However, I DON'T recommend making that left across Lee Hwy there...if you wait until East/Westbound traffic already on Lee has a red light, you're looking at people FLYING off 66 onto Lee turning both directions. I have almost been nailed multiple times heading East on Lee by people coming off the highway and taking the right on red at full speed and see people make that left as/after their light turns red on a nightly basis.

Your better bet might be to, at the bottom of the ramp, carefull get to the leftmost Eastbound lane on Lee, and wait until the westbound traffic is clear, though I don't think it's any safer than the S...

There's another great shortcut too to avoid the roller coaster hills between Quincy and Glebe Road. Going west, get off the path at Quincy and ride on the flatter side street, 15th street, I think.

(The alternate route here is a good one--it just doesn't help me much. I live at the top of the S-curve!)

Or you could go the other way around the Arlington loop (taking Mt Vernon and Four Mile Run/W&OD) and triple your miles!

As an added bonus, you get to experience multitudes of ninja joggers, too.

I can see my house!!!!...almost...it's like one street over off Kirkwood and 17th. When I take the trail home, I get off at that intersection, cross over Lee, and hop on Kirkwood to get home. Usually I come across Memorial Bridge and ride up Wilson into Clarendon.

But I thankfully have only encountered that side of the trail once, and do not plan on doing it again. Was not fun and ninjas are a plenty.

I can see Knucklesandwich's point about crossing Lee Highway near the 66 off ramp in the evening since a lot of people live around there and would be exiting 66 at this point. However, in my experience both driving and biking in this area, in the morning fewer people get off 66 at the off ramp at this location. Instead, most are blowing by trying to get to DC. So, while you always have to be alert for cars, I would expect them not to be as much of a problem in the morning as compared with the evening.

On a related note, I sent an email to the Arlington County bike people--at least the ones I discovered on line. I alerted them to this problem and explained that at the very least a sign would be helpful, perhaps even some weekly leaf blowing/sweeping in the fall. I'll keep you all posted about what happens.

A sign? Do you mean one pointing out the alternate route, or one saying to keep it slow?

I think a "SLOW" sign would be pointless. Honestly, IMO, if someone's going to be barreling down a tight set of switchbacks with unknown surface clutter and NO safe runoffs, they're either stupid or blind. I figure that there are very few blind bike commuters, so that only leaves the other option.

I've been up and down that thing, too. In either direction, it's easily the slowest segment I ride on that route. Pushing it harder is just moronic.

Of course, if you're talking about some other sign, then my little rant is moot.. :D

I think the point is that, while it looks dangerous, it's actually more dangerous than it even looks. I've always taken it verrrry slow and careful there, and I still wiped out, at 10mph or less, when my front wheel hit something I couldn't even see at the apex of the upper turn. which is banked badly the wrong way, I might add.

I've thought about that S-curve a bit since my own crash - and since it came up after bdcheung's crash. I've come to the conclusion that the reverse banking is the most dangerous aspect of the turn, and it's something you aren't likely to fully appreciate until you're in the turn and your wheel's sliding out from under you. That's why you need a sign. You can think you're being careful and still wipe out.

Put another way - there are many of us here who have in fact wiped out on the thing, and I don't think we're all idiots.

I would honestly have a sign that says 'anyone with tires < 32mm should dismount on downhill.'

I know exactly where this is.

Actually, when I came through today there were three crews with leaf blowers between Veitch and the start of the Custis at the west end.

-R

Agree 100%. If you look at the pic below you can clearly see that on the upper turn the trail is banked outwards, not inwards, which is a sure-fire way to kiss traction goodbye.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2293/...952d08_b_d.jpg

Well, the S curves are clear today but given that the leaves are falling pretty fast, it probably won't last long.

Am I really the only one who loves that curve?

(my 2.35 inch schwalbe big apple tires dont hurt though :) )

I'd probably enjoy that curve if I could do it Japanese drift style.. ;)

So I got a response from two people from Arlington County. One person said he would personally check out the location and come up with some possible signage improvements. He also noted that the leaves were cleaned up regularly during fall (something I duly noted today as it was a lot better there) but he would try to see if the crews would give that area some more attention.

Another person said he would recommend to VDOT using some materials there that give tires more friction and grip on the pavement.

You can send comments to Arlington County about the Custis Trail to: trails@arlingtonva.us They are definitely responsive.

And finally, the person mentioned in the "Express" article told me that wiped out at the same spot as well, go figure!

Why don't you folks just slow down for that hairpin?