Update for Lights out on the trail in Arlington

The Trail Report received the following response from Arlington Country regarding the light situation between N. Sycamore St and N. Patrick Henry Dr:

Thank you for sharing your observations about the lights on the trail! Your observations reflect the monthly report that Arlington submits to Dominion for repairs. They are aware of the issue and are making efforts to repair the lights. They are laying new cable through this section. Dominion’s work order is 7273292. Unfortunately, I do not have information about how long the repair will take. If I receive additional information I will share it with you.

I'll follow up with Dominion on Monday about when they expect to have the work done.

Lights out on the trail in Arlington

"I wanted to let you know all of the street lights along the trail between N. Sycamore St and N. Patrick Henry Dr in Arlington are out and it gets really dark along that stretch at night. Anyone running or riding there definitely needs a light.  Incidentally, that's also the area where the flasher incidents occurred which you reported on Jan 18.  I thought that might warrant an update."


This message came from a bike commuter who travels from Ballston to Tysons Corner using the W&OD Trail.  This is good information to share.  That's a long stretch along the sound barrier next to I-66.  It is an area with lots of walkers and runners. I'll try to sign him up as a contributor because this is good information to know.


It's possible to contribute using a cell phone and sending an email message or a text message.  Think about how you could be a contributor.

W&OD Trail Photo Contest

This posting is about fun and creativity. We are going to have a photo contest focused on the W&OD Trail until the end of February. With so many people carrying phones with photographic capabilities this could be a hoot. To get the creative juices flowing I'm posting photos of our winner of the helmet decorating contest we held in conjunction with ViVa! Vienna! in 2008 which had a W&OD theme..
As you can see from these photos our winner was highly creative and had alot of fun with this contest.  Now apply this same creativity to photos relating to people, animals, and scenery along the W&OD Trail.  Many of the photos will be posted on this blog and on the bikes@vienna blog and Facebook Page.  The winner will receive a new helmet, one of our Nutcase models.

Send your entry as an attachment to an email message to john.brunow@draisin.us.  Please keep the size of the file smaller (under 100K).  I'm directing the entries to an email I have that has quite a bit of capacity, but lots of entries could swamp it.  Understand these photos will be used in multiple ways to promote the W&OD Trail and bikes@vienna.

Let the fun begin.  Let's see what we capture.

Route 7 overpass in Falls Church

The resurfacing of the east bound lane has been completed and opened. The west bound lane is now closed for its resurfacing.

Suggestion about incidents on the trail

The recent posting about the incidents on the W&OD brought a suggestion from a reader.

"Here’s a posting it would help to add since you mentioned the two incidents/attacks

on trail because it may show that ALL these attacks are linked as well as

help warn women who use the trail."

Washington Post August 4th article

In addition you will find a composite picture and a news release from the Vienna Police Department in this blog back in August of 2009.

Let's work together to make the Trail safer. Report suspicious activity to the police.

Trail Safety

From: Frantz Desamour >Date: Fri, Jan 15, 2010 at 4:02 PMSubject: ExposureTo:First District: There have been four recent incidents where a male has beenexposing himself to female joggers along the W&OD trail duringafternoon/evening hours. He is described as a White Male wearing a hood ormask with a protruding belly and pale legs. Since he is nude when theexposures occur he either lives nearby or stashes his clothing somewherealong the trail before the exposure. The latest incident occurred lastnight at 1950 hrs in the area of 1900 Sycamore St .As a reminder, please call the police non emergency 703-558-2222 should yousee the suspect or suspicious activity.ThanksCaptain Frantz DesamourArlington County Police Department1425 North Courthouse RoadArlington , Virginia 22201

Trail Information

The September 2006 issue of SPOKES contained an informative article on this trail. It can be found at http://yellowbiketales.blogspot.com/2008/02/washington-old-dominion-trail-in.html

Trail conditions in Reston

The trail is mostly clear in Reston. Where there is ice, there is usually a narrow asphalt section that can be ridden. Today we rode from Sunrise Valley Dr in Reston (around mile 15.5) to Sterling Blvd and we didn't need to walk the bikes. Didn't get a chance to check the stretch of trail just west of Hunter Mill Rd which is usually the last to be clear.