41st Street

Our Community Forums General Discussion 41st Street

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  • #920202
    cmj7gh
    Participant

    Following up on Steve O’s offer to give advice from another thread. Figured it’d make more sense to start a dedicated thread.

    I ride over Chain Bridge from Arlington with some frequency, and I usually take Military rd up to the Randolph/Richmond loop, past that awesome treehouse on Randolph, and then down a crazy hill that google maps doesn’t identify as a road but some maps call 41st st.

    I haven’t successfully ridden 41st street yet – either up or down. At this point I just walk the little switchback between Randolph and the cul de sac, and then ride the rest, but even that walk can feel sketchy when I’m wearing my slippery road shoes. I’ve tried riding down the switchback a few times, but I’m always scared that I’m going to go over the handlebars.

    I ride other hills without any problems, but the combination of the steep grade and that switchback adds a bike handling component that I can’t get over. I’m sure it’s just a psychological block at this point, but I’d love any advice/encouragement y’all can offer!

    Separately, I sometimes bypass that hill by taking Glebe road down – it works well enough when there’s rush hour traffic slowing it down in the mornings, but I don’t know if I’d ever feel safe riding up Glebe road there.

    #1083382
    huskerdont
    Participant

    I love that hill and sometimes I do laps on it. I would be happy to ride it with you.

    Road cleats do make me a bit more careful, it’s true, but often I’m wearing MTB cleats. Maybe the first time you might consider different shoes/pedals if that’s an option. But really, the only time I didn’t make it up was because of some wet leaves; snow or ice would also be a concern. I’ve never toppled over.

    Like you, I routinely go down Glebe, but have yet to go up Glebe there, probably because 41st St. is so much fun.

    #1083385
    huskerdont
    Participant

    But if it’s advice/encouragement ye be lookin’ for, when ascending, keep the weight back on the saddle for traction (like mountain biking up a hill in loose terrain, although standing has never been a problem here), and when descending, be careful with the front brake and also keep the weight back. For encouragement, go!

    #1083388
    hozn
    Participant

    Yeah, great hill. I’ve ridden up Glebe numerous times, but 41st is far, far more pleasant. The switchbacks are demanding when it’s wet / leafy / mossy. I’ve had rear wheels slip there, though so far haven’t had to dismount (knocking on wood). What huskerdont said about keep the weight back. — if you have gearing that lets you stay seated, that’s great, though I have to stand — I just keep the weight back when I do.

    It’s a fun hill to punctuate a ride back into Arlington from DC/MD, but doing laps on 41st doesn’t sound fun at all!

    #1083392
    jabberwocky
    Participant

    I’ve ridden up it many times. It isn’t really that bad, just gear down, slide up on the saddle and lower your chest to the bars and crank away. I don’t find the switchbacks difficult, but I’m an avid mountainbiker and deal with much steeper, tighter switchbacks all the time on the trail. If you find them tricky, just concentrate on leaning your weight to the inside slightly and letting the front wheel trace a nice wide circle around the outside of the turn. And keep the cranks turning!

    I may have ridden down it once or twice but in the down direction I usually just take Glebe, just so I don’t have to slam my brakes on right at the bottom of the hill. I’ve never ridden it anywhere near rush hour though.

    #1083394
    LhasaCM
    Participant

    As a less experienced cyclist, I’ll definitely agree with the “keep the weight back” advice. Not my neck of the woods, but the one time I did go that way heading back to DC (with the kid on the trailercycle, of course), even though it was a little bit slick from a recent shower, having the extra weight on the rear definitely helped in maintaining traction.

    #1083396
    TwoWheelsDC
    Participant

    As others have mentioned, when I ride in that area, I take the lane down Glebe rather than trying to ride down 41st. I’ve ridden down 41st and it’s more trouble than it’s worth. When I hit the switchbacks at the top of 41st, I usually will like half unclip from my left pedal (my dominant foot), just in case. I’ve had at least one close call where the path was still wet and debris-strewn after a storm and I slipped a bit. Didn’t need to put a foot down, but I was mentally prepared for it. I’ve encountered similar hills where my wheel spun out and I wasn’t prepared for it and ended up falling over.

    #1083399
    musclys
    Participant

    @cmj7gh 173966 wrote:

    Following up on Steve O’s offer to give advice from another thread. Figured it’d make more sense to start a dedicated thread.

    I ride over Chain Bridge from Arlington with some frequency, and I usually take Military rd up to the Randolph/Richmond loop, past that awesome treehouse on Randolph, and then down a crazy hill that google maps doesn’t identify as a road but some maps call 41st st.

    I haven’t successfully ridden 41st street yet – either up or down. At this point I just walk the little switchback between Randolph and the cul de sac, and then ride the rest, but even that walk can feel sketchy when I’m wearing my slippery road shoes. I’ve tried riding down the switchback a few times, but I’m always scared that I’m going to go over the handlebars.

    I ride other hills without any problems, but the combination of the steep grade and that switchback adds a bike handling component that I can’t get over. I’m sure it’s just a psychological block at this point, but I’d love any advice/encouragement y’all can offer!

    Separately, I sometimes bypass that hill by taking Glebe road down – it works well enough when there’s rush hour traffic slowing it down in the mornings, but I don’t know if I’d ever feel safe riding up Glebe road there.

    Hey teammate. Glebe is awesome to bomb down when traffic is light, but I’d avoid climbing that spot at most hours. 41st is much less sketchy than it seems — in fact, i’d guess it’s 10x more sketchy walking it in your road shoes. All the above advice is good. Only thing I’d add is to not overthink the railing and the turns. You’ll be mashing slowly enough that the turns are much more mild than they appear.

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    #1083405
    Steve O
    Participant

    @huskerdont 173967 wrote:

    …snow or ice would also be a concern.

    I have a story.
    I went to a Valentine’s gathering at a friend’s in Bethesda during the Valentine’s Day snowstorm of 2015. They graciously allowed me to crash on their couch–both because it was a freaking blizzard and also because I was in no condition to ride a bike even in good weather.
    My hangover and I left early the next morning to keep from disturbing them. Snow had stopped but there was a wicked wind down the river. The wind had interestingly made the CCT crispy rather than slick, so it was rideable (see pic in Strava activity below). I took the trestle stairs down to the C&O, then back to Chain Bridge and was able to ride up 41st to the last driveway.
    The switchback part was a literal glacier, impossible to even stand on without crampons, which I did not have. My recollection is that it took me a couple of minutes to haul myself and my bike two feet at time, using the railing and hanging on for dear life, up that section. (Strava says it took just under a minute, but it was a long minute.) I made it home, but set no PRs.

    https://www.strava.com/activities/255298578

    #1083287
    Subby
    Participant

    Never go down 41st, never go up Glebe. Die happy.

    #1083413
    Judd
    Participant

    @Subby 174004 wrote:

    Never go down 41st, never go up Glebe. Die happy.

    I thought climbing hills made you live forever.

    #1083414
    cmj7gh
    Participant

    Thanks all for the advice! Sounds like I need to make a trip up there this weekend and try to make it happen (but once I’ve proven to myself that I can go down it, probably stick to glebe on the way down in the future). I’ll be sure to report back!

    #1083441
    DCAKen
    Participant

    @Judd 174005 wrote:

    I thought climbing hills made you live forever.

    No, it just feels like forever

    #1083457
    huberww
    Participant

    @hozn 173974 wrote:

    Yeah, great hill. I’ve ridden up Glebe numerous times, but 41st is far, far more pleasant. The switchbacks are demanding when it’s wet / leafy / mossy. I’ve had rear wheels slip there, though so far haven’t had to dismount (knocking on wood). What huskerdont said about keep the weight back. — if you have gearing that lets you stay seated, that’s great, though I have to stand — I just keep the weight back when I do.

    It’s a fun hill to punctuate a ride back into Arlington from DC/MD, but doing laps on 41st doesn’t sound fun at all!

    I agree with hozn, up to a point. I ride this hill in both directions several times each week. 41st is unquestionably more pleasant than Glebe, which I would not ride up or down ever, but I am not ready to call the uphill ride on 41st “pleasant” in and of itself. But maybe I just need to get more zen about it, or get a better granny gear. Having experienced too much craziness from drivers on the nearby streets of North Arlington and McLean, I just would not take the risk on the Glebe hill. YMMV.

    In all the years of riding this, there have been a handful of times that I have dismounted to walk down the switchback, including a time or two with ice when I have gripped the railings for dear life. I have also lost traction a few times on the uphill on wet leaves. I definitely have to stand to make it up the initial section underneath the parkway bridge and on the switchback, except on my mountain bike.

    Also, if you ride down, be very careful at the Glebe/Chain Bridge intersection. Cars will notoriously take a right on red coming down Chain Bridge Road to head up Glebe without paying attention to bikers in the crosswalk. And others often shoot the left turn from Glebe to Chain Bridge without regard to the red arrow or those in the crosswalk. Try to make eye contact if you can – but a defensive approach is best.

    #1083501
    Steve O
    Participant

    @huberww 174051 wrote:

    I agree with hozn, up to a point. I ride this hill in both directions several times each week. 41st is unquestionably more pleasant than Glebe, which I would not ride up or down ever, but I am not ready to call the uphill ride on 41st “pleasant” in and of itself. But maybe I just need to get more zen about it, or get a better granny gear. Having experienced too much craziness from drivers on the nearby streets of North Arlington and McLean, I just would not take the risk on the Glebe hill. YMMV.

    In all the years of riding this, there have been a handful of times that I have dismounted to walk down the switchback, including a time or two with ice when I have gripped the railings for dear life. I have also lost traction a few times on the uphill on wet leaves. I definitely have to stand to make it up the initial section underneath the parkway bridge and on the switchback, except on my mountain bike.

    Also, if you ride down, be very careful at the Glebe/Chain Bridge intersection. Cars will notoriously take a right on red coming down Chain Bridge Road to head up Glebe without paying attention to bikers in the crosswalk. And others often shoot the left turn from Glebe to Chain Bridge without regard to the red arrow or those in the crosswalk. Try to make eye contact if you can – but a defensive approach is best.

    I almost always take 41st both ways. I’ll take Glebe down if I’m with a group or if I’m intending to go south on Canal Rd. to Arizona. If I’m planning to cross the bridge on the sidepath, then I take 41st down.
    Taking Glebe up is a really, really bad idea, IMO.

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