Walk Bike & Run Update
When I started this blog I announced a goal to walk, bike or run on every street in Charlottesville while a member of council (actually I've included the walking I did campaigning). Some observations...
1. The smaller streets are often hillier than the main streets, which are generally on the ridges. And there are a lot of long dead-end steep streets, almost always entered going downhill.
2. It is very hard to methodically run the streets. My map has lots of small sections of streets missed, so at some point I will spend a long afternoon or two or three on my bike getting these done.
3. There are a number of county streets that are only accessible from a city street. Brenda Court and Virmira off Brandywine and parts of Willoughby, for example. Not exactly convenient for county schoolbuses.
4. This goal needs to include the Rivanna Trail. A couple of weeks ago I did the trail from Quarry Park to Woolen Mills. Very interesting, but the trail is on the far side of Moore's Creek and there is no crossing except at the beginning - which means backtracking (or taking off your shoes and fording Moore's Creek, or illegally crossing the rickety train trestle).
1. The smaller streets are often hillier than the main streets, which are generally on the ridges. And there are a lot of long dead-end steep streets, almost always entered going downhill.
2. It is very hard to methodically run the streets. My map has lots of small sections of streets missed, so at some point I will spend a long afternoon or two or three on my bike getting these done.
3. There are a number of county streets that are only accessible from a city street. Brenda Court and Virmira off Brandywine and parts of Willoughby, for example. Not exactly convenient for county schoolbuses.
4. This goal needs to include the Rivanna Trail. A couple of weeks ago I did the trail from Quarry Park to Woolen Mills. Very interesting, but the trail is on the far side of Moore's Creek and there is no crossing except at the beginning - which means backtracking (or taking off your shoes and fording Moore's Creek, or illegally crossing the rickety train trestle).
posted by David Brown at 11:01 AM
1 Comments:
David -- Found this entry when I googled "Rivanna Trail" +"woolen mills" +trestle.
I'm an avid runner and love all the trails, roads, and scenic views Charlottesville has to offer.
Today I decided to run the Rivanna Trail from 5th St. to Riverview Park (counterclockwise). I didn't realize the trail would end abruptly at Woolen Mills. The trail puts you out right at the railroad trestle, and there's nowhere to go. I poked around for about 30 minutes trying to find where the trail continues (old smokestack, etc.) and then decided the Rivanna Trail must have to cross the trestle. There was nowhere else to go. Bad luck, b/c as I was halfway across (and it's scary -- boards missing and a long way down) a freight train creeped up behind me. I literally had to run across the rest of the way with its horn blaring 100 yards behind me.
The City of Charlottesville needs to put a sign there saying "TRAIL ENDS - DO NOT CROSS TRESTLE" or something to that effect. It's an awful and abrupt end with no warning.
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