Commuting - need some help from N. VA commutesr

Ive decided that I want to try and commute 2-3 days a week to work. yipee! however. my question is that i am unsure of a relatively 'good' route from springfield to vienna/tysons corner. If anyone could please. I need to get from springfield....to the toilet bowl building in vienna (chain bridge rd)....the only route i can think of is:

ride to 123...and ride that allllll the way to the office, but im not sure how bike-friendly 123/chain bridge is especially when traveling through the city of fairfax and near the 66 exits. :crash:

Any help greatly appreciated!


-omesh

Hey!

I live in Maryland now, and didn't bike when I lived in NOVA, but I do have some advice. Go find a copy of the Washington Area Bicycle Atlas. A good bike shop should have it or be able to tell you where to get it. I ordered mine, but it's faster to go to a shop.

123 can be a scary road, even through Vienna where the traffic is supposed to be slower. You may be able to hook up on the W&OD trail, which goes through Vienna. I have ridden that some (when visiting parents in Reston), but I don't think much of it will help you.

The Bicycle Atlas outlines trails and roads that are bicycle friendly. Also check out waba.org, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. They have maps and mentoring programs available for commuters.

Good luck!

Teresa

omesh - what part of Springfield are you coming from? I'd steer clear of Rt 123, regardless.

I guess a general area where you might know is let say.....the Bike Lane bike shop on the corner of burke center pkwy/old keen mill rd. i can ge to that shop in 5 mins by bike. I can also get to rolling road in 10-15 mins...taking shiplet blvd, then to burke rd, then to rolling....but then i dont know where that would leave me!

I could...go up gallows (if i could get there) and then hit the WOD till it hits 123 then find some kind of backroad..but im not even sure if that would work. arg! :( :crash:

I was thinking about Rolling Road, rt. on Southhampton (just after the RR tracks), rt. on Braddock (just a short stretch), left on Wakefield Chapel, left on Little River Turnpike, rt on Shelley Ln, left on Frost Way, rt on Woodburn Rd., left on to Gallows, left on Old Courthouse Rd. (the toilet bowl bldg. is at 123 & Old Courthouse, if I remember correctly.)

They're probably some other residential streets you could use as well.

wow! thankyou!!!!! i will drive that route and see how it is. I was thinking of maybe going rolling to southhampton to braddock to wakefield chappel, to right on little river turn pike, then left on gallows (i think its called Annandale rd or something at this point)....take that a waaaaaaaaaaay up (but that is kind super busy near the 495/rt50 exchanges) then left on old court house, but your local route may prove to be safer...south hampton might be interesting....few decent hills along with the speedbumps lol :p thanks again!

-omesh

omesh.

congrats on the decision. You've probably picked the hardest two places to commute between unfortunately. :)

I live in Tyson's. I commute down to Alexandria. Both are near to the W&OD Bike trail, so I use that for the majority of my route. I do have the Washington Area Bike Map that is produced by ADC. It's at home. I will check that out and see if I can find a good route for you...

I'll report back.

I do know this... stay away from 123 unless it's just for a block or two... or you don't mind riding on the sidewalk (which can also be dangerous due to people pulling in and out of businesses without looking at the sidewalk).

Just to get an idea... I think I know a decent route, but I need to know... are you close to Route 7100? From what I've heard, that has a very good bike path right next to it. Unforutnately it goes toward Reston. Anyhoo... I'll report back.

PBW

The only way I see avoiding Gallows/495/50 would be to find a route between Braddock & Little River Turnpike that is further west, such as Guinea Rd to Olley La, to Prince William (through Mantua), snake your way as close to Cedar Ln as you can, and take Cedar Ln towards Tysons. I think that Cedar Ln doesn't have any shoulders, though. Prosperity Ave.'s another possibility. Don't remember if this road has good shoulders.

prosperity is pretty bad, risk of falling off the street because its so narrow with cars rushing through there (speeding!!) in the mornings/afternoons...hmmm...i may try a trial run this friday, hopefully the nice bunch of you folk with your reccomendations for routes will get me there safely hehe. You're right about 123 however, that road is a deathtrap now that i look at it with all of the cars pulling out onto the roads. Unless i take the WO&D ACROSS 123 (coming from gallows) somehow and then make a right further up ahead near some residentials? then somehow make my way to old courthouse road. i imagine this might be a 2 hour commute..one way! :eek:

oh and P.B isnt 7100 the ffx county parkway? :eek:

Originally posted by omesh

oh and P.B isnt 7100 the ffx county parkway? :eek:


Yes, I believe that is the name of it. I couldn't remember it. I have a buddy that commutes to the pentagon from kingstowne. He does alot of rides on the weekends too. Many of them are along 7100 since it has a nice bike path that is separated from the roadway. I maybe be a tad bit off on my geography though... so sorry if that road is not close to you. The map I have at home is very good. It labels roads that are termed "bike friendly". It labels those roads that way after getting input from bikers. Plus, it points out every bike path in the area. I'll let you know what I find.

I also do not think this will be a 2 hour commute one-way. I've ridden from my house in Tyson's to Mount Vernon in just under 2 hours. And you are alot closer than Mount Vernon, not to mention I took a kind of out of the way route.

PBW

i can get to the parkway in 15 mins....soo...can ya look on that 'bike friendly' map and check a route for me? :) hehe

omesh,

You have two PMs. I had to break the route up into 2 PMs because the system said I could only have so many characters in a PM. Hope that helps. Feel free to share it with everyone if you like it.

PBW