Welcome tp BF, Lionheart
Originally Posted by velogirl
If you have a less-traveled route, some of us would be glad to know about it. The Mount Vernon Trail gets a bit crowded this time of year (but it's great in the winter!)
From around Fort Hunt to around Bell Haven you can take parallel residential streets, Boulevard, Ridgecrest and Park Terrace. You'll still have to take the MVT into Alexandria, but you can switch to Commonwealth (good bike lanes) near the King St metro, take it to the end, cross Four Mile Run on the route 1 bridge, use the 4MR trail to cut over to Eads Street and take that up to Army Navy Drive and the tunnel under I-395, opposite the mall. Then across the parking lot and around the Pentagon to the Memorial Bridge.
More car traffic and slightly longer. Commonwealth is good, but I'd probably stick with the MVT.