My brother will be starting a 4yr. program at Art Institute in Rosslyn coming this fall or spring. I was trying to find him the best route to get from west Springfield to AI in Rosslyn.

He has already taken a summer course for video design or something, but his route was to drive to the Franconia/sprgfld metro stop and take the metro into Rossyln.
My dad says that he could carpool with him in the morning to the dunn Loring station and into rossyln.

But I was thinking that with all the new trail work and bike lanes in Arlington that there might be a good route to bike all the way there.

I made a map on mapmyride.com, but I was trying to use side roads and trails that I thought might be there, or that I read about on Arlington bike commuter page. I moved from NoVA to FL in '04 so I don't know what has changed or what routes are available now.

https://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united...d/794064332962

Just wondering if any of the DC metro area commuters on this forum here have some useful route information.

Not a bad route. Just a couple of comments.
Annandale Road is dicey (narrow and fast traffic), but the better-bike way to avoid it goes southeast instead of northeast.
He'll need to be careful on N Roosevelt, very narrow and cars tend to take it fast. The four lane part is very nasty so he might want to take N Tuckahoe to N 12th St.
Alternate of part of it that might work better.
https://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2052938

Well good that was my first try at making that map. I haven't even ridden on any of these roads, and probably can't even remember what they looked like back four years ago when I was driving in VA.

We're going to ride this route when I visit in Aug. to see how fast it is and if it's worth skipping the metro to ride it.

I made some maps of my route from Rosslyn to King Street on bikely.com. It pretty much follows the Mt. Vernon Trail which is the best route because has no cars. See maps on waba.org.

Ooh I didn't realize you were that far west- Guess I'm no help.

I can tell you that Rosslyn has a lot of tough hills though.

my heavens... i ride "the hill" in rosslyn every morning and I have to say its not bad!!! whenever i tell people i take that route to work everyone is like "oh man that hill in rosslyn sucks!"

maybe it's just because i moved here from pittsburgh and i'm so used to hills???

<hijack> What hill... I just rode the custis for the first time today from mt vernon heading west and that was fairly hilly</hijack>

As for the route, sorry.. I'm no help.. live and work farther east.

Well for those that do live farther east, does that part of the route that I drew up look good?

I do remember biking a small section of Rossyln in Jan. '07 and remember seeing a biker flying down a big hill amongst the evening traffic. I think it was on Wilson blvd, just past Greenberry's coffee somewhere.

I love coming back to the DC area to ride. The deep south just gets boring to ride after awhile.

You did good with the east and west ends of the route. The middle was where I had some reservations (btw I live about a mile off the middle of that route, so I know those roads well, bike them often)

The west uses part of the Accotink Trail which is gravel, so he should be prepared. There is also a big set of steps where he'll have to carry his bike. I usually take the Accotink Trail from it's end and ride by the dam and marina. Adds a mile or so but avoids the stairs.
The east is the W&OD and Custis Trails. If he wants to avoid rolling hills on the Custis on the return, Wilson Blvd / Fairfax Drive is a good way heading back west. Just the big hill coming out of Roslynn and the rest is flat. Route 50 service road / 10th Street to Clarendon is also a good alternate, long gentle climb instead of a big hill.

Gotcha. I used to ride/ run the Accotink trail alot in HS. Lots of good single track off the main trails for mtbking/trail running. The part of the west end I was worried about was if there is a 495 crossing from Wakefield rec. On the google map it looked like there was but I can't be sure unless I've been there, or someone else.

I asked my brother if he would ride instead of taking the metro if it ends up being faster, and he said "Maybe I'll ride it a few times, but I'm too lazy to do it everyday." Too bad, cuz he's in good shape even though he's not very active. I can't even bribe him with building him up a bike.

The 495 crossing is easy. Pedestrian bridge.

Just a thought. During rush hour he might want to cross Arlington Blvd at the light at Annandale Road, then take the service road.