I just moved to Alexandria from California.
Anyone ride fixed here? I'm looking for a nice route into DC as well. Anyone got any tips?

I could also use a place to live eventually. The closet I'm living in right now is barely enough room to lay down.

Who wants to go for a ride?

just trying to help

https://www.commuterpage.com/biketrails.htm

i live in Maryland. Best of luck with your move and new life on the east

I live about 40 miles south of Alexandria. Down in Fredericksburg.

Check out the masonic temples, and all of old town Alexandria. You can get on the King Street station with your bike and get anywhere in DC. All the way up to Bethesda.

If you ever come to Fredericksburg, shoot me a PM we can go ride together.

I will most likely be up in DC in a few days to do some conversion frame hunting.

holy crap. all the downsides of moving away from california, and none of the plus(cost of living drop)

Howdy, thatonekid - first off, welcome, and where you from in CA? I've lived in Laguna, LA, and Arcata, myself. I moved here from LA after college (UCLA) 2 years ago. How's life adjusting to the east coast?

Living in Alexandria means you can ride into DC fairly easy on the Highway 1 bridge sidewalk.

There's lots of fixed riders in DC and dcfixed.com is a good way of meeting up for rides. If you're in town, be sure to hit up the Bike Rack, a new and very fixed-friendly shop right around the corner from my pad.

thanks for the heads up

Where is that. I was riding into old town the other day from the Mt. Vernon Apartments on Richmond and got stuck at highway 1 because there is no shoulder to ride on.

I found the G.Washington strip into town, but its weird to get to from Richmond st. and out of the way.

Thanks for the heads up about the shop. Are there any co-ops around here?

I grew up in San Clemente, but have been going to school in San Luis Obispo (half way between LA and SF north of Santa Barbara) for the last 5 years, now I'm out here to go to school for a year at WAAC

Alexandria ain't too far from DC.
you'll find a bunch of dc kids at dcfixed.com as well as on here.

www.dcfixed.com

dc is kind of a big deal

get the hell out of VA

Dang man, we're from the same neck of the woods over there in southern orange county. San Clemente's a personal favorite of mine. My buddies used to have a house down there that we'd hang at after playing basketball on the court at Capo Beach. Thinking about watching the sun go down over the pacific while playing some ball is enough to make me quit my job and move back in with my parents.

Anywho... bikes. No coops left here. The last one closed up shop early this year.

Huh, maybe I'm thinking about the wrong bridge. It's called the 14th street bridge cuz it feeds directly into (duh) 14th on the DC side. It has a very wide sidewalk on the north side and is accessible from the sidewalk that parallels the GW Parkway. Check out teh googelz map.

hey man,

there's actually a new bike co op called phoenix bikes in arlington. i haven't been there yet but it looks like a real cool place.

for bike routes it never hurts to ask the kids on dcfixed, we even sometimes know what we're talking about. for general bike knowledge, check out WABA, they have a list of commuter routes here, including one from alexandria to downtown dc.

the route i usually take is up the mt vernon trail to the 14th street bridge. go under the bridge and then after it there's a turn off curving off to your left that takes you up to the pedestrian walkway.

welcome,
-john

Zing! on me.

Isn't that backwards land?

I thought the trick to sweet old bikes for conversions was to get out of the city and see what's been hanging in exurban barns and garages for the last 20 years.

and to the O.P., It looks like I might be living in Alexandria for a few months starting in october. Will update if I end up there.

Alexandria can be kind of sketchy riding sometimes. I'd stick to the neighborhood streets and back roads. The main roads (Duke street, Route 1, Telegraph, Kings Hwy, etc...) can get up to 50+ MPH. Too much for me.

I'd suggest using the metro to get into DC. Once you are in DC, the riding is easier because traffic is so dense, cars don't get over 30MPH most of the time. Metro only lets bikes on during non rush hour periods.

Welcome to Alexandria!

BTW: Five Guys = In and Out Burger

five guys is totally not equal to innout. it's more expensive, and better in virtually every other way.

Five Guys is good enough to tide me over until my next visit back to CA. One of the ****ty things about Five Guys is that every time I have a burger prepared in that style I crave a milkshake, and Five Guys doesn't serve milkshakes, the jerks.

Last August I moved from San Diego to DC for grad school, you'll see me over on dcfixed too. Occasionally you'll get a break from the heat here that will remind you of CA. It hurts sometimes.

Can't be of much help as far as routes in and out (sigh) of Alexandria, but come out to some of the dcfixed gatherings, especially polo on Thursday nights if you find yourself in DC.

I work in Alexandria shoot me a pm I'll bring my bike to work and we'll ride during lunch.

Welcome to NOVA, the high cost of living the turnover every 4-8 years, the endless traffic and such. Lots and lots of bike paths around the Wash Metro area, pick up a bike map at your local LBS (Revolutions, City Bikes, there are also a few in Old town Alexandria near the waterfront. You'll hate the July/Aug humidity but Fall is a great time for rides. that being said DC used to be a swamp so the city itself is pretty flat.. just be prepared to climb a bit coming 'out' of the city in every direction.. not too much though (thinking Rosslyn). At any rate Welcome.

move into the city!


are you still in your closet?

to keep this off the topic of bikes and on the topic of burgers z-burger in tenlytown

- has great burgers(comprable to 5 guys)
- in and out sauce as an option on the burgers
- and shakes (roughly 50 flavors)