Routes from Takoma Park to Arlington/Ballston area

With any first time commute, my recommendation is to give it a trial run on the weekend when you don’t have to worry about being late.

And welcome!!

@ebubar 26806 wrote:

I have a Trek 7.2FX hybrid and would like to offset some of that expensive metro commute by biking to work.
I’ve been riding to the Takoma Metro for a couple of weeks (about 2 miles) and seem to be averaging about
11-12 mph around the Flower Avenue/Maple Avenue/Sligo Creek area that I ride around.

I’m curious if I should try the full 13-15 miles into work. I have used Google Maps to route myself from Takoma
to Ballston. Through the city, its around 13 miles, but i’m hesitant because of my slow speed.
I can alternatively cut through Silver Spring and use the Georgetown Branch trail (never used) to get to
the CCT (first trail I ever rode!). I think I could travel a steady clip along there (its relatively flat after all!).
Then I’d have to cross at Chain Bridge and get to North Glebe (~15 mile trip) or I could cross at Key Bridge
and take the Custis Trail (~18 mile trip). I’m hoping to meet/beat my current bus-to redline-to orange line-to shuttle
commute time of 1-1.5 hours on the bike.

So for the area biking gurus, what say you? Better route suggestions? Training suggestions to get in better shape
before I try it?

I have a pretty flexible schedule (college professor) and can leave a change of clothes at work, so sweating/attire
won’t be an issue!

Cheers and excited to be a forum member!

I would bet that coming down the CCT ultimately would be faster than cutting down through the city…at the very least, it will be much less stressful and only slightly slower, since you can keep moving and avoid a lot of traffic. If you aren’t sure about your speed/fitness, avoid crossing at Chain Bridge, as that is the way of pain (although some, including me, would say it’s the good kind), since it means you’ll have to come up the 41st St. wall and then through the rolling hills of north Arlington. If you’re looking to get in better shape, it’s definitely a route to try once and maybe mix into your routine from time to time. Coming up the Custis from Rosslyn also is a pain, but in my opinion it’s a much easier climb than coming through from Chain Bridge.

If you want to go through the city, there is a bike lane on 14th Street and then a cycletrack on 15th Street. You have to contend with buses on 14th, but it is doable. That was about 80% of my first bicycle commute. You are able to move pretty well through there.

Once you get downtown, you could cut over to H Street (going through the closed off section of PA Avenue in front of the White House) and get on the Roosevelt Bridge and from there link up to the Custis. That route would probably put you in the least amount of auto traffic. However, you have to contend with a lot of pedestrian traffic by GWU.

You can’t get around it, you will have a lot of climbing to do. But this route keeps it to a minimum, I think.

Liz

Going home from Ballston to Takoma, is actually the time to use Chain Bridge and the trails.

Rolling hills of north Arlington will take some getting used to, but the downhill to Chain Bridge is in your favor. Though it’s so steep, even going downhill freaks me out…brakes don’t fail me now. After that though it’s an easy constant grade along the trails up to Takoma.

@GuyContinental 26820 wrote:

OK- you “can” absolutely head downhill and do the downtown traffic thing (many people do) but if you are just starting out (which you are) and you happen to have a great trail network nearby (which you do) that avoids basically every light and the bulk of driver stupidity I’d recommend that you start there even if it is longer and has more climbing. It might take longer, but it will be much prettier and leagues safer…

When I first read your post, I thought “eh, just go through the city”. But GuyContinental has a point. So much so, that I’ll throw another longer-but-more-trails suggestion into the mix:

GBT – CCT – Canal Road (under the Whitehurst Freeway). Take the trail beside Rock Creek south to Virginia Avenue, and take that to the trail across the TR Bridge. That will put you on the end of the Mount Vernon Trail, which you can take to the Custis. Probably the longest option, but almost all trails/low volume streets. If you’re not excited about streets, you could start with that route, and adjust appropriately.

Good luck! And welcome to our little world.

@ebubar 26836 wrote:

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions! My inclination was to go the trail routes and avoid downtown until I can maintain a higher average pace.
It sounds like I’ll need to work on my hill climbing abilities. As it is, I’m tired after just riding up Maple Avenue between Philadelphia and the Metro!

Going through DC the traffic lights will keep your average pace down.

@DismalScientist 26832 wrote:

Speaking of walking with you bike over your shoulder, this is the path from the Chain Bridge directly to the CCT. http://maps.google.com/?ll=38.930504,-77.111921&spn=0.056019,0.035148&t=h&z=15&layer=c&cbll=38.930615,-77.111987&panoid=3xh1mliTHLM9SppnanO-zg&cbp=12,55.26,,0,5.77 Not pleasant, but doable if you don’t have gear.

LOL… all the years I’ve been doing the CCT to Chain Bridge connection I’ve never actually done that. I’ve thought reallly hard about it a few times but the trestle to C&O to Chain Bridge really isn’t bad. I’m amazed at how bad the CCT to Key and Chain Bridges connections are- great biking infrastructure on both sides at both locations and no clean way to connect.