Bike to work day ride buddy meetup

[klz]

I want to ride from Great Falls to Reston (near Sunset Hills and Wiehle) but noticed that the first part of Baron Cameron after you cross Rte 7 has no path. Do you have an alternate route?

thx

[jabberwocky]

@klz 19569 wrote:

I want to ride from Great Falls to Reston (near Sunset Hills and Wiehle) but noticed that the first part of Baron Cameron after you cross Rte 7 has no path. Do you have an alternate route?

thx

Drop me a PM with more info on your route and I can probably help out. I ride the reverse every day (Reston to the village at Great Falls).

[jabberwocky]

A more detailed response:

My route crosses 7 at Springvale/Baron Cameron. My procedure is I climb the hill on Springvale, and filter to the front of the right lane. When the light turns green, I go across and immediately get into the right lane (which is technically a turn lane). Make sure you check for traffic coming in from 7 on the right as you do so (rare, but happens occasionally).

If I start at the front and accelerate to 18mph normally once the light turns green, I can hit the next light at Hunters Mill road right as it turns yellow. This stops any traffic that hasn’t passed me by that point. Once I’m sure Baron Cameron is clear behind me, I merge into the left lane and then immediately turn left at Lake Fairfax Drive (next light). From there, I parallel Baron Cameron on nice back roads. Hunt Club Rd to Ring Road to N Shore Drive, which are all lightly trafficked and wide.

For you, you can either turn left on Wiehle (depends how comfortable you are in traffic), take the path on Wiehle (rough and narrow, but fine at low speed) or you could keep following N Shore across Wiehle all the way to Temporary Rd, follow that to Old Reston and then take that down the hill to the W&OD, then run back to Wiehle (most pleasant, a bit more mileage).

[SpecialK007]

Hello all!
I’ve never biked to work YET! Looking for a buddy or suggested routes to take from the Carlyle Pitt stop to Leesburg Pike in Falls Church, just inside the beltway.
Thanks!
Kristina

[SpecialK007]

Hey there, I’m going from Alexandria (Duke Street and Quaker) to Falls Church, just outside of Tysons. I’ve never biked that before so don’t know how to do it! Would love to coordinate with you.

[consularrider]

It depends on where in the Tysons area you are going. Google Maps suggests Quaker Lane to just past Kings St, then taking a combination of Kenwood and Valley Dr down to Shirlington and the W&OD trail which you would take out to your general work area. Where you get off would depend on your desination. I’ve only ridden on Quaker Lane south of Kings St a couple of times and can’t vouch for riding on it at rush hour.

I’m sure there are several people here who can give you better information though.

[RESTONTODC]

@jabberwocky 19575 wrote:

A more detailed response:

If I start at the front and accelerate to 18mph normally once the light turns green, I can hit the next light at Hunters Mill road right as it turns yellow. This stops any traffic that hasn’t passed me by that point. Once I’m sure Baron Cameron is clear behind me, I merge into the left lane and then immediately turn left at Lake Fairfax Drive (next light). From there, I parallel Baron Cameron on nice back roads. Hunt Club Rd to Ring Road to N Shore Drive, which are all lightly trafficked and wide.

For you, you can either turn left on Wiehle (depends how comfortable you are in traffic), take the path on Wiehle (rough and narrow, but fine at low speed) or you could keep following N Shore across Wiehle all the way to Temporary Rd, follow that to Old Reston and then take that down the hill to the W&OD, then run back to Wiehle (most pleasant, a bit more mileage).

I rode this same route before. Most roads are very quite and little car except for short ride on Baron Cameron. I wouldn’t recommend take left on Wiehle Ave. Cars can speed up to 45 MPH on this road.

[SpecialK007]

thanks!

[jabberwocky]

@RESTONTODC 19592 wrote:

I rode this same route before. Most roads are very quite and little car except for short ride on Baron Cameron. I wouldn’t recommend take left on Wiehle Ave. Cars can speed up to 45 MPH on this road.

I’ve done the left at Wiehle before, but never at rush hour. Its probably not terrible (it isn’t that heavily trafficked, and it has two lanes so cars can get around you without a whole lot of trouble), but I would definitely not recommend it to anyone who doesn’t have experience riding in traffic. Just continuing the loop around N Shore is much more pleasant, albeit a bit longer.

Another option I just thought of is to hop on the path near the pool on Ring Rd. That takes you to the neighborhoods behind tall oaks village center. From there you can hop on Wiehle for a very short run to Sunset Hills. I generally stay off the reston paths on the road bike though. Kinda depends on the ultimate destination.

As for Baron Cameron, it really isn’t that bad for the short distance from 7 to Lake Fairfax drive. I do it every day. Its a bit more of a pain going the other direction (with the 4 lanes of traffic, and people trying to go from the left lanes to the right at the last second).

[RESTONTODC]

You need to try the North Shore Drive when coming back to Great Falls. There are more downhills and little uphill. It’s fun. My average speed on this section is above 27 MPH.

[jabberwocky]

@RESTONTODC 19595 wrote:

You need to try the North Shore Drive when coming back to Great Falls. There are more downhills and little uphill. It’s fun. My average speed on this section is above 27 MPH.

That was actually part of my alternate commute when I used to work in Tysons. It is indeed awesomely fast coming from Temporary Rd to Village Rd. These days I cross Baron Cameron at Village Rd and join N Shore there, so I no longer get to do that long speedy descent on my commute (though its still a favorite way back to my house from the W&OD).

[Lt. Dan]

I’m riding from the George Mason Campus pitstop in Manassas, up to Chantilly.

[treesiyah]

I’m going from New York Avenue in NE DC to College Park, MD. I am thinking of starting in Hyattsville with a stop at Hyattsville Pit Stop and College Park City Hall Pit Stop. Anyone interested in joining me?

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