Getting accross the river

[DismalScientist]

The only connection is from the Mount Vernon Trail. Say your starting location and you will get lots of suggestions.

[dbb]

In Arlington, the easiest connections (from south to north) to the Mount Vernon Trail are at Glebe and Eads (which gets you on the Four Mile Run Trail about a half mile west of the MVT, the Crystal City Waterpark at 18th and Crystal Drive, Boundary Channel Drive through the Columbia Island Marina, Memorial Drive (which forces you to use a crosswalk across the GW Parkway), and Lynn and Lee in Rosslyn (which takes you to the head of the MVT at Roosevelt Island).

There are others that connect to other trails that get you to the MVT but this should get you started

Google Earth and Google Maps are great resources

[Tania]

I work near metro center too and while I usually take the Roosevelt bridge, I’d be happy to show you the ramp to/from 14th Street down to the MVT. I had to follow someone a few times before I learned the way. It’s not hard to find but it will make your first few bike commutes that much less stressful.

[Judd]

Welcome to the world of bike commuting Arl2DC. Bike commuting is easily the best decision I have made in my life. In addition to the great advice above I would also recommend doing a test run to work on the weekend to help figure out your route and removes the pressure about being late to work if you get lost or disoriented.

There are lots of daily commuters on the forum. Let us know if you have any other questions about gear, routes, or showing up not smelly.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Arl2DC]

Thank you to everyone who replied – these are hugely helpful – next challenge will be the endless rain! :>)

[AFHokie]

I second trying out your route over the weekend, but do keep in mind that traffic on a road may seem perfectly fine on Saturday or Sunday, but be a very different experience during the week.

North Capitol St NW during a sleepy Sunday morning was quite benign, but the next morning I quickly experienced a different reality.

[consularrider]

Then again sometimes on Saturdays and Sundays you get more out of town drivers who are less familiar with the roads and traffic patterns and you have to watch out for unexpected maneuvers.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

I’d be willing to show you on an upcoming commute. I’m Ballston to Southwest Waterfront via 14th Street Bridge. If I’m not near you, if you posted where you were starting from, I’m sure you’d find someone willing to just show you.

[Judd]

@Arl2DC 140106 wrote:

Thank you to everyone who replied – these are hugely helpful – next challenge will be the endless rain! :>)

There’s no such thing as bad weather… just bad gear. After you get a taste of how great it is to ride to work, you’ll start acquiring the stuff you need to remain mostly comfortable in any type of weather. (Although I’d love for it to stop raining too.)

[consularrider]

@Judd 140113 wrote:

There’s no such thing as bad weather… just bad gear. After you get a taste of how great it is to ride to work, you’ll start acquiring the stuff you need to remain mostly comfortable in any type of weather. (Although I’d love for it to stop raining too.)

Or learn to embrace the rain and love being wet.

[GovernorSilver]

This is one of my morning commute routes – rather, a section of it most relevant to your interests:

https://goo.gl/maps/tJtpPB9y5jN2

Obviously if you live too far north of Crystal City you might investigate another route/bridge.

I agree with the advice to try riding a prospective route on the weekend. Yes, driver behavior might be different but your primary goal is to familiarize yourself with where you’ll be going.

I used to let rain dissuade me from riding but after too many would-be commute days that I lost because of a weather forecast (prediction: rain, reality: little or no rain), I figured out gear that works for me and just got used to riding in the wet. Feel free to start another thread if you want advice on what to wear for rainy days. I’m still a bit leery of real thunderstorms (the ones with lightning) but we don’t seem to get lightning often here. The best advice I’ve seen so far for dealing w/ lightning is to head for an overpass or a building, although I suppose if I’m caught on a long-ish stretch of trail between overpasses, all I can do is hope for the best. This article mentions a technique to use if no shelter is within reach:

http://travellingtwo.com/resources/thunderstorm-safety

[KLizotte]

To the original poster,

It would help immeasurably if you told us which neighborhood you were starting from since that will dictate your route.

[scoot]

As noted above, a weekend reconnaissance ride will help immensely.

Even better: learn multiple routes between your origin and destination. Sometimes you may wish to avoid your primary route. For instance, I typically use the Beulah Street bike lane when I ride to Fort Belvoir. But I will occasionally duck into the neighborhoods or the power-line trails instead: these alternatives are slower, hillier, and windier, but they seem a bit safer when visibility conditions are poor.

Also, I’ve identified roughly one location every mile along my main route that I could pull off and shelter for a bit if caught in a thunderstorm. (This tip may be less useful for those of you who ride with smartphones. My only mobile GIS data source is whatever I can fit in my head…)

[consularrider]

@scoot 140130 wrote:

… Even better: learn multiple routes between your origin and destination. Sometimes you may wish to avoid your primary route …

Since our security people are always harping on varying our routes and times (well, maybe not so much stateside), I always know several ways to get somewhere by bike, plus liking to add distance or occasional climbing just because.

[huskerdont]

@consularrider 140131 wrote:

Since our security people are always harping on varying our routes and times (well, maybe not so much stateside), I always know several ways to get somewhere by bike, plus liking to add distance or occasional climbing just because.

It’s like secret spy stuff applied to cycling. I like.

And since I can’t seem to do the same route the same way twice, I’m all set.

[Author]

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