Let’s Bike the Silver Line Extension! (No Drop Ride)
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Fresh off a great Purple Line ride in Maryland, it’s time to give some Virginia transit love. For this, let’s bike the Silver Line Extension!
Keeping with the transit theme, this ride will have multiple options for ride length based around Metro stations, and we will visit every station (Phase 1 and Phase 2) from East Falls Church to the future end of the Silver Line in Ashburn. Riders will get to see routes around Tysons and Wolf Trap, new developments around parts of Loudoun County, eat some delicious barbecue food, and even find out how to bike to Dulles Airport (you actually can!). The return trip will be easy and follow the W&OD Trail all the way back to the East Falls Church Metro. There will be 2 meeting places on the route, as explained in the ride info below:
Saturday, June 17
- Phase 1 (Longer route) Meeting Place – 8:00 a.m. near the bike racks at East Falls Church Metro
- Phase 2 (Shorter route) Meeting Place – 10:15 a.m. near Capital Bikeshare station at Wiehle-Reston East Metro
- Full Route: (Strava) https://www.strava.com/routes/8422237 (MapMyRide) http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/1597405771
- Expected length: between 38 miles and 67 miles (4.5 to 8 hours including breaks)
- Fitness/experience: some hills, should be comfortable riding in traffic, casual pace (10-12 mph average)
- Weird clothing requirement: Wear Silver (enough to make Silver Surfer turn green with envy!)
Estimated Itinerary – Saturday, June 17
- 8:00 a.m. – Phase 1 Meet at East Falls Church Metro (near bike racks)
- 8:15 a.m. – Tour of every Phase 1 Silver Line station from East Falls Church to Wiehle-Reston East (17.7 miles)
- 10:15 a.m. – Phase 2 Meet at Wiehle-Reston East Metro (near Capital Bikeshare station)
- 10:30 a.m. – Tour of every Phase 2 Silver Line station from Wiehle-Reston East to Ashburn (26.9 miles)
- 1:00 p.m. – Lunch at Carolina Brothers BBQ (best baked beans in VA, according to me) in Ashburn, next to W&OD Trail
- 2:00 p.m. – Ride back on W&OD Trail
- 3:00 p.m. – Arrival at Wiehle-Reston East Metro (10.7 miles)
- 4:00 p.m. – Arrival at East Falls Church Metro (11.6 miles)
Riders have the option to shorten their route by taking the Metro Silver Line, skipping the Phase 1 portion (17.7 miles), and joining the group at the Wiehle-Reston East station at 10:15 a.m. Riders can also shorten the post-lunch portion of the route by getting on the Metro Silver Line at the Wiehle-Reston East station. Shortening both pre-lunch and post-lunch portions of the route will leave you with a nice 38 miles for the day.
I put a lot of thought into this and hope that the plan works for everyone interested. Let me know if you’re up for this!
(Edit) In case you need to contact me before/during/after the ride, my cell # is 571-201-7189.
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