Manassas

[scoot]

Most of the streets in Manassas proper are quite bike-friendly. The city itself is very flat, which may qualify as a plus or a minus. The PW Parkway and 234 trails offer decent rides and connections to the southeast (mid-county / Lake Ridge / Dale City area). I haven’t ridden any other directions from Manassas, but I suspect the routes are dicey.

Avoid VA-28 anywhere north of Old Town Manassas. If you value your physical health, keep your bicycle away from that road. If you value your mental health, keep your car away from that road.

[trailrunner]

I’m not sure about the city proper, but you’re on the edge of the urban sprawl and therefore can easily escape to the countryside. I’m starting my ride tomorrow in Catlett, which is a few miles (10 or 15 maybe?) south of Manassas. A lot of good rides start out of Nokesville, which is even closer. I’ve also started rides out of Haymarket, and if you go west, you’re close to Marshall, Warrenton, and Middleburg, where a lot of rides also start.

[Judd]

@AFHokie 164541 wrote:

Does anyone here ride regularly (or occasionally) in/around the Manassas area?

We’re seriously considering moving out that way and I wanted to get some thoughts on riding in the area.

Bob James lives and rides out there. Not sure how much he’s checking the forums these days but you could always hit him up on Strava.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Lt. Dan]

I live and ride in and around Manassas. The city proper has decent infrastructure, and I can be virtually alone on a road in Nokesville/Faquier county in 10 minutes pedaling…

[Allen Muchnick]

I live in the City of Manassas (zip code 20110) and moved there in 2014 because it is bikeable. Manassas City is reasonably bike friendly and has many connected low-traffic streets. Even most arterial roads in the City of Manassas are readily bikeable. Bike Manassas and Bull Run Bicycles hold regular group rides.

If you work in downtown DC, Crystal City/Pentagon, or Old Town Alexandria, the VRE stations in Manassas and Manassas Park are great commuting assets. You can easily bike to those VRE stations, although VRE still doesn’t provide bike lockers.

The surrounding communities in Prince William County with “Manassas” zip codes (20109, 20111, 20112) are generally considerably less bike friendly, but the newer multilane suburban arterials there have often been built with asphalt sidepaths. Manassas Park is somewhat bikeable (and has an excellent community center) but has less well-connected streets.

The primary longer-distance trails in the area are sidepaths along the Prince William Pkwy and Route 234. These are poorly maintained but can work for longer trips and training rides. VDOT says it will repave the PW Pkwy Trail in the coming year.

The Winters Branch Trail is a paved park trail in the City of Manassas that runs between Godwin Dr and Wellington Rd for about one mile.

Proximity to the semi-rural Nokesville (and even closer Brentsville) area is definitely an asset. If riding there without driving is a consideration, look at communities in the southwest part of the City and just to its south, near Hastings Drive or Godwin Dr and Lucasville Rd.

If mountain biking is your thing, there are several good mountain biking trails in parks in western Prince William County, and more trails will be developed in the coming years.

[AFHokie]

Thank you all for the responses.

Allen, Lt. Dan, scoot, et al, thank you so much for the information, you confirmed what I suspected from surfing Google maps, Redfin, etc. which is look for a house south of 28. Redfin has multiple houses within our budget less than five miles of the train station. Even better, many are on half acre or larger lots.

We’re not looking to move until next spring summer at the earliest, but if we move out there, we will become VRE commuters; my office is a short walk from Union Station and hers from L’enfant Plaza. Ideally, I’ll bike to/from the Manassas station. What’s interesting is that to get to my office by 7am, I’ll have to catch the 05:13 or 05:43 am trains…which is about the same time I leave my I currently leave my place in Arlington to bike to my office.

I followed Bob James on Strava & I can only hope to ride half the distances that he rides.

[Bob James]

@AFHokie 164541 wrote:

Does anyone here ride regularly (or occasionally) in/around the Manassas area?
We’re seriously considering moving out that way and I wanted to get some thoughts on riding in the area.

Great comments about biking Manassas. As said Biking 28 north of Manassas is not fun, but there is a sidepath (not greatest condition) from Compton to Braddock. To get to WOD, from Braddock (road or sidepath) I go to Stringfellow (road or sidepath) and then to Fairfax County Pkwy (shoulder or sidepath) to WOD near Reston. I usually only leave Manssass for this route around 5am weekdays and before 10am weekends. I usually do roads, but if on sidepath time of day won’t matter as much.

28 south of Manassas can take Linton Hall road or sidepath west to 29 in Gainesville and then 55 road to The Plains. I’ve taken 28S straight thru to Remington for Thru Moo Ice Cream at end on Hwy 17 (about 30 miles). This is not recommended, as there are much safer and more scenic country roads to take, but add about 10-15 miles to ride. Lots of nice country roads south of Manassas, more west than east. From Remington I usually take Summerduck east and then take low traffic country roads North back to Manssass. ElK Run is another good biking road (no shoulder, but low traffic and good sight lines for cars to be aware of you).

There are many good county general stores on the back roads to refuel and stay hydrated.

As said, riding around Manssas City or Manassas Park is pretty bike friendly. During rush hour I often take Godwin to Hastings to get to PW Parkway. Hastings has dedicated car shared bike lane that goes all the way thru Manassas. From PW Pkwy to 234 expressway sidepath or shoulder (I go with flow of traffic using trail going south and wide shoulder going north) you can take Hoadlly road bike shoulder back to PW Pkwy to make a nice loop.

Also, toward 95 on 234 expressway, you can take 1 mile fire path to PW Forest and do some hilly 12 mile loop laps.

Like 28 inside Manassas, also would want to avoid 234 Business. There is Ashton Ave that runs along south of 234 instead.

Lots of good biking opportunities in and around Manassas.

[Fredrik Ulvestad]

@Bob James 164717 wrote:

There are many good county general stores on that back roads to refuel and stay hydrated.

Thanks, good to know!

[AFHokie]

As of this past week, the condo in Arlington is sold and we move to Manassas Park the beginning of June. We found a place off of Signal View Dr less than two miles from the Manassas Park VRE, and there’s a bike path option almost the entire way to the station.

Again, I want to thank everyone who responded. I’m really looking forward to getting settled out there and exploring the roads & trails.

[Author]

Posts