Most humble salutations from a new forum member

[rcannon100]

Perfect day to start. Tonite is happy hour at Cap City Brewery in Shirlington. Come meet the hoard in person.

[Powerful Pete]

Doubt I can make it tonight… contractors at the house and the Minister of Finances and the Interior would certainly not look positively on my disappearance when it comes time to reviewing work done and nod approvingly.

I seem to have read about Friday morning coffee locations?

[jrenaut]

Sounds like a good route. You may notice that Lorcom Lane is not flat. It has the added benefit of going up and down so you get hills in both directions! This is because Arlington loves you. This may not make you happy, especially, say, on a Friday evening after a really long week.

Watch the intersections just before the bridge into DC. Drivers will try to murder you.

And yes, you should come to happy hour. If you live in Arlington and ride a bike, you will need to get to know the Mt Vernon Trail, and Cap City is just a few blocks from it.

[jrenaut]

@Powerful Pete 90447 wrote:

I seem to have read about Friday morning coffee locations?

You posted this as I was writing my response. Come to Coffee Club.

[TwoWheelsDC]

Welcome! Depending on where exactly you live, you can also drop down Quincy to the Custis. It’s a little easier than Lorcom and avoids the obnoxious Custis trail-entry point at Thrifton Hills.

[KLizotte]

Welcome! You seem like a serious cyclist with a really good sense of humor. You will fit right in with this group of misfits. Enjoy the relatively humidity free days while you can. August is right around the corner and it is never pretty.

Definitely come out to a coffee club and/or happy hour when you can. Makes a big difference to meet the avatars in person.

What city did you move from if you don’t mind sharing?

[Powerful Pete]

@ AMTwoWheelsDC Ok, yes that is an option for me.

May I ask why the entry off Lorcom/Thrifton Hills is problematic?

@ AMKLizotte

Indeed. Merry band of misfits. Sounds like I will fit right in. Not currently serious. Very hairy legs and nice and fat (life gets in the way of my riding) but count on becoming my lean, fast, shaved me soon enough… :rolleyes:

Need some last minute adjustments on the bikes, so will try to make a coffee stop tomorrow – I take it they are all active? I may actually try to go to the one in DC.

I have moved to DC from Little Rock, AR (fantastic cycling area, by the way). Previously Rome, Italy.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Powerful Pete 90473 wrote:

@ AMTwoWheelsDC Ok, yes that is an option for me.

May I ask why the entry off Lorcom/Thrifton Hills is problematic?

First, the pavement through the park is terrible and often slick with moss. Then you have to take a hard right onto a sidewalk that is overgrown with branches and strewn with debris. Then you have to ride up a steep-ish hill to the trail entrance, where you have to make a 170 degree turn onto the trail (think of it as riding the wrong way up a freeway onramp, then turning right to enter the road). I mean, it’s not the worst thing in the world, but it’s suboptimal for sure.

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.898017,-77.093992,3a,75y,356.53h,68.46t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1subimz5ygZAF5d5cnmp-rew!2e0?hl=en

[jrenaut]

@Powerful Pete 90473 wrote:

Need some last minute adjustments on the bikes, so will try to make a coffee stop tomorrow – I take it they are all active? I may actually try to go to the one in DC.

They are all active, though attendance can vary. The DC meetup, the original Friday Coffee Club, is I believe the largest and most reliable, but i haven’t been to any of the other ones.

[dasgeh]

Welcome, neighbor (I’m in Cherrydale, just east along Lee Hwy)!

On the route, you’re route looks fine. Others have pointed out the issues with Lorcom/Thrifton Hills/Custis. You may also find that M –> Pennsylvania has its drawbacks.

But not to worry, you have lots of options.
For getting on the Custis, you can take Old Lee to Quincy to the trail, like on this route.
Or you can take Old Lee to Lee for a few blocks to Monroe, to 20th St to the trail, like on this route. FWIW, on the way home, I would take the Maywood turnoff over to Monroe, then Lee Hwy to Old Lee Hwy, like shown here.

Depending on where you’re going on K Street, you may consider the TR Bridge instead of the Key Bridge, as shown here. The TR Bridge path is far too narrow, but that scares most people away, so you normally don’t encounter many other people. When you do, passing sucks. Once you’re in the District, H St and the numbered streets are pretty easy.

Basically, you have lots of options. Some here will recommend you go the long way around. You sound like you’ll figure out what works best for you.

[Dickie]

Ahhh yes! Another foreigner (and I don’t mean a bunch of old rockers singing Juke Box Hero) to share some of the burden, great to have you on board Pete. Looks like you have been given your fair share of route advice and since I don’t have anything better to add I will simply welcome you aboard and hope to see you out there…. OH yeah, FCCII (JavaShack) always meets and regularly has 7-10 members. We all normally roll in around 7:00 and leave around 8:00. Hope to see you!

[Steve O]

Although some call me crazy, when I worked in DC I took the Whitehurst off the Key Bridge (only inbound; do not ride the Whitehurst outbound). It has the advantage of no intersections. It has the disadvantage of feeling like an expressway. However, sight lines are good, there’s a 4′ shoulder (with debris to make it more exciting), and you get a downhill running start.

When you reach the light at the pedestrian crossing just before Washington Circle, go through and wait right in front of the yellow crash barriers between the tunnel traffic and the circle traffic–essentially where the “W” is in the picture below.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]6209[/ATTACH]
Then when the light turns red for the cars on K St., you get a private tunnel to ride through. Right down the middle if you want. Then you’re at 21st & K and almost there.
Here’s a map:
https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zEvc2a-Mh8bY.kIFFx0EBCQrw

You may not want to try this route on your first day, but maybe try it out on a quiet Sunday morning or something at some point. Then you can integrate it into your commute later.

Welcome and good luck. Hope to see you at an FCC or other event before long.

Oh, and I’ll amend Dickie’s note slightly. Stragglers at FCCII may stay until after 8:30, so don’t be shy about showing up around 8; some of us will still be there.

[dasgeh]

@Steve O 90519 wrote:

Although some call me crazy,

Yes, crazy. Unless all the cars are stopped. Then brilliant.

[Powerful Pete]

@Steve O, I actually work a couple of blocks from the tunnel… but not certain that I would face crazed cabbies in the tunnel. As you stated, may wait a while until I have a good feel for DC traffic before attempting that.

@ Dickie, excellent, we foreigners (of the non-singing variety) need to do our best to stick together. Strength in [minimal] numbers, you know.

@ dasgeh, thanks for the options. Tomorrow after work may try to figure out the return route on the TR. I like the idea of less space and less “traffic”. It would also make the ride a bit longer (closer to 7 miles/10 km) always a good thing!

@ TwoWheelsDC, thank you! Very helpful and informative. The Lorcom entry point to the path does not look that… inviting now.

You guys are both friendly and useful. Two very good things…

[dasgeh]

Just be forewarned that the path along the TR Bridge is a bit harder to find from the DC approach — just get yourself in front of the Kennedy Center, then look for the bike racks that are across the (very wide) drop off area and street in front of it, and that’s how you get on the bridge.

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