Moving from Arlington to Fairfax County – Where do I ride?

[CycleNinja]

Hello Everyone,
I did a brief search and came up with the Fairfax County bike map. I apologize if there’s more information in this forum that already answers my question but I was still hoping to ask and get some updated information.

I currently live in Clarendon and am used to riding around Arlington County. I typically start my rides right out my front door and ride along the bike lanes and bike friendly streets. I ride around Military Road, Lorcom Lane, up through DC in to Maryland. I’ve found this to be some of the best road biking in the area. I absolutely love the freedom I have being a biker in Arlington.

Here’s the problem…

I’m renting in Arlington and it’s time for my wife and I to buy our first house.

It would appear that we are going to be living in Fairfax County around Oakton, Dunn Loring, Merrifield, West Falls Church, etc.

I’m very familiar with the WOD trail but I can’t say I’ve ever ridden anywhere in Fairfax other than the WOD.
I’ve talked to my friends and co workers who live in Fairfax and seem to get the same thing. I either drive somewhere bike friendly or try and move near the WOD.

Do any of you live out there? Are there any big group rides or known bike friendly routes on the streets? I’m not opposed to riding on the WOD but I do like the freedom of the roads. I like being able to safely ride at the speed of (slow) traffic and not worry about going too fast for people sharing the trails.

I know this is a Bike Arlington forum but this was also the only forum I could find and I figured Arlington was so close to Fairfax that like myself, many of you may live and or work in Fairfax.

Any info is appreciated!

Topic

[hozn]

Yeah, just to add to this, I would agree with jabberwocky that Reston is almost better suited to the utility riding than recreational. The paths are awesome, but I tend to only ride on them when I want a peaceful and quiet component on the commute. They are slower on account of pedestrian traffic, but always very promptly plowed in the winter.

I don’t know Reston roads very well, but my general impression is that the artery roads are a little too high-speed and high-volume to feel especially safe. (I don’t like riding on Lee Hwy either.) I’ve learned a few of the cut-through roads, though it can be a little more challenging since it’s not a grid (or whatever we’d call what we have here). There are fewer bike lanes than we have in Arlington, for sure. And things are further apart, so while the path network is awesome it can often be a larger distance you need to travel to find that grocery store, etc. So definitely more bikable than walkable. That is my general impression, anyway.

One of my coworkers that lives (and works) in Reston just bought an e-bike when his car died. He uses that for getting to work and most of his other transportation needs.

[jabberwocky]

The main arterial roads aren’t the best, but there is usually a parallel path on a smaller road. The advantage of the path network is that you can often connect cul de sacs or dead ends together and turn them into a car-free through route. In cases where you can’t, you can almost always just ride a path (most of the arterial roads have adjacent ones) to connect places where youd otherwise be stuck on the arterial road. Bike lanes aren’t common, but most of the side roads are wide and low-volume enough that I don’t worry about riding them even at rush hour.

The only issue with reston is 267 bisects it, and there aren’t that many ways across. Most of my reston loops use roads on both sides, and are defined by where they cross and cross back.

[mstone]

@jabberwocky 64326 wrote:

The only issue with reston is 267 bisects it, and there aren’t that many ways across. Most of my reston loops use roads on both sides, and are defined by where they cross and cross back.

Yup, Fairfax County biking is defined around crossing 95, 495, 286, 267, 50, 28, 29. Which is why the more newly designed parts of the county are obnoxious: they are defined around getting traffic to one of those roads and then washing their hands of it.

[jabberwocky]

@mstone 64327 wrote:

Yup, Fairfax County biking is defined around crossing 95, 495, 286, 267, 50, 28, 29. Which is why the more newly designed parts of the county are obnoxious: they are defined around getting traffic to one of those roads and then washing their hands of it.

Crossing 267 in Reston isn’t too bad, at least. Fairfax County Parkway has the path that goes across on the west edge. Reston Parkway has one too, I don’t remember if Wiehle does (and with the construction mess, whether its open even if there is), but Wiehle isn’t too bad to actually just ride the road over. Though that might change once the metro station opens. And of course, the W&OD goes underneath to the east.

[lordofthemark]

@CycleNinja 64074 wrote:

I also think the first thing I do when I move in to Fairfax is get involved with FABB. The general feedback seems to be that it’s getting better in Fairfax so I can contribute to making it better if I am going to be riding on the roads right?

That would be great. While there are folks here with much more experience in dealing with biking advocacy issues in FFX than me (I am new to FABB myself) I do think its a place where more advocacy can have payback, and more involvement by cyclists will help FABB. I think the board of supervisors gets that biking is part of the solution to Fairfax’s transport issues, and that recreation cycling (as well as transportation cycling) is not only a public health benefit, but will strengthen real estate in the County. Countering that is the legacy road system, issues with VDOT, a county electorate that is a bit more resistant to change than the Board is, and, IIUC, sometimes the board’s own caution or lack of understanding of biking issues. But there have been new bike lanes striped, we have a full time (I think?) bike planner at FCDOT, there is a county bike plan (we hope it will be officially adopted soon) that will guide improvements, we have had attempts by the County to educate the police on biking issues, we have the bike racks on Fairfax Connector buses, etc, etc. AFAICT the biggest push the County is making is to make Tysons more bikeable, which is important as they are increasing density there and reducing auto mode share there is crucial to making that succeed. That plan is already officially approved and will be discussed at the upcoming Fairfax County Bike Summit, which you might want to attend.

[CycleNinja]

Lots of great info from this thread. Much appreciated!
To be honest, I don’t want to leave Arlington. I want to stay here very badly but I also want to stop renting. Sadly, buying in Arlington is not even a remote possibility for us. We’re first timers who want to have kids so we’re looking for at least a townhouse. Anyway, that is a separate topic all together.

So it looks like we’re going to be looking in that wedge of Fairfax in between Fairfax City and 495, 29 and 50. Basically around the Pan Am shopping center. I haven’t spent any time over there on a bike but I’m a bit nervous because I’ve been out there every weekend and several weeknights since I first started this thread and I can probably count the number of cyclists I’ve noticed on one hand…

It looks like Reston is getting a lot of love from members here. I would be interested to see what it would be like to drive to Rosslyn from Reston every day. Then again, it would be quicker to ride my bike most days since it’s right on the trail…

The first thing I plan on doing after we move is check out FABB to see what I can do to help.
(OK maybe the second after trying to have those kids…)

Do any of you live around Pan Am?

[kcb203]

I enjoy weekend rides in Great Falls, but it would be a horrible place to be to use a bike for transportation. I avoid Georgetown Pike, especially between the Beltway and Great Falls Park. But the roads north of Georgetown Pike are great–pretty scenery, hills, etc. From Arlington, I’ll ride out Old Dominion to River Bend, then wind around back there on Beech Mill, Walker, Utterback Store, Seneca, Springvale, etc.

[lordofthemark]

@CycleNinja 66873 wrote:

Do any of you live around Pan Am?

I used to live in a TH near Blake.

The good news is its not that hard to get to the W&OD. You can go through metrowest (which wasn’t there when I lived there) and over I66 on Vaden, through or around Nottaway Park, and then up side streets of Vienna (I used Tapawingo) to central Vienna and the W&OD.

Heading southeast, you aren’t far from the Cross County Trail (but some parts are unpaved).

I’m not familiar with the routes due east though, like 29 or 50.

[jabberwocky]

@kcb203 67097 wrote:

I enjoy weekend rides in Great Falls, but it would be a horrible place to be to use a bike for transportation. I avoid Georgetown Pike, especially between the Beltway and Great Falls Park. But the roads north of Georgetown Pike are great–pretty scenery, hills, etc. From Arlington, I’ll ride out Old Dominion to River Bend, then wind around back there on Beech Mill, Walker, Utterback Store, Seneca, Springvale, etc.

I work in Great Falls (intersection of Walker and Georgetown Pike) so I commute around there at rush hour all the time. Its not great. Honestly, most of the problem is the local drivers, who are excessively prickish even by DC area standards. The traffic levels on most of the local roads (aside from Georgetown Pike) is pretty light.

[americancyclo]

If you’re heading in to Rosslyn, I’d do this:
@lordofthemark 67105 wrote:

Vaden through Nottaway Park, Tapawingo to the W&OD.

Not this:

@lordofthemark 67105 wrote:

29 or 50

[Author]

Replies