Pedicab route help please

[DismalScientist]

I would think that the neighborhood streets are just as steep as Brandymore Castle although the underpass at Sycamore might be a problem. I’d take W&OD to Van Buren, south to Columbia, west to Maple, south to Park and east to the Theater. This avoid all of Lee by taking the street (Maple) to the west.

[bobco85]

For getting from STM to the W&OD without encountering any big/steep hills, I would recommend the following because all the W&OD access points around Arlington Blvd are steep:
Take Thomas St and turn left onto Carlin Springs Rd. Then, turn right onto Wakefield St. Turn left onto Wilson Blvd. At Wilson/George Mason, get in the left turn lane and turn onto the sidewalk to get onto the Bluemont Junction Trail. The Bluemont Junction Trail will take you to the W&OD in Bluemont Park.

For bypassing Brandymore Castle, the best I could come up with (you may have to deal with a hill or two) is to use 12th Rd -> Quantico St -> 12th Pl -> N Roosevelt St -> N 16th St/E Columbia St (name changes)

To avoid the tough parts of 29 (aka Lee Highway), use E Columbia St to cross Lee Highway (there’s a stoplight) then turn left onto N Maple Ave then left onto Park Ave which will bring you to the State Theater.

Here’s the full route, if you want to look it over: http://goo.gl/maps/91udv

[DismalScientist]

Wilson is not pleasant. I would modify the above route to take Carlin Springs to Edison north to the Bluemont Branch trail. The lanes are wider on Carlin Springs than Wilson.

[Kolohe]

That’s going to be a long slow trip with pedicab gearing. (but maybe I have the wrong impression of pedicab gearing?)

http://goo.gl/maps/MPj8K : One option is Thomas Street from the cathedral up to Ballston and Custis. It’s traffic calmed for the most part and is more or less all on the same elevation.

http://goo.gl/maps/5rjd5: Sticking along a mostly Arlington Blvd path to W&OD, I would still do two diversions from the absolute shortest path
a) the first diversion is to nontheless go up Thomas to Pershing then to Henderson and back to Rt 50 – it avoids the dip near the Red Cross and the rise to the George Mason Bridge (w/ haphazardly merging traffic)

b) After I pass Lubber Run, I would continue past the Greenbrier/Granada W&OD entrance (as this hill is way steep*) to Carlin Springs, hang a right and enter the W&OD/4MR via the parking lot near the bottom of the hill.

*fun fact – I wrecked my first ever Montgomery Ward bought 10 speed on that curve back in 198x.

I think you’re going to have a hill somewhere anyway to get from central Arlington to downtown Falls Church, and the Brandywine Castle one is actually the easiest one, imo. Literally the highest points in Arlington county separate the two locales, and the 4 mile run creek bed – and later the railroad – were exactly the ways to get from point A to point B at minimum energy.

Good luck.

[dasgeh]

Mikey (and everyone else), meet ridewithgps.com Not only will it let you plan a route, at the bottom, it shows you the elevation and even the grade. (This is how I plan Kidical Mass Arlington rides to stay under 5% grade).

Here’s what I came up with: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3497003 Note – Dismal and Bob’s suggestions have hills that can be avoided by going north to meet the Bluemont at Buchanan. Play around and you can see the tradeoff between hills and distance.

I hate to suggest this, but they may want to go the tandem route. We did that from our wedding to our reception, and it was AWESOME.

[bobco85]

@DismalScientist 66164 wrote:

Wilson is not pleasant. I would modify the above route to take Carlin Springs to Edison north to the Bluemont Branch trail. The lanes are wider on Carlin Springs than Wilson.

I was thinking about putting that route (I normally take Carlin Springs to Edison to get to that trail), but decided against it because I think the hill on Carlin Springs leading to the bridge over George Mason is long and may be difficult for a pedicab to control. I’d probably modify my route to use Abingdon St -> 8th Rd -> Buchanan St -> Bluemont Junction Trail so that the use of Wilson Blvd is minimized.

[bobco85]

@dasgeh 66175 wrote:

Here’s what I came up with: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3497003 Note – Dismal and Bob’s suggestions have hills that can be avoided by going north to meet the Bluemont at Buchanan. Play around and you can see the tradeoff between hills and distance.

I think the Buchanan route is a good idea. That said, from personal experience, I wouldn’t recommend having the turn from Carlin Springs onto Abingdon. Turning from Carlin Springs onto Abingdon requires you to turn on a downhill which is awkward and would make it easy to tip over.

[Rod Smith]

Are you taking the job, Mikey? Do passengers ever get out and push? Would getting out and pushing make this wedding experience as awesome as it could be?

[Mikey]

@Rod Smith 66247 wrote:

Are you taking the job, Mikey? Do passengers ever get out and push? Would getting out and pushing make this wedding experience as awesome as it could be?

My kids are hungry, but not that hungry. The job would be fun. Getting a cab from Farragut square to Arlington/Glebe, and then back from Falls Church would not be. I sent along the directions though, and they were thankful.
I’ll be coaching soccer at that time anyway.

[bobco85]

@Mikey 66155 wrote:

I got an email from my friends at DC Pedicab who are being asked to bike a wedding couple from The Cathedral of St Thomas More (Arlington Blvd and Glebe Rd in Arlington), to their reception at the State Theater in Falls Church. I advised them that it may be tough getting down to the W&OD (does anyone know a less steep ride down to the trail near Arlington Blvd?

Also I advised them to not attempt to go up Brandymore Castle in a Pedicab but to duck off to the south of the trail and take neighborhood roads across Roosevelt/Sycamore, and then over to Lee Highway. Does anyone know a good route from the W&OD to the State Theater in FC that avoids Brandymore Castle, and the tough parts of route 29.

Thanks.

Funny coincidence: I was just talking to my dad over the phone, and he mentioned that he and my mom will be singing (they are in the St. Thomas More Cathedral Choir) for a wedding taking place at St. Thomas More Cathedral that will have its reception over at the State Theater in a few weeks. I told him to be on the lookout for a pedicab delivering the bride and groom

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