Route 29 (VA) commute possibilities?

[Kovacs87]

Hello all! This is my first post to the forum and I’m hoping someone can answer or give me some guidance. I’m currently in Centreville with a 12 mile car commute. I’m moving straight down 29 so my car commute will only be 6 miles, and since I thought it wasn’t that far I have started considering the possibility of commuting to work by bike. All my research on my current route, which runs straight down 29 almost to 495 has told me this is a terrible area for bike commuting. Does anyone commute in my area on a bike or know a local shop that might have some insight?

TL;DR how bad is it commuting along the route 29 corridor?

Thank you!

Topic

[mstone]

29 out here is pretty grim, especially at rush hour. (60mph, no shoulder, and cage rage.) Depending on what part of 29 it is, there may be a side path or parallel road, which will almost always be a better choice. Take a look at the Google maps bicycle overlay for starters (vdot didn’t actually design a continuous side path on the road, so they come and go depending on developer proffers–you want to know whether you’re suddenly going to be dumped onto the main roadway). Then just explore on a weekend to look for routes. You can also look at the strava heat map to see where other cyclists have gone, or ask here about specific sections.

[bobco85]

Here’s a quick link to the Strava Heat Map (zoomed in for your area): http://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#13/-77.28209/38.86247/gray/bike

For the purpose of making a route, I estimated that your start will be somewhere west of the 29/50 intersection and your finish at the corner of 29/Gallows. Here’s a route that I came up with using streets that I’m familiar with (Old Lee Hwy, Prosperity Ave, CCT, back way to Mosaic from the south, etc.) and comparing them to the Strava heat map: https://goo.gl/maps/K2u2H

I hope my ideas can help.

[Author]

Replies