route advice – Arlington Draft House to Crystal City?

[Tania]

Any thoughts on how I can get from Columbia/Walter Reed-ish over to 18th and Eads without going way around via Four Mile Run? There must be a more direct route. We’ll be biking over at o’dark thirty Sat am (for the Fun Ride) so traffic isn’t much of an issue.

Judd – isn’t this your ‘hood?

[tnelson]

I imagine straight along the Pike or one of the parallel roads until you hit the 27 underpass, then just take the lane past the Memorial down the hill to the intersection with S. Joyce. Turn onto Joyce and follow that down, right on Hayes, and you’re there.

[EasyRider]

The fastest, and I think safest way is to go straight east on Columbia Pike, then turn left at the first light onto S. Orme (the Sheraton is on the corner.) That dead ends at the Ft. Myer Gate, turn right onto Southgate and bomb down the hill, with the Air Force Memorial on your right. Go straight throuh the traffic light at the bottom of the hill onto Joyce and take it under 395. You can take it from there.

I would be careful going down Columbia Pike in the dark. There is still likely to be some traffic, and there are a couple of exposed gas cap (I think) holes in the middle of the lanes which could throw you. I would take the sidewalk to be safe, starting at South Courthouse Road.

[Tania]

@EasyRider 146693 wrote:

The fastest, and I think safest way is to go straight east on Columbia Pike, then turn left at the first light onto S. Orme (the Sheraton is on the corner.) That dead ends at the Ft. Myer Gate, turn right onto Southgate and bomb down the hill, with the Air Force Memorial on your right. Go straight throuh the traffic light at the bottom of the hill onto Joyce and take it under 395. You can take it from there.

That’s precisely the route advised by google maps!

[DismalScientist]

@EasyRider 146693 wrote:

I would be careful going down Columbia Pike in the dark. There is still likely to be some traffic, and there are a couple of exposed gas cap (I think) holes in the middle of the lanes which could throw you. I would take the sidewalk to be safe, starting at South Courthouse Road.

The Pike is freshly repaved between Orme and Joyce. I don’t recall bad pavement between Courthouse and 27. The street should be fine because you are generally keeping up with traffic downhill.

[Henry]

Agreed. Take the Pike all the way, just be careful making the right from CP to Joyce, especially if pavement is wet. The Orme to Joyce section should be very lightly traveled at 7am on a Saturday.

Henry

[EasyRider]

@Tania 146694 wrote:

That’s precisely the route advised by google maps!

Yes, it’s my daily commute. I’ve tried to improve upon it but can’t. Turning left on Orme makes sense because the Wash. Blvd. underpass is at the bottom of a hill. It’s a modest one, but unless you hit all the lights just so and are really hammering it, car traffic will easily overtake you if you continue straight on Columbia Pike and don’t turn left onto Orme or one of the side streets. Plus, Southgate is a straigtaway and steeper downhill with very little traffic even during rush hour. It’s fun to zoom down it.

I’m serious about those holes in the Pike though. There’s definitely one or two in the middle of left lane, maybe halfway between S. Courthouse and Wash. Blvd. You don’t want to hit one of them in the dark.

[EasyRider]

Here’s one, in the lower left of the frame. The Pike has been repaved here, but this hole remains.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]12504[/ATTACH]

[Judd]

@Tania 146690 wrote:

Any thoughts on how I can get from Columbia/Walter Reed-ish over to 18th and Eads without going way around via Four Mile Run? There must be a more direct route. We’ll be biking over at o’dark thirty Sat am (for the Fun Ride) so traffic isn’t much of an issue.

Judd – isn’t this your ‘hood?

Yep. My hood and I’ll be headed to the fun ride too. Usually on weekend mornings traffic is light enough on the Pike that I’ll just take the Pike all the way into Pentagon City. When traffic is heavy I take the recommend google maps route: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/38.8576189,-77.0530958/Arlington+Cinema,+2903+Columbia+Pike,+Arlington,+VA+22204/@38.8639672,-77.0789587,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m9!4m8!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x89b7b6ba4f8f51ef:0xa2db0d452edea2b3!2m2!1d-77.0872878!2d38.8627393!3e1

The pavement is in pretty good shape since it was repaved last year. There’s a few manhole covers along the way to watch out for, especially if the pavement is wet tomorrow.

[Author]

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