Tysons cycle routes

[eminva]

Thanks for all the updates — when Dirt and I were searching for bikeable routes to the Silver Line last spring (or winter?), we deemed Lewinsville too beginner-unfriendly, so we didn’t include a route from that direction. I need to get out there again now that the situation has improved. Need a month of Sundays . . .

Liz

[elbows]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7805[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]7806[/ATTACH]I had a spill this morning while trying to walk from Greensboro metro to Old Courthouse when it was a touch icy out and I was strolling on the side of the underpass beneath Chain Bridge Rd along 7. I know, I probably could have taken a bus but google said I could walk this route in 15 minutes (which was true), and I know that it is no surprise to anyone on here that Tysons still sucks for peds/cyclists. However, I would like to take this opportunity to remind the appropriate gov agency that even people without cars travel to Tysons to spend thousands of dollars on medical appointments and it would sure be nice to have a freakin’ sidewalk. There were plenty of other people taking the same untended, trash-filled route I was. Any suggestions?

[wheelswings]

I’m wondering what’s the best way to get from the WOD to the Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods at Tyson’s Station on Rt 7 in Falls Church?

Last night I got off the WOD at West Street and I followed Broad/Rt 7 ‘til I got to Tyson’s Station. That was NOT my favorite ride. On my return I took Idylwood and then L on Barbour and Pinecastle to get back to the WOD. Is that the best connection?

I’m happy to do more miles if there’s a prettier way that doesn’t involve sucking up exhaust fumes and that won’t land me under a car tire. :+)

Thanks for any suggestions.

[americancyclo]

@wheels&wings 111019 wrote:

I’m wondering what’s the best way to get from the WOD to the Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods at Tyson’s Station on Rt 7 in Falls Church?

Last night I got off the WOD at West Street and I followed Broad/Rt 7 ‘til I got to Tyson’s Station. That was NOT my favorite ride. On my return I took Idylwood and then L on Barbour and Pinecastle to get back to the WOD. Is that the best connection?

I’m happy to do more miles if there’s a prettier way that doesn’t involve sucking up exhaust fumes and that won’t land me under a car tire. :+)

Thanks for any suggestions.

Heading there, Route 7 is the fastest, although you can take the WOD to Shreve (there is a turn out to the right just before the Poplar Heights Tennis Courts) and head up to route7 from there, which saves you a few blocks of traffic if you were getting on at West. You also get a left turn light and the timing works out pretty well to get at least to the light at Idylwood.

going to WF, you can take WOD, Pinecastle, barbour, LEFT on Idylwood, Right on Idyl Ln, Right at Pimmit Drive and avoid riding on Route 7 completely.

coming back to the WOD heading east from WF/TJ I would ride with my daughter on a trail-a-bike. we would often take the south sidewalk from WF, cross Idlywood at the light then take the sidewalk up Idylwood and left on Barbour.

Or if you really wanted to add an extra two miles, you could take Great Falls, Left on Magarity, Left on Pimmit Dr.

[Phatboing]

Great Falls has more traffic than I care for, really. The Pinecastle > Barbour > Idylwood > Idyl > Pimmit is the route I vote for. My wife and I take Rt7 when we’re riding together, but it aggravates my acute misanthropy more than hers.

[dkel]

@Phatboing 111031 wrote:

The Pinecastle > Barbour > Idylwood > Idyl > Pimmit is the route I vote for.

+1

[americancyclo]

Just got this in an email from WABA
https://hq-org.salsalabs.com/o/451/t/0/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=1318193

[TABLE=”width: 100%, align: center”]
[TR]
[TD=”align: center”]Can’t see the images? View this email as a webpage![/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] [TABLE=”width: 100%”]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD=”bgcolor: #EBEBEB”] [TABLE=”width: 100%, align: center”]
[TR=”bgcolor: #f2f2f2″]
[TD][TABLE=”width: 0, align: right”]
[TR]
[TD]

Attend the public meeting next week to support bike lanes in Tysons![/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
Dear Supporter,

Fairfax County recently announced that several major roads in Tysons could soon have bike infrastructure as part of this summer repaving schedule. We need you to speak up for biking at a public meeting on Monday, March 16 at Westbriar Elementary School from 7-9 p.m. Here is the proposed new bike infrastructure:

• Greensboro Dr. – Road diet from Spring Hill Rd. to Solutions Dr.
• Tyco Rd. – Road diet from Route 7 to Spring Hill Rd.
• Westbranch Dr, – Road diet from Westpark Dr. to Jones Branch Dr.
• Jones Branch Dr. – Climbing lane from International Dr. to Westpark Dr.
• Spring Hill Rd. – Combination of bike lanes/sharrows from Route 7 to International Dr.
• Westwood Center Dr. – Sharrows from Route 7 to the end of the road

A full map of proposed bike projects is online here.

Meeting Details
Monday, March 16 at 7-9 p.m.
Westbriar Elementary School
1741 Pine Valley Dr., Vienna, VA 22182
Google Map directions
Since these projects are part of the repaving schedule, no additional funds are available to supplement the projects. They may not be perfect, but it’s important that we support this effort by the county. If you work or bike in Tysons, please consider attending this meeting to support these important projects. Check the Fairfax Bike Pages or the FABB blog for more info.
Best regards,
Greg Billing
WABA Advocacy Coordinator

FABB is a sponsored project of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association.

You are signed up to advocacy email updates from WABA. You can unsubscribe anytime from emails by clicking here.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR=”bgcolor: #ebebeb”]
[TD=”bgcolor: #ebebeb, align: center”] WABA Online | Events | Maps | Bike Laws | WABA Advocacy | Membership
Facebook | Twitter | Flickr | WABA Blog

Washington Area Bicyclist Association
2599 Ontario Rd. NW, Washington, DC 20009
waba@waba.org | Phone: 202.518.0524 | Fax: 202.518.0936

Subscribe Here | Unsubscribe Here [/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD=”bgcolor: #4f605a”][/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

[pptyson]

Those are some big improvements for an area that needs all the help it can get. Jones Branch is treacherous since it’s a essentially a long hill that feeds commuters to Dulles Toll Road w/ 35mph limit. Bravo to Fairfax County.

[Phatboing]

Funny, I’ll need to use most of those roads they speak of to get to the dang school in the first place, so I can provide fresh opinions.

[DaveS]

@wheels&wings 111019 wrote:

I’m wondering what’s the best way to get from the WOD to the Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods at Tyson’s Station on Rt 7 in Falls Church?

Last night I got off the WOD at West Street and I followed Broad/Rt 7 ‘til I got to Tyson’s Station. That was NOT my favorite ride. On my return I took Idylwood and then L on Barbour and Pinecastle to get back to the WOD. Is that the best connection?

I’m happy to do more miles if there’s a prettier way that doesn’t involve sucking up exhaust fumes and that won’t land me under a car tire. :+)

Thanks for any suggestions.

Coming from the West on W&OD another way is to pop off at Virginia (left), then right on Hurst, right on Idylwood, left on Idyl Ln, right on Pimmit Dr. Coming from the east, the Pinecastle route is probably the best.

[DaveS]

@americancyclo 111024 wrote:

Heading there, Route 7 is the fastest, although you can take the WOD to Shreve (there is a turn out to the right just before the Poplar Heights Tennis Courts) and head up to route7 from there, which saves you a few blocks of traffic if you were getting on at West. You also get a left turn light and the timing works out pretty well to get at least to the light at Idylwood.

going to WF, you can take WOD, Pinecastle, barbour, LEFT on Idylwood, Right on Idyl Ln, Right at Pimmit Drive and avoid riding on Route 7 completely.

coming back to the WOD heading east from WF/TJ I would ride with my daughter on a trail-a-bike. we would often take the south sidewalk from WF, cross Idlywood at the light then take the sidewalk up Idylwood and left on Barbour.

Or if you really wanted to add an extra two miles, you could take Great Falls, Left on Magarity, Left on Pimmit Dr.

Another comment on the Great Falls St route is that you can take a left on Idylwood (instead of going all the way to Magarity). Idylwood was just repaved last year and so the pavement blissfully smooth. When going towards Tysons you can take a left on Redd and left on Reddfield to avoid that corner where the traffic backs up. Once you get to Route 7, you can take the sidewalk the way to TJs. There’s a bit of traffic on Idylwood in that stretch but when returning from Tysons its downhill and you can typically keep the same speed as the cars so they are not minding too much.

[skins_brew]

Does anyone have any info on somewhere to shower in Tysons?

Last year, I was daily commuting from SIlver Spring to Federal Triangle. In June, I became aware of the glorious bike room in my building (RRB), complete with showers. I use to not shower, and just wipe down, but after having access to a shower, it made the post ride 10x better. That commute was 20 miles one way..

Fast forward to last monday, I have begun working in Tysons. The commute is like 28 miles. Not sure I will want to do this every day, but maybe a few times a week. I am fairly certain my building has no shower, and before I start cold calling area gyms, I wanted to see if anyone had any ideas. There is a Hilton Hotel next door, and I might go over there and ask if they have anything I can use (for a modest fee of course).

I need to shower after a 28 mile ride. I tend to ride hard too, and there will be stink.

[Phatboing]

@skins_brew 111801 wrote:

Does anyone have any info on somewhere to shower in Tysons?

Last year, I was daily commuting from SIlver Spring to Federal Triangle. In June, I became aware of the glorious bike room in my building (RRB), complete with showers. I use to not shower, and just wipe down, but after having access to a shower, it made the post ride 10x better. That commute was 20 miles one way..

Fast forward to last monday, I have begun working in Tysons. The commute is like 28 miles. Not sure I will want to do this every day, but maybe a few times a week. I am fairly certain my building has no shower, and before I start cold calling area gyms, I wanted to see if anyone had any ideas. There is a Hilton Hotel next door, and I might go over there and ask if they have anything I can use (for a modest fee of course).

I need to shower after a 28 mile ride. I tend to ride hard too, and there will be stink.

Maybe check with building management in an office near yours? There seem to be a reasonable number of companies with gyms; maybe they’ll be nice if you promise not to do any corporate espionage.

[skins_brew]

@Phatboing 111808 wrote:

Maybe check with building management in an office near yours? There seem to be a reasonable number of companies with gyms; maybe they’ll be nice if you promise not to do any corporate espionage.

So the building next door is “Park Place I” and I am in “Park Place II.” Apparently there is a fitness center in the other building. I might wander over and see if being in one building gets you access to all amenities.

I love it, here I am voluntarily willing to take an auto off the road (a big ass, full size, 5.3L Chevy 1500) but there is no place to shower.

They should start requiring office towers to have a shower facility. How many people would start biking if the shower issue was fixed?

[Phatboing]

Yeah, well, it’s Tysons. Optimism comes to die here.

Worst case, I’ve heard good things about these: http://actionwipes.com/

[Author]

Posts