Why is Annandale Road considered a good route?

[lordofthemark]

FFX county bike map says it is. Yet it is one standard (I think) width lane in each direction, high speed, and no bike lanes. There is a shoulder, but parked cars render the shoulders mostly useless for cycling. I tried riding the sidewalk today, and was almost hit by a car turning left into a driveway – I don’t think it was the drivers fault, I think I may have been hidden by parked vehicles many of which are large – SUVs, minivans, etc (I didnt stop to see what it might have been as I mostly wanted to put it behind me and get on to more pleasant parts of my ride)

I feel like swearing off riding on sidewalks except where visibility is excellent and/or there are no driveways. And, therefore, swearing off roads like Annandale Road, where there aren’t good alternatives to a bad sidewalk. Even if that means using bike on bus whenever I want to bike in that direction (metro rail and metro bus were how I got back to Annandale after a day in Arlington and DC)

Topic

[bobco85]

I don’t know what to tell you. I’d recommend Sleepy Hollow Road instead because it seems ever-so-slightly less busy, but it’s pretty much a clone of Annandale Road. It’s considered “good” relative to taking the other roads around it, all of which involve going way out of your way through neighborhood streets with random steep hills. The shoulders are full of debris and parked cars, and traffic goes way too fast for a one lane road.

From my experience, the best advice I can give for riding on Annandale Road (same for Sleepy Hollow Road) is to take the right side of the lane and stay there so you can be seen while keeping your head on a swivel. It’s definitely one of those roads (I’m looking at you, US Route 1 going from Fairfax Co Pkwy to Mount Vernon Mem Hwy) that will test and hopefully strengthen your confidence. I hope you can make it work for you.

[Steve O]

I’ve ridden both Sleepy Hollow and Annandale. Maybe it’s the time of day, but the shoulder rarely has cars, providing plenty of room. I tend to ride just a couple of feet from the lane, because there often is gravel and debris. I don’t find it to be problematic at all as long as a I pay attention.
However, I don’t ride during commuting hours, so your experience may differ from mine.

[lordofthemark]

This was saturday morning (yesterday) on Annandale Road, and there were definitely sections where there were enough parked cars to deter me from the shoulder. Sleepy Hollow may be better in that regard.

[JimF22003]

I ride a good hunk of Annandale road going to and from work. It’s not the most pleasant, but it’s pretty safe. My main issue is the amount of crap in the road that never ever seems to get swept up, especially on the uphill section just past the park. I’m not sure there’s any safer direct routes through there. I already get off and cut over on Carol or one of the other roads to get across Arlington Blvd.

Between the two, I prefer Sleepy Hollow, but both are better than average, and probably why they are “recommended” routes.

Please stay off the sidewalk though…

[Author]

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