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To Wormhole Is Divine — Access this wormhole when heading north (downhill) at the S-curve on Old Chesterbrook Road (just off Kirby Road). Cross the end of the paved driveway of 6331 Old Chesterbrook and cycle up the (often muddy) trail to the end of Divine Street.

Your momentum should carry you through to the end of Divine Street, then you can head up the hill deeper into the El Nido neighborhood. Watch out for the herd of deer that hang out on Divine!

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This wormhole may be of little use to anyone outside of the Chesterbrook/El Nido neighborhood of McLean, but no dismount required. And deer sightings almost guaranteed!

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Key to Arlington Courthouse (neighborhood) — This wormhole off a driveway on N. Scott Street will transport you to the intersection of Key Blvd and N. Rhodes. Left on Rhodes for one block gets you to the PBL on Wilson, just below the Courthouse area. Continue up Key for a less-trafficked transit through the Clarendon neighborhood towards Ballston.

N. Scott Street intersects with the Custis Trail near the top of the hill out of Rosslyn. So this wormhole may be a good route for those heading from Key Bridge and the Instersection of Doom to Courthouse, Clarendon and Ballston.

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Second driveway on right when heading south from Lee Highway and the Custis

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Wormhole entrance is up the driveway and straight ahead

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#DCboundary stone – West Corner — during snow squalls on Wednesday morning

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@Boomer2U 206066 wrote:

This is getting creepy; I rode through there yesterday!:-0

Could there be a LoJack on your bike??

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#FSwormole – Fills Filene Wormhole — Most have probably traversed this wormhole on foot, on your way from the outer parking lot (west side of Trap Road) to access Wolf Trap’s Filene Center to catch your favorite musical acts and performances.

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Continue up the hill on the broad paved path alongside Trap Road in the direction of the Barns and you will experience the nirvana of the Wolf Trap bridge which crosses over the Dulles Toll Road. Go past the Barns on the path, then you can head back towards Tyons through the Ash Grove Wormhole Complex or the Vesper Street Trail, or head towards Meadowlark Gardens and drop down to the W&OD via Meadowlark Road and the Meadowlark Connector.

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1/22/21 – Polka spot — Spanish Ballroom @ Glen Echo Park, with mud speckle polka dots on bike in foreground

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Old Tolson Mill Road – This one is my personal favorite discovery last year, though undoubtedly area bikers have been aware of this wormhole for years. This private drive is the key to access from Tysons to the northwest (on the north side of Route 7) including Great Falls and Reston without having to ride on the busiest roads such as Georgetown Pike, Old Dominion or Route 7. Using this cut through allows loops beyond Tysons and back via Wolf Trap, Reston or connecting to the CCT at Leigh Mill Road, for example.

Approaching from the south, Brook Road, to Daleview, quick left onto Windrock, left onto Chequers Lane, then up the single lane of Old Tolson Mill Road (signed by Private Drive). Outlets onto Belleview.

Check out the hockey rink at the manse mid-way through!

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This wormhole at the bottom of Haycock Road and Orland Street provides passage from Westmoreland Street to the Freedom Lane and Powhatan Street neighborhoods and beyond into Franklin Park.

There are four entrances/exits so some might call it the Orland Street Complex (eh, Boomer?). Or because of its connection to Westmoreland Street and its fine bike lane: the (westm)Orland Street Complex

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Currently the only way in or out of Tysons to/from the north. Not recommended for casual bicyclists due to the lack of shoulders, exits and entrances to Dulles Toll Road and traffic, though it’s just a short distance up to the Odricks Corner intersection (Lewinsville Road) and a paved sidewalk may be accessed just north of the freeway mess. Lewinsville Road has a bike lane heading to McLean, and the first turn north of the intersection (Summerhill) springs you out to bucolic roads in Great Falls and the vicinity of Reston.

Pro tip when heading north: wait for the traffic to go through the light, then get some speed going down the hill and out to Lewinsville.
Pro tip southbound (into Tysons): find an alternate route?

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As much as I love the renovated Memorial Bridge, the north side crossing continues to, and probably always will, be scary as you say. I go to great lengths to avoid the north side, though both sides ride like butter nowadays. Thank you NPS!!

South side feels significantly safer with the new flex posts and paint schemes. But I have already seen numerous car-on-car traffic incidents (in my limited times lately, even though I used to be a daily commuter through that crossing). So, we probably need to be vigilant for any re-engineering that may be proposed in the future to minimize car crashes. (Or maybe those drivers will learn …??)

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FS2021 #PublicArtFinder pointless prize

Seward Johnson sculpture “Sharing the Headlines” in front of Freddie Mac’s HQ at 8200 Jones Branch Drive in Tysons (with my invisible bike??)

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Scott’s Crossing Road – In the context of the tangle of freeways in this vicinity (including the Beltway, Dulles Access Road, and Route 123), Scott’s Crossing may qualify as a wormhole, despite being a multi-lane road. Scotts Crossing is a recently-completed connection from McLean Metro Station across Route 123/Dolley Madison, past the Capital One complex, over the Beltway, to Jones Branch Drive, which has on-street bike lanes that will allow to travel freely through Tysons.

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The climb from Route 123 to the top of the Beltway will get your heart pumping! This a great way to access Tysons from McLean/Falls Church/Pimmit Hills that is currently relatively traffic free.

https://www.virginiadot.org/projects/northernvirginia/jones_branch_connector.asp

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These wormholes/cut throughs/bike infrastructure provide reduced traffic options to get to and across Route 123 from Magarity Road

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No Mo Ol’ Meadow – Kennedy Drive from Magarity to the top of Old Meadow, which has a new on-street bike lane down to McLean Metro Station. Kennedy Drive is within the Dolley Madison Apartments complex; a lift gate is usually down to prevent cars from using this cut through, but a bike can ride past without dismounting. (Despite the pastoral name, no meadow exists on Old Meadow any longer.)

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Scotts Run Trail — I would not term this brand-new multi-use trail a “wormhole” per se, but it is worth checking out for the fun serpentine section going up/down the hill. This trail runs from Magarity Road, access alongside Westgate Elementary, down to Old Chain Bridge Road close to the Kiss & Ride at McLean Metro. Check it out!

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Mitre Cut (Through) – Colshire Drive within the Mitre Corp campus is a good cut through from behind the Anderson Road Safeway (and Lost Dog Café). From traffic circle a new bike lane goes down to McLean Metro and Route 123. Along the way, you will travel through the intersection of Old Chain Bridge Road which is the end of the Construction Wormhole. Travel west on Old Chain Bridge across bridge to access the lower terminus of the Scott’s Run Trail.

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Construction Wormhole – see post # 76 — Old Chain Bridge closure. On the other side of the parking lot and jersey barriers, there’s a swell bike lane with no vehicles.

Cross Route 123 to get to the new Wegmans in the Capital One complex or ride on, up and over the Beltway into Tysons itself, on the new bike lane on Scotts Crossing. View looking across Route 123/Dolley Madison up Scott’s Crossing. A pretty decent climb up and over the Beltway to Jones Branch!

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Here are wormholes that are east of Tysons and may help access Tysons (and downtown McLean) from the east and south.

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Lewinsville Park Backdoor Span – footbridge at the dead end of Warner Avenue gets you into the back of Lewinsville Park by the community gardens, ride out to Old Chain Bridge and go right. On-street bike lane into downtown McLean. (Pro tip: Greenberrys Coffee “downtown” on Beverly Ave has a large, well-ventilated, screened-off outdoorish space, though rather shady.)

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Westbury-‘Garity – Cut through from end of Westbury to Davis Court. Riding west towards Tysons, pop up onto the sidewalk by the Bike Trail sign and ride past the dead end of Westbury and out onto Davis Court. Davis Court becomes Magarity Road on the other side of Great Falls Street. Magarity is a good way to access the Tysons area and is much less trafficked than Dolley Madison/Route 123. This wormhole may be unnecessary for those who access Davis Court via Evers Drive.

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Streets in the Southridge neighborhood (near McLean HS, between Great Falls St and Westmoreland) have all been recently-paved, so this neighborhood is a smooth sailing alternative to Great Falls or Westmoreland for those coming up from Falls Church.

Now, ride up Magarity for the next set of wormholes.

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1/1/2021 – 2021

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Across from the new Wegman’s @ Tyson’s.

There may be a good reason why I did not see a single cyclist on my cold, rainy ride …

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