[Joe Chapline]

Hen, since one of the tags on your post is “beginner,” I just wanted to make sure you knew that 30 miles is a long ride. And 60 miles round-trip is a LONG ride. So don’t overdo it when you’re checking it out. But checking it out at your leisure should be a pleasure, the W&OD trail is beautiful.

[Joe Chapline]

A multi-modal possibility would be to leave the W&OD and go south on Gallows Road to the Dunn Loring Metro station. That would cut about 9 miles off the bike ride. The Metro station is less than a mile from the trail, and Gallows Road has a bike-pedestrian path alongside it. You might not need to take your bike on Metrorail, since there’s a Metro station right in Rosslyn. I don’t know what the lighting situation is on the W&OD — I’ve never ridden on it at night. If it’s not lit, this might be something you could only do in the summer.

[Joe Chapline]

If you can get to the W&OD trail, you’d have a direct route to Rosslyn, all on off-street trails. The W&OD connects to the Custis-I-66 trail, and that goes the rest of the way. It would be a long commute, though — looks like about 30 miles. I’m guessing that would take more than two hours. It would be a nice ride to try on a weekend and see what you think.

[Joe Chapline]

Article from Gazette.Net January 13, 2010

[Joe Chapline]

They keep the load off your shoulders and keep you cooler in summer. With a rack-mounted carrier, you do have to make sure your heel won’t hit it while pedaling. For work, I use one commuter pannier from Jannd. It looks like a briefcase, more professional than a backpack when I’m going to a meeting. It’s got one corner cut out so you won’t kick it. Even though I carry a lot of weight in it, having all the weight on one side doesn’t cause any problem. I recently bolted a collapsible basket to the other side; it stays on the bike all the time and allows me to stop and pick something up — groceries or whatever — without planning ahead and bringing another carrier.

[Author]

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