I'm in NoVA, and work in the Chantilly/Westfields area. Since I moved offices, and can no longer commute on my bike, I was thinking that I'd like to find a place where I can ride in the middle of the day for about an hour. Looking to find about a 10-20 mile ride that has low traffic and good shoulders. I'd really like to be able to just ride out of the parking lot (on Stonecroft blvd), but if I have to drive a couple of minutes, then I'll do that. So far, the ONLY thing I can think of is driving over to the Fairfax Co Pkwy and riding the paved path (Or making 10-20 laps of the path around the office neighborhood - NOT)

Any better ideas of a decent road ride in the local area?

Thanks.

-John

I used to work down there and thought about taking Centerville Rd and Walney down from Herndon. Approx 12 miles, relatively flat, but the commuter traffic is nasty and I'm (a) not up to it yet and (b) too much of whimp to ride in the traffic.

Stonecroft is office park heaven and hell - the roads are in good shape, most are 4-lanes, so cars have someplace to pass, and traffic is moderate, but there is lots of it and no shoulders. Typical lunch hour drivers are NOT cyclist-aware. Plenty of joggers, though, especially when a group of military assigned to NRO do their PT. I think one of the NoVA cycling clubs does time trials and crit training on evenings/weekends around there.

Looking at the map, you could go south on Stonrecroft to Poplar Tree, then right onto Braddock. A short loop would be to go up Pleasant Valley, to Rt 50 - you could either continue north into another office park, or go east on the Rt 50 shoulder (!) about 1/2 mile and back onto Stonecroft. Old Lee and Willard are older, narrower, but maybe calmer for traffic (still no shoulders). Conference Center Dr might be viable for laps - at least people would get used to seeing you. I'd drive it a few times at midday to get used to the routes and road conditions. The office park off Westfields across 28 is another option.

Or, instead of riding for an hour mid-day, work through lunch, leave earlier, and drive north on Rt 28 to the WO&D bike trail (parking just north of Carmax past Waxpole Rd). You're just west of the trail's midpoint, and there are numerous subdivision streets off trail in the Ashburn area to get lost in. Reston Bike Club should be starting their Tuesday/Thursday evening training rides soon for a group option.

I used to work down there and thought about taking Centerville Rd and Walney down from Herndon. Approx 12 miles, relatively flat, but the commuter traffic is nasty and I'm (a) not up to it yet and (b) too much of whimp to ride in the traffic.

Stonecroft is office park heaven and hell - the roads are in good shape, most are 4-lanes, so cars have someplace to pass, and traffic is moderate, but there is lots of it and no shoulders. Typical lunch hour drivers are NOT cyclist-aware. Plenty of joggers, though, especially when a group of military assigned to NRO do their PT. I think one of the NoVA cycling clubs does time trials and crit training on evenings/weekends around there.

Looking at the map, you could go south on Stonrecroft to Poplar Tree, then right onto Braddock. A short loop would be to go up Pleasant Valley, to Rt 50 - you could either continue north into another office park, or go east on the Rt 50 shoulder (!) about 1/2 mile and back onto Stonecroft. Old Lee and Willard are older, narrower, but maybe calmer for traffic (still no shoulders). Conference Center Dr might be viable for laps - at least people would get used to seeing you. I'd drive it a few times at midday to get used to the routes and road conditions. The office park off Westfields across 28 is another option.

Or, instead of riding for an hour mid-day, work through lunch, leave earlier, and drive north on Rt 28 to the WO&D bike trail (parking just north of Carmax past Waxpole Rd). You're just west of the trail's midpoint, and there are numerous subdivision streets off trail in the Ashburn area to get lost in. Reston Bike Club should be starting their Tuesday/Thursday evening training rides soon for a group option.

I actually live in Sterling, and do about 95% of my road riding on the W&OD. I'm about 1.5 miles from my garage to the Rt28 overpass. I can ride out to Purcelville and have a 50mi round trip. I'm hoping to find something right here that I can do during lunch, since it takes 20 minutes to get home. And if I go home early, I have a wife and baby at home, and tend not to make it out to ride, except maybe one day a week. I used to commute on the W&OD from Sterling to Reston. That was a perfect bike commute - all paved bike path, and just about no one else on it in the mornings.

My office is about walking distance to the NRO, so you know where I am. I'll have to look into the Poplar Tree to Braddock route, but that may be a bit heavily traveled if there are no shoulders. However, I do recall a neighborhood or two back there. Maybe I can find some decent roads to ride in the neighborhoods.

Thanks.

Can you ride Sully Rd. North to the WO&D and then pick up the trail for a short time?

Can you ride Sully Rd. North to the WO&D and then pick up the trail for a short time?

I wish I could. That's my whole commute. I live 1 mile from Sulley Rd (Rt28) in Sterling, and work 1 mile off it in Chantilly (10 miles south - past the Toll Rd and Rt50). If I could ride Rt28, I'd commute on my bike, but I value my life too much to ride on that road. If they would at least clean the shoulders, I'd give it more thought, but as it is now, It would take 4 new tubes just to make it one way, if I lived that long.