Taking advantage of the unseasonable weather yesterday, I made my first trek onto the Arlington bike trails for 2007. I have a goal of cycling 300 miles this year, so I was quite happy to get started on reaching the goal.

For the most part, I cycled along a route that BikeWashington.org calls the Arlington Triangle. The difference in my ride from the Arlington Triangle was that I went from Pentagon City to the Mount Vernon Trail via Washington Blvd. Since I don’t have an odometer yet, I estimate that it was about a 15 mile ride.

It was early afternoon when I went for my ride, so the Mount Vernon Trail was quite crowded, keeping me from ever getting a decent pace going. During the warm months I rarely go out after 10am for this reason, but since it is January, I made the exception. The wind was also quite strong; I was not sad to leave the shore of the Potomac for this reason.

The first ride of the season up to and out of Rosslyn on the Custis Trail is always a challenge and yesterday was no different. Heading west on the Custis Trail through this stretch is probably the most challenging ride on all the major Arlington paths. The first ½ mile of the trail is an incline with at grade crossings. After there are several steep hills including two nasty ones on the approach to N. Glebe Road. It always gives me an intense cardio workout. Once past Glebe, the ride gets really easy on account of the increased bloodflow and the more inviting grade of the trails.

Near Falls Church I picked up the W&OD Trail for a quick four mile ride to Shirlington. Aside for the occasional traffic light, this is easy to blast through. I was quite happy to see that the eastern terminus of the W&OD now has a big sign and a nice landscaped area. I was always disappointed that there was nothing signifying the begining/end of such an important trail, so this is an improvement.

The least fun part of the trip is always at Shirlington where the W&OD ends and there is a gap in the Four Mile Run Trail that requires riding along Alexandria streets. Also, the overpass across I-395 has a u-turn on the east side that is tricky on a bicycle. Navigating the streets is also kind of tough because the intersections along W. Glebe Road. Thankfully, once past W. Glebe, the Four Mile Run Trail resumes and it is a smooth, grade separated ride to the Mount Vernon Trail. I rode along the MVT, dodging joggers, other cyclists and parents pulling their kids to make it back to Crystal City and down 15th St. to Riverhouse.

It was about a 100-minute ride, not a great pace, but I can be excused since I am not yet up to late-spring form. The heavy MVT traffic did not help much either.

I may continue doing write-ups of my favorite rides. We’ll see.