W&OD

I figured I'd start my trail descriptions with the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) trail, since it is far and away the trail I have spent the most time on over the course of my life.

The W&OD regional park is both Virginia's longest and skinniest park.  It runs for 45 miles of paved trail and is never more than 100 ft wide.  It starts in Shirlington, just a few miles from downtown DC, and ends in Purceville, out in rural Loudon County.  There's ~ 500' of elevation change in the first 12 miles out of Shirlington as you cross the fall line, then it drops 100' over the next few miles before going in to a very slow, steady incline the remaining 30 miles.  The trail was converted from an old railroad line that used to bring coal from the mountains down to the city, so even when there are elevation changes it's low grades, and the trail is very straight with hardly any winding.

Most of the trail is in enough park that at worst you only see the backs of houses, but at a few points it runs along side a highway or through a more urban area.  The trail is well maintained and is heavily utilized year-round unless there's snow.  For at least most of the first 30 miles, there are somewhat regular water fountains along the trail.

I've only ever been to the far end of the trail once.  Last year I drove my bike out to Purceville and rode the full 45 miles into Shirlington.  Caitlin picked me up there and we went back to pick up my car.  It's nice out there, and there's a lot less people on the trail.  I started from that direction since it's down hill going west to east.  At some point this year I'm planning to tackle it going the other way.  Eventually, (and this may never happen) I would like to try to do the full trail round trip.

The W&OD has always been near and dear to me because aside from my time in California I have always lived within about 5 miles of it.  The house I grew up in was less than a mile from mile marker (MM) 3.5.  My first apartment after college was about 3 miles from MM 7.  My current house is 2 miles from MM 11.5.  It's the trail I used to always ride as a kid, both alone and with family.  Weekend mornings my dad, sister, and I regularly used to bike the W&OD out to Falls Church for brunch at Big Boy.  My mom would drive and we'd all ride back in the car.  Today I use it both to get to work and whenever I'm looking for a close, easy ride.

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