Section 4: Custis Trail 6/18/2010

I rode in this Friday again. I had a going away party at work so I did not ride back home. Keow picked me up from downtown and we left from there for our fathers day vacation across the bay bridge at the Delaware shore. I will describe the fourth section of my comute here: The Custis Trail.

The Custis is both the most challenging (read most hills) and most enjoyable section of my ride. The signed trail starts at the intersection of Lee Highway/Washington Street and I-66 in East Falls Church but the W&OD and Custis nearly share the same route for 2 miles down to Bon Aire Park. At the W&OD/Custis Trail junction I turn left and head up into the grove of trees lining I-66. This is a surprisingly serene place considering I'm only about 100 feet from the interstate sound barriers at this point. The trail descends to an underpass where the Custis and a branch of Four Mile Run pass below I-66 and the Metro Orange Line. The three separate viaducts play with the morning light creating contrasting shafts of light and darkness against the backdrop of a cool babbling stream. I call this place the Custis Grotto because of its cave-like feel.

The trail quickly assends up "Grotto Hill" from below grade to well above I-66 and then it flattens out into what I refer to as the "Custis Flats". This straignt run under a treed canopy is a rare level spot among the roller coaster hills that line the interstate. After a few more quick up and down hills the trail rises to a fork with the Fairfax Drive trail to downtown Ballston. This marks the start of the hill up and over Glebe road the most difficult in this direction. Once over the Glebe road overpass, the trail ascends and rapidly descends 4 good size hills that I refer to as the "Four Sisters". Each of the sisters has her charms but their difficulty is really felt in the return trip. The northern most sister leads down to a section along the interstate that is level with the road and in front of the sound barrier not behind it for a change. The trail departs from the interstate to cross above US 29 Lee Highway and then it rapidly descends througha series of switchbacks down to the road grade. I call this the "Maywood S-curves" since there is a sign for and an access trail to the Maywood neighborhood at the apex of the curves. At US 29 the trail ascends behind a strip mall and crosses over Spout Run Parkway at grade with I-66. There is one final steep uphill in this section and then a quick rise to US-29 which now rises about 50 feet above I-66 at this point. The trail then drops about 300 feet into Rosslyn in less than a mile. The trail is no more than a wide sidewalk along Lee highway passing condos and the Key Bridge Mariot. After a grade crossing with the Key Brige access street, the trail descends down to the river, crossess the George Washington Parkway and a series of switchbacks take the trail down to the parking lot for Roosevelt Island, where I pick up the last section, "Waterfront/Crosstown."