Car Free! Finally...

Well it's done, I have moved to Falls Church, 1 mile from the East Falls Church metro and leaps and bounds closer to my work in Clarendon.

I celebrated this morning by biking to the metro. What a fabulous Fall day for it! There were beautiful red and orange leaves along my route, the temperature was perfect, and the traffic along the bike route was minimal. I can't wait to bike my entire commute!

The downside this morning was that I got lost. I got lost because to get from my house to the metro I have to bike through 3 different jurisdictions and each jurisdiction has their own bike map! Also I must say the Arlington County's bike map (from their Car Free diet series) is much better than the Fairfax County bike map (available at government buildings). It shows bike shops along your route, public restrooms, and dangerous intersections. I don't feel like I can trust the Fairfax County bike map because it shows Prosperity Rd as a "Preferred" road to bike on. I have never seen anyone bike on that road .. and for good reason! It is narrow, windy, steep, with no shoulders, and cars are always crossing the lines around curves and driving way too fast.

For interesting information on bike commuting, I like to read the CommuterPageBlog.

So anyways, if you see me rolling around in the bike pictured here please give me lots of room and be friendly =) I'm not by any means a hardened bike commuter yet and I could use some good will!

Car Free?

So, did you go car free or car lite yesterday?

Looks like theGreenMiles did: "I'll be Metroing from Ballston to West Falls Church, then taking the 952 bus out to the office in Reston. Takes a bit longer, but saves on gas, lets me catch up on reading, and keeps me from having to battle traffic on I66!"

And our fellow blogger Eric did: "I took the Metro to Pentagon, then the 22A bus to Shirlington - takes a little bit longer than driving, but is so much more relaxing (and cheaper!)"

As for myself, I chickened out on biking to the metro. Confession: although I work in Arlington I've been living way out in Fairfax. It is way too easy to make excuses and drive in Fairfax.

So what am I doing to reduce my carbon footprint? I'm moving closer to work! In a few weeks I will be living in Falls Church near the East Falls Church metro (and near bus lines and bike trails). No more excuses. I can't wait to bike, walk, and metro all around Arlington and Falls Church.

And now I've found out that I can keep up the biking at work with our new fleet of trikes!

Share your reasons or plans for going car free or car lite...

June 3: Arlington & Alexandria Community Bike Ride

Registration is open for the annual Arlington & Alexandria Community Bike Ride! It takes place on Sunday June 3rd at 8:30am, with the start and finish in Shirlington.

There are two options:

- A 23-mile Community Tour of Arlington and Alexandria
- A shorter 7-mile Family Ride

Pre-register now and you'll save $5 on the entry fee. And get this -- for those of us who don't have a bike, you can rent a bike and helmet and pick them up in Shirlington that morning for just $20! Pretty cool.

All the details and registration information are over at CommuterPageBlog!

Don't Let this Weather End!

Wow! Have you been enjoying this weather as much as I have? Between Veteran's Day weekend and this most recent spell, we have had some incredible weather. I've

• Played tennis at Quincy Park - You can get a listing of all Arlington public tennis courts online,


• Went bike riding - check out BikeArlington for some great trail tips


• Went out to eat and sat in the outdoor seating


• Played a little pick-up touch football to help get rid of all that turkey


• Did some running - check out WalkArlington for some ideas on walking/running trails


• Ate lunch outside and read Life of Pi - available at your local Arlington library

The weather forecasts suggests we've got a few more days of this before we start to get some more seasonable cold temperatures, so get out there and enjoy it while you can!