>As the Memorial Day weekend creeps closer, area bicyclists participated in another Bike To Work Day on Friday, May 17 to get some early morning cardio in and cut tailpipe exhaust at the same time. Workers from all over the area got up super early, jumped on their bicycles, and demonstrated that this car-free way to commute does work, at least one day a year.

This year, Fairfax County had 27 different pit stops for bicyclists. Additionally, Commuter Connections, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association and other local governments hosted dozens more throughout the National Capital Region.

In Mount Vernon, cyclists have the Mount Vernon Bike Trail as the main route many take, and from there they sometimes show up at the pit stop at Market Square in Old Town, Alexandria. Hamzat Sani, the City of Alexandria’s transportation specialist, was on hand that morning welcoming about 125 bicyclists.

Bicycling has been a focus at Mount Vernon Supervisor Dan Storck’s office and he’s pushed to have the bicycling facilities improved in several places around the Mount Vernon District. This includes a new bike trail bridge over Dogue Creek and trails in the Richmond Highway corridor. On Bike To Work Day, Peyton Smith, the Transportation, Parks and Housing Aide at Mount Vernon, biked to work and Supervisor Storck’s office co-hosted the Sherwood Hall Regional Library pit stop with the Fairfax County Department of Transportation. They had about 30 participants stop throughout the morning. 

Riders gather at the pit stop at the John Carlyle building where many of the riders went up to their offices.