This is one of my morning commute routes - rather, a section of it most relevant to your interests:
https://goo.gl/maps/tJtpPB9y5jN2
Obviously if you live too far north of Crystal City you might investigate another route/bridge.
I agree with the advice to try riding a prospective route on the weekend. Yes, driver behavior might be different but your primary goal is to familiarize yourself with where you'll be going.
I used to let rain dissuade me from riding but after too many would-be commute days that I lost because of a weather forecast (prediction: rain, reality: little or no rain), I figured out gear that works for me and just got used to riding in the wet. Feel free to start another thread if you want advice on what to wear for rainy days. I'm still a bit leery of real thunderstorms (the ones with lightning) but we don't seem to get lightning often here. The best advice I've seen so far for dealing w/ lightning is to head for an overpass or a building, although I suppose if I'm caught on a long-ish stretch of trail between overpasses, all I can do is hope for the best. This article mentions a technique to use if no shelter is within reach:
http://travellingtwo.com/resources/thunderstorm-safety
Last edited by GovernorSilver; 05-22-2016 at 05:08 PM.
To the original poster,
It would help immeasurably if you told us which neighborhood you were starting from since that will dictate your route.
As noted above, a weekend reconnaissance ride will help immensely.
Even better: learn multiple routes between your origin and destination. Sometimes you may wish to avoid your primary route. For instance, I typically use the Beulah Street bike lane when I ride to Fort Belvoir. But I will occasionally duck into the neighborhoods or the power-line trails instead: these alternatives are slower, hillier, and windier, but they seem a bit safer when visibility conditions are poor.
Also, I've identified roughly one location every mile along my main route that I could pull off and shelter for a bit if caught in a thunderstorm. (This tip may be less useful for those of you who ride with smartphones. My only mobile GIS data source is whatever I can fit in my head...)
Case Bridge has some pretty big scaffolding on it now, which makes for a tight squeeze... it'd be a problem if it were a busier bridge.
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