Originally Posted by
donheff
I like it but then my wife and I have the luxury of riding after rush hour on weekdays so it isn't crowded. We never venture over there on weekends.
The few times I have ridden out to Mt Vernon I switched to the Parkway as well. But I like the trail from downtown to Old Town (again, after rush hour on weekdays). It is also a nice route to the network of Virginia trails that open us up to relatively unobstructed 30-40 mile rides. I like to ride without constant distractions from traffic signals and cars blasting by. Living in the heart of the city makes that difficult. For me it is either ride 5 miles to a MUP and then cruise as far as I want or pack up the bikes and drive out to more rural routes. Fortunately, I have a weekend house in Virginia's Northern Neck and get lots of rural road riding down there.
I have not ridden the Mount Vernon trail north of WW Bridge only south of it and that was after riding up from Waldorf.
I have a uncle who has a place in the Northern Neck as well and would think it a great place to ride. When ever I go down there there seems to be not too many people out and about. He is in Bay Quarter Shores.