I have two primary options, and a number of alternates. My 'summer time' usual route is ~19-20 miles each way, depending on which route I take to the MUP. As a general rule, I take the shorter route in the morning, and the longer route in the afternoon. The shorter route involves some busier streets, but isn't bad in the morning. I started using it when the construction of a new subdivision killed one of my MUP sections, making it harder to ride the longer way, and now it is somewhat habit. The worst part, regardless of final routing, is the number of long stoplights I have to sit through (if I hit them all wrong, the main 3 can add 8-9 minutes to my time).

The longer route takes me through more residential neighborhoods, and gets me on the MUP 'sooner'. This is roughly 4 miles of my total. Both eventually lead me to the MUP, where I do the next 12-14 miles. The terrain is rolling, and there are a large number of street crossings, especially through Falls Church, but I can usually make pretty good time. I get off the MUP and cross Memorial Bridge (right near Arlington National Cemetery), and head to the Lincoln memorial, where I ride next to where the Reflecting Pool used to be (and will be again someday?) past the WWII Memorial, through the grounds of the Washington Monument. Then I cross 14th Street, ride along the National Mall past many of the Smithsonian museums, to the US Capitol. I turn just before I get to the Capitol, on regular urban streets, to my office. Most mornings this takes me about an hour and fifteen to an hour twenty minutes.

On the way home I reverse it, except that I take E Street down to the White House, rather than heading back to the Mall. Because of the hills, the ride home is a little over an hour and a half most days.

Now that the school year has started, I am back to being multi-modal most days, as I drive my daughter 10 miles to school, park the car and ride from there. This is a ~12 mile trip each way, riding a crappy MUP to a major arterial (45 MPH, 4 lane divided but wide paved shoulder) to a two lane road leading to the Chain Bridge. This takes me to the Towpath, a gravel path along the canal, which leads me to a paved MUP, to urban streets and more MUP. This way I go through Georgetown, past the Kennedy Center, and then my usual monument tour. The biggest issue with this route is the road down to Chain Bridge, as it is busy, narrow and has no shoulder most of the way. Worse is that I have to ride up the hill in the evening, unless I take the longer way around using the MUP from my summer route, and turning off early to use suburban streets to get back to my car (not quiet residential streets, though there are houses along most of them).