Originally Posted by same time

Nice job! I was hoping you'd post a follow-up to let us know how it went.

As for the Memorial Bridge, the easiest (and safest) way to go is to stay on the bike path and cross under the bridge on the Virginia side, then take a right and loop back up so you end up on the downstream (SE) side of the bridge going over the river. You'll be on a paved bike path the whole time. Don't take that little dirt path on the north side - I've seen so many close calls with people scurrying across the Parkway as 70mph traffic comes shooting out from under the bridge... very scary. Also, a friend of mine broke his arm when he ran into somebody coming the other way on that dirt path.

Then, once you're on the DC side, there's some construction but go right around in front of the Lincoln Memorial, and down the wide path next to the reflecting pool all the way past the WWII Memorial and around the Washington Monument. This will stick you onto a nice little street in front of the museums all the way to the Capitol, where you can ignore the "no bicycles" sign and ride through the steep access road on the capitol grounds. Do it right and it will put you directly at the top of Pennsylvania Ave SE. Much nicer and safer than Independance Ave, in my opinion, and just as fast.

At that hour, you might not encounter a single car from the bridge to the Capitol. But you'll probably see other bike commuters :-)