In case anyone is following this thread (doubtful!!) or in case this turns up in a future search, I wanted to give details on my DC experience.
I went on 3 rides while I was there.
The first one was a Sunday shop ride sponsored by "The Bike Rack," it was by far the best ride of the three. The riders were nearly all strong and experienced with group riding. Highly recommend this group. Thanks to "Chuck," one of the owners of the store, and who led the ride.
The second ride was from Capitol Hill to Hains Point. The ride to/from Hains point was through downtown so it was pretty shaky. The roads in DC sometimes abruptly end and can dump you on a one-way street the opposite way you want to go. There are some bike lanes but cars will double-park there and I almost got doored a few times. Once at Hains Point you can hammer all you want, but it's flat and after about 3 times around the 3-mile course I started to get a little bored. The view along the river is still pretty good. I would rate this ride second.
The third ride was on some of the trails. I actually rode downtown past Hains Point (similar to ride
#2 above) and crossed into VA, took the Mt Vernon Trail along the river heading south, to the 4 mile trail, to the W&OD trail. These trails are MUP trails which, as a roadie, I don't generally care for. No motor vehicles, but plenty of cyclists (some going fast, some going slow), joggers, walkers, dog walkers, etc. Once inland the trails seemed to have what I considered a high frequency of stop signs to cross roads, stop lights, and even a few discontinuities (where you are dumped into a neighborhood and have to ride a couple of blocks to get back on the trail).
This was the least favorite ride for me. I think the trails are probably great for "recreational/sight-seeing" rides if the goal is to tootle along at 10MPH but if you want to ride faster, the only thing that will get a workout are your brakes and your nerves.
Even so, I enjoyed each ride for the blessing it was, and overall I had a great time in DC.
Doug