vacation in washington dc
 

Anyone have any tips about vacationing by bike in Washington DC?
Spending 2-3 days in the city next week on bike, any recommended itineraries?
What about crime in DC, day vs. night?
Any areas to avoid?

Thanks,
Bob

You have plenty of options.

1) Rock Creek Parkway from DC north into MD. You can get around 30-ish road miles in, or more if you don't mind multi-use paths.

2) Multi-use path from DC to Mount Vernon VA (George Washington's home). Not sure how many miles.

3) WOD trail (Washington, Old Dominion) from DC out to the west into VA. Lots of miles, and a bit of climbing on the way out of DC.

You can snag a bike route map once you get here. Lots on this forum from DC as well, so others might post more ride info.

Have fun!

You want crime? We can arrange some for you. ;)

What are you riding? Road, hybrid, tour? And what kind of mileage did you have in mind?
Probably want to stay with the main trails.
Days mostly. Some of the trails close at sunset. You could do an evening around the monuments.

If you're here on a weekend, a combination of the Capital Crescent and Rock Creek Park. 21 mile loop. I like to start in Georgetown, on K Street. CCT starts under the Key Bridge. The loop goes by the National Zoo, if you want to stop in. On weekends Beach Drive is closed to traffic, becomes a 25 foot wide bike trail.

For more nature, you can go out the C&O Canal to Great Falls. 28 miles r/t from Georgetown. Gravel trail but well worth the trip.

Potomac River Trail from Georgetown, past the Kennedy Center and Lincoln Memorial and out to Haines Point. Some of the best views, especially if you combine it with a ride down the Mall, but the Mall can be crowded.

Mount Vernon Trail goes down the Virginia side of the river from the Key Bridge to Mount Vernon. 19 miles length. Good river views and goes through Old Town Alexandria. Popular and crowded so best to go on a weekday.

Custis Trail is a connector route along I-66, but it gets you to the W&OD at milepost 4. Whole trail in 45 miles long. Mostly flat. Part suburbs, part rural. Best part is past mile 35, past Leesburg. Also good past Vienna miles 12 to 16

Or if you just want to see the city, just pedal around downtown on a weekend. Go around Capital Hill, up Pennsylvania Ave, maybe through Chinatown or up 14th Street and over to Dupont Circle.

Good place to start http://bikewashington.org/

Bikes are particularly recommended if you want to go see the monuments. The monuments are somewhat dispersed, and since 9/11 they've made a lot of the area off-limits to cars. Unless we're at code Orange, you can ride your bike right up to the White House, but you can't get close in a car, and even if you could there's no place to park. The Lincoln Memorial is undergoing construction that makes it tough to approach by bike, you have to come in from the south side. The main avenues around the monuments, Constitution and Independece, are major commuting routes, but there are a lot of fun smaller streets around there -- Madison, Jefferson, and Ohio Drive come to mind. At this time of year there are a lot of, ahem, tourists around, and they tend to wander in front of bicycles, so look out.

In terms of crime, any place that is under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government is very safe, i.e. National Park Service areas. In the current environment you're probably more likely to get sent to Guantanamo than mugged. The rest of the city has it's danger spots, although it's not nearly as bad as it was a decade ago when we were the murder capital of the USA. I would not leave a bike locked up outside overnight in most of the city.

WABA, the Washington Area Bicyclists Association, has good information at their site, www.waba.org. Another good site is Bike Washington, www.bikewashington.org.

Take the C&O canal trail west and head far from D.C. or you will be in a high crime area.

Beach Drive, both in DC and MD, is a good, bike friendly road (especially on the weekends, when the DC section is mostly closed to cars). I've also been biking along MacArthur Blvd. from Georgetown out to Glen Echo -- a nice route, especially early in the morning when there's not a lot of traffic (at least on the weekend). But definitely check out http://www.bikewashington.org/ for other suggestions, in addition to what's already been posted here.

Jerry, you're missing out on a great city. Just as well, we don't like scared tourists anyways, talking amongst themselves in very loud, nervous tones in the Metro. Luckily, most tourists seem to prefer to swelter in long lines to climb up tall monuments, go figure. They're missing the fun stuff.

DC and the surrounding cities and counties in Virginia and Maryland have a fantastic network of bike paths, not to mention the very good DC street network that is easy to navigate once you know the system (alphabetical and numerical in quadrants, quite simple). Pick up an ADC bike map at any LBS and go exploring.

http://www.globepequot.com/globepequ...ry_code=BIKING

You can pick this up at Barnes & Noble or Borders. Excellent reference.

As for bad areas,avoid Southeast and Prince George's County,MD.

Yes. Avoid DC :D

I am partially kidding. I lived there for a few years and once I moved away I realized that I was living a 'quite life of desperation' But thats just me and my op. I love the city. There is plenty to do or see. Lots of really cool stuff. But getting to and from the cool stuff is a nightmare. If you want a bike vacation head to the mountains of Virginia. It really can't be beat. Otherwise if you dont mind dodging rolerbladers, baby strollers, dog walkers, and full team kit pro peloton wannabees there are some nice mup's.

Anybody else want to slag on our town who doesn't live here or who only lived here for a couple of years?

Call it the local's revenge - like a college town or any other itinerant town - you'll find it takes more than a couple of years to get to know the city and its citizens. So, definitely seek out the advice of locals. I second the recommendation of bikewashington.org. You might even consider joining their mailing list for a few days as that membership is full of local knowledge of the bike scene.

Riding in the city is great fun; you might want to seek out the advice of some of the DC folk on the singlespeed forum if your idea of fun is decidedly urban -critical mass, bars where you're likely to run into other cyclists, etc.

Forget the loud talking. It's the blocking of the left lane on metro escalators that's the real problem. ;)

Oh,one more thing,what are you riding? If I was going to be riding all around the city,I'd leave my skinny-tired bikes behind. Some of the roads around here can be rough. Georgetown in particular. Potholes,ripples,cobblestones,brick sidewalks,and a couple spots even still have trolley tracks. Commuting from Cathedral to Bethesda on the Sirrus or Absolute isn't a big deal,but when I venture into the city proper,wider is better.

Amen. And how hard is it to figure out which way the farecards go into the slot? :rolleyes:

We are staying in a hotel between the national zoo and dupont circle, would you consider that a safe area? Safe to walk at night, things to do in walking distance at night?

You're in a pretty safe area along Connecticut Avenue. West of Conn Ave, Kalorama, is a good area. As you go farther east of Conn Ave you can get into some iffy parts of Adams Morgan. Stay alert, but that's always a good rule.

Columbia Road is the main street of Adams Morgan. Busy night life area.
Dupont Circle is also a good busy area. I've been there at night many times, never had a problem, never felt threatened.

Woodley Park, around the Zoo, is also a good area. Lots of restaurants. The neighborhoods west of Rock Creek are mostly good ones.

You'll be fairly close to one of two Metro stations. Bikes allowed at certain times.

To get to Rock Creek Park for riding, you can go thru the zoo, or take the service road on the north edge of the zoo (big hill). If you are here on a weekend, Rock Creek is a very nice ride. Several of the park roads are closed to cars. I highly reccomend the Rock Creek / Capital Crescent loop.

For biking downtown, use either RC or take Connecticut Ave south and use 22nd or 21st streets to get around Dupont Circle. Takes you into the West End, nice area. Several good cross streets to choose from: P, L, I, Pennsylvania Ave.

You've never said what kind of riding you want to do!

Bgoldie, you should be very safe in that area and will find many good places to eat and hang out. Its not, however, the cheapest neighborhood. You might check with the hotel about places in their garage to park and lock bikes. As mentioned above Adams Morgan is fun as long as you pay attention, but it is not dangerous. If you love the night life and are in your 20s or a young feeling 30s check out the U street corridor. Lots of clubs, ethnic restaurants, etc -- but stay along U Street -- since not far in either direction can start to qualify as dangerous. It can be a little wilder than Adams Morgan, especially in the wee hours. It is easily Metro accessible.

Others have already discussed the many great trails in and around the city so you have lots of choices. Just remember you're riding in a busy city where sometimes the roads are less than ideal.

We basically plan on just riding to see as many of the usual tourist sites, monuments, memorials, white house, capital ....... , would seem to be the best way to do it

The major sites are in bike friendly areas. Around the Mall and along the river is easy riding. Bike racks at museums and most of the monuments.

If you have a pack or panniers on your bike, be aware that there are a few areas that have higher security, such as around the Capitol and White House, where you may be subject to search. And i fyou are in one of the high security areas, don't leave packs on your bike and walk away. Unattended packs may be mistaken for a bomb attempt and you may lose your bike to a bomb disposal unit (ie. *boom*) Suggest a backpack. It will still be searched but you can take with you and leave it at the coat check while you are in the museums. What I do is unhook my TransIt pack and take it with me.

You have the right idea. Bikes are a good way to see the city.

heading out the door now to go to dc, thanks to all for all the advice