Newbie here. I’ll pay you to show me the route

Oh man, couldn’t be any easier. Head east to the end of the trail, take 4 Mile Run underneath 395 all the way to Mt. Vernon, then take your choice of bridges into DC. The rest I don’t know though, since I avoid DC like the plague.

I ride from Vienna to Georgetown, usually get on WOD at Vienna around 7:20 am. I can take you as far as key bridge / gtown free of charge if you want to meet up in the morning

I’d bet the google bike routing will give you some pretty good directions that take you W&OD to Four Mile Run to Mt. Vernon Trail north to Memorial Bridge and along the mall to capitol hill. Just remember to double check the status of the Memorial Bridge repairs, last time I checked the standard route takes you on the southern side of the bridge which was close off for repairs. I meet folks north east of capitol hill and/or near the navy memorial from time to time, and I love riding the memorial bridge -> lincoln memorial -> reflecting pool -> ww2 memorial -> washington monument -> mall route to 7th and/or the capitol. Very pretty ride.

kt543,

I’d highly suggest taking a confident city cycling class with WABA. (in full disclosure, I work for WABA and teach these classes). They cover much of the questions that you have about urban bicycling such as how to fix a flat tire, where to ride on the street, laws pertaining to bicycling in MD, VA & DC. There is also an on-bike portion to learn some avoidance maneuvers (fun and useful). I took the full class last spring and learned a lot. There is a bunch more about the classes online here: http://waba.org/education/. The class schedule for the spring isn’t posted yet but it should be online soon. Welcome to the community!

Best,
Greg

Suggested DC bike routes can be found at http://bikewashington.org/commute/downtown/index.htm. You’ll see a nice safe route along the reflecting pool and mall, as noted by another member.

The official DC bike map is here.

While nothing replaces firsthand scouting of a route for final assessment, a excellent next step is the mapping tool BikeToaster, which will plot routes automatically, and allows you to insert intermediate course points so that you can ‘steer’ the automation process between the two end-to-end track points. Make sure to go to the Auto Routing box and select “OSM” and click on “Bike” so that it takes advantage of bike routes.

Besides a map-based view of your trip, it gives an graphic showing altitude changes, and a readout of;

– Distance
– Estimated Time
– Ascent
– Descent
– Start Elevation
– Finish Elevation
– Minimum Elevation
– Maximum Elevation

You can download to
– File: mbcrs gpx tcx
– Garmin GPS: gpx tcx

And view in Google Earth (kml)

Another helpful site is http://ridewithgps.com/. It’s similar, and make sure to select “Cycling” in the right hand menu area.

Dbb – I agree, I think this is the best way to make the movement from Mt. Vernon Trail to the Mall. I prefer 14th St. Bridge over the Memorial too.

But, making this connection northbound is pretty dicey in April, when tourists for Cherry Blossoms get so thick they make the “bike route on sidewalk” difficult. In fact, sometimes pedestrians are so thick on the sidewalk there you can’t even walk across that bridge (the one with the view across the Tidal Basin). Only alternative is to hang a sharp left as you come down off the 14th St. Bridge, and then a series of lefts to take a long-cut around Hains Pt.

I’ve posted on this before, but I think this connection (Arlington and points west from the Mt. Vernon Trail, to the Capitol, or downtown east of 15th St. NW) is a big gap in the regional bike network. The critical pinch point is the tangle of Maine/Wallenburg/15th/Tidal Basin Drive/55-mph-on-ramp-to-I-395.