Has Anyone Ridden Central Ave from DC Boundry East through Prince George County?

[consularrider]

I’m looking at routing to get to rides on the western shore of the Cheasepeake Bay by bike (35 miles from Arlington), and Google Maps runs me out Central Ave. There aren’t too many options for getting over the Beltway, but Central looks to be a four lane major artery out to Crain Hwy. I’ve ridden it further east where it is only a two lane road with shoulders. Any comments are welcome. I’ve got a route further north that I’ve ridden via New Carrolton, but large segments of that route have gotten very rough with numerous potholes.

[Dirt]

I need to explore some rides out there too. I haven’t riden out there very much. I know that Adventure Cycling Association has a route that heads southeast out of DC. I haven’t looked closely at it though.

[ronwalf]

Even farther north, some of the Mount Rainier Bike Co-op folk ride to Annapolis from Greenbelt Metro. That’s about all I know of their route, though.

[consularrider]

I rode 32 miles from western Arlington to Davidsonville, MD early on Saturday morning. In trying to find a direct route, Google Maps had me ride the East Capitol/Central Ave (MD214) combination through Prince George’s County. I was on this road from about 7:30 am to 9:00 am with fairly light traffic and from 2:30 to 4:00 with moderate traffic and no problems with drivers either time. Most of the time I was riding between 16 and 20 mph. From the DC boundry to the Beltway, the road is six lanes and no shoulder (but usually with a whilte stripe 18 to 24 inches form the gutter pan). From the Beltway to Crain Hwy (MD301) the road is four lanes, a higher speed limit, and a good wide shoulder, but it does not appear to get cleaned very often, I didn’t like having to deal with glass as often as I did. From 301 to Davidsonville, the road is two lanes with a narrower, but rideable (for me) shoulder. My biggest worry was the interchange with the Beltway. At the worst spot there are two exit/merge lanes coming off Beltway from the right that you have to integrate with or end up riding in the middle lane. I have to give some credit to Allen Muchnick and the LAB courses he taught on riding on these types of roads.

There just seems to be quite a gap in north to south in the eastern DC metro area with a lack of roads that can get a cyclist across the rivers, the Anacostia Freeway/BW Parkway, the Beltway, and 301. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was something like the W&OD on the east side that could get a rider well beyond the Beltway without having to deal with high speed arterials? There’s lots of good riding out that way once you clear the obstacles. I’m still waiting for other riders to let me in on any strategies.

[Jsnyd]

@consularrider 5628 wrote:

There’s lots of good riding out that way once you clear the obstacles. I’m still waiting for other riders to let me in on any strategies.

Haha, good luck. I live in Suitland near the Naylor rd metro and have no clue how to get around the area north of me. I am a little nervous riding anywhere around here, but once I get on the road some of my nerves settle.It is NOT biker friendly around here. I agree that there is some great riding once you break through. I plan on taking a trip South to Leonardtown maybe this weekend. I may take 301 or 5. I drove down on 5 not to long ago and it seem pretty decent after you get past a few sketchy roads near Branch Ave. Once you get far enough down you can turn right on Thompson Cornner and it’s nothing but farms and open fields, with nice rolling plains and clean paved roads. I think the St. Mary’s Century is around there because I saw a few share the road signs.

[Mark Blacknell]

@Consularrider – that was helpful. My experience riding out that was is that it’s doable, but not really enjoyable. Which is a shame, b/c I’d really love to ride out Annapolis way, more often.

@Jsnyd – keep at it, man. Over time, I’ve found S. Capitol, MLK, and Minnesota Ave. better than they used to feel. Also, just to pitch a program I believe in: if you’ve got the time, would you be interested in helping with WABA’s East of the River efforts? http://www.waba.org/blog/2011/04/2011-east-of-the-anacostia-program-update/

[DSalovesh]

I’ll ride just about anywhere whether it’s a good idea or not. Last summer I decided to try taking Central as an out-and-back so I didn’t have to cross town to connect to the more usual routes. It looked good on the map.

Never again.

1) East Capitol has no shoulder or sidewalk across the Anacostia and through the underpass. At 6 AM on my way out it was more or less okay, but on the way back traffic was fast (>45 mph) and heavy – it was impassible.

2) EOTR town drivers didn’t seem accustomed to seeing bicycles on the roadway. Little room was given when passing, little courtesy was given anywhere. Stops are frequent, and there are some healthy hills to cope with.

3) Into MD drivers and facilities were even worse. Conventional speeds moved up to 50 mph, passing distance shrank even more, and there’s heavy retail and commercial development (strip malls and business parks) making traffic patterns even more chaotic. There were some sidewalks, interrupted by many driveways and obstacles and sometimes just ending in the middle of nowhere. I survived LOTS of right hooks, left hooks, close passes, and many many horns were blown and comments were yelled at me for no particular reason.

I made it past the beltway, but barely, before the tension got the better of me and I looped back. I hate to generalize, but I made it out to about where Natasha Pettigrew was killed, and after seeing the road conditions out there I’m surprised that things like that don’t happen far more often out that way.

On the way back things settled down as I got closer to RFK, but in order to get back across the river I had to find my way up to Bladensburg Road somehow, through another stretch of poor facilities mixed with dead ends and culs-de-sac. I eventually found a nicer route that took me past Deanwood Rec Center and eventually to 202, but I had to spend a lot of time looking at a cue sheet to make it through there too.

[DSalovesh]

Oops – doubled…

[Jsnyd]

@Mark Blacknell 5777 wrote:

@@Jsnyd – keep at it, man. Over time, I’ve found S. Capitol, MLK, and Minnesota Ave. better than they used to feel. Also, just to pitch a program I believe in: if you’ve got the time, would you be interested in helping with WABA’s East of the River efforts? http://www.waba.org/blog/2011/04/2011-east-of-the-anacostia-program-update/

Yea, I’m interested. What kind of help would you need?

[ronwalf]

I just found a route on Bike Washington that goes from Greenbelt Metro to the Bay. Greenbelt is fairly easy to get to from DC. Could this be your route?

[consularrider]

@ronwalf 6030 wrote:

I just found a route on Bike Washington that goes from Greenbelt Metro to the Bay. Greenbelt is fairly easy to get to from DC. Could this be your route?

One of these days I’ll have to give that a try. It goes well north of where I want to be. I’m trying to figure out an route east from the Wilson Bridge/Oxon Hill out to Calvert County.

[Author]

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