Four Fun Days in DC--Three bike rides and a march

[Kolesar]

Any weekend when you can march past the Justice Department Building with a crowd of thousands chanting "Ashcroft Sucks!" is a good weekend. When you get in three bike rides, it is a great weekend! Here is my trip report.

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My last big rides were while I was in DC last weekend. My friend and I rode from Silver Spring, MD down the Capital Crescent Trail to Georgetown, past the Lincoln Memorial then got on the Mt. Vernon bike path. We rode all the way to Mt. Vernon. The trail is not a rail bed, so it has some steep hills on it. I was in first gear on my first chainring on my old bike that has 28:28 gearing, so that tells you the hill was plenty steep.

We got to Mt. Vernon with scant time, and could not take a tour. You can only get to the visitor center from where we were. One must pay and take a walking tour to Mt. Vernon. We rode back to Alexandria, Virginia, which is an 18th century seaport and a real architectural gem. Even the new homes in Alexandria look like 19th century row houses.

We put our bikes on the Metro rail and rode back to a station across from Georgetown (Rosslyn?). The ride across the Francis Scott Key bridge has a wonderful view. Then we rode back to Silver Spring on the CCT. My odometer said 83 km, which is about 52 miles, I recall.

On the next day, we took Metro rail from our hotel in Landover, MD to Vienna, Virginia. We rode out and back on the Washington and Old Dominion Railtrail. That railroad was a rival to the B & O that never really succeeded like the B & O. Interestingly, the W & OD had its railhead in Alexandria, Virginia, the town we had just ridden in the day before. It closed three decades ago, we are lucky that the right of way was not destroyed. There is a quaint railway station in Vienna; you cannot go inside, but there is an information placard and a vintage cargo wagon outside with solid rubber tires. In the last three decades, many cross streets were built across it, which made the ride pretty annoying. The streets near Reston, Va were quite busy with no stop lights to control them. We would wait for minutes to cross. Bill got a little tired of this, so we turned back.

Then there was Saturday! I do many rides with Bill and casually mentioned I was headed to the protest and might do some riding. He was eager to go and quite eager to do the demonstration.

On Sunday, we drove to near Shepherdtown, Virginia and rode south for several hours on the C & O towpath trail. That is some pretty countryside, especially with the fall colors! The trail is not stone, it is vintage packed clay. It has some wet spots, some gullies, and some golf ball sized rocks hiding under the leaf litter. That section has some well preserved locks and an amazing 18th century aqueduct of Antietam Creek that is in great condition. That trailhead is near famous Antietam battlefield in Sharpsburg, Maryland, which had the highest casualties of the entire Civil War.

[prolesunited]

1. I definitely agree

with your first statement. As a matter of fact, I was there! :hi:

Sounds some great days of riding!

I know we have a lot of cyclists here. What are other DUers favorite areas to ride in and trails?

[KG]

2. i almost brought my bike with me to DC.

thought it might be cool to ride thru my childhood neighborhoods.

[Race4Peace]

3. I've been there (4 times), but not quite done that

The 1st time, I had a scooter, but didn,t think of it.:hurts:
The 2nd time, I was passing thru on a plane (so that doesn't count):argh:
The last 2 times were for protesting against the ocupation in Iraq :hippie: :kick:
BUT every time I forgot a bike!!(I thought of it, but forgot it):shrug: and my scooter
:hurts: :hurts: :hurts:

[Race4Peace]

4. It sounds fun, though