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DC riders...places to bike? mall/paved/singletrack

2K views 17 replies 9 participants last post by  outdoornut 
#1 ·
Hey all!

My g/f and I will be up in DC next weekend. We were wanting to ride our bikes around the mall area and go to a few museums. We are both very familiar with DC in general and her grandparents live there (Arlington, about two miles from the Key Bridge) as well. We have just never biked up there. We have mountain bikes, so we aren't limited to JUST the road or anything.

Mall area:

#1 Is it worth biking around the mall area, or is the traffic so lame that it's not worth it?
#2 We will be bringing medium value bikes and big locks but I'd rather not come back outside to missing parts (even though most will be cabled). So how is the theft?

Other places:

#3 If the mall area is lame to bike around, I looked up and found a few cool trails online, but what is (in your opinion of course) the best general paved trail ride, and intermediate trail areas?

I spent a few hours online already, so I'm not just asking because I'm lazy, there was just a lot of information, but I didn't see much as far as honest rider opinion of the areas. Also, is biking through the DC city part a bad idea? From the many times I've driven around there, it seems harrowing.

Thanks in advance!
 
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#2 ·
Ok, I mountain bike a lot and live in Bethesda, Md (about 15 min. from Key Bridge), and have lived here all my life. So I will recommend the most popular trails in the D.C. area.
#1 Biking around the mall area is fun. Like the Capital area, White House, Mall, etc...Just I recommend biking on the sidewalks because of traffic, unless your an experienced rider. Also be careful on the sidewalks because tourist do not know how to share sidewalks.
#2 Definitely lock your bikes up, I have never had a problem with theft but I do not leave my bike out of sight.

The trails I recommend are:

#1- Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) It is a trail that is about 80% paved and goes from Georgetown to Bethesda and to Silver Spring. It is the most popular trail in Maryland with about 50,000 users a week. Benches everywhere, two water stations, two tunnels, follows the Potomac River and C&O canal.
http://www.bikewashington.org/trails/cct/cct.htm
http://www.cctrail.org/

#2- Mount Vernon Trail goes from Arlington to Mount Vernon. It is right up against the Potomac River and goes right next to Regan National Airport. There is a spot there people either drive to or bike and it is a parking lot with benches and it is about 100 yards from the runway.
http://www.bikewashington.org/trails/vernon/vernon.htm

#3- Schaeffer Farms is a single track mountain biking, very fun and with lots of obstacles. Most the obstacles have a path around them and there are plenty of stream crossings. This probably is the best mountain biking within 50 miles of Washington D.C. Schaeffer Farms is not open during or after it rains, if it is questionable call the hot line for updates.
http://trails.mtbr.com/cat/united-states-trails/trails-maryland/trail/PRD_168282_4553crx.aspx
http://www.more-mtb.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1205

#4 The C&O Canal goes from Georgetown to Cumberland,MD (180 miles) it follows the CCT for about 10 miles then pulls away, it directly follows the Potomac River. It is packed dirt with plenty of small rocks.
http://www.bikewashington.org/canal/

FYI the CCT and Canal both go by a place called Fletchers Boat House which is a very popular boat house on Canal Road.They have parking, food, drinks, bathrooms, and boat rentals.
http://www.fletcherscove.com/contact_us.htm

If you have anymore questions feel free to ask.
 
#4 ·
Steveo555 has lots of good info but I'd disagree on Schaeffer being the best mountain biking within 50 miles of DC. That Award would go to the following (in descending order): Frederick Watershed, Gambrill, Patapsco. Just my opinion of course.

That said, Schaeffer offers a roller coaster of smooth dirt with plenty of interesting log piles and so many maps at the intersections it would be impossible to get lost. If you are looking for something that is not too difficult, still fun, has pretty easy access and is a reasonable distance from DC, it is worth a visit. Rosaryville is another nearby trail system with similar qualities.
 
#5 ·
Nice, thanks guys that is great info and I found trail maps of everything we are considering riding on our trip. Big help!

I think we are going to do the Crecent Trail and then the Mt Vernon trail, and bike into the mall at some point.

On another day, we are going to do some actual singletrack / MTB, so we are undecided on where we're going for that yet.
 
#11 ·
Yeah I heard the Mt. Vernon was bad on the weekends, but we might do that on a weekday.

Bumper to bumper bike and especially joggers = boring for me. It's hard to appreciate the scenery trying to navigate groups of walkers / joggers 3 and 4 deep.
 
#16 ·
I would recommend going to DC on Sunday morning. We went there in Sept. 07 and had a blast. I grew up around there many years ago and never enjoyed a day in DC like we had then. Below is a link to the post I did then. No need to answer there so we don't get that old thing back up here, but thought you might get some ideas. On Sunday you can park right beside the Capital and ride from there. Hope I caught you before you hit the road. Enjoy your ride there.

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=337529

ODN
 
#18 ·
PatMcF79 said:
If youre willing to go out past Tysons Corner, west on Rt 7 you can pick up Difficult Run (dont let the name fool you). It's a pretty easy and fun single track that you may enjoy with the GF. There are a lot of deer to be seen too.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=105032926958915923641.000454bd35ca6a7a71a53&ll=38.951666,-77.309074&spn=0.044588,0.060596&t=h&z=14
Dude ! Thanks for this info. My daughter lives in Reston, so next time we're over there I'll have to hit that one. When we were over there last fall we found a bunch of ??? trails behind businesses in Tyson's Corner and had a blast so this one should be fun.

ODN
 
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