Tourist looking for cycling safety info

This topic has 20 replies, 14 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 8 months ago by KWL.

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June 21, 2018 at 10:37 pm #1088037

dasgeh
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Welcome! DC is a great place to bike. Proper locking technique is key (good sturdy lock, ideally next to bikes that look nicer than yours), but, which theft is an issue, the vast majority of bikes don’t get stolen. Especially in the middle of the day.

Cycling around the museums and monuments is great – with a few notable exceptions of giant roads (like Constitution and Independence). It’s legal to ride on the sidewalk along most of those, and there are often small parallel streets (e.g. Madison and Jefferson). People ride around the Arboretum all the time, but I don’t know if from personal experience, so I’ll let others chime in.

I find google maps bike directions to be pretty good, particularly if you’re used to biking somewhere else in the US (aside from Davis, Seattle, Portland).

June 22, 2018 at 8:44 am #1088056

cyclismo
Participant

“next to bikes that look nicer than yours” —- OK Now I know I’m not the only one who use this strategy 😎

June 22, 2018 at 5:19 pm #1088063

Brendan von Buckingham
Participant

The city is not as scary as you’ve been lead to believe. It’s normal enough and safe enough that you should have no worries.

June 22, 2018 at 5:51 pm #1088064

Emm
Participant

@Maj 179116 wrote:

I’m a bonsai enthusiast so we want to visit the National Museum of Bonsai and Penjing, situated in the National Arboretum in the North East of the city. BikeWashington.org reckons the north-east has “rougher neighbourhoods”, but what does this actually mean?

The Arboretum itself is safe, and if you go during the day, you’ll be fine (it’s closed at night, so obviously don’t go then). I rode there with Steve O a month or two ago when the azaleas were out, and had a great time. There are bike racks near the Bonsai exhibit to lock your bike to, and then you can ride around and look at all the other cool stuff they have. Bladensburg road was not the most fun road to bike on, so you might want to avoid biking on it during rush hour if that’d be part of your route.

June 22, 2018 at 7:01 pm #1088065

Maj
Participant

Thanks for the help guys!

We’ll be looking to go on a Sunday morning, so I would think traffic wouldn’t be too much of an issue, but good to know which roads are the really busy ones. Also glad to know we’ll be able to lock up our bikes at the bonsai exhibit.
Thanks, dasgeh, for the Google maps thumbs-up – we were planning on using it to navigate.
Feeling pretty confident we’ll be able to find our way around with a bit of common sense and good directions.

June 23, 2018 at 2:54 am #1088069

bikesnick
Participant

@Emm 179148 wrote:

Bladensburg road was not the most fun road to bike on, so you might want to avoid biking on it during rush hour if that’d be part of your route.

Agree. We rode out during the week on West Virginia, turning right on Montana, then S and 24th to R. That was fine.
Enjoy.

June 26, 2018 at 8:59 pm #1088094

mello yello
Participant

Capitol Hill and hill east are really pretty good for biking – at least, there are a lot of bikes and cars seem to be looking out for you, but there are lots of stop signs and lights, so unless you’re into looking at the old row houses, it’s not the best for “going for a ride.” I’d also suggest Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens and the Anacostia River Trail system in general. It’s a lot less crowded than the Mount Vernon Trail or Capitol Crescent, and quite scenic.

I’m less familiar with the bicycling around Potomac. My memories of that area are from when I tried to keep up with some group rides that went out River road, which was not relaxing bicycling, but I can’t remember if it was narrow shoulders or being in a paceline on a fixed gear.

If you’re doing a loop, it’s a big loop no matter what, but it doesn’t have to be quite THIS long… https://goo.gl/maps/HcE8BtQmBM32

June 27, 2018 at 3:02 pm #1088110

baiskeli
Participant

The interesting thing about “rough neighborhoods” is that they change fast, so fast that you have to ask someone who has been there recently to get the real scoop. I can think of several places in DC that I would be terrified to go to the last time I ventured there that are now really nice, popular areas. The city has really grown for the better.

Here’s a recent article about a strip club that was in a seedy area four years ago. There was a building collapse and they had to shut down and rebuild. Now they are finally reopening and the neighborhood completely changed in four years and the neighbors are upset that a strip club is opening. It shows how fast things are changing.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-dc-strip-club-reopens-to-a-changed-neighborhood–of-high-end-condos-and-artisanal-toast/2018/06/25/ada12c7e-6e53-11e8-bf86-a2351b5ece99_story.html?utm_term=.627819fc30bf

June 28, 2018 at 1:14 pm #1088131

n18
Participant

Besides what others suggested, since you would be spending hours visiting museums, I suggest that you use Capital Bikeshare and other bike sharing services. That way, you don’t have to worry about your bikes. You can use them when you are done with the museums. Capital Bikeshare only offers 3 options as far as I know when you use their kiosks, more options(Month/Year) are available online. You still pay extra if you use it for more than 30 minutes; but you can duck it and take it out again if you paid for a day pass or more to avoid the extra charge.

There also dockless bikes that you find around, you download their app, find their nearest bike, unlock it and use it. These dockless bikes are available only in DC currently and you are not suppose to take them out of DC, although some do. We have a long thread about it here.

Good luck!

June 29, 2018 at 6:31 pm #1088169

baiskeli
Participant

@n18 179237 wrote:

Besides what others suggested, since you would be spending hours visiting museums, I suggest that you use Capital Bikeshare and other bike sharing services.

BTW I just checked and there is a bikeshare station at the Arboretum.

August 3, 2018 at 3:06 pm #1088800

Maj
Participant

I’ve been looking at Googlemaps and this is how it’s directing me to the Bonsai Museum…
[ATTACH=CONFIG]18191[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]18192[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]18193[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]18194[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]18195[/ATTACH]
It goes up Bladensburg and I imagine Maryland is normally quite busy, but would I have anything to worry about on a Sunday late morning?

August 3, 2018 at 5:21 pm #1088803

Crickey7
Participant

Probably the worst part would be getting from Potomac to the city. River Road between the Village and Bradley Road lacks an adequate shoulder, is high speed and not bike friendly. If you have no more than 2 bikes, you can take the T2 bus (putting your bikes on front) from the Village to the Capital Crescent Trail, at which point you are plugged into a wonderful safe biking infrastructure.

August 3, 2018 at 5:56 pm #1088806

Brett L.
Participant

You may find either of these routes to be more comfortable:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28247133
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28247154

August 6, 2018 at 12:22 pm #1088849

Maj
Participant

Thanks guys. We will have the use of a vehicle and driver, so getting dropped off at Capital Crescent Trail shouldn’t be a problem. Will have a look at alternatives Brett, thank you.

August 6, 2018 at 3:50 pm #1088862

creadinger
Participant

Best of luck on the Mt Washington race! That’s a beast! I hiked up it last fall with my nephews and it was awesome (Tuckerman Ravine).

The Whiteface race has been on my radar for a while, but I have yet to gather the courage to try. I am encouraged that they have a Clydesdale category at least.

—-

Avoiding River Road from Potomac is pretty easy. You can go down Persimmon Tree to MacArthur Blvd and make your way toward the Capitol Crescent Trail or Georgetown that way.
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