Alternatives to the Capital Crescent Trail closest to Georgetown?

[cvcalhoun]

You can take the Canal Towpath from Georgetown to Fletcher’s Cove, then get onto the Capital Crescent Trail from there. Several people have reported that conditions on the Canal Towpath are good enough for road bikes. Getting up to the Canal Towpath just involves a short but steep climb up Wisconsin Avenue from K Street.

@GTownBiker 84454 wrote:

Hello All,

Each day, I ride my road bike down the Capital Crescent Trail from my home at 30th and K NW in Georgetown to the Bethesda Ave. terminus, and back for exercise. Love it.

As you likely know, the CCT is currently closed due to a broken sewage pipe and overflow.

Can anyone suggest some (hopefully paved) alternatives that are close to Georgetown? The closer the better, as I usually do this right before work.

Alternatively, is there a path to enter the CCT from Georgetown past the point of the sewage overflow?

I haven’t inspected the conditions, so it is unclear as to how much of the paved section of the CCT running from Water St. in Georgetown to Bethesda Ave. is affected.

Many thanks for your ideas and suggestions.

[GTownBiker]

Great!

Where exactly is the entrance on Wisconsin Avenue to the towpath?

Many thanks.

[cvcalhoun]

It’s between Potomac Street and Blues Alley on Wisconsin. If you just start up Wisconsin from K Street, you will see it. Just look for the canal, and then take the path that runs beside it. If you get as far as M Street, you’ve gone too far.

@GTownBiker 84459 wrote:

Great!

Where exactly is the entrance on Wisconsin Avenue to the towpath?

Many thanks.

[GTownBiker]

Fantastic. I’ll be on it today.

Thanks!:cool:

[gswim18]

I ride from Bethesda to GU every day on the trail I have been jumping off at the Washington Aqueduct connector that take you up to Norton and then riding to campus on MacArthur/Reservoir. The traffic is not as bad as I thought it would be, might actually stick with this route when the trail opens again (shorter and less climbing).

[clever sobriquet]

@gswim18 84474 wrote:

I ride from Bethesda to GU every day on the trail I have been jumping off at the Washington Aqueduct connector that take you up to Norton and then riding to campus on MacArthur/Reservoir. The traffic is not as bad as I thought it would be, might actually stick with this route when the trail opens again (shorter and less climbing).

I highly recommend this route. Since the speed limit on MacArthur is rigorously enforced, traffic isn’t bad and it’s nice and flat (except for that short stretch coming from M St. on Canal to MacArthur on the trip out to Bethesda).

BTW – Coming from the DC side it looks like Norton is a dead end but there is a short unpaved connector to the CCT there.

[ebubar]

I’ll confirm that the towpath is fine for my entry level road bike (Jamis Quest Comp). Actually set a Strava PR on the towpath the other day!

[brendan]

@ebubar 84482 wrote:

I’ll confirm that the towpath is fine for my entry level road bike (Jamis Quest Comp). Actually set a Strava PR on the towpath the other day!

Hmm. I don’t know the strava terms, but if PR had anything to do with speed, I hope it was a weekday (or other low-usage time) or farther out west…

The towpath inside the beltway (and/or near great falls) and mt. vernon trail are two areas where I don’t think it’s worth challenging my past speed records.

hopefully not too much of a buzzkill,
B

(

[Anonymous]

If I understand the question, you’re not riding *to* Bethesda, you’re just out for an out-and-back ride that can be wherever? And you prefer paved + trail? You can always just cross key bridge and turn right (custis trail) or left (mount vernon trail). You may know this already, in which case, never mind…

[Bilsko]

@clever sobriquet 84479 wrote:

I highly recommend this route. Since the speed limit on MacArthur is rigorously enforced, traffic isn’t bad and it’s nice and flat (except for that short stretch coming from M St. on Canal to MacArthur on the trip out to Bethesda).

I’m not so sure about the speed limit being rigorously enforced on MacArthur. At least in the 6 years that I’ve looked down on it from my kitchen window…I see way too many cars ignoring the 25mph limit. That said, it is a road that has a relatively high volume of cyclists – especially on the weekends – so, at least for motorists who are familiar with it, there is some expectation of encountering them on the road.

Canal Road from the Foxhall/Macarthur interstection into M St. is one I’d recommend against, even for experienced riders. The speed limit is 35, but without anything on either side of the roadway, motorists often treat it as a mini highway and drive at 45/50mph. That’s when its not bumper-to-bumper all the way from the Key Bridge to Foxhall…

[ebubar]

@brendan 84484 wrote:

Hmm. I don’t know the strava terms, but if PR had anything to do with speed, I hope it was a weekday (or other low-usage time) or farther out west…

The towpath inside the beltway (and/or near great falls) and mt. vernon trail are two areas where I don’t think it’s worth challenging my past speed records.

hopefully not too much of a buzzkill,
B

(

PR was indeed a personal record for speed. Was a weekday around 11 AM. Of course, I’ve been riding a hybrid and just upped to a road bike a few weeks ago, so my PR’s are nothing special. Not a buzzkill at all since fast for me is probably crawling pace for most on here!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[DCAKen]

@GTownBiker 84459 wrote:

Great!

Where exactly is the entrance on Wisconsin Avenue to the towpath?

Many thanks.

Wisconsin Avenue crosses the towpath, but there’s not a connection to it. Instead, you should take 33rd Street (Potomac Street is another alternative) up from Water Street as shown here. It is a short, steep climb.

[GTownBiker]

@DCAKen 84663 wrote:

Wisconsin Avenue crosses the towpath, but there’s not a connection to it. Instead, you should take 33rd Street (Potomac Street is another alternative) up from Water Street as shown here. It is a short, steep climb.

Worked!

Thanks.

[Author]

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