Biking east of the Potomac to Wilson Bridge

[barbnDC]

I went out today to try riding across the Wilson bridge for the first time. My idea was to make a big loop and leave downtown DC via Navy Yard, cross the Anacostia and then ride east of the Potomac down to the bridge then back up through Alexandria on the Mount Vernon Trail. It’s a nice idea especially since the new Wilson bridge is a nice highlight but I would not recommend this route to other cyclists.

Once again I was frustrated with the poor quality of bicycle infrastructure east of the river. Starting with crossing the Anacostia. We have 5 bridges to choose from and I’ve yet to figure out which is the best/easiest one for cyclists. (recommendations anyone?)

This time I used the Penn Ave bridge (Sousa). It was frustrating because if you are on the bike path that runs along the river around Navy Yard, there is no way to get up to that bridge from the bike path. I had to retrace my steps and leave the bike path to go back several city blocks to get onto Pennsylvania to cross the river. The bike map of the city is deceiving because it looks like the bike path would take you right there (it takes you under the bridge; but the path doesn’t have access to the bridge itself which is very frustrating).

Once across the river be prepared for lots of construction. I am excited to see that they are improving things there and I think cycling in that area will be very pleasant once they are finished so this construction gets a thumbs up from me.

In Anacostia however the bike trails are not very well kept up at all. There were lots of vines and grass growing over them and I didn’t pass a single other cyclist. I’ve decided now that my advice to others is that the roads are better than the trails for cyclists here. The Suitland Parkway Trail and the Oxon Run trail were both covered in debris and falling into disrepair. The trails end suddenly and there are no signs. However biking south on Stanton Road to Mississippi Ave was fine.

The lack of signage for the Oxon Cove Connector trail was the biggest problem. I rode past it 3 times before stopping in a building and asking a security guard if he knew where it was. Ride past the police academy, through the construction site, and look for the big guns-into-plowshares sculpture and to the left of it is a gravel path that is actually the trail. Again NO SIGN! (Here is a bit of DC history for you: that sculpture looked familiar so I looked it up. Indeed it used to be at Judiciary Square until a couple years ago. It’s made of guns from a DC buy-back program that they melted into a sculpture. Here’s the story behind the art piece and how it ended up dumped here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/18/AR2010051805012.html).

This is the point at which the city bike gods reward you if you have been persistent. This is a NICE trail! I SAW A BEAVER!! There were open fields and grasslands and marsh areas. It was gorgeous. Passed a couple guys fishing but again no other cyclists. Rode up to Oxon Hill Farm and bingo! I was right near the Wilson Bridge. But again no signs or directions of any kind to show cyclists how to get to the crossing point. I asked some police officers for directions. They didn’t know either. Finally I found it: Ride up out of Oxon Hill Farm and turn right on the overpass and right again immediately afterwards and stay on that road; somewhere around there is the trail leading to the bridge. (I can’t say exactly because at this point I actually ended up on a road that unexpectedly turned into an entry ramp for the interstate but I could see the trail to my left so i dismounted crossed the median on foot and was home free, my trials and tribulations for the day at an end.

The trail was new and in good condition. The bridge was GREAT! I loved it! Biked over to the MVT, through Old Town and I was back in DC. Total mileage: 37.

I’m not sure why they built such a nice biking bridge if it leads to a dead-end for bikeability because otherwise this would be a great loop for cyclists to do south of the city. Or hopefully the city has plans to make biking in that area easier.

I want to try taking the MVT to the Wilson bridge and then turning SOUTH for an out-and-back trip and maybe this will be a more rewarding/safer route.

I recommend biking the Wilson bridge but I don’t recommend getting there on the east side. I hope this report helps some other cyclists out there.

Topic

[americancyclo]

I finally rode through here at the end of last week, and while it was fun, there were definitely some moments that made me question the route choice. Here’s my GPS data if you want to follow along. http://ridewithgps.com/trips/584657

The ride from the Capitol to the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge is easy, but I wasn’t sure if I should take the northern or southern side of the bridge. The north was closer, so I opted for that, although it’s pretty skinny in places, particularly where the gates are positioned. The loop at the end isn’t well marked, and the trail underneath the bridge is littered with glass.

S Capitol SW is not an inviting road to ride next to, on a sidewalk or the shoulder. I eventually got in the shoulder but even though I was going about 20mph, most of the cars were passing at closer to 50 mph. I nearly rode over to the (yet unused) separated street car tracks. The concrete between the rails is nicely paved and it would be a great location for a separated bike trail. Big opportunity missed there.

I took the ramp up to the light at Malcom X Ave instead of riding with the fast traffic under the street. In DC, I’ll take the short tunnels to avoid the lights, but out here, the car traffic was moving too fast. The exit lane gets a little narrow and cars are still coming at a pretty good clip.

Overlook still has fast traffic, but there is a good shoulder between Chesapeake and Shepherd Parkway, although I noticed some sewer drains that were not set up the correct way.

Even though I had a GPS track to follow, I still ended up missing the left on to Shepherd Parkway. I had to backtrack against cars that were exiting the base and eager to get on to the Anacostia Freeway.

As barbnDC noted, the entrance to Oxon Hill Farm Trail is not well marked from DC Village Ln SW. No signage at all that I saw. The trail itself could use a little upkeep, as there were some pretty bad bumps, ruts, and smashed glass. I did see a couple geese that moved at the sound of my bell, and the views of the sun setting across Oxon Creek and the Potomac were beautiful. Be careful at the wooden bridge, it’s not flush with the trail. The climb up Oxon Hill Farm felt like more of a grind than I expected, but it felt great to make it to the top.

Making the right from Bald Eagle to Oxon Hill Rd was a bit stressful, because at that point, my GPS got a little wonky. Everything after here felt like I was entering an onramp to a freeway. I ended up going down Harborview and cutting over to National when I should have done the reverse. I ended up on a ramp to National Harbor Blvd that barbnDC took, but I followed it up and around, crossed three lanes to get to the gas station island and regrouped from there. I took a gravel path down to where I could at least see the trail met up just before entering a tunnel.

Once I got on the trail safely, the rest of the ride was a breeze. Now that I’ve done it, I’m sure it will go much more smoothly next time. Just make sure if you’re going to ride this way, that you get over on the bike path next to Harborview a bit earlier than I did. Otherwise you’re in for some freeway style action.

[DaveK]

@americancyclo 17767 wrote:

I finally rode through here at the end of last week, and while it was fun, there were definitely some moments that made me question the route choice. Here’s my GPS data if you want to follow along. http://ridewithgps.com/trips/584657

The ride from the Capitol to the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge is easy, but I wasn’t sure if I should take the northern or southern side of the bridge. The north was closer, so I opted for that, although it’s pretty skinny in places, particularly where the gates are positioned. The loop at the end isn’t well marked, and the trail underneath the bridge is littered with glass.

S Capitol SW is not an inviting road to ride next to, on a sidewalk or the shoulder. I eventually got in the shoulder but even though I was going about 20mph, most of the cars were passing at closer to 50 mph. I nearly rode over to the (yet unused) separated street car tracks. The concrete between the rails is nicely paved and it would be a great location for a separated bike trail. Big opportunity missed there.

I took the ramp up to the light at Malcom X Ave instead of riding with the fast traffic under the street. In DC, I’ll take the short tunnels to avoid the lights, but out here, the car traffic was moving too fast. The exit lane gets a little narrow and cars are still coming at a pretty good clip.

Overlook still has fast traffic, but there is a good shoulder between Chesapeake and Shepherd Parkway, although I noticed some sewer drains that were not set up the correct way.

Even though I had a GPS track to follow, I still ended up missing the left on to Shepherd Parkway. I had to backtrack against cars that were exiting the base and eager to get on to the Anacostia Freeway.

As barbnDC noted, the entrance to Oxon Hill Farm Trail is not well marked from DC Village Ln SW. No signage at all that I saw. The trail itself could use a little upkeep, as there were some pretty bad bumps, ruts, and smashed glass. I did see a couple geese that moved at the sound of my bell, and the views of the sun setting across Oxon Creek and the Potomac were beautiful. Be careful at the wooden bridge, it’s not flush with the trail. The climb up Oxon Hill Farm felt like more of a grind than I expected, but it felt great to make it to the top.

Making the right from Bald Eagle to Oxon Hill Rd was a bit stressful, because at that point, my GPS got a little wonky. Everything after here felt like I was entering an onramp to a freeway. I ended up going down Harborview and cutting over to National when I should have done the reverse. I ended up on a ramp to National Harbor Blvd that barbnDC took, but I followed it up and around, crossed three lanes to get to the gas station island and regrouped from there. I took a gravel path down to where I could at least see the trail met up just before entering a tunnel.

Once I got on the trail safely, the rest of the ride was a breeze. Now that I’ve done it, I’m sure it will go much more smoothly next time. Just make sure if you’re going to ride this way, that you get over on the bike path next to Harborview a bit earlier than I did. Otherwise you’re in for some freeway style action.

Looks like you missed a couple of turns that would have made the Natl Harbor area easier. Here’s my track from Saturday – you have to get on the sidepath right where Harborview Ave becomes a one-way at mile 9 on your track coming down the hill into National Harbor from Oxon Hill Road. You cross over the road and the sidepath is on the left (uphill) side.

http://app.strava.com/activities/6364630

It’s also easier to take the south side of the S Capitol St bridge so you don’t have to Paris-Roubaix your way through the construction staging under the bridge.

[Mark Blacknell]

Yep, that’s a good description of the ride, Shawn. And really, I didn’t laugh when I got to the part about freeway style action and gravel paths at National Harbor. Nope.

South Capitol can definitely be a little intimidating the first time. I’ve ridden it regularly, though, and have never had any problems. The only tricky part (in my view) is just before you approach Overlook – you *definitely* want to take the lane there. Otherwise, even tho’ the traffic is fast, it’s superwide: plenty of room for all. That said, I’d *love* to see either Bolling open its own waterfront continuation of the Anacostia path to all users, or construction of the planned path along South Capitol outside of Bolling. As it stands, this is really a one way route (and either of those two options would make it two way).

For those playing along at home, the trick to finding the path next to Harborview is to get in the left lane, head straight down the hill, and when you see a No Entrance sign in front of you? Take a left onto the path. (Alternatively, you can just hop on the path at the top of the hill. But that’s a pretty fun hill to bomb down on the street.)

[Author]

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