Good route between Forest Glen/Downtown DC?

[robinsda]

Hi, All,

I’ve recently moved to Silver Spring (near Forest Glen Metro) and am looking for a good bike commute between there and Dupont Circle, where I work. I’m pretty familiar with local bike paths, just not with the best way to get downtown during weekdays. I ride in early (6:15 or so) and return at about 4:15. Any suggestions/tips would be appreciated.

Thanks

David

[creadinger]

I’m not too familiar with riding into the city from Silver Spring, but I lived in downtown Silver Spring for a few years. There was a guy in my building who commuted downtown and he took 14th Street. It has bike lanes pretty much the whole way. Beach Drive would probably be the most direct to Dupont Circle but on weekdays I don’t think that would be a good idea.

I tried out the 14th Street route while heading down to Alexandria on a Saturday morning a while back and it was a pretty good ride. A couple of blocks looked a little shady but nothing too bad.

There are probably 100 decent routes to get to 14th Street from the Forest Glen area.

[robinsda]

@creadinger 5627 wrote:

I’m not too familiar with riding into the city from Silver Spring, but I lived in downtown Silver Spring for a few years. There was a guy in my building who commuted downtown and he took 14th Street. It has bike lanes pretty much the whole way. Beach Drive would probably be the most direct to Dupont Circle but on weekdays I don’t think that would be a good idea.

I tried out the 14th Street route while heading down to Alexandria on a Saturday morning a while back and it was a pretty good ride. A couple of blocks looked a little shady but nothing too bad.

There are probably 100 decent routes to get to 14th Street from the Forest Glen area.

Thanks for the quick reply. I had the same feeling about Beach Dr.: great on weekends, not so hot during the week. I’ll look into 14th St. Cheers David

[Chris]

One route is to take Sligo Creek Parkway to Takoma Park, then get to Kansas Ave NW, e.g., right on Maple, left on Carroll, right on Eastern, right on Kansas, or another route through Takoma Park with more turns. Take Kansas to 13th to Florida to New Hampshire to Dupont. On the way home, use 11th instead of 13th to climb Meridian Hill.

[Riley Casey]

I commute from NW near Walter Reed to Silver Spring near the end of the CCT. There is a quick and easy way to enter theRC park from Forest Glen. Its Brookville to Grubb to the top of the park. That has you in quite a trench when you arrive at Mt Pleasant / AdMo / Conn Ave however. The hills are easier if you take Second Ave into Silver Spring, take Georgia thru downtown SS, switch over to 12th St at Alaska Ave, back to Georgia at Walter Reed and over to 13th & then 14th to head into town.

[meb]

I live near downtown SS, and I take Piney Branch to 13th St to Colorado to the bike lane on 14th St. This works great, although you still need to get from Forest Glen to 14th St. It’s a nice ride. Be careful once you hit Columbia Heights as there is lots of traffic, lots of delivery trucks, and lots of pedestrians, none of whom seem to notice the very well marked bike lane. (That said, there are some really obnoxious bikers who fly through red lights and piss off everyone else with good reason).

[karinc]

I live near Forest Glen and commute to Metro Center and I do not like the idea of biking in a lot of traffic. For that reason, I start at the start of the Capital Crescent trail, go west to Bethesda and then down to Georgetown. I go across on Pennsylvania from Washington Circle, but to go to Dupont Circle you could go just a tiny bit north on Rock Creek Parkway and then over on P. It’s a bit longer than going straight south on 16th or 14th, , but a beautiful ride when you get down to the river.

If you’re on Forest Glen you could just cross Seminary and the railroad tracks, go down the hill and then south past the Audubon Society and then pick up the Capital Crescent Trail just south of Jones Mill Road.

[Author]

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