How to bike from Crystal City (Pentagon) to DC proper, without getting killed?

[dbb]

Welcome to Arlington and we hope you enjoy our trails.

The Arlington Bike Map is available at http://www.bikearlington.com/pages/maps-rides/

It seems your hotel is between Crystal City and Pentagon City. I’ll begin with a little geography orientation. South Arlington includes Crystal City and Pentagon City. Crystal City runs North South generally between (east of) Route 1 and the west of GW Memorial Parkway. Pentagon City is just south of the Pentagon to the south I 395 and generally NW of Crystal City.

The major N-S roads in Crystal City are the Jeff Davis Highway (AKA US Route 1) on the west and Crystal Drive on the east. E-W roads are generally numbered (low to the north and high to the south). Roads of note are 18th and 23d. 18th is the street with the Crystal City Metro Stop. It dead ends at Crystal Drive. Just to the north of the Crystal Drive-18th St intersection is the Crystal City Waterpark. On the south side of the waterpark is a trail that leads to a tunnel under some railroad tracks and to the Mount Vernon Trail, the bike trail that parallels the Geo Washington Memorial Parkway and the river.

The short trail from the water park will lead you to the Mount Vernon Trail and if you turn left you will head upriver (generally north) to the bridges. If you turn south, you will go about 14 miles to Mount Vernon (a really nice ride). For this discussion, turn left. In about a mile, you will go past the end of the Wash National Airport runway and a parking lot with some portable latrines. That is Gravelly Point. Continue about a mile and you will approach (and go under) five bridges (one RR, a Metro, and three highway). Just past the fifth bridge you will see a trail junction to the left leading up to the bridge. This is called the 14th Street Bridge or more correctly, the George Mason Bridge. There is a wide and protected bike lane on the bridge that gets you to the Jefferson Memorial in DC. Most cyclists follow the sidewalk along the street in front of the Jefferson Memorial around the tidal basin to the intersection of Maine and 15th, where you can head north into the city.

Most cyclists use the 14th street bridge because it is a safer route into the city.

Maps are at http://ddot.dc.gov/DC/DDOT/On+Your+Street/Bicycles+and+Pedestrians/View+All/Bicycle+Maps

If you have some time, there is a Bike Forum happy hour at Circa this Thursday. Details at

http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?5147-Third-Thursday-HH-in-Foggy-Bottom-is-June-20th!&highlight=happy+circa

Most of the riders on the trails are pretty helpful. Just flag one down and ask. Remember the trails may get pretty crowded so stay alert for peds and cyclists.

Standard warning about bikes and locks – you should lock your stuff securely.

[Amalitza]

There’s a connector path from Crystal Drive in Crystal City to the Mount Vernon Trail. The Mt. Vernon Trail goes straight to Key Bridge, or whichever other your preferred bridge for your DC destination would be. Some of the Arlingtonians might have suggestions for a more direct route.

http://goo.gl/maps/UgwyV

You will have no problems biking into DC from Arlington, once you are oriented and have found your options.

[dbb]

I am likely to go out for a ride tomorrow about 0700. Shoot me a private message if you are interested in coming along and I can show you some of the routes. Probably will be out for an hour or so.

[dasgeh]

Welcome. You’ve gotten great directions to the MVT (Mt Vernon Trail) and 14th Street bridge.

I find google maps pretty helpful with cycling directions, actually. Did you click on cycling specific directions?

I just checked cycling directions for what you described, and google maps does seem to route you along the Washington Blvd trail. I find it helpful with the cycling directions to pay attention to the kind of line google is routing you on. Solid green means off street trail. Yes, the Washington Blvd trail is a glorified sidewalk, but on a regular bike, you’ll be fine. It saves about a mile over going through Crystal City, as others described.

You can actually bike through the Pentagon Reservation (yes, that’s what they call that mass of parking lots) to get to the MVT and the 14th Street Bridge (or any other bridge). It splits the difference, distance wise, between the crappy-Washington-Blvd-Trail route and the Crystal City route. It’s not as hard as it seems, though I admit it’s intimidating. Here’s the map: http://goo.gl/maps/QE6p0

LOTS of roads and trail around here have inadequate lighting, so you’ll need lights if riding at night. You can see if they have them at the Hudson Outfitters at Pentagon Row (west of the PC Mall). Otherwise, I think the closest bike shops to you would be Georgetown, by the Key Bridge (Bicycle Pro Shop or Revolution), or Clarendon, by the Whole Foods (Revolution). There was a hardware store/bike shop in Foggy Bottom

[KLizotte]

Hudson Trail Outfitters is the closest bike shop to where you are (walking distance away at Pentagon Row) and they should have the free Arlington bike maps which are really great for finding your way around; much easier to use than Google maps.

[Dickie]

Welcome to the forum and the area. Glad you reached out, this is a great place to get loads of info and some cycling partners for the summer. I have ridden in un-familier cities myself and find it equally as frustrating so I do feel your pain. Hopefully with some of the help already provided you will enjoy the area and take home some good reports about the greater DC cycling community. I second Dbb’s offer to join us for happy our this Thursday, it would be a great chance to meet a whole variety of riders and get many of your questions answered with some social lubrication (mmmm Beer) to boot! Cheers!

[KLizotte]

Yeah, the happy hour Thursday starting at 5:30ish is right across the street from the Foggy Bottom metro station (there is only one exit) at a place called Circa. We can show you on a map where the good places are to ride and how to get out of PC without getting squashed like a bug.

[NicDiesel]

Here’s a loop I do a couple of times a week after work that you’re more than welcome to join me on if you’d like to do a fun ride from Crystal City to DC and back. This was, I believe, at around 5:30pm so this should give you an idea of what traffic is like on the MVT during that time period. I’d recommend staying away from the MVT on the weekends (at least after 10am and before 8pm) now that the weather is nice, but at night and early in the morning the MVT is a great way to do a quick ride to DC and back. Laps at Hains Point (included in this video) are optional.

https://vimeo.com/68403120

[warning: mid-90s soundtrack, might want to mute]

[baiskeli]

@acl 55260 wrote:

There’s a connector path from Crystal Drive in Crystal City to the Mount Vernon Trail. The Mt. Vernon Trail goes straight to Key Bridge, or whichever other your preferred bridge for your DC destination would be. Some of the Arlingtonians might have suggestions for a more direct route.

http://goo.gl/maps/UgwyV

You will have no problems biking into DC from Arlington, once you are oriented and have found your options.

This would be my recommended route too, because it’s easy and scenic. To find the connector trail, look for a park with a waterfall. You could just go across the 14th St. Bridge and boom, you’re downtown. The Key Bridge will take you past even more scenery though, and right into Georgetown. If you have time, you can go down toward the river and connect to the C&O Canal and/or the Capital Crescent Trail. But first get your dinner.

[one-highlander]

I successfully figured out how to get to the Mt. Vernon trail from the entrance near the Crystal City Water Park, and have ridden it for the last couple of weeks. I’m pretty impressed. Truly beautiful. I logged more than 150 miles on this trip. Even managed to pack my panniers with my laundry and go to that 24 hour laundromat on Arlington Ridge.

I would have loved to ride with some of the locals that offered, but my ridiculous work hours (7a to 7p) consumed me. It turned out to be a good thing — I’m a lover of night rides — and the daytime temps have been kind of ridiculous, especially this past weekend.

I do, however, think I’ll be going back to Los Angeles, minus a quart of my AB negative. Seriously, I’ve never had this many mosquito bites in my life. Probably 20-30 over the last two weeks. And what’s with these dive-bomb insects? I tend to go about 10 mph on the trail, and what seemed like an innocent running into a bug, developed into these giant swollen bites 24 hours later. I literally took a picture of both of my forearms last week, and I looked like Popeye. I guess it’s because of the way my forearms are similarly exposed during a ride (I’m on a hybrid) that make them take the brunt of the bites.

I really like the 14th street bridge, and the way it connects to the trail. Used it several times. I had to go to the GWU area also, one night, and the Key Bridge was not bad. I don’t mind riding city streets, so it worked out.

Speaking of city streets, I have avoided Washington Blvd., but it’s interesting how none of the main arteries seem to have bike provisions. Glebe was a nice ride — early on Sat. morning — but those cars were incredibly close. Went to Potomac Yard a number of times, but used parallel streets (Eads) rather than Jefferson Davis hwy.

I biked from (took a bus there) Tyson’s Corner yesterday (June 26) and had to go along Broad to Arlington. (Always funny when pulling into a 5-star restaurant , Chima in this case, in Spandex, and proceeding to dress myself for their “proper attire,” ad then reverse the process at the end.)

I’m happy to report that I didn’t die and I guess I’m getting the hang of these freeway-streets. I ended up on the Old Dominion trail, which was truly wonderful. Like cycling through a rain forest, figuratively, and literally. It’s also the first time in my life I’ve every ridden in a total downpour. I didn’t know rain drops got that large…they don’t in Calif. Good to know that my Schwalbe Kojak slick tires can actually stand up to rain. It’s been more of a hope/theory/other people’s testimony since I’ve been using them.

Funny story, is I ride with cycling shoes and I attach my street shoes to my rear rack with Velcro. Got to my hotel at 10:30 p.m. and noticed one of them was gone. Ended up taking a bus to Carlin Springs and Columbia Pike, and biked up the mountain to the trail. Thank God I found it lying near the entrance to the trail. I didn’t feel like biking back up the mountain, so rode the Ol’ Dominion back to Columbia Pike at around midnight, which is incredibly creepy. Haha. If I were a serial killer, that’s exactly where I’d hang out.

Last thing, I never attempted to take my bike on the Metro, because of the silly rules. Is that a real thing? No bikes during certain hours, and then a max of 1 or 2 per car? That would never fly in LA. People would riot and revolt. In fact, the commuter train just added an entire car to each train that holds nothing but bikes.

Thanks again everyone!

[KLizotte]

Wow, you’ve really had some adventures around here. I hope you got a chance to find Shirlington and Four Mile Run (about a block away from the end of the Washington and Old Dominion trail) since it connects with the Mt Vernon trail. The Capitol Crescent trail is even more of a rain forest (and only two road crossings all the way to Bethesda!).

Unfortunately you came at the start of our hot and humid season. Spring and fall are actually pretty great around here. We’ve also had a lot more rain than normal for June.

And yes, the bugs suck around here IMHO. They seem to be worse this year, presumably because of all the rain. I usually try to be home by 8:30 because the gnat clouds gross me out. Can’t say I’ve been bitten by much though.

If you get a chance, post pics of riding around LA. I can’t even begin to imagine what that must be like.

[DaveK]

@one-highlander 56442 wrote:

Speaking of city streets, I have avoided Washington Blvd., but it’s interesting how none of the main arteries seem to have bike provisions. Glebe was a nice ride — early on Sat. morning — but those cars were incredibly close. Went to Potomac Yard a number of times, but used parallel streets (Eads) rather than Jefferson Davis hwy.

…

I’m happy to report that I didn’t die and I guess I’m getting the hang of these freeway-streets.

Given time, you learn routes that don’t involve the big six-lane roads or the fast divided highways. The region needs to do a better job getting new cyclists to those routes though. I’m glad you were able to find at least a few alternatives during your stay.

And no, the bugs never do get better.

[dbb]

@one-highlander 56442 wrote:

I would have loved to ride with some of the locals that offered, but my ridiculous work hours (7a to 7p) consumed me. It turned out to be a good thing — I’m a lover of night rides — and the daytime temps have been kind of ridiculous, especially this past weekend.

If you find your way out here again, please let us know. Many ride at all hours and would look forward to showing you the trails we hold dear.

[dasgeh]

@dbb 56455 wrote:

If you find your way out here again, please let us know. Many ride at all hours and would look forward to showing you the trails we hold dear.

And the trails that hold deer.

[Author]

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