Hyattsville to Tenleytown

[cyclingfool]

Welcome to the forum!

Even though I’m not super familiar with the route, I took your question as a challenge/excuse to play with maps, especially as an AU alum.

Using the mapped bike lanes/routes through DC, I threw this together: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/4396701

I’m sure it’s not perfect, and maybe some MD/DC folks on the forum will have some feedback for you, but with the exception of one little stretch in Michigan Avenue by CUA (take the sidewalk for a block or two if you’re not comfortable), the entirety of the DC portion this route is on streets marked as having bike lanes or being bike routes and it avoids the big dip to the south. Make sure that you have bike paths turned on when looking at the map to bring up Google’s cycling layer.

Hope this helps.

Go Eagles!

[jrenaut]

Instead of turning right onto Irving from Michigan just past Catholic, stay on Michigan and go south of the hospital. Irving is three giant lanes and the average car speed is about 90mph. I wouldn’t bike there (though there is a sidewalk) unless I had a police escort. Then follow that to Columbia and pick up cyclingfool’s route after 14th St. On the way back, Columbia dumps you onto Harvard at 16th St (Wave as you pass my house on the 1400 block) and that will take you right back to Michigan.

Other than that i don’t know the route well enough to give advice, but nothing looks immediately problematic.

[Paco1029]

Thanks for your help. Seems like a lot of turns onto streets I am not too familiar with .. will try it out but will continue to explore, and if anyone else has ideas, please feel free to send them my way!

JT

[Greenbelt]

At least for part of your route, you might consider these streets, which I learned from Rod Smith as the best way to avoid hill climbing in Brookland. On the way back from DC to Prince George’s I usually just stay on Newton to get back to 20th.

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/4399328

[americancyclo]

I used the “walking” directions on ridewithgps.com and it shaved off a mile.
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/4399361

Gallatin doesn’t look too bad, but I haven’t ridden any of those roads, no idea what some might be at rush hour. it also includes the bonus climb up Tilden!

[Paco1029]

All –

So I did the ride this morning from Hyattsville to American University this morning, and it was fabulous!

Now I did not follow any of the routes mapped below (sorry guys, too many turns for me getting acclimated to my new surroundings), but found another route that was not too bad.

~50-55 minutes

Jefferson St to Route One (south)
Turn RIGHT onto Newton Street
TURN LEFT onto 12th Street
Turn RIGHT onto Monroe Street
Turn LEFT onto 8th Street
Take Metropolitan Branch Trail into City
Turn RIGHT onto K Street, and cross the city, and eventually end up on Massachusetts Avenue near Dupont Circle and bike up to AU!

Not the fastest ride I am sure, but I felt safe and comfortable with it for now …

Thanks for everyone’s help!

[Terpfan]

Taking R over may save you a little bit of time and it’s less chaotic than K, but the route makes sense to me. Mass is pretty pleasant once you get up near Sheridan Circle.

[Greenbelt]

@Terpfan 83377 wrote:

Taking R over may save you a little bit of time and it’s less chaotic than K, but the route makes sense to me. Mass is pretty pleasant once you get up near Sheridan Circle.

R street is a pretty decent way to cross town without getting into the downtown chaos. Just go right at the big Z on the Met Branch trail and you’ve got a bike lane all the way westbound. Eastbound bike lane is on Q street I think, and you can cut back up to R where it’s two way near the Florida Ave crossing.

[KLizotte]

Paco,

You may wish to consider getting a GPS unit; this would allow you to download routes from RideWithGPS and get turn-by-turn instructions if you think you’re gonna be doing a lot of exploring over time (not just commuting). I love mine because I don’t have to fool with maps or cue sheets (most of the time). Please note that not all GPS units offer directions so be sure to read the descriptions carefully.

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