Recommended Route from Custis Trail/W&OD to 17th & L?

[DismalScientist]

My route is down the Mount Vernon trail briefly from Rosslyn and cross the Roosevelt bridge right after Roosevelt Island. Get off the sidewalk and go on New Hampshire across Virginia and Washington Circle. Right on L for 5 blocks or so.

[eminva]

Another possibility is to take Roosevelt Bridge to New Hampshire, but turn right on H Street. Take a left on 20th, then right on L Street down to 17th.

This avoids Washington Circle if you find that a bit intimidating — which you might if you are new to city cycling.

H Street is a more quiet street, but the downside is that it goes through the GWU campus so you will have more than your share of jay walking pedestrians to look out for. It is quiet in the summer, though.

Liz

[Dirt]

@eminva 3139 wrote:

Another possibility is to take Roosevelt Bridge to New Hampshire, but turn right on H Street. Take a left on 20th, then right on L Street down to 17th.

Liz

Liz has listed one of my favorite ways to scoot throught the city. It is much easier now that the World Bank isn’t blocking H St. with its construction crane.

[AshburnCommuter]

Thank you! Will try out how it goes.
Next question: Roadbike vs. Mountain Bike
Initial thought is to ride my roadbike, w/slick, skinny tires & narrow clip-in pedals. Only hesitations are:
– Road conditions & skinny tires
– Sudden/unexpected stops & unclipping (Mtn bike pedals are fairly wide, so pedaling with one foot unclipped won’t be a problem)

[Dirt]

Road conditions are pretty good. I ride my road bikes downtown all the time. I find the roads in my neighborhood in Falls Church worse than the ones downtown. The stuff that you might hit is visible from a distance that you can safely navigate around it.

Pedals are a personal choice. I ride clipless 320+ days per year. I haven’t really found a reason to need anything that releases quicker.

[consularrider]

You’re looking at what, about a 45 mile round trip depending on where you start in Ashburn? Which bike are you more comfortable on for that kind of distance? The only real “rough” part of the route is dealing with the bumps along the Custis. I normally use a hybrid bike with a rack trunk for my 25 – 30 mile roundtrip daily commute which takes some of the trails you would use, but this week I’ve been on an old road bike with a seatpost rack. I find I average about one to two mph faster over the distance with my road bike. I would expect you will deal with more “sudden/enexpected stops” issues on your homeward commute in the evenings when the Custis and W&OD gets very busy on nice days. The past two Mondays they were real zoos. Even with that, I think you would rarely need to suddenly unclip as long as you were riding defensively. I have dual sided (platform/spd) pedals on the hybrid and use the platform side more in the winter.

[OneEighth]

Odds are, riding the mountain bike will require much more effort. The trail and road conditions are fine for road bikes, so there’s no need.
Even on weekends, I’ve never had to stop suddenly and put a foot down. Ride smart and you should be fine.

[AshburnCommuter]

Again, Thanks for the input!

[vvill]

My destination is 19th & K though I typically hop off it at Key Bridge and go through Georgetown (M to Pennsylvania) and Washington Circle. I might try 21st to H St returning though, as I hate my return commute part through the city (I usually go via K St underneath the Whitehurst, and then climb up around to Key Br). My only concern is that the Roosevelt Bridge bike lane always seems very narrow, the times I’ve driven by it.

[CCrew]

@consularrider 3149 wrote:

You’re looking at what, about a 45 mile round trip depending on where you start in Ashburn?

More like 55. I wouldn’t want to do that on a mountain bike with any regularity.

[consularrider]

@vvill 5392 wrote:

My destination is 19th & K though I typically hop off it at Key Bridge and go through Georgetown (M to Pennsylvania) and Washington Circle. I might try 21st to H St returning though, as I hate my return commute part through the city (I usually go via K St underneath the Whitehurst, and then climb up around to Key Br). My only concern is that the Roosevelt Bridge bike lane always seems very narrow, the times I’ve driven by it.

The route over the Roosevelt Bridge is actually wide enough (barely) for two bicycles to pass carefully in opposite directions, just slow down as you approach each other.

[Author]

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