The Bicycle Adventure Club - Come Ride With Us!

Washington DC–Museums & Monuments, Madness and Mayhem

October 13th to October 21st

Ride Director: Christopher Leach
Ride Co-Director: Cindy Fewell
Report by: Bob Hermanson

Tripper Report
Washington, DC – Museums & Monuments, Madness & Mayhem
13 – 21 October 2025
Bob Hermanson

So you think you know Washington DC? Imposing stone buildings with colonnades, domes, spires? Gleaming museums, memorials, statues, and monuments? Maybe a curvy hotel with an infamous name? Or a certain house painted white?

Did you also know the DC area is crisscrossed by beautiful bicycle paths and trails?

This fixed-base tour took us on several gorgeous loops and out-and-backs through the DC area from our excellent hotel in Arlington VA, just across the river from DC. The fall weather was sunny with a hint of crisp in the air and the routes were shown to great advantage, dusted with the first fallen leaves of autumn and dramatically lighted with autumn’s low-angle sun.

Our rides included:

·         An 18-mile loop through the major monuments areas of Virginia, the Washington Mall, Capitol Hill, and Georgetown. This ride got us talking at Happy Hour about places to put on the “re-visit” list for later in the week.

·         35 miles out-and-back along the rolling, twisting, well-paved Mount Vernon Trail that leads south to George Washington’s famous home.

·         A 15-mile loop that took us through the George Washington University campus, along Massachusetts Avenue and Embassy Row to the National Cathedral, then back along the stunning Klingles Canyon path to the popular Rock Creek and Capital Crescent Trails, and back to the hotel.

·         A 50-mile out-and-back along the paved Custis Trail and Washington & Old Dominion Trail to the big Smithsonian Udvar Air & Space Museum to the west near Dulles Airport.

·         15 miles out and 15 back northward along the east bank of the Potomac on the old towpath of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal to the lovely Great Falls of the Potomac. The last miles are spectacular, bordering a wide pool of the canal bounded with tall granite walls, ending at Great Falls, a dramatic landscape of rushing water and tumbled granite blocks.

·         A 27-mile clockwise loop along the Capital Crescent Trail north to Bethesda MD, then eastward toward the head of the Rock Creek Trail for a glorious downhill to Georgetown and back to the hotel.

·         A 40-mile modified out-and-back on the well-paved but little-used Anacostia River Trail northeast to College Park MD to discover a beautiful but un-touristy part of the metro area.

We rode mostly on paved trails and on the local version of protected bike lanes called “cycle tracks.”  Some short ride segments were on reasonably busy city streets, and a few segments (in the Mall area) were on wide sidewalks with pedestrians (legal in DC). The Chesapeake & Ohio trail was crushed stone of varying quality and offered a bit more of a challenge.

Our hotel had large, comfortable, and quiet rooms, a rather good hot breakfast buffet, friendly and accommodating staff, easy parking, a large bar area for our briefings and Happy Hour gatherings, and even a bicycle locker! The hotel’s free shuttle service to the nearest Metro subway stop made for easy access into “the District,” and a short walk up the hill from the hotel were restaurants, shops, pharmacies, and many other amenities.

The “BAC-DC” ride offers a good overview of Washington DC’s main sights plus a more detailed experience of the extensive network of bicycle paths that often stays hidden from even frequent visitors. With a 1A rating and only a few challenging sections, it’s a great introduction to DC and to urban riding.