My wife and I showed up to Washington DC, the home of personal liberty, without a clue as to how to ride in one of the busiest cities in the world. We parked the SUV in the parking garage after taking a nice walk around the mall… that, quite honestly, took forever. But it was a little cold and rainy and we agreed we really didn’t want to get the bikes nasty on the first day.
The next morning, I took a tour led by DC Cycling Concierge (click here) while my wife was working. We headed out at 9am and took roads and trails all the way to Bethesda, Maryland and saw the Potomac River… and the Cherry Blossoms! It was an amazing tour… that took four hours to cover 28 miles (obviously, some in the group were quite speed-challenged and we did stop often).
When my wife was done working, she met me at the finish with a sandwich and we prepped for the next ride. We rolled at 2:30… and checked out a bunch of monuments around DC.
We got back from that ride around 5:30, then headed to the hotel to shed some gear… and head out for a much-needed dinner at District Taco. A few tacos later and we were back to the meeting spot for the 7pm Monuments in the lights tour. That tour ended at 10:30 and we rolled back a few blocks to our hotel, beat.
Jeff’s services at DC Cycling Concierge are not cheap, but he taught my wife and I how to ride in DC and that carried us for the rest of our time in the District. The lesson was priceless. Also, if you’ve got a group of four to six that can split the cost, that should make it a little easier to handle.
If you ever find yourself in Washington DC, do check Jeff’s service out. He’s excellent. And, if I may, the DC Monuments at Night ride is absolutely the best.
Fit Recovery 
Interesting post, Jim. I visited D.C. years ago and I remember some very nice riding along the river there.
Unless there’s another I don’t know of, that’s the C&O Canal trailway. It is spectacular. Thanks, Tony.
That could be, Jim. I was visiting Washington just after Watergate, so it was a while back.