C&O Canal ride in October

[Selkie]

Kali -- I don't blame you. I think, if you ride defensively on the trails, you will be fine. I usually ride on the Custis & W&OD, and through trial and error, I've found riding times when the traffic is lighter & traveled mostly by the fellow trail-savvy types.
Even though Arlington is supposed to be "bike friendly" on the roads, there are so many "tourists" from Fairfax/PW/Loundon Counties on the weekends who drive like they are in the 'burbs, not the city, that I won't ride on the roads outside my neighborhood.
All that said, I avoid riding the trail south of the Key Bridge Marriott for the reasons I cited in an earlier post. UNLESS I can get out extremely early and avoid the worst of the dorkus oblivii who don't know trail etiquette.

[Kalidurga]

"Dorkus oblivii"... I love it

I've been riding the C&O from Riley's Lock all the way out to Cumberland and other suburban/rural rail-trails for years, and I've never had anything worse than extreme annoyance in dealing with fellow trail-users. The only reason I have for wanting to expand beyond those trails is that, aside from the W&OD in Loudoun County, there are no hills. To be a well-rounded, strong rider, I need to do hills. For hills, I need to take to the road. I can get a bit of road/hill training at Antietam and Gettysburg Battlefields (anyone wanna join me at one of those spots?), but once I get used to the hills then those routes won't be long enough for me. By that point, I'd better be willing to deal with auto traffic. Blah...

Wow, we've had a bit of thread drift here, haven't we?

[divingbiker]

Really, it's not bad at all on the roads on that route I posted. The worst part is on River Road right at the beginning, but even then there's not much traffic. And if you stay way to the right, car drivers don't seem to get too irritated. You WILL get your hill work in!

Maybe I'm more willing to tolerate traffic since I commute into DC on a busy, narrow street every day, but it seems like trail riding to me.