Questions for the DC ladies?

[HillSlugger]

Here's hoping my knee will have improved enough by then to participate!

[Kalidurga]

Cool, this gives us 2 months to plan a really good route and pick a spot for lunch (with vegan options!). Livin, are there any particular things you'd like to see on the ride?

[Livin the Dream]

Cool, this gives us 2 months to plan a really good route and pick a spot for lunch (with vegan options!). Livin, are there any particular things you'd like to see on the ride?

Overall, I think a bike would be a great way to see DC, so plan a route that makes sense! The one monument I have only seen from a distance is the Iwo Jima Memorial. If it's not difficult to get there, I would love to see it up close. I'd also like to ride along the Potomac. Is there a good route to ride along the river?

This is going to be great! I hope the weather is reasonable!

I did some searching last night. It looks like a good place to rent a bike is at Bike the Sites in the Old Post Office Pavilion. It's close to my hotel and it looks like that have Trek bikes, road, comfort & hybrid.

What kind of bikes will most of you be riding? I'm thinking a hybrid might be a choice for a sightseeing ride. What do you think?

[Zen]

Cool, this gives us 2 months to plan a really good route and pick a spot for lunch (with vegan options!).

I've always wanted to eat at Ben's Chili Bowl. Fried okra is vegan

[Kalidurga]

Livin, when we did our monument ride earlier this year, we rode across the Potomac to the Iwo Jima memorial, then back across the river and along it down to Hain's Point. Personally, I'd love it if we included that section again.

Zen, where's Ben's Chili Bowl?

[Zen]

It's nowhere near where we'll be, I think it's up on U street

[divingbiker]

It's nowhere near where we'll be, I think it's up on U street

That's only a mile or so north of the White House. Not hard to get to at all, and there's a metro station nearby.

[Kalidurga]

Ben's Chili Bowl definitely looks like an interesting place that could be a lot of fun. They don't show the veggie items on the menu, but the mention veggie burgers and chili in the History section. Apparently, Ben's is a favorite of Bill Cosby! I haven't been to the Shaw neighborhood in years, but I know it used to be borderline sketchy. Zen, do you know if there would be a safe place for all of our bikes?

[Livin the Dream]

I had a few minutes at work today, so I called Bike the Sites to ask about what kind of bikes they have, etc. Their road bikes are Trek Pilot 1.2's; my road bike is a Pilot 1.0, so I'm definitely going to rent the road bike. She said they don't have a lot of them, but I'm thinking the first Sat. in November, bikes rentals aren't going to be terribly popular. Plus, I plan to be there when they open.

Do you think meeting at the Old Post Office pavilion would work to start the ride? It's right across from the Federal Triangle Metro stop. Bike the Sites doesn't open until 9:00, so that would be the earliest I could get started.

[Kalidurga]

Do you think meeting at the Old Post Office pavilion would work to start the ride? It's right across from the Federal Triangle Metro stop. Bike the Sites doesn't open until 9:00, so that would be the earliest I could get started.

That'll require a transfer at Metro Center for those of us taking the Red Line into the city but, as you pointed out, it'll be early on a Saturday morning, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Has anyone come up with any other lunch ideas? If we start and end near the Old Post Office, that should give us some good options. Here's a list of possibilities: Yelp.com: Federal Triangle restaurants.

[divingbiker]

That'll require a transfer at Metro Center for those of us taking the Red Line into the city but, as you pointed out, it'll be early on a Saturday morning, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Has anyone come up with any other lunch ideas? If we start and end near the Old Post Office, that should give us some good options. Here's a list of possibilities: Yelp.com: Federal Triangle restaurants.

Actually, it's much easier and quicker just to get off the red line at Metro Center and ride down the hill two or three blocks to Federal Triangle.

Re restaurants, we can end up anywhere, really, since we're on our bikes. Within a mile or so of Federal Triangle are (the other) Cap City Brewery, Indian, Thai, lots of restaurants in Chinatown (not just Chinese), tapas, Austin Grill, etc. The challenge might be finding where to tie up the bikes...Chinatown's not great for that.

I work up in the area of 14th and K/L, and here are some restaurants I know about. They're all less than a mile (uphill) from Federal Triangle, and all are pretty cheap (less than $10), and there's lots of room for bikes at any of these.

Bangkok One (Thai)
Mayur Kabob (Indian/Pakistani)
Casa Blanca (Mexican/Peruvian)

If we want to go somewhere where everyone can find something to eat regardless of preferences, I'd suggest the Cap City Brewery at 1100 New York Avenue, which is very near Metro Center.

As for the tour route, I don't know if there are more sites that folks want to add to the route. For the basic tour we could start at Federal Triangle and do the route we did before--down Pennsylvania to the Victims of Communism Memorial, Union Station, Capitol, etc, and end up at the White House. Then go to lunch!