Questions for the DC ladies?

[Livin the Dream]

I'm going to be in DC on a business trip at the end of October. (I'm SO excited -- I absolutely LOVE DC!) I think I'll be able to build in an extra day before or after the conference I'm attending and I would love to rent a bike and ride the mall/monument area and maybe a bike path if time allows. A couple of questions: 1) Any recommendations of which bike rental place is best? (I'll be staying at the Grand Hyatt on H St. NW.) 2. Will the rental places still be open end of October? 3. I'm a small-town girl; most of my riding is on bike paths and rural roads. Am I crazy to consider riding in DC? 4. I think there are several bike paths, right? Which one would you recommend I try?

(Yeah, I know, I'm planning early -- mostly because I need to get my airline reservations made before the nonstop flights sell out but partly because I'm anal about planning travel stuff ).

[Velobambina]

There's a monument tour that starts out of Union Station, if I'm not mistaken. They will rent you a bike and you go on a guided tour, so they make sure you stay safe. I think it's geared toward the tourist crowd, and I believe they do sessions at night, too, which would be a real treat.

Here are some helpful websites that are great info sites for cycling in the DC area:
www.waba.org
www.bikepptc.org
www.wodfriends.org

I hope you fly into Reagan instead of Dulles. The descent is just incredible. You also can probably take the metro to your hotel.

ENJOY!!

[Kalidurga]

Ok, ladies, it's time. We talked about doing another Monument Tour ride, do we think it's possible that all of our crazy schedules could coincide with Livin the Dream's visit so that we can give her a TE-DC tour?

Livin, what dates are you going to be here?

[divingbiker]

Ok, ladies, it's time. We talked about doing another Monument Tour ride, do we think it's possible that all of our crazy schedules could coincide with Livin the Dream's visit so that we can give her a TE-DC tour?

Livin, what dates are you going to be here?

End of October sounds perfect, as long as she'll be here on a weekend day.

[Livin the Dream]

Ok, ladies, it's time. We talked about doing another Monument Tour ride, do we think it's possible that all of our crazy schedules could coincide with Livin the Dream's visit so that we can give her a TE-DC tour?

Livin, what dates are you going to be here?

Riding with some TE ladies would be fantastic! I'll be there from Wed. 10/31 to Saturday, 11/3 (I'm actually thinking about flying back on Sunday if I can find a cheap hotel for Sat. night. -- my employer won't pick up the Sat. night hotel bill since the conference I'm attending is over on Friday). I'll have some free time Wed. morning and evening, Fri. evening and all day Saturday.

Velobambina -- thanks for the links and the advice. It looks like I can definitely rent a bike. Yep, I'm flying into Reagan. I did the Dulles thing once -- the savings didn't offset the hassle. The hotel I'm staying at has an entrance to Metro Center in their lobby, so getting from the airport to the hotel couldn't be much easier!

[Kalidurga]

Do we want to plan a Monument Tour ride for Saturday, November 3? It hopefully won't be too chilly by then, but there will certainly be less tourists.

[divingbiker]

Do we want to plan a Monument Tour ride for Saturday, November 3? It hopefully won't be too chilly by then, but there will certainly be less tourists.

Sounds good to me.

[7rider]

I think an autumn monument tour would be great!
We'll be due for another group adventure by then, for sure!

[Zen]

Unless George Clooney returns my call that sounds good to me

[aicabsolut]

I'll probably be doing a team ride on Saturday then.

Big Wheel Bikes (there's one in Georgetown) rents bikes of all types. From there, you've got access to 2 paved and 1 unpaved MUP and some decent roads. The traffic can be unnerving. Avoid rush hours on the road and the paths if you can.

In the evenings, you can do some laps around Hains Point (East Potomac Park). Better during cherry blossom season down there, but it's a decent place to get out and move the legs. You can get there via sidewalk paths if traffic is heavy (at least past the parkways, Ohio Dr is pretty tame).

[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?