Lake Barcroft Bike Club: May 2013

Saturday was the perfect day for biking, and I led a group of 11 bike club members to National Harbor, a commercial destination on the Maryland side of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.

The ride took place in two tiers. One group left from the Potterton Bridge at 9am for the full 26 mile round trip ride, via the W&OD, Four Mile Run and Mount Vernon Trails. About an hour into the ride, that group met the second group at the parking lot at the Washington Sailing Marina at around 10am. Second group participants had transported their bikes on bike racks, in a hatchback and in a pickup truck. From there, those riders who wanted a shorter ride would cover about 12 miles round trip.

Here's some of the group getting ready to depart:

Dave Snyder, Nomi Taslitt, Karen Snyder, and Susan Michels look on as John Estes pumps up Lark Lovering's tires.

Ken Kastner checks the departure time with Phil Kemelor as Ken Ackerman looks on.

We left from the Marina for the ride down the Mount Vernon Trail, along the Potomac River and into Old Town Alexandria for the ride down Union Street to the entrance to Jones Point Park. Formerly, before than entrance and trail were complete, one would have to continue on the streets of Alexandria to get to the Wilson Bridge. The opening of the Jones Point Park portion of the trail eliminated that street riding with a beautiful ride under the magnificent structure of the Wilson Bridge.

View from Jones Point Park under the Wilson Bridge

Here's the group coming under the bridge:

Lark Lovering leads the pack under the Wilson Bridge at Jones Point Park.

Lark, Pancho Kinney with Nomi Taslett in the rear.

The ride at the bridge involves an uphill climb along the south side of the bridge to North Washington Street, and taking a 180 degree turn back onto the bridge for the 2.05 mile ride across the bridge on the Wilson Bridge Bike Trail. A long slow climb takes you two scenic viewing points looking out onto the vista of Washington DC with all of its monuments, memorials and major churches.

Then an equally long but easy downhill ride wound down the bridge path towards National Harbor. The group stopped for a picnic lunch on the grass at the river's edge, just short of the Harbor itself. Because the last 1/10 mile approach to the harbor comprises a crushed oyster shell path, it was the group's consensus not to ride on that path to avoid potential flat tires. I had taken a test ride the week before and chanced riding on that path, but as luck would have it, after my warning to the others about potential flat tires, I was the one who started losing tire pressure, likely due to those sharp oyster shells.

Here we are after lunch and ready for the return ride. Pictured, back row: Ken Ackerman, Susan Michels, Veronica Angulo, John Estes, Nomi Taslitt, Lark Lovering and Karen Snyder; front row: Phil Kemelor, Dave Snyder, Ken Kastner, and Larry Golfer. Not pictured: Pancho Kinney.

Lake Barcroft Bike Club riders

Some History

The Wilson Bridge Project was a massive multi-year construction project that involved demolishing the original Wilson Bridge. The former bridge had a drawbridge to allow river traffic to pass through, but each opening of the drawbridge caused massive traffic jams. Read about the history of the bridge and the replacement project here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodrow_Wilson_Bridge .

When the new bridge opened in 2009, it included a new bike trail across the north side of the bridge, with two viewing points looking over the vista of Washington, DC, where one could see all the national monuments and memorials, as well as excellent views of Old Town Alexandria.

On the opening day of that trail, I rode it with my granddaughter, and took these photos.