Disclaimer: This 23-Mile Mount Vernon to DC Loop Spring Tour recap contains affiliate links…
Riding Along the Monuments and Memorials
It was a glorious day for a roundtrip ride with our friend Barb into DC from Mount Vernon. With the sun shining brightly and the temperature rising from 61° to 68°, we couldn’t have picked a better day. We rode 23 miles at an average speed of 11 MPH, slow for a road ride, but this was a touristy ride with lots of stops for pictures.
We parked our car at Belle Haven Park along the Potomac River and met Barb who had ridden from her home to meet us. Bill had designed the ride on Ride With GPS, but Barb played tour guide. Our tour took us along the Potomac River on the Mount Vernon Trail and past Reagan National Airport where we stopped at Gravely Point to watch planes taking off. Shortly after the airport we stopped at the Navy and Marine Memorial before taking the Memorial Bridge across the river into DC.
Once in DC we rode past the expected memorials and monuments: Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Reflecting Pool, World War II Memorial, and the new-to-us Korean War Veterans Memorial. We left DC via the 14th Street Bridge and made our way back, again, on the Mount Vernon Trail. After saying our goodbyes to Barb, we rode on to Dyke Marsh to the south before turning to ride back north to our parked car.
Ride Overview
- • Ride With GPS Name: 23-MtVernonNavyMemWW2BlossomTour
- • Location: Fairfax County and Old Town Alexandria in Virginia and Washington, DC
- • Start/Finish: Belle Haven Park
- • Course Type: Out and Back with a Little Loop
- • Course Surface: Paved
- • Bike: Specialized Roubaix Comp
- • Distance: 23 miles
- • Time: 2:05:21
- • Average Speed: 11 MPH
- • Maximum Speed: 19.6 MPH
- • Elevation Gain: 502 feet
- • Elevation Range: 7 to 99 feet
- • Temperature Range: 61° to 68°
- • Ride with GPS: Link to turn-by-turn navigation cue sheet
- • Course Map:
Fun Pictures From Along the Way
The majority of the following pictures were taken with my iPhone (affiliate link) while stopped along the course; however, a few were taken by Bill and Barb.
Lily, my Specialized Roubaix Comp, and the Potomac River…
Sign at Jones Point next to DC’s first building block (the south cornerstone) which was set in place by surveyors in 1791…
From the sign… “The first marker for the survey – the south cornerstone – was set in place on this spot. Although the stone within this protective enclosure may be a replacement dating from 1794, it is nonetheless among the oldest existing physical monuments associated with the federal city of Washington, D.C.”
Maryland cornerstones…
Woodrow Wilson Bridge at Jones Point Park…
Trailside mirror…
Gravely Point…
Alongside the Mount Vernon Trail with the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial across the Potomac River…
Navy and Marine Memorial…
Lily and the Washington Monument being photobombed by a boat…
Lincoln Memorial…
Jefferson Memorial, Washington Monument, and the Reflecting Pool…
World War II Memorial…
Korean War Veterans Memorial…
Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, and Lily…
Back in Old Town Alexandria where this road was closed to accommodate outdoor dining during the pandemic…
Garmin Stats
Post-ride Garmin (affiliate link) picture…
Garmin map and graphs…
Final Thoughts on the Ride
Not only did Bill and I have a wonderful time, but we thoroughly enjoyed spending the afternoon with our friend Barb. We don’t get to see each other often enough and it’s always a bonus whenever we plan a ride together. DC is such a lovely city and full of so much history; and even though we live only thirty miles away, we rarely make the effort to visit.
Questions:
- • Have you been to DC?
- • If you ride, do you enjoy touristy rides or do you prefer to go all out and ride hard?
- • Do you live near a city that you rarely visit?
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on the blue product link and then make a purchase, I will receive a small commission for referring you. You will pay no more or less for the product; however, Amazon will show their gratitude for my referral by paying me.
It has been a while since I rode all the way out to Mount Vernon. I need to change that soon. Maybe I will run out that way one day
It should still be really pretty down that way with the trees blooming for the next couple of weeks. Enjoy your run!
Hey, that’s my ‘hood! Can you believe I grew up in Old Town playing soccer at Jones Point Park? Back then the fields were just on the south side — not as fancy as it is now. 😉
How was the bike path? We haven’t really been on it since the pandemic.
I remember how dark it was under the Woodrow Wilson Bridge when we’d run in the National Capital 20-Miler back before they rebuilt the bridge. It’s really nice now! The path was typical – runners, walkers, slow cyclists, and a crazy fast peloton.