To most people, Washington DC means monuments and politics but after a a few days along the Potomac all I could think of was bike riding. Sure the Lincoln Monument is impressive, and all the activity around the White House is historic and the Smithsonian is the mother of all museums but it was the lure of the traffic-free bike path that held my attention during a recent visit.
It all started at a place called Great Falls, a few miles Northwest of the capital, where our hosts took us to see the rapids, told us about the kayakers who run the falls and the history of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal. Back in the early 1800's George Washington (yes that George Washington) and others decided that running a canal along the Potomac would be a great way to expand commerce and exploration with the west. After several years, numerous setbacks and lots of lost money the canal was finished, used briefly and abandoned, only to be resurrected as a bike path. And a really cool one at that. Not only that, with the addition of the Great Allegheny Passage Trail a biker with moderately wide tires can ride the 318 miles all the way from DC to Pittsburgh!
What could be cooler you ask? Well, perhaps a ride along the Erie Canal? Not only does it have a bike path as well, it also was a successful canal. (My theory on why one was successful and the other not has to do with one, the C & O being located alongside a river prone to massive flooding while the other, while harder to build, didn't flood, stayed built and by the way, drew on a much larger hinterland) But regardless, and more importantly both make awesome bike paths and a huge quandary. Given that one might only have one week for bike touring in a given summer, which ride should one take?
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