50 States Bike Route

Cycle through every state in a single day

How can a person bike from Maine to California in a single day?

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) makes it easy each September with their annual 50 States Ride. The event takes 700 cyclists on a 62-mile (metric century, or 100 km) route that covers all the avenues that are named for the 50 states.

If you can’t make it to the event, you can take the trip on your own any day of the year using the online maps posted on the Ride with GPS site (www.ridewithgps.com) after each year’s ride. The routes vary somewhat from year to year, but the one thing that’s certain is that they’ll touch all 50 state-named avenues. If the 50 States Ride is a little too much of a commitment, there is also the 13 Colonies Ride, a 15-mile (24 km) route along the avenues named for those states. New in 2018 is the 35-mile “Route 66,” hitting eight avenues of the original states that the scenic highway passes through.

These rides are a wonderful way to see the sites throughout the capital. WABA’s mission is to make biking enjoyable and safe in the Washington region (aka DMV). The routes are designed to take riders to areas that they might not normally visit, and also on a tour through US history.

You may see the magnificent Emancipation Memorial, also known as the Freedman’s Memorial, in Lincoln Park as you ride along North Carolina Avenue SE. On Washington Avenue, SW, stop and pay your respects at the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial, honoring over 4 million veterans injured in the line of duty. On Louisiana Avenue NW is the Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism during World War II. The memorial’s stunning bronze cranes tangled in barbed wire symbolize the internment of Japanese Americans in prison camps from 1942 to 1946.

Take in the diversity, history, and beauty. And enjoy a drink on the rooftop of the Liaison Hotel at New Jersey Avenue, NW.

Address Multiple points in Washington, DC; contact Washington Area Bicyclist Association: +1 (202) 518-0524, www.waba.org, events@waba.org | Getting there Search for “50 States Ride” on www.ridewithgps.com for current and prior-year maps | Hours Unrestricted | Tip For elegant handmade accessories, clothing, decor and chocolates, delicious food, and hard-to-find wines and spirits from Latin America, stop into La Cosecha at Union Market (1280 4th Street NE, Washington, DC 20002).