WASHINGTON — Over 7,000 bicycle riders got their chance to ride on some of the District’s streets and highways without any cars or trucks in their way.
Riders started their 20-mile journey at West Potomac Park near the Lincoln Memorial and finished around the U.S. Capitol Building.
“You see everything you can see while walking or driving but it’s from a different perspective,” Chewye Pasquay said after the ride.
Outside of seeing the city’s iconic monuments from atop two wheels, participants got to ride on some of the city’s highways, a rare opportunity and setting.
“It’s amazing to ride on Whitehurst Freeway. That was the coolest part because you are up high and no one ever gets to ride a bike up there and it was such a great view,” Rachel Kristy told WTOP.
Janet Gawler got a VIP pass for the race and got to start up front.
“I was behind the pace car for the first seven miles and that was pretty awesome because it was like NASCAR,” Gawler chuckled.
The bright sunshine and seasonable temperature made it the perfect weather for a morning bike ride, one that Kristy used as an opportunity to spend with her son for Mother’s Day.
“I convinced him to ride slow for me,” Kristy said while looking over at her son, also donned in biking gear. “It’s good we get to do this and then we get to go see my mother-in-law, his grandmother. It’s a good day overall.”
“It was nice. It was a beautiful day and it’s a good thing to do on a Mother’s Day,” her son, Sam Kristy, said.
