Bethesda, MD · mostly separated · mixed
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Towpath (Maryland)
180.1-mile mixed route with 1050 ft of elevation gain, signed as part of the regional cycle network, route reference “C&O”, mostly separated from motor traffic.
Live · updated
Today's verdict
Marginal conditions — get the road bike out if you have to.
- 37 mph wind — gusty and hazardous on exposed bridges and overpasses.
- 70°F air — right in road cycling's sweet spot
Best for e-bike riding today
Route map
Orange marker is the start. Click the map to enable scroll-zoom — the polyline is approximate; use Ride with GPS or Komoot for turn-by-turn.
Atmosphere
- Air temp70°FMostly Sunny
- Wind37 mphS
- Rain1%Next 24h: 0.00"
- Humidity83%
Surface & daylight
- Pavementdrymixed surface
- Sunrise6:44 AM
- Sunset7:27 PM741 min remaining
Best time today
8 AM looks best — 69°F · 6 mph S wind · sunny.
Sunny
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Wind on this route
37 mph crosswind — expect a 37 mph headwind on the return.
Currently 37 mph from the S (190°). Relative to this ride's overall bearing, a crosswind.
- Leg 1 Bearing 300° · quartering tailwind 5.1 mi
- Leg 2 Bearing 329° · quartering tailwind 4.3 mi
- Leg 3 Bearing 300° · quartering tailwind 5.5 mi
- Leg 4 Bearing 277° · crosswind 5.7 mi
- Leg 5 Bearing 309° · quartering tailwind 5.5 mi
- Leg 6 Bearing 27° · tailwind 5.1 mi
- Leg 7 Bearing 344° · tailwind 4.6 mi
- Leg 8 Bearing 316° · quartering tailwind 5.2 mi
Elevation profile
Score breakdown
Advisories & nearby alerts
About this route
- Distance
- 180.1 mi one-way (double for round-trip)
- Elevation gain
- 1050 ft
- Surface
- mixed
- Shape
- Out-and-back
- Traffic exposure
- mostly separated
- Activities
- road cycling · e bike
- Cycle network
- RCN · route C&O
- Start
38.9364, -77.1172- City hub
- Bethesda, MD
- OSM
- relation 1392951
Description sourced from OpenStreetMap relation tags and member-way geometry.