Alexandria, VA · mostly separated · paved

Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail (East)

2.1 mi Out-and-back 33 ft gain

2.1-mile paved route with 33 ft of elevation gain, signed as part of the regional cycle network, route reference “NHT”, operated by United States Department of Interior, National Park Service, mostly separated from motor traffic.

Live · updated Nov 7, 3:37 AM ET

Today's verdict

Great day to get the road bike out.

54°F air — right in road cycling's sweet spot

71 /100

great

70 Bike commuting

71 Road

71 E-bike

59 Bike-share

Best for road cycling 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 temp

54°F

Mostly Cloudy
Wind

14 mph

NW
Rain

1%

Next 24h: 0.00"
Air quality

AQI 18

O3 · Good

Surface & daylight

Pavement

dry

paved surface
Sunrise

6:41 AM
Sunset

5:01 PM

805 min remaining

Best time today

5 AM looks best — 48°F · 9 mph NW wind · mostly cloudy. 8 AM is a close second (77/100).

4 AM

50°

Mostly Cloudy

10 mph NW

5 AM Best

48°

Mostly Cloudy

9 mph NW

6 AM

47°

Mostly Sunny

8 mph NW

7 AM

46°

Sunny

8 mph NW

8 AM

48°

Sunny

9 mph NW

9 AM

51°

Sunny

10 mph NW

10 AM

53°

Sunny

10 mph NW

11 AM

55°

Mostly Sunny

12 mph NW

12 PM

57°

Mostly Sunny

12 mph NW

1 PM

58°

Mostly Sunny

12 mph NW

2 PM

59°

Mostly Sunny

14 mph NW

3 PM

60°

Mostly Sunny

14 mph NW

4 PM

58°

Mostly Sunny

13 mph NW

Wind on this route

14 mph headwind outbound — expect a 14 mph headwind on the return.

Currently 14 mph from the NW (315°). Relative to this ride's overall bearing, a quartering headwind.

Leg 1 Bearing 12° · quartering headwind 0.2 mi
Leg 2 Bearing 21° · quartering headwind 0.2 mi
Leg 3 Bearing 254° · quartering headwind 0.2 mi
Leg 4 Bearing 256° · quartering headwind 0.2 mi
Leg 5 Bearing 278° · quartering headwind 0.1 mi
Leg 6 Bearing 311° · headwind 0.2 mi
Leg 7 Bearing 288° · headwind 0.2 mi
Leg 8 Bearing 9° · quartering headwind 0.1 mi

Elevation profile

80 ft gain 244 ft loss Max 194' Min 0' 1.8 mi sampled

Score breakdown

54°F air Right in road cycling's sweet spot

+10

−

14 mph wind Noticeable — pacing will shift with the wind.

-2

−

Quartering headwind 14 mph headwind outbound — expect a 14 mph headwind on the return.

-4

Pavement: dry Clean dry pavement — maximum grip.

AQI 18 Clean air

About this route

Distance: 2.1 mi one-way (double for round-trip)
Elevation gain: 33 ft
Surface: paved
Shape: Out-and-back
Traffic exposure: mostly separated
Activities: road cycling · e bike · commuting · bike share-touring
Cycle network: RCN · route NHT
Operator: United States Department of Interior, National Park Service
Start: 38.7969, -77.0034
City hub: Alexandria, VA
OSM: relation 13354024

Description sourced from OpenStreetMap relation tags and member-way geometry.