Ride For Your Life 2025

Begun after the death of mother and U.S. diplomat Sarah Debbink Langenkamp, the Ride for Your Life is a 10-mile slow ride from Bethesda to the Lincoln Memorial dedicated to creating change on our roadways.

Marking World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, we will rally at the memorial with safe streets leaders and members of Congress to demand better — better infrastructure and better laws — for all those who use our roads.

More than 40,000 people died on American roads last year, including 1,166 bike riders, the most in history, but we can change this! One of our ride's key demands is passage in Congress of the Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Active Transportation Safety Act, which would give states more flexibility in using Federal Highway funds to build safe biking and walking infrastructure. Ensure your member of Congress hears your voice by clicking on this to express support for bill, under consideration in the U.S. Congress now. It only takes a few seconds!

Please spread the word! Share this page to ensure our voice is loud and clear on November 16!

This guide will tell you everything you need to know to participate. It will be the most up-to-date information about the event up until it starts. Please check back here the evening before the ride to make sure you don’t miss anything!

Weather: Plan to wear gloves and bundle up! It can be cold on November mornings. The Ride for Your Life will take place rain or shine.

Route Maps: Stay tuned! The route will head from Bethesda Elementary to River Road through Chevy Chase, past Sarah Langenkamp's ghost bike at 5244 River Road, down River Road to Wisconsin Ave, down Wisconsin Avenue to Mass Ave, and then down 23rd Street to the Lincoln Memorial.

• Color the ride with us! Bring a black or pink external layer
• Bike
• Helmet (required by insurance - you can’t ride without one)
• Bike lock (Even if you don’t plan to stop during the ride, it’s good to have a lock with you during the ride, in case of an unanticipated or emergency stop along the ride route.)
• SmartTrip card or app
• Weather appropriate clothing
• Full water bottles
• Saddle bag (to carry spare tube, tire levers, and pump or patch kit)
• Spare tube (especially if you have a non-standard rim size!)
• Charged cell phone and charger
• Sunglasses and sunscreen
• Snacks!
  

There will be some water available at both the Bethesda Elementary School and at the Lincoln Memorial, but be sure to bring a full water bottle with you.

Join our Walk! We are also organizing a 1.4 mile walk (hosted by Families for Safe Streets DC) from Mayor Muriel Bowser's office at 1350 Pennsylvania Ave., across from Freedom Plaza. Or feel free to join us at the Lincoln Memorial. The rally will start at 12 pm and conclude before 1pm.

We moved the ride to Bethesda Elementary this year to make the start more accessible to folks taking the Metro and biking. Also, note that a separate walk to the Lincoln Memorial is taking place from the DC Mayor's Office in downtown DC!

• Metro | Great idea! Bethesda Elementary is just two blocks from the Bethesda Metro stop. Bikes are allowed on the metro at any time!
• Bike | The start location is easily reachable from the Bethesda area and downtown DC via the Capital Crescent Trail. There are several nearby Capital Bikeshare docking stations.
• Bus | Numerous local and regional bus routes operate in the vicinity of the start location. Use a navigation app to determine which might work for you. Bear in mind that buses typically only have space for two bicycles.
• Driving | Parking at the main start is limited, and we are expecting more than 1,000 riders. If you are driving, consider parking in one of the many public parking facilities in downtown Bethesda (Metropolitan Parking Garage is closest). There is also limited neighborhood street parking.

You can either bike back to Bethesda via the Capital Crescent Trail or you can take the Metro. Foggy Bottom, Metro Center and Federal Triangle are close. Some folks also have friends or family pick them up at the Lincoln Memorial. The easiest place to pick you up is Daniel French Drive. Please note: The ride back to Bethesda is not an official part of our event.

Capital Bikeshare has bikes at the docking stations in downtown Bethesda near the school ( https://capitalbikeshare.com/#homepage_map). If you choose to pursue this option, you will need to create a Capital Bikeshare account and sign a liability waiver onsite. This will take some time, so please make sure you allow yourself plenty of extra time to get a bike and ride to the start location before the ride starts (10:00 am). At the end of the ride, you will be able to park your bike at any Capital Bikeshare docking station, of which there are many near the Memorial.

Rental bikes are also available for rent at Griffin Bikes, five blocks south of the school.

Streets are not closed for this ride. There will be a lead and follow vehicle for the column of riders, and volunteer ride marshals throughout. We will have police and an emergency vehicle following us in Maryland, but not Washington, D.C. Participants have a responsibility to bicycle safely, respectfully, and lawfully to maximize safety. We ask you to:

• Stop at all red lights and stop signs.
• Always yield to pedestrians.
• Use hand signals when turning.
• Communicate verbally with other riders.
  

Ride Marshals are volunteers who are there to support the ride. They will be wearing bright vests. Marshals know participants may look to them for assistance. If something goes wrong during the ride, such as your bike having a mechanical failure or you are injured, find a marshal and ask them to pull over to help you. Marshals carry basic first aid supplies, and are instructed to call 911 in the case of an emergency during the event.

Upon arriving at the rally at the Lincoln Memorial, if riding, please walk or ride your bike across the large main terrace to its far side and take the ramp down to the lower terrace just off the Reflecting Pool. Don’t worry--we will have ushers who will show you the way. Please keep your bike with you--locking to anything other than a bike rack on Capitol Grounds is prohibited. There will be water onsite and bathrooms nearby to the south of the Memorial. Our rally will last for roughly 45 minutes.

Also check out other Trips & Adventurous Activities in Bethesda.