i am moving to arlington virginia sept 1, and i am very curious as to cycling conditions for the area. how far out of the city do you have to ride to get on some more open roads? i don’t like junk miles, so i don’t want to have to just ride along for 15-20 miles to get to some open roads? computrainer for the winter???
DC area has tons of active tri clubs with plenty of riding options. See the links below. While I work in DC, I live and train in northern virginia. RATs (Reston Area Triathletes) has a weekly long ride that starts on the WO&D path then diverts to open roads with some good climbs but there are plenty of last minute groups to join CATs is probably similar. There are some hard core roadies around too and you can locate them through the top link.
I’m a weather weenie of some magnitude so I am one with my trainer in the winter. I know a group of RATS does Skyline in questionable weather and have had to use the hot cocoa offered from the Rangers in order to unfreeze pedals and remove feet. They were sleet covered. So you have company regardless of which camp is your comfort level.
Welcome to the area,
B
http://www.wwvc.org – weekly area rides
http://trirats.net/about.php - RAT tri - site has links to CATs
I live in Northern VA, close to Dulles airport in Chantilly. Honestly, cycling sucks here. We have no shoulder on 95% of our roads and sprawl-n-crawl has pushed the metro DC area 40 miles outside of Washington. Oh yeah, we also have terrible traffic everywhere! I do 90% of my riding on the W&OD trail; nice trail but its gets crazy busy over the summer weekends. I also ride Skyline drive, it’s about a 1 hour drive from my house and has some nice climbs and is fairly safe. The weather is unpredictable over the winter. This past winter I rode almost the entire season outside, most days reach the low 40’s from December thru early March and we often get days much warmer. But we can also get 20+ inches of snow. Generally we have 6-10 weeks of bad weather during the winter but its all relative (I’m from Michigan).
Dave in VA
Also check out www.dctriclub.org for group rides to learn some of the local routes. There isn’t much to choose from, unfortunately.
Hey Dave - you should join us for a few rides, etc. Next Sunday we have the “unofficial” RATman using the Reston Century as the ride option, we rent a local pool to swim (and under-water video) first and book end with a 10/5k run option. Then we celebrate together in the Reston Bike tent replete with food, drink and much merriment.
I’m also a former Michigander and have yet to fully defrost.
Hope to see you around sometime.
B
Southern Maryland is pretty good. You can start at MD 210 which has a nice well paved shoulder and then you get access to routes 225 227 or 228 one of them (I believe 225) connects to route 9 from which you will enjoy plenty of country miles. You can easily do a century here…
I would love to, my fitness is a bit off after 4 weeks in Europe followed by a week long cold. I did not get into Reston this year (damn website) so the only race on my plate is MCM. Is the Reston Century the weekend off September 3,4.
Dave in VA
It’s this Sunday. I’m just getting back (today) from 10 days of being ill, so I hope it’s doable. There are always the metric options and that looks more attractive now. If you’re even remotely tempted to join us in RATman, you need to register for the century.
Yeah, Reston Tri is a bitch to get into this year. I stayed in my office nearly all night to use the high-speed connection. Registration was a huge mess and last year’s winner, Stv Smith (RAT Leader) didn’t get in until the zero hour on the very last day.
B
Riding outside of the DC area can be exeptional. The fact that you are moving close to the city can create a problem for longer rides. Longer rides will have to have so called junk miles. There are shorter rides in areas like Rock Creek Park in the city that are flat but roads are closed to traffic on the weekends.
I ride my 100+ mile rides out of Reston and use the WO&D trail to get me to Purcellville. Middleburg, Purcellville, etc… offer amazing riding opportunities. This area is mostly rolling hills with some great climbs in outlining areas.
Maryland also has endless opportunites. If you are willing to drive a bit there are endless rides with no junk miles and a very rich triathlon, cycling , and running community.
Longer rides will have to have so called junk miles.
What are junk miles on the bike? Too many stops at lights?
that’s my thought…
Hello Slowtwitchers:
I found this thread in the vaults and thought I’d see if anyone had any new ideas. I am spending a lot of time in Reston these days, have my bike, and do not relish the thought of being confined to the W&OD trail for every ride. Anyone have any good ride suggestions out of Reston or a short (30 min or so) drive away?
Thanks.
Reston is actually pretty decent for riding. Not a ton of variety, but enough open roads and miles to make it interesting.
I would recommend joining the Reston Bike Club and doing the Tuesday and Thursday rides. Probably the best way to learn the roads in the area. Can use that as a springboard to your own workouts.
I find the Tuesday rides better than Thursday.
Reston is so built up that you have to snake your way through some busy roads and intersections. Often less than .25 miles on a busy road will lead you to a few miles of open terrain.
Here are a couple links to rides I will do:
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Lunchtime-Rambler-2
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Lunchtime-Rambler-1
I also have a little circuit course where I like to do hard tempo efforts. South Lakes to Twin Branches to Glade to Colts Neck back to South Lakes. All right hand turns. 2 lights (one on right turn – rarely have to stop for it) and 1 stop sign, but a good 5 miles or so. I ride tempo from South Lakes to Colts Neck and soft pedal back to start. 2-3 loops at lunch time is a great workout.
wow, this is a blast from the past. i started this thread nearly 5 years ago! there are some phenomenal places to ride in the region. i’ve gone “roadie”, and i’ve learned lots of places to ride.
i don’t know reston, but zdesmond’s advice should be good. he rides well, and he knows that area pretty well.
even close into the city there is great riding. va, dc, and md all have phenomenal riding–even inside the beltway!
not sure what the others are talking about. traffic has gotten worse in the past 5 years, but there are still many cycling training options. you have to find your own little urban escape. there is lots of safe, urban, challenging riding in the region. look and you will find it.
My parents just moved to Gainesville and I was looking for some bike routes in that area other than Skyline. Any ideas?
Contact Haymarket Bicycles. Its a bike shop out in that area, and there are some great routes out there. The shop is a primary sponsor of an elite squad–Haymarket / Home Visit. They have team rides, and there are shop rides. No shortage of great riding out there. I don’t really get out that way too often, but based upon how strong those guys are, I know there is some really good riding to be had!
Thanks Flanagan, I’ll check it out.
Thanks. Those routes both look like fun. I’m just learning the area, though, so if you see someone out on the route with a google map and a puzzled look, you’ll know it’s me.