# good dc riding route



## carbonride1500 (Aug 3, 2006)

hello, im new to road biking and i want to know a good route. i live in nw by georgetown university. what is a nice ride?


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## Wonger (Oct 29, 2005)

http://www.bikewashington.org/


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

carbonride1500 said:


> hello, im new to road biking and i want to know a good route. i live in nw by georgetown university. what is a nice ride?


Head west on Reservoir which will turn into Mcarthur. Continue west on Mcarthur for 11ish miles until it veers right and heads uphill at the Old Angler Inn. Take the hill. At the top of the hill head straight into Great Falls Park for a great downhill. At the bottom of the hill turn around and go home. 

25 miles of cycling bliss except during rush hour.


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## carbonride1500 (Aug 3, 2006)

MB1 said:


> Head west on Reservoir which will turn into Mcarthur. Continue west on Mcarthur for 11ish miles until it veers right and heads uphill at the Old Angler Inn. Take the hill. At the top of the hill head straight into Great Falls Park for a great downhill. At the bottom of the hill turn around and go home.
> 
> 25 miles of cycling bliss except during rush hour.


yeah i figured that would be a good ride, for now ive been rifing out mac arthur to cabin john and then turning around.


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## orcanova (Aug 27, 2006)

Mt. Vernon trail...only at no-peak hours on weekdays. That is the one that runs along the Potomac to Mt. Vernon, twenty miles one way so its 40 round trip.

Or, after crossing over Key Bridge, instead of turnign left onto Mt. Vernon Trail, turn right on the other side of the Marriott on the Custis Trail, which hooks you up with the W&OD trail that goes all the way out to Purceville VA...about 50 miles one way...100 mile round trip.

If you have a car, go out River Road in Potomac to the end. Turn right and Park at Poole's General store about 1 mile up on the right. Check out Google maps, there's tons of country roads up there...All around the Poolseville area and out to Sugarloaf Mountain is sweet rural riding.

Drive out to the Oasis winery in Hume VA, about 45 minutes from Georgetown out I-66. Ride from the winery to Orlean Market and back, about 25 miles out-and-back, or tack on as many miles as you want. Just ask out there where the market is...it involves only one right turn. Directions to the winery are on thier website www.oasiswine.com.

Drive out I-66 to Skyline Drive in Shennandoah National Park. You can start at the bottom, or drive the first 4 mile uphill to the Dickey Ridge visitors center. Lost of climbing but you can take it slow and the views of the Shennandoah Valley are awesome.


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## cptab (Sep 12, 2002)

*Capital Crescent*

Don't forget the nearby capital crescent trail (the paved trail, not the gravel trail that runs parallel to it) that begins at the boat house under the Key Bridge on K street. This 8 mile (give or take) route takes you into downtown Bethesda where you can lock up your bike and enjoy any of the dozen or so shops and restaurants (Barnes and Noble is at the end of the trail). The trail may continue up the road somewhere (perhaps leading you to Rock Creek Park), but you may want to check a trail map ahead of time.

If you are a looking for an easy 'up and back' ride, this should do the trick. Just be careful to stop at the intersections (the trail crosses a couple of busy streets) and call out 'on your left' to the pedestrians.


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## Spongedog (Aug 6, 2005)

*go to motionbased.com*

I do every conceivable ride in the urban DC area. My favorite is to connect them all up. I live in McLean (you will figure that out fast on Motionbased.com), then come over the river at either Chain Bridge, Key Bridge, 14th St. Bridge, or Memorial Bridge from Virginia (Roosevelt Bridge stinks).

Go to Motion Based http://www.motionbased.com and search for "ridehardordietrying". That will bring up all the DC rides I have done over the last few months (plus you will get the longer rides in Montgomery/Frederick and Loudoun Counties. 

My personal favorite from GTown is to hop on the Cap Crescent to Rock Creek Park trail, and then do that loop back to Georgetown. To make things more interesting, you can add the hilly section of the Rock Creek Park Rd (mostly closed to cars on the weekend!). Hop off at Penn Ave and head towards the White House -> south on 15th -> Cruise over Freedom Plaza -> to the Capitol and up the hill -> you can either turn around and go back down Independence or go the other way to RFK Stadium. The route to RFK has a nice bike lane. Either way, head towards the Tidal Basin (it is a moral impreritive to zip up and circle the Washington Monument). You can ride home on the river from there, or you can go out to Haines Point and do that loop (for some reason, I feel a need to do that as a sprint), and then back up the river to GTOWN.

While there may be some discussion as to the sanity of this next route, I highly reccomend it, but only first thing in the morning on weekends (any other time is a little sketchy). From GTOWN, take the Cap Crescent to Fletchers Cove, and then ride up to Canal Rd. Turn left towards Maryland. If you go early in the AM on weekends, there is very little traffic on this road. Stay on past the Chain Bridge and keep going on the Clara Barton until it ends in Potomac on MacArthur. (If there is some traffic, or if you just are nervous about the road, you can bail up to MacArthur in many places) You then go up to Falls Rd -> left on River -> go to the end and then choose your route. I have one route on motion based from Potomac to Sugarloaf Mtn which is really nice.


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## orcanova (Aug 27, 2006)

Just did a Poolesville/Sugarloaf route that was 40 miles yesterday. Although it doesn't seem like a lot of climbing, my AVS is always slower than expected. Seems like theres a slow elevation gain going out, so I expect to be flying on the return..yet only in the mid sections do I fly...


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## Spongedog (Aug 6, 2005)

*Sugarloaf*

Try this route: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.mb?episodePk.pkValue=1191292

It was about 4500 feet of climbing.


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## pedalista (Mar 1, 2005)

*Cue sheet for Sugarloaf route*

Hello Spongedog -
Thanks for your post.
I took inspiration from you and rode from Friendship Heights Metro out River Road through Potomac, then right on 112 and left on 28. Turned around at Beallsville due to time limits. What is the mileage for your route to Sugarloaf? Could you please send a cue sheet? Thanks.
pedalista
[email protected]


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