# good rides around DC?



## michael23 (Feb 24, 2010)

Hey everyone,

Just moved to DC this year for grad school. I'm bringing my bike out in a month and I am completely stir crazy being stuck in the library all day so I'm trying to get an idea of what good rides are around here. Looking for stretches where I can go fast and/or long rides (80+ mi), ideally with little traffic. Also any good mountains/passes/big hills within riding distance from the city? I live in georgetown and don't have a car.

Thanks


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## WhyRun (Dec 29, 2008)

Hey!

Some great rides in DC. You may battle some traffic, more so during the week, but there are plenty of options. From your location, a ride out MacArthur Blvd toward River Road, and then west/northwest on River Road is a great, semi-challenging ride. You can easly get 60 miles in depending on how you route through the neighborhoods. Alternatively, a real good challenge is riding the W&OD trail from Chainbridge to Leesburg, and then riding the hills in Leesburg, before returning to the city. the flats combined with the hills out in the western suburbs make for a nice 80 mile + work out. If you PM I can provide you with more routes. Cheers


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## Tommy Walker (Aug 14, 2009)

From Georgetown you should be able to connect with the Capitol Cresent Trail, which links into Mount Vernon Trail and as WhyRun mentioned the W&OD. The W&OD will take you as far as you want to go, all the way to Skyline Drive (you'll need a few days to get there by bike, less than two hours by car) where you can actually bike 105 miles through the Shenadoah Mountains. Check the link below for more info.

http://www.traillink.com/TrailSearch.aspx?tn=&st=DC&ct=&sp=N


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## 27davidson (Feb 9, 2006)

My advice to you is to stay off of the W&OD and Capitol Crescent trails, especially during the Spring weekends. These trails are called "bike trails" but are in reality multi-use and therefore you will be dodging walkers, hikers, runners, children, dogs on 20 ft leashes and rollerbladers, most of whom will be wearing earphones and therefore will be in their own universe and will have no idea that you're out there with them. It's a recipe for disaster and in fact I've heard that the Capitol Crescent Trial had a speed limit imposed on it last year due to all of the collisons between cyclists and the idiot types out there. The WO&D is a safer bet but on weekdays only or for early morning weekend rides. A decent training ride on the weekend is in Rock Creek Park. The main road, Beach Drive, is mostly closed off to traffic and there are group rides that leave from the park and go out to Potomac and Poolesville, Maryland, where there are rolling hills. Group rides also depart from M Street in Georgetown on weekend mornings and go out to the same locations in suburban Maryland, just by different routes. Since you live in Georgetown, I suggest that you go to the Bicycle Pro Shop, which is located at the Key Bridge end of M Street, and talk with the guys there. They can describe to you the rides I've suggested above and probably some others.


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## silves1171 (Aug 24, 2009)

If you are interested there will be a ride organized by WABA and the Embassy of Sweden this coming Sunday
http://www.waba.org/events/vasaride.php


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## 27davidson (Feb 9, 2006)

silves1171 said:


> If you are interested there will be a ride organized by WABA and the Embassy of Sweden this coming Sunday
> http://www.waba.org/events/vasaride.php


Thanks. I heard about this last night. I may try to do it with some of my mates.


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## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

michael23 said:


> Hey everyone,
> 
> Just moved to DC this year for grad school. I'm bringing my bike out in a month and I am completely stir crazy being stuck in the library all day so I'm trying to get an idea of what good rides are around here. Looking for stretches where I can go fast and/or long rides (80+ mi), ideally with little traffic. Also any good mountains/passes/big hills within riding distance from the city? I live in georgetown and don't have a car.
> 
> Thanks


Here is a link for the Potomac Pedalers website. They have some pretty good rides in this area. I do the ones that are out in the Germantown/Poolesville area. If you look to the right of the web page, you can see a list of cue sheets and a link to see all of the cue sheets.

http://www.bikepptc.org/


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## MisterC (May 26, 2007)

get an account on dcfixed.com and hook up with uniben. he is a treasure trove of information on what you are looking for and rides get organized on that forum all the time.

you see me on there as thosewhocan. feel free to whisper me.

despite being a wealth of information its a source of contant entertainment and, being in grad school, i think you will find yourself right at home.

just a suggestion.


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