DC Area Century Ride Recommendations?

[rcannon100]

All three.

If I could do a C, I would do Seagull. I LOVE that area. Getting a hotel room is a dog. But…. Chincoteague!!!!

Didnt Backroads get into squabbles with local police who were less than pleased with their presence?

The other great one was Covered Bridges. But its not on the Pot Pedalers list???? http://www.potomacpedalers.org/events/event_list.asp?show=&group=112404&DGPCrSrt=&DGPCrPg=1

[KWL]

@rcannon100 118464 wrote:

If I could do a C, I would do Seagull. I LOVE that area. Getting a hotel room is a dog. But…. Chincoteague!!!!

A good alternative to a hotel/motel for the Sea Gull is to book a campsite at Assateague State Park.

[TwoWheelsDC]

Not in the fall, but the Reston Century is August 24. Probably one of the most “DC area” supported rides you’ll find. A bit further afield, the Tour of Richmond is October 17th and is probably the best ride I’ve ever done in terms of support, both in terms of food, locals, and police…and it’s a great route that’s fairly easy from a terrain standpoint, but not so easy that it’s boring.

[jabberwocky]

I’ve not done cannonball, but I’ve done both seagull and backroads. Overall, seagull was the easier (and better supported) of the two. Attendance is ridiculously high, so its always easy to hop into a group going your speed, and the local community seems to support it enthusiastically. The scenery is nice and it is flat as a board, though the wind can be pretty brutal (the year I did it, the headwind over the last 30 miles coming back from assateague was pretty tough; fortunately I had Dirt to hide behind).

Backroads is considerably hillier (though still not too bad) and also pretty. The support was good enough, though it definitely doesn’t seem as well supported by the communities it goes through. I enjoyed it but when I finished I wasn’t too sure how enamored I was with the idea of doing it again. I’d do seagull again in a heartbeat though.

[MFC]

There is the Civil War Century, which has shorter variations. I’ve never done it, but it sounds cool, especially if you enjoy history.http://www.civilwarcentury.com/

[creadinger]

Don’t forget the Civil War Century! http://www.civilwarcentury.com/

It visits a few battlefields including the big ones – Antietam, and Gettysburg. If you’ve never ridden through Gettysburg battlefield it’s a must do in my mind. It’s a couple of the most memorable miles of road you’ll ever see. Even though I’ve done it like a dozen times by now, I still try to take it all in.

The biggest drawback is that it has 10,500 feet of climbing including 4 mountains. They actually recommend that this not be your first century, but rules are made to be broken right?! I actually haven’t done this ride, but I have done the DC Randonneurs Civil War Tour 200K, which uses a similar route. It’s slightly less climbey though, thankfully.

This one is like the exact opposite of the Seagull Century. My biggest concern with Seagull is that for the first 15 miles or so, there’s so many people there’s hardly any room maneuver. And you should have some decent bike handling skills, and be comfortable riding in a pack, because you’re going to be in one whether you want to or not.

[creadinger]

@MFC 118477 wrote:

There is the Civil War Century, which has shorter variations. I’ve never done it, but it sounds cool, especially if you enjoy history.http://www.civilwarcentury.com/

I bet we hit reply at the same time, but it took me 9 minutes to compose my thoughts.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@creadinger 118479 wrote:

Don’t forget the Civil War Century! http://www.civilwarcentury.com/

The biggest drawback is that it has 10,500 feet of climbing including 4 mountains.

Eh…Strava put my ride at 6200ft, which seems about right, compared to the couple of other 10k climbing rides I’ve done….those rides were brutal, but the CWC was just “challenging.” The route has changed slightly since I did it in 2012, but I don’t think it added THAT much climbing. But you’re absolutely right that it probably isn’t advisable for this to be one’s first century, particularly if one doesn’t do tons of hills. I do kinda want to do it again though….it was a nice ride.

[sjclaeys]

@rcannon100 118464 wrote:

Didnt Backroads get into squabbles with local police who were less than pleased with their presence?

This year the Backroads Century will start in Shepardstown, WV, rather than Berryville, VA as in the past several years. I think that the problems with the Clarke County sheriff caused the move, which is great because Shepardstown has already done a video welcoming the ride. It will be a whole new route, though I imagine it will continue to be hilly.

[vvill]

More of a reply to the replies, but the one time I did the CASA River ride (Shepherdstown), it was pretty well run and locally supported. Therefore I’m optimistic that the Backroads Century will find a new happy home there (I did it once in Berryville and enjoyed it all except the lack of “local support”).

You can of course always roll your own W&OD/Arlington Loop century, and use stops like the Green Lizard, Carolina Brothers, etc. as your support.

I haven’t done Cannonball but I’ve driven/been driven on some of those roads – my impression is that the roads there aren’t as well traveled by cyclists as some of the other centuries. (I also haven’t done Seagull but if it were closer I would be interested.)

[kwarkentien]

@rcannon100 118464 wrote:

All three.

If I could do a C, I would do Seagull. I LOVE that area. Getting a hotel room is a dog. But…. Chincoteague!!!!

Didnt Backroads get into squabbles with local police who were less than pleased with their presence?

The other great one was Covered Bridges. But its not on the Pot Pedalers list???? http://www.potomacpedalers.org/events/event_list.asp?show=&group=112404&DGPCrSrt=&DGPCrPg=1

I love Sea Gull. As to hotels, you book 9 months to a year in advance. (That’s what I do anyway.) I have to miss it this year as I’m out of town but it’s always a great time, well-supported, and flat (my favorite terrain!). http://www.teambeacon.com/seagull/ride/registration.asp

I did the front half of Backroads last year and it was lovely. The vistas were to die for. I know there were issues with the Sheriff beforehand and there were complaints during the ride while we were in WV so I guess that’s why the start is getting moved this year. I still had fun and might do it again on the new route. http://www.potomacpedalers.org/?page=brchome

I’ve done Covered Bridges for the last two years. The longest ride is a Metric Century but again the scenery is lovely and there are just enough hills to keep you honest but not crying like a girl. http://lancasterbikeclub.net/cbmc.html

Another one that’s similar to Sea Gull but less populated is the Amish Country Bike Tour in Dover DE: http://amishcountrybiketour.com/ It’s nicely supported and runs through farm country outside Dover and across the MD border.

And as other’s have mentioned, Martin’s Tour of Richmond is really nice and the support is top notch: http://www.sportsbackers.org/events/tour-richmond/

[creadinger]

Big plus for the Lancaster covered bridge metric century.

I haven’t done it for a couple of years, but it’s definitely worth the trip up to PA.

[Vicegrip]

@vvill 118491 wrote:

More of a reply to the replies, but the one time I did the CASA River ride (Shepherdstown), it was pretty well run and locally supported. Therefore I’m optimistic that the Backroads Century will find a new happy home there (I did it once in Berryville and enjoyed it all except the lack of “local support”).

You can of course always roll your own W&OD/Arlington Loop century, and use stops like the Green Lizard, Carolina Brothers, etc. as your support.

I haven’t done Cannonball but I’ve driven/been driven on some of those roads – my impression is that the roads there aren’t as well traveled by cyclists as some of the other centuries. (I also haven’t done Seagull but if it were closer I would be interested.)

I second VVil’s suggestion. The WO&D and arl loop century is a great way to see if you can do one. There are lots of food places and bike shops along the route and the elevation is not hard. You can pick the day and weather you like and ride your own pace. I bet there would be a couple of other BA forum regulars that might tag along to if company was wanted.

[trailrunner]

I did the Seagull century many years ago. Nice and flat. Good time of year. Great support and rest stations. Lots of riders.

My friend and I did not have a hotel, so we got up ridiculously early and drove over that morning. I’m normally a morning person, but that was early even by my standards. I was sleepy by the time we reached the Assateague rest stop in mid-morning. It was a beautiful, mild fall day, so I found a patch of grass and took a nice nap.

[AFHokie]

I’ve never done a century and was contemplating doing one this year. I’d prefer to do it with someone instead of on my own so if anyone’s planning on doing any and wouldn’t mind a +1 I’m game. Also, I don’t mind driving.

The Back Roads jersey looks pretty awesome too.

[Author]

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