Looking for some good 100 mile type rides in this area.

[acc]

You should try the ride out to Purcellville on the W&OD. Eat at Magnolias. Have a beer. Ride back.
Lots of bike shops along the way in case you have mechanical problems.
Great places to eat in Leesburg too if you don’t want to go as far.

[PeteD]

If you’ve signed up for ridewithgps.com, Dirt & other Bike Arlington folks have some longer rides that I’ve been looking at riding in the near future, though mine have been focusing on the climbing aspect (Mt. Weather, Skymass, Sugarloaf).

[Bilsko]

The W&OD ride out to Purcelville is a great suggestion – you could also veer off the WOD a bit earlier and cross the Potomac at Point of Rocks or White’s Ferry and head up to Sugarloaf (or Poolesville, about 15 miles before) and loop back down River Road+MacArthur or the C&O Canal.

RidewithGPS does have plenty of good suggestions that you can dial in to distances right around 100m (or any distance for that matter)

Some other forum members have ridden out to Annapolis and/or Baltimore lately – I suspect that 100 mile rides could be made from those loops.

31 laps at Hains Point, perhaps?

[KLizotte]

If you decide on the WO&D try to do it on a weekday when there are far fewer peds on the trail. Wknds, esp warm ones, are insane with trail users. I once had the trail almost all to myself on a glorious 75 degree day in June because it was a Tuesday.

[GuyContinental]

@KLizotte 43827 wrote:

If you decide on the WO&D try to do it on a weekday when there are far fewer peds on the trail. Wknds, esp warm ones, are insane with trail users. I once had the trail almost all to myself on a glorious 75 degree day in June because it was a Tuesday.

I’ll fourth the W&OD- it’s almost exactly 100 miles to P’ville and back if you do the Arlington Loop (Custis/MVT) as an add-on. Absolutely the easiest century to do from home, stay out of traffic and navigate.

Another “classic” is W&OD to Rt 15, cross into MD and then back to DC

[Dirt]

I do hundred-ish rides 2-4 times per month. Potomac Pedalers Touring Club has some great cue sheets of local rides… arguably the best collection around. Combining it with RideWithGPS.com and a Garmin 705, 800 or 810 makes for a great way to do interesting rides every weekend. One of the nice things is that they group the rides by ride start location. I don’t drive, so I plot routes to my favorite ride starts and use them to add to my ride. A 55 mile gravel road ride in Loudoun County becomes a 110 miles when I ride to and from the ride start. http://app.strava.com/activities/40466216

Popular Ride Starts:
Loudoun County High School is located on the W&OD about 32 miles from home.
Gainsville is about 30 miles from home on an easy route to and from: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/30832652
Germantown Soccerplex is about 32 miles from home via MacArthur Blvd/River Road
Poolsville is about 37 miles via either W&OD+ Whites Ferry or MacArthur Blvd/River Road
Rock Creek Park leads out of town to the NorthWest too. I’ve used that as a springboard out or a route back into town.

I recently saw a friend’s combination of the BWI trail, WB&A and B&A trails that opened up the North and East parts of the region…. and that’s an easy drop down south into Maryland and back through National Harbor. I haven’t really explored a lot out there yet, but I’m going to this summer.

Looking for new and interesting places to ride is a great way to keep cycling fun and interesting. It also really gets you to know the area where you live much better. You see things so much better from the saddle than you do from your car.

Have fun.

Pete

[consularrider]

@GuyContinental 43833 wrote:

I’ll fourth the W&OD- it’s almost exactly 100 miles to P’ville and back if you do the Arlington Loop (Custis/MVT) as an add-on. Absolutely the easiest century to do from home, stay out of traffic and navigate…

This is my default century when I haven’t planned something beforehand. Also, if you add a ride down to Mt Vernon and back you have an easy 200 km ride. You can do a couple of variations to get a little hill climbing in. In Leesburg, take Dry Mill just after the 34.5 mile marker. Then take the first left after the Rte 7 overpass with a good climb up Woodburn Rd to Harmony Church Rd which has some big rollers. This takes you to Business 7 and into Hamilton where you take Ivandale Rd back to the W&OD at the 42 mile marker. On the way back from Purcellville, turn right at Hamilton Station Rd (mile marker 41) and immediately left on Irene Rd, right on Meadowlark Rd, and right on Simpson Cir meeting back up with the W&OD at Charles Town Pike (Rte 9). This is rollers. After crossing Rte 7, stay on the road and enjoy the descent back down Dry Mill.

I try to do at least one hundred mile ride a month, and have a 26 months consecutive streak going. To get these long rides in I do a combination of events (like the Reston and PPTC Backroads Centuries), group/club rides (usually 40 – 60 mile rides that I make into a century (like Dirt) by riding to and from the starting point), and solo centuries during the off season.

The complete W&OD/Arlington Loop can easily be done any day of the week, and even the busy weekends aren’t that bad. The other non-event centuries I do are almost exclusively on weekends or holidays. Here are a few with Garmin GPS route links to at least part of the ride.

I did the ride to Annapolis twice last summer, riding to New Carrollton Metro and joining a group ride from there. The total 104 mile ride was logged as three segments.

Another 100 mile route that goes via New Carrollton is to Galesville.

Also heading east is a 150 mile ride via Davidsonville. I was riding to and from a 60 mile group ride. This was an exploration of how to head east from the District. I went out East Capitol/Central Ave, while not for those not comfortable with riding on busy roads, the worst part was dealing with the Beltway on/off ramps. I’m still trying to figure a better routing that doesn’t add a lot of miles.

Going north I’ll ride to Shady Grove to join group rides through Montgomery and Howard Counties. This also includes a counterclockwise loop version that goes to Poolesville, MD, crosses White’s Ferry and back via Leesburg/Purcellville and the W&OD. If the ride is early on a Saturday or Sunday morning, I’ll ride up Wisconsin/Rockville Pike since there isn’t a lot of traffic before 9 am those days. Otherwise I like taking a combination up Seven Locks Rd. The link is the short way with the 41st St climb from Chain Bridge. An especially tough climb at mile 90+.

[Vicegrip]

Thanks for the good tips. I have been planning to do the WO&D west + the Arl loop for a while. Mapmyride looks like a great tool and just what I am looking for. I want to tour around without spending all my time working on not getting lost. Who is this guy Pete Beers? D00d has ridden all over the place Dirt, I agree nothing works quite like a ride. Running is too slow, driving is too fast and too disconected.You popped up when I tried my very first ride plan on mapmyride, Falls church to point of rocks and back. the loop that runs across whites ferry that consularrider posted looks cool too.

Am getting ichy for some rides. The hamster wheel and netflix does not cut it sometimes.

[Steve]

@acc 43817 wrote:

Eat at Magnolias. Have a beer. Ride back.

Or do the same at Carolina Brothers BBQ in Ashburn. Mmmmmmmm. Plus maybe a little easier to “only” have another ~30 or so miles left on the ride, not ~50.

[Dirt]

@Vicegrip 43892 wrote:

Who is this guy Pete Beers? D00d has ridden all over the place

Whoever he is, he really should get a life. Dude’s clueless for sure!

Just so you know… Y’all inspired me today.
1) I went out to dive into PPTC cue sheets and realized my membership had just lapsed. Payed up for another year. Woo!
2) Found a LOVELY variant on a favorite ride in Loudoun. http://ridewithgps.com/routes/43445
3) Modified that LOVELY variant of a loop because I always wanted a loop with an elevation profile that looks like a giant cobra ate a whole cow in one bite: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2144829
4) That loop will end up being a total leg breaker for Sunday.
5) A ride that special deserves to be ridden on a bike that is equally flawless. Dusted off the Cervelo, glued on a new front tire and it is ready for a little shake-down tomorrow and hopefully a death march on Sunday.

Thank you for the inspiration!!!!!

[JimF22003]

I like to start at the commuter lot in Marshall (yes, Pete I drive to the start )

From there you can go absolutely in any direction and have a great ride — to Warrenton, Leeds Manor/Hume, Rectorstown-Airmont-Snickersville, Middleburg, Bull Run Mt etc. There are so many options you can put together a ride of just about any length you want.

[Dirt]

Driving to the start is awesome! I depend on it for having people to ride with. I’ve also been known to hitch a ride home with them when things go wrong. I think I’ve had to take advantage of that 3 times in the last 4 years. Each time it was REALLY needed though.

[JimF22003]

Just for the fun of it I threw together this 3-leg cloverleaf ride that starts in Marshall and loops back twice. It could easily be extended to make it 100, or do it in smaller segments. I may actually do this ride one of these cold days. It would let me warm up and refill supplies at my CAR between loops so I could adapt my clothing as it warms up and not need to carry any food to speak of. Notice the jog to the country store in Orlean at about mile 48:

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2146242

[acc]

I am an advocate of the looping system for long unsupported rides. Liz and I start and end in the dark. Liz is less high maintenance than I am but we need an assortment of gear during the day.

I like the flexibility of being able to pick up sunglasses, change jackets, swap out water bottles and have access to a cooler with food. I also like having a floor pump, extra tubes, (not that I’m gonna change a flat if there’s an LBS nearby), and something to wipe my hands on. And oh yeah, an extra set of lights.

And maybe champagne.

No doubt Liz and I will be back out there soon with a longer ride in mind. But we’ll work off a set of loops.

[btj]

@consularrider 43867 wrote:

I did the ride to Annapolis twice last summer, riding to New Carrollton Metro and joining a group ride from there. The total 104 mile ride was logged as three segments.

I’m looking to do a ride to Annapolis soon and your route would definitely help out. However, your “group ride” link actually points to the W&OD + Arlington Loop ride. Do you have a link for the New Carrollton to Annapolis ride? Thanks!

[Author]

Posts