Rode Mount Weather on Sunday

[TwoWheelsDC]

@creadinger 29461 wrote:

Huh, why don’t you guys sign up for the Civil War Tour by the DC Randonneurs? It’s the same day, and the cost is only $10, plus $5 or $10 for joining the Randonneurs club for the year.

AND it’s not only cheaper, but you get 25 extra miles absolutely FREE! I wonder if our routes cross at any point? Likely at Antietam and Gettysburg I guess.

Noted for next year, but I think my CWC registration is non-refundable. Plus, it’s a fully supported ride (I’m assuming a DCR ride would not be, based on my understanding of randonneuring), which is nice. My wife and I are making a weekend out of it…driving up to Gettysburg and staying the weekend. I’ll do the CWC on Saturday and then we’ll probably ride the battlefield on Sunday before heading home.

[mstone]

@bluerider 29474 wrote:

The roads are very rideable. For the most part, very little traffic, mostly on rural roads. It is very hilly. Lots of rolling hills but also a few steep sustained climbs at up to 8% grade. With the exception of a short ride on Va-17 and the totally avoidable and highly not recommended ride on I-66 (see post above, take Grove Lane back to Marshall), it very beautiful and rideable.

Note that I must take this with a grain of salt: if my route merged with 66 I’d scream like a little girl and assume the fetal position, not keep going. 😮

[bluerider]

@mstone 29480 wrote:

Note that I must take this with a grain of salt: if my route merged with 66 I’d scream like a little girl and assume the fetal position, not keep going. 😮

HEHEHEHE

I would agree but at the time I felt like we should needed to soldier on. In hindsight, we should be stopped.

[creadinger]

@TwoWheelsDC 29478 wrote:

Noted for next year, but I think my CWC registration is non-refundable. Plus, it’s a fully supported ride (I’m assuming a DCR ride would not be, based on my understanding of randonneuring), which is nice.

You are correct. On brevets you have to support yourself. $$ aside though I like stopping at convenience stores and small town stores like that. Last year I stopped at a farmer’s market to pound down some apples because I temporarily ran out of food. The other thing is the controle stops where you have to get your card stamped or figure out a piece of information on a historical sign. That part is a little strange but I see the point and it’s really not that difficult.

Have a great time in Gettysburg. If you want to do a longer ride on Sunday I can recommend going up to the Biglerville, PA area. Route 234 is a great E-W road for seeing rural PA without having to get lost on the REALLY back roads. You can just follow the PA Route S.

My wife will be going outlet shopping in Hagerstown while I’m riding all day.

[consularrider]

@bluerider 29477 wrote:

Hey Certified,
I edited the course to take the correct road. If you compare the two, you will see the difference. Just go to the end of the course and back track out of Marshall along Grove Lane and you will see how easy it is to end up on I-66. There are no signs to alert to this hazard. FOR EVERYONE INTERESTED IN THIS RIDE, PLEASE USE THIS COURSE TO KEEP YOU OFF I-66.

Had to make another edit, Garmin didn’t like something. Fixed now.

http://connect.garmin.com/course/1975888

If doing the Mt Weather loop in the clockwise direction, it’s actually pretty easy to get confused and end up on the entry ramp to I-66 (a direct merge into the left lane). The good thing is if you’ve done it once, you’ll never do it again (or hopefully the person leading the ride is in front of you and knows this issue). Winchester Rd is SR 55/US 15 there and, while it is clear you are next to I-66, only the right fork of the on ramp has the sign letting you know that bicycles, pedestrians, etc are prohibited. If you take the left, it is sign posted to Washington without any real warning that its only outlet is onto the Interstate and you are going over the westbound lanes of I-66, so you can’t see where you will actually end up.

The most obvious landmark is Emmanuel Episcopal Church on the left (north). When you see that, make an immediate left turn onto Maidstone Rd (SR 713), and then an immediate right onto Grove Ln (CR T185) which will safely take you back into Marshall.

[bluerider]

@consularrider 29484 wrote:

If doing the Mt Weather loop in the clockwise direction, it’s actually pretty easy to get confused and end up on the entry ramp to I-66 (a direct merge into the left lane). The good thing is if you’ve done it once, you’ll never do it again (or hopefully the person leading the ride is in front of you and knows this issue). Winchester Rd is SR 55/US 15 there and, while it is clear you are next to I-66, only the right fork of the on ramp has the sign letting you know that bicycles, pedestrians, etc are prohibited. If you take the left, it is sign posted to Washington without any real warning that its only outlet is onto the Interstate and you are going over the westbound lanes of I-66, so you can’t see where you will actually end up.

The most obvious landmark is Emmanuel Episcopal Church on the left (north). When you see that, make an immediate left turn onto Maidstone Rd (SR 713), and then an immediate right onto Grove Ln (CR T185) which will safely take you back into Marshall.

This is the perfect narration of what happen to us. Thanks for post this.

[Jason B]

Congratulation on completing the Mt. Weather Loop! A definite bear that doesn’t seem to end. That first hill aftEr Rt. 7 is death. It is not long, but if I went any slower, I would have fallen over.
Now set your sites for SkyMass

[JimF22003]

Here’s a link to the “canonical” Blue Ridger ride from Marshall, including Mt Weather:

http://bikewashington.org/routes/bluerdg/index.htm

This is a favorite of mine. I usually end up doing it in the winter, because it’s a good length of ride to finish when the day is warming up, and you can do it in daylight. It’s much nicer in the summer and the fall from a scenery standpoint though.

I once broke a shift cable on the rear derailleur while climbing up Mt. Weather in the reverse direction. Not recommended 😡

There are lots of nice variations that avoid having to slog back to Marshall on 55/Grove Rd. Coming back through Rectortown on Maidstone is nice. I often head up Leeds Manor and cut over at various points, or even follow all the way to Warrenton. You can make a nice century route out of doing the Mt Weather loop, going to Warrenton, and then coming back through The Plains.

Looks like a bunch of us will be doing the CWC this year. This will be my fourth time I think. Hope to see you there!

[TwoWheelsDC]

@JimF22003 29501 wrote:

Looks like a bunch of us will be doing the CWC this year. This will be my fourth time I think. Hope to see you there!

I’ll make sure to wear my BikeArlington jersey to represent and be easily recognizable. I’m hoping that even with all the hills, I can maintain about a 15mph overall average…maybe we can get a BA peloton going.

[creadinger]

I tackled Mount weather for the first time this weekend. The wife and I drove out to Purcellville in the morning and while she did a nice spin on the outer segment of the W&OD I did a 50 mile loop over the mountain. It was a good ride! I kept it shorter than the longer loop that people do a lot because after 124 miles on Wednesday I wasn’t sure how much my legs recharged and I didn’t want to do a long, painful slog.

http://app.strava.com/rides/23629935

Overall it was not a terrible climb. There was a worse one on my semi-loaded tour from Boston last year. That climb wasn’t as long, but it was steeper and I was carrying more weight. It was similar though in the way that it went straight up the mountain, as opposed to meandering around to flatten it out.

The part of the ride I liked least I think was the stretch on US50 at the bottom of the mountain for the 1.5 miles to Winchester Rd. The combination of the high speed traffic, wind and the squirrely road surface made me keep a white knuckle grip on my bars. I don’t recommend cutting across Carr Ln (bad gravel). Instead I should have continued down Winchester Rd. to Delaplane. There’s an awesome little BBQ place in Upperville. Stopping there made the last 20 miles back to Purcellville a breeze.

To make the day complete we stopped to try Haute Dogs for the first time before heading home. Overall it was a fabulous day on the bike.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1761[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1762[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1763[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1764[/ATTACH]

[Author]

Posts