Vienna to Purcellville Ride This Saturday (July 11)

[DanB]

I’m planning to finally see what’s at the end of the W&OD …

My family’s out of town, so I can take a longer ride this weekend. If anyone would care to join a moderate-speed biker from Vienna to Purcellville, you’re welcome to. I plan to leave by mid-morning. (I’d leave earlier, but I’ll need time to recover from a German language meet-up the evening before. And everyone knows that drinking beer is common while conversing in German–probably to kill the time until the verb shows up.)

Hmm, bikes, German and beer … That reminds me of a Radler!

I assume the average speed will be around 16-17 mph, so the ride time will probably be two hours out and two hours back (plus stops for meals, pie, ice cream, etc :cool:). For those of you who have done this ride before, does that sound reasonable?

I’m guessing that it’s a pretty straight forward ride, but any words of advice would be appreciated.

Topic

[bentbike33]

VDOT has a big construction project at the Route 7/Route 9 interchange that involves re-routing the WOD. I have just a seen the plans on the interwebs but have not seen the construction personally, so I can’t vouch for the conditions.

[DanB]

@bentbike33 119565 wrote:

VDOT has a big construction project at the Route 7/Route 9 interchange that involves re-routing the WOD. I have just a seen the plans on the interwebs but have not seen the construction personally, so I can’t vouch for the conditions.

Thanks for the heads up! At least NVRPA says the trail will remain open throughout construction.

[hozn]

@DanB 119593 wrote:

Thanks for the heads up! At least NVRPA says the trail will remain open throughout construction.

I haven’t ridden it in the past few weeks, but @seunpu rides it daily. I don’t think there’s any major impact at this stage.

FWIW, the trail is quite nice a pleasant ride west of Leesburg (really, west of Sterling).

[Emm]

@DanB 119554 wrote:

I’m planning to finally see what’s at the end of the W&OD …

My family’s out of town, so I can take a longer ride this weekend. If anyone would care to join a moderate-speed biker from Vienna to Purcellville, you’re welcome to. I plan to leave by mid-morning. (I’d leave earlier, but I’ll need time to recover from a German language meet-up the evening before. And everyone knows that drinking beer is common while conversing in German–probably to kill the time until the verb shows up.)

Hmm, bikes, German and beer … That reminds me of a Radler!

I assume the average speed will be around 16-17 mph, so the ride time will probably be two hours out and two hours back (plus stops for meals, pie, ice cream, etc :cool:). For those of you who have done this ride before, does that sound reasonable?

I’m guessing that it’s a pretty straight forward ride, but any words of advice would be appreciated.

You may be a little hopeful on timing–I’d add on another ~15-20 minutes each way to account for lights and crossing roads. According to Strava, it took me an hour to go the 14 miles between Vienna and Green Lizard in Herndon, even though I was averaging 17.2 mph. That’s 10 min longer than it should have. Over a longer distance, it adds up even more. For my 70-80 mile weekend rides I usually add in an extra 40 min to an hour for being stopped at lights/slowing down to cross roads/swerving around little kids, plus a smoothie stop at Green Lizard. It gets much easier past Herndon, but there are still a few crossings that slow you down.

[consularrider]

@DanB 119593 wrote:

Thanks for the heads up! At least NVRPA says the trail will remain open throughout construction.

The project has been going on for a while and there was no impact on the W&OD on Friday, July 3. But then, no one was actively working there
that day.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Emm 119612 wrote:

You may be a little hopeful on timing–I’d add on another ~15-20 minutes each way to account for lights and crossing roads.

I also tend to slow down on the way back due to heat and crushing boredom…

[DanB]

Thanks for everyone’s constructive advice!

@Emm 119612 wrote:

You may be a little hopeful on timing–I’d add on another ~15-20 minutes each way to account for lights and crossing roads. According to Strava, it took me an hour to go the 14 miles between Vienna and Green Lizard in Herndon, even though I was averaging 17.2 mph. That’s 10 min longer than it should have. Over a longer distance, it adds up even more. For my 70-80 mile weekend rides I usually add in an extra 40 min to an hour for being stopped at lights/slowing down to cross roads/swerving around little kids, plus a smoothie stop at Green Lizard. It gets much easier past Herndon, but there are still a few crossings that slow you down.

Fortunately, no one will be waiting for me and worrying.

[seunpu]

The W&OD is wide open all the way to Purcellville without any real issues. The construction at Route 7/Route 9 interchange has not re-routed the path yet. I’ve been waiting for them to punch through the berm to see the new tunnel that is being constructed. It’s a great ride out and back but remember it get more crowded later in the morning.

[mstone]

@Emm 119612 wrote:

YFor my 70-80 mile weekend rides I usually add in an extra 40 min to an hour for being stopped at lights/slowing down to cross roads/swerving around little kids, plus a smoothie stop at Green Lizard.

Yes, don’t be that guy who can’t slow down for the kids.

[DanB]

@mstone 119636 wrote:

Yes, don’t be that guy who can’t slow down for the kids.

Don’t worry. I know what it’s like to bike with kids on the trail.

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[DanB]

@mstone 119636 wrote:

Yes, don’t be that guy who can’t slow down for the kids.

Don’t worry. I know what it’s like to bike with kids on the trail.

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[Author]

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