[consularrider]

It’s 100°F out and you’re thinking about Moose Mitts. Did the images of snow and ice in your mind help cool you down? You’re my kind of rider!

[consularrider]

@ronwalf 6030 wrote:

I just found a route on Bike Washington that goes from Greenbelt Metro to the Bay. Greenbelt is fairly easy to get to from DC. Could this be your route?

One of these days I’ll have to give that a try. It goes well north of where I want to be. I’m trying to figure out an route east from the Wilson Bridge/Oxon Hill out to Calvert County.

[consularrider]

OK, so everyone is working on padding their posting/visit statistics?

[consularrider]

They were at Wiehle Ave in Reston on Saturday.

[consularrider]

I did my accidential half century on the W&OD from the Custis out past Ashburn and back on Saturday. I blame the nice lady with the Spokes Etc kit for passing me just after I crossed the Rte 7 overpass in Falls Church heading west since I had only planned on a quarter century to Reston and back.

I didn’t see any horses on Saturday, just two fawns in the gravel on the south edge of the trail near mile 12. I have seen horses on the stretch from Vienna to Hunter Mill Rd and then in the area from mile 41 to mile 43 between Hamilton and Purcellville. I also did not stop for the survey teams.

[consularrider]

I am using a Lezyne Drive pump that has a pen gauge on the hose (you have to buy it separately) that works with both presta and schraeder valves. I also line up my valve stem with printing on the tire, but use the recommended inflation info as my marker. That way I am always looking at my target when I am pumping. With different bikes, it helps remind me.

[consularrider]

I’ve had mixed success with patched tubes (so far I haven’t used glueless patches). Some seem to work well for months, others just until the next ride. It seems that if I can find what caused the hole (like with your thumbtack), I have a better chance that the tube will be ok for a while. It’s when I don’t find anything sharp in the tire or wheel, that I seem to start having unexplained failure to hold air or unexplained holes.

[consularrider]

From the debris and bent vegitation, yesterday’s storm had Four Mile Run at its highest level that I can remember. The good thing is that the level went down fairly fast.

[consularrider]

@PotomacCyclist 5677 wrote:

The W&OD is mostly flat, with a couple modest hills. But if you’re itching to try a short but steep hill, turn off onto Four Mile Run Trail in Glencarlyn Park. (FMR runs side-by-side with W&OD in the park.) Take the steep path up to S. Harrison St. It’s not very long, maybe 200 ft total, but it’s very steep. I think it’s the only place in the DC area where I actually thought I might flip over backward on a hill.

Other than that steep hill, there’s no reason to take that side path (unless you happen to live in that neighborhood). But that hill is definitely not boring. Gut-busting, but not boring.

Here’s the link on Google Maps: Glencarlyn Park hill

I have to assume you mean just that portion of the 4 Mile Run Trail with the sharp climb and subseguent descent. I will frequently take the 4 Mile Run Trail over the W&OD from Bluemont through Shirlington to enjoy the shade (it’s almost all under tree canopy), for the undulating topography, and to avoid the stoplights and street crossings between Columbia Pike and Shirlington. Just can’t do it during heavy rains because the steam crossings flood.

[consularrider]

I rode 32 miles from western Arlington to Davidsonville, MD early on Saturday morning. In trying to find a direct route, Google Maps had me ride the East Capitol/Central Ave (MD214) combination through Prince George’s County. I was on this road from about 7:30 am to 9:00 am with fairly light traffic and from 2:30 to 4:00 with moderate traffic and no problems with drivers either time. Most of the time I was riding between 16 and 20 mph. From the DC boundry to the Beltway, the road is six lanes and no shoulder (but usually with a whilte stripe 18 to 24 inches form the gutter pan). From the Beltway to Crain Hwy (MD301) the road is four lanes, a higher speed limit, and a good wide shoulder, but it does not appear to get cleaned very often, I didn’t like having to deal with glass as often as I did. From 301 to Davidsonville, the road is two lanes with a narrower, but rideable (for me) shoulder. My biggest worry was the interchange with the Beltway. At the worst spot there are two exit/merge lanes coming off Beltway from the right that you have to integrate with or end up riding in the middle lane. I have to give some credit to Allen Muchnick and the LAB courses he taught on riding on these types of roads.

There just seems to be quite a gap in north to south in the eastern DC metro area with a lack of roads that can get a cyclist across the rivers, the Anacostia Freeway/BW Parkway, the Beltway, and 301. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was something like the W&OD on the east side that could get a rider well beyond the Beltway without having to deal with high speed arterials? There’s lots of good riding out that way once you clear the obstacles. I’m still waiting for other riders to let me in on any strategies.

[consularrider]

Any one heading home tonight, please post the trail status since I have to ride that way for the first time in a couple of weeks at 5:30 tomorrow morning.

[consularrider]

“Irene Rd” is State Road 706. It starts at Hamilton Station Rd at the feed mill and the W&OD mile post is 41. Heading east from Hamilton Station you go past a nice farm, turn right on Meadowlark Dr (SR 800), then bear right on Simpson Circle before rejoining the W&OD at Charles Town Pike to cross over Rte 7. I’ve ridden Colonial (old Rte 7) from Purcellville to Leesburg a couple of times and sometimes wonder about the traffic from Purcellville to Hamilton. Enjoy your ride.

[consularrider]

Hmmm, there was a park police officer at the stop sign at Gravelly Point having a discussion with a cyclist. Is there a pattern here?

[consularrider]

@jcpetrson 5391 wrote:

I have to second Carolina BBQ. It’s halfway out/home to Purcellville. Purcellville has some decent restaurants near Trails End. Magnolias is great but a little to fancy for bike shorts.

I strongly suggest that you stop at Loudoun County High School and take Dry Mill Rd to Irene and then Colonial Hwy (old Rt 7). That is a taste of riding in Loudoun Cty. Very few know the great roads and lack of traffic. The W&OD is too dangerous for 20+ mph.

Thanks for coming out to see us.

I’ve certainly done the ride from the East Falls Church Metro in seven and a half hours to go 80 miles with food breaks with no problem. My actual ride time seems to average about five hours 15 minutes for about a 15.5 mph average. On the way out take the trail and save the road for coming back from Hamilton to Leesburg. Dry Mill Rd is a great downhill run from Clark’s Gap.

As far as food stops, I’ve eaten at Magnolias in Purcellville several times with bike groups (sitting both inside and outside), good food but it is a sitdown restaurant that takes time to get through your meal. Carolina Bros BBQ (opens at 10:30 am) in at the 27.5 mile mark in Ashburn is also great (and quick) and both of these are very convenient since they are both right on the trail. In Leesburg the Doner Bistro is just two blocks north of the trail at mile mark 34 on Harrison St and might be better timing for an early lunch, or you could go another block north and around the corner on Loudoun St (at Rte 7) to Mom’s Apple Pie and get a slice for a quick energy boost. La Lou (next to the Tally Ho theater on W Market St) is also a good place to refuel if you have time for a sit down before heading the 30 miles back to Falls Church.

[consularrider]

@vvill 5392 wrote:

My destination is 19th & K though I typically hop off it at Key Bridge and go through Georgetown (M to Pennsylvania) and Washington Circle. I might try 21st to H St returning though, as I hate my return commute part through the city (I usually go via K St underneath the Whitehurst, and then climb up around to Key Br). My only concern is that the Roosevelt Bridge bike lane always seems very narrow, the times I’ve driven by it.

The route over the Roosevelt Bridge is actually wide enough (barely) for two bicycles to pass carefully in opposite directions, just slow down as you approach each other.

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