Hey all,

My wife and I are starting to ramp up the riding for the season (she's a bit of a beginner--200-300 miles in her legs to date--so we've been wimpy about the cold this year), and are looking for other rides to do.

Right now, we tend to stick to Rock Creek Park/Beach Drive and/or Sligo Creek Parkway. These are reasonable rides--we can pull 16 miles or so out of them without hassle, but they're definitely "drop down in, do your ride, climb out" kind of locations, and now we're looking for something a little more countryside-ish, with a few rolling hills if possible.

We're turning into time triallists--we hammer out our 16 miles in an hour or so, then we're done. I'm afraid we'll burn out if we keep that up, though it's been good for Girlygirl's initial fitness.

I know that MB1 does a lot of riding in the area, and while his taste in distances far outstrips ours, I can't help feeling from his ride reports that there's a simple route from downtown Silver Spring to some slightly more rolling country without driving and without spending our entire 30-40 miles in town.

Any suggestions?

Also, I'm open to a little driving, but not very much if we can help it--just makes it seem like so much more of a production.

I know that MB1 does a lot of riding in the area, and while his taste in distances far outstrips ours, I can't help feeling from his ride reports that there's a simple route from downtown Silver Spring to some slightly more rolling country without driving and without spending our entire 30-40 miles in town.

Any suggestions?

Also, I'm open to a little driving, but not very much if we can help it--just makes it seem like so much more of a production.

The longest journey starts with a single step.

http://www.cctrail.org/CCT_Maps.htm

http://www.bikewashington.org/

http://www.bikepptc.org/

Combining the Capital Crescent Trail with Rock Creek gets you a pretty nice 25 mile loop or so. Have you ridden up to the Nature Center in Rock Creek Park?

How about combining Sligo Creek with the Northeast and Northwest Branch Trails? The National Arboretum is a great place to ride and not that far from the NW Branch Trail.

Tuckerman Lane is a great way out of the city from Rock Creek.

If you don't mind crowds the Mount Vernon Trail is 18 miles long and is easy to get to from the southern end of Rock Creek.

I could go on but as you can see your options are endless.

The longest journey starts with a single step.

http://www.cctrail.org/CCT_Maps.htm

http://www.bikewashington.org/

http://www.bikepptc.org/

Combining the Capital Crescent Trail with Rock Creek gets you a pretty nice 25 mile loop or so. Have you ridden up to the Nature Center in Rock Creek Park?

How about combining Sligo Creek with the Northeast and Northwest Branch Trails? The National Arboretum is a great place to ride and not that far from the NW Branch Trail.

Tuckerman Lane is a great way out of the city from Rock Creek.

If you don't mind crowds the Mount Vernon Trail is 18 miles long and is easy to get to from the southern end of Rock Creek.

I could go on but as you can see your options are endless.

Thanks for the links.

Regarding the Capital Crescent--where would we pick that up from Rock Creek? Is it off Beach Drive/Rock Creek Parkway or does it intersect Jones Mill somewhere?

We ride up (and I do mean "up") to the Nature Center on pretty much every ride in the park. We usually go up the south side, which is really steep, but only about 2 minutes of hard climbing--we call it Parc d'Huez. I mostly see people coming in the other direction, but I like the short, sharp shock of that hill.

Tuckerman is a good idea--it's how the Bicycle Place Sunday ride gets out of town. I only know their route, at their pace, so I've been thinking it's too hard for GirlyGirl, but ridden in a more leisurely manner, it would probably be just the ticket.

(Added later: I just looked things up, and it's Bradley we take on the Sunday ride--so ignore what I said. I'm going to check out Tuckerman too, though)

As to riding the trails, I really hate them. I can't claim to be a fast guy, but my cruising speed is WAY too high for MUTs--especially the one out to Mt. Vernon. A pal and I used to race out to Mt.V. on Sundays all the time, but that was when we were messengers and actually WANTED to upset the squares. Now I prefer to avoid MUTs--too dangerous for all involved.

Thanks loads for the other ideas.

hey!

FIO:
There's a local group in Rockville that rides out of gaithersburg and laytonsville.
RIde distance is ~35 miles. Group has riders from 19-59 yrs old. Some slow, some fast.
We typically hit the Poolesville, dickerson, Martinsburg, Point of Rocks areas..
We have 90+ people on our emai list. About 3-15 people ride at any one time.
Let me know if you want us to add you to the list.
The group is called the Rockville Roadies.

hey!

FIO:
There's a local group in Rockville that rides out of gaithersburg and laytonsville.
RIde distance is ~35 miles. Group has riders from 19-59 yrs old. Some slow, some fast.
We typically hit the Poolesville, dickerson, Martinsburg, Point of Rocks areas..
We have 90+ people on our emai list. About 3-15 people ride at any one time.
Let me know if you want us to add you to the list.
The group is called the Rockville Roadies.

RR--check your personal mail. I sent you my email address. We may not be able to make ourselves drive to Gaithersburg to start a ride, but it would be nice to know what the story is.

Thanks for the links.

Regarding the Capital Crescent--where would we pick that up from Rock Creek? Is it off Beach Drive/Rock Creek Parkway or does it intersect Jones Mill somewhere?

It crosses Jones Mill/Jones Bridge right where they meet at the top of the hill. It's just a block north of East West Highway and you can see it on this part of their map. (http://www.cctrail.org/map2.htm) The first part there is not paved but is certainly fine for a road bike though it can be muddy when wet. There are also a number of places to get on further south in DC or Bethesda if you prefer to take another route to get to it. The CC Trail is a MUT so there will be traffic, particularly in Bethesda. It's not as winding as Mt. Vernon Trail and always seems less crowded to me. The part in Bethesda just after the Wisconsin Ave tunnel is where you'll see the worst of the crowds for a couple miles.