washington dc/virginia/maryland riders

craigstanton

I am looking for Cat 1 hills near washington d.c. Deos anyone happen to know of anything less than an hour from downtown?

Thanks for the info.

Craig

larry barr

My brother lives out there and rides with DC Velo and The Bicycle Place. I asked him for some advice and will let you know.

__________________
Remember, pain is just fear leaving your body.

craigstanton

Thanks Larry. Much appreciated.

larry barr

My brother suggests heading from Bethesda/Potomac towards Sugarloaf Mountain. He also says to check out www.bikethisway.com which has a searchable ride index. Lastly, you can e-mail him at Hbarr@wcsr.com. Rock Creek Park has some nasty stuff in it as well. Happy climbing.

__________________
Remember, pain is just fear leaving your body.

craigstanton

Great tips Larry. I've been looking for group rides too, so I may actually try to pick up the group rides for DC Velo or the Bicycle Place this weekend. I'll e-mail your brother to ask about these rides. Thanks again.

Best,
Craig

larry barr

My pleasure. The groups he rides with are fast ones. My brothers name is Howard by the way. He is an attorney out there, but don't hold that against him.

__________________
Remember, pain is just fear leaving your body.

meb

A similar but slightly different question came up in October in this thread:

http://www.cyclingforums.com/showth...?threadid=53764

Try these bike shops-Mt. Airy Bikes www.bike123.com or Citybikes for some leads.

Try these links too:

http://www.waba.org/new/clubs/racedc.php

The bicycle messenger organization holds some Wednesday April-October evening time trials in Rock Creek Park with some climbs- open to all.

Someone from DC with a WV cabin was recently was posting for riding partner for weekend climbs, can't recall if was in cyclingforums or bikeforums,

izzodesh

i used to live in Potomac area and sugar loaf is great and
we used to race to DC on the cresent..
our record was liek 20 mins...
heheh
that was fun 8)

__________________
-2003 Airborne Valk-17.5lbs
Raced

-1999 Fisher Mt. Tam- 28.5 lbs
Punished

-1999 Trek Y22-24.5 lbs
Newly Pampered

landersben

I live in Bethesda, MD. Cat 1 climbs....

I don't know about Cat 1 climbs, but here are the two best places to go if you want hills:

Frederick Maryland - Catoctin Delight Loop
5-6 climbs, all 15 minutes or less, but several with extended pitches at 20%+. Coxy Brown Rd is rumored to gain 1,100 feet inside of 2 miles...ouch. It takes 14-15 minutes to climb and the first 8 are 39 x 25 grinding or standing

Skyline Drive - Front Royal Virginia
1-1.5 hours from DC
Climbs are all rolling, but the climb from the start in Front Royal to the visitors station is a solid 6 miles. A good ride is to start at the begining of the drive, ride out about 40-50 miles, turn left off the parkway down to Sperryville, VA, turn around and ride back up the the parkway (30 min climb) and then head home. All in all it is about a 5-6 hour ride with several 20 min+ climbs.

Feel free to drop me a line. I live and race in the area and have Cue Sheets.

Best Regards,

Ben Landers

craigstanton

Hi Ben,

Thanks for dropping me a line. I live in Rockville. I don't race any more, but I am still a serious recreational rider. I have been meaning to make my way out to Skyline drive. I used to live in Charlottesville, actually . . . so I am very familiar with more Southern portions of the Blue Ridge mountains.

The last few weekends I've been doing hills up at Sugar Loaf, 5 or 6 laps around the hill circuit . . . and then taking long rides through the country. Beautiful up there. Maybe this Saturday I'll try your suggestion for Skyline Drive. Did you say that you have cue sheets? I'd love to see those. My private e-mail address is:

craig.stanton@ed.gov

Thanks again!

Best, Craig

snjrides

Craig –



The four toughest hills that I know of in the DC area are Harp Hill near Frederick, Mt. Weather in NoVa, Naked Mtn in Nova, and South Mountain to the west of Frederick. If you need maps/cues, my cycling team has put together an eBook of rides in the DC area. Our website is www.snjrides.com. We have at least one ride on each of those hills.



Scott

craigstanton

Thanks. I've actually been out to Mt. Weather 5 or 6 times this season. Very nice ride. I was doing the 60 mile loop from Marshall.