General Cycling Discussion - BikeDC - Putting out feelers

Ok WABA's annual BikeDC event is September 20, 2003. I know it is early, but I was wondering if anyone else from the forum was thinking of participating. I thought maybe this might be a cool event to particpate in as a group.

Here is the link: http://www.waba.org/new/ride_with/bikedc2003.php

I was thinking about it. Just like last year. I hear it's a pretty big ride with a lot of people. I am hoping to ride this year.

This isnt exactly on the topic but Im going back to northern virginia for the summer. How are the roads for riding? Any good paths I should know about? I road bike so off-road trails mean nothing to me! I lived there for 4 years before I left for school but never payed attention to what it would be like to bike there, I only got into cycling this year. Thanks

cyclochica
Are you a member of WABA?
It sounds interesting.

TriDevil
Wehe will you be staying?

Joe

Originally posted by TriDevil
Any good paths I should know about?

Here is your money-maker site:

http://www.waba.org/new/paths/index.php

I hear the WO&D trail is cool, pretty long too.....

From my suburban MD perspective, Northern VA is a traffic hell hole. Massive growth and sprawl has made driving around there a nightmare, but I am not sure how road bike friendly they are.

I don't think NOVA is bad at all. I feel safer riding in VA than I do in Maryland, considering they drive like the speed limit is just a suggestion;)

Joe - No I am not a member of WABA, but I am a member of PPTC.

So I got one hopefully, one never ride in VA, and I guess I'll have to bribe Joe with some chocolate chip cookies.

joeprim, Im staying with my parents who still live there, in burke. Its about 10 minutes south of fairfax if you know where that is. Thanks for the suggestions

Do you mean south of Fairfax City? I live in Springfield, so you are only 10 minutes from me as well. If you plan on riding the WOD during the summer do it early. It is a popular trail and gets crowded in the mornings and evenings when it is cooler.

You might want to try College Parkway from Rt. 2 in Arnold to Sandy Point State Park. It isn't a bike trail but has good bike lanes to Cape St Claire rd, and little traffic past there.

Originally posted by FOG
You might want to try College Parkway from Rt. 2 in Arnold to Sandy Point State Park. It isn't a bike trail but has good bike lanes to Cape St Claire rd, and little traffic past there.

How long a ride is that? That sounds like a great ride !!

Remember NOVA's - I have never ridden in VA, just DRIVEN there. But, the reason people don't speed in NOVA is because they CAN'T - too much traffic :) :) :)

I would do the ride, but I am doing the Team in Training gig, and we have our group ride on Saturdays. I floated the idea to them, so I may end up doing the ride anyway, albeit with a big group :)

One person's experience was kinda bad - large groups, lots of wrecks, crazy people stopping without warning. Anyone else have trouble at this mega-ride? It sounds like its a pretty slow ride, probably pretty frustrating if you are at the back of the pack.

RG - Do you know if that person did the long ride or the family ride? Safety was one of my concerns with the ride, but I have wanted to participate for so long that I am probably going to take my chances and just do it.

Well, considering the person, I am sure she did the long ride. In fact, she trolls here, maybe she will pick up the thread. I will try to get her to chime in.

Her advice was start up front, but even then it sounded crazy. She did say it was fun, as long as you are prepared for a bit of chaos (to paraphrase).

To be fair, someone else responded saying they had a great time and would do it again in a heartbeat.

Originally posted by RollingGeek
How long a ride is that? That sounds like a great ride !!

I'm not sure, between 8 and 12 miles one way, with lots of opportunities to add detours into bay hills, cape st claire or down peninsula road. You can also get access to the B&A trail, go to yahoo.com maps and look for shore acres road and several side streets going south off college parkway if you want to go to annapolis, or go north to jones station road on rt 2 if you want to go north. rt 2 has wide shoulders but LOTS of traffic.

Hi,

Thanks for the info on the Bike DC. This sounds really cool. You get to tour DC without dealing with traffic.

I'm putting this on my calendar, I would say I'm 75% sure we(my family) will do this.

Now I just have to build my daughter up to 30 miles, looks like no more TV for her !! LOL. :crash:

As a matter of fact before I saw this thread, I had mentioned to my wife about doing the 5 boro tour in NYC. I'll probably do that one next spring. supposed to have 40,000+ participents.

Look forward to seeing some of you up in DC.

:beer:

CycloChica,

PPTC Potomac Peddlars Touring Club? (or someting like dat)
I remember them from my time in the area.
Speaking of which I'm gonna be up there next week,
Tysons area and Great Falls, have a graduation to attend.

Marty

Originally posted by lotek
CycloChica,

PPTC Potomac Peddlars Touring Club? (or someting like dat)
I remember them from my time in the area.
Speaking of which I'm gonna be up there next week,
Tysons area and Great Falls, have a graduation to attend.

Marty

Which high school?

Great Falls.
My Daughter.
Going to Shenondoah College

Marty

I think I will be there.

Originally posted by johndoug
I think I will be there.

Which ride were you thinking of doing?

Originally posted by cyclochica
Which ride were you thinking of doing?

Yea, I will be there. I will do the 30 mile.