Road Bike Racing - Interval training, downtown DC

Hey guys, is there a good time to do SST at Hains Point? I know the daily "ride" goes around noon time, but I'm looking for someplace close to Ft Myer to get two hours of riding in on Thursday/Friday in before the weekend and Hains Point is all the talk. Can you do 2 hrs @ 23+ mph there? Hopefully I'll be out the WOD to the west on Saturday/Sunday mornings for 4 hours of riding.

I'll be staying at Ft Myer till we shack up out in Burke next week some time.

Hey guys, is there a good time to do SST at Hains Point? I know the daily "ride" goes around noon time, but I'm looking for someplace close to Ft Myer to get two hours of riding in on Thursday/Friday in before the weekend and Hains Point is all the talk. Can you do 2 hrs @ 23+ mph there? Hopefully I'll be out the WOD to the west on Saturday/Sunday mornings for 4 hours of riding.

I'll be staying at Ft Myer till we shack up out in Burke next week some time.

The least you could have done is warn us you were already on U.S. soil. This is like a Velo version of Pearl Harbor.

Not for another 3 days, but who can afford to miss the training?! Of all people, I think you could understand the day-to-day addiction.

should be hilly as a mofo close to the river DC side

yes you can do that 23mph for 2 hours at hains point during any part of the day. just get ready to blow your brains out riding in a 3 mile circle for that long.

dont expect to ride that fast on the w&od

yes you can do that 23mph for 2 hours at hains point during any part of the day. just get ready to blow your brains out riding in a 3 mile circle for that long.

dont expect to ride that fast on the w&od

+1

I don't get the new year's century down there. *shudder* Oh, the boredom.

Just watch for tour buses / tourists and other such stuff to make you hit the brakes occasionally. I personally can't stand riding at Hains but it's as good a place as any around town for doing a short, fast workout at any time of day.

Is there a better place I can get to for an out/back 45 minutes to 1 hr of steady riding? I'm not particularly keen on a 3 mile loop for 2 hrs either. I just haven't heard of anywhere else to get steady ride time sans traffic lights/traffic that starts inside the city. I'm certainly open to suggestions.

Is there a better place I can get to for an out/back 45 minutes to 1 hr of steady riding? I'm not particularly keen on a 3 mile loop for 2 hrs either. I just haven't heard of anywhere else to get steady ride time sans traffic lights/traffic that starts inside the city. I'm certainly open to suggestions.

You may be able to do an out-and-back on River Rd on the outside of the beltway. It still has traffic signals, but it seems to be a reasonable route. The times that I rode it with the DC Randonneurs traffic wasn't a big issue, but I guess that depends on the day and time of day.

Hains Point also has 3 stop signs (2 right angle intersections, 1 dog leg) and the police occasionally give tickets.

If you PM you're email address, I will send you some MS Excel cue sheets that run from Glen Echo, just outside the District out to Poolesville and back.

you could ride out rock creek park from hains point and back but there will still be a few stop lights / signs.

The least you could have done is warn us you were already on U.S. soil. This is like a Velo version of Pearl Harbor.

I've still got nine days before I can escape back to the Olde Countrie and its complete lack of stop signs!

In the meantime I'm stuck jogging in Rock Creek Park while buying bicycle trinkets with the lovely Pound Sterling.

Nomad, if you will be at Ft. Meyer you are in a PRIME spot for hitting the "Arlington Hills Loop"!!! This may not be the specific workout you are looking for, but it's a great hilly ride. Hains Point is great for the noon ride, fast stuff, but damn it's windy in the winter.

Let me see if I can find a cue sheet for you... or better yet, PM me your email and I'll get some folks together to take you on it. If you want to get a bunch of hours in this weekend, forget the trail, you should come out and ride with my team. Saturday time is a tossup, usually decided later in the week... Sunday morning ride occurs every week at 9:00am, meet @ Capitol Hill Bikes, 709 8th St. SE.

in my experience, there are two places in dc where you can go all out during rush hour on a weekday. hains point and the c&o canal. the c&o pretty much demands fat tires though.

the bike rack shop ride meets every sunday at 8:30 a.m. at 1412 q street n.w. we usually split up into at least two groups, so everybody gets the ride they want.

If everything goes right, I'll be at Hains Point for the lunchtime ride tomorrow (friday). After two days off, I hope to just be able to be shaking jet lag. We'll be moved into our new place out in Burke over the weekend. I got the "nod" to ride Sat/Sun mornings this weekend after riding lunchtime tomorrow. Hopefully back on the training schedule next week.

Don't you need special permission from the Secret Service to do intervals in downtown DC? And of course the handgun will have to stay at home Nomad. How ironic, just when you'd need it the most.

Pcad, riding un-armed in salty parts of town hardens you up with Thugervals. It's good times.

Don't you need special permission from the Secret Service to do intervals in downtown DC? And of course the handgun will have to stay at home Nomad. How ironic, just when you'd need it the most.

Don't worry, the bad guys won't have handguns either.

If everything goes right, I'll be at Hains Point for the lunchtime ride tomorrow (friday).

I was there on the 1st... not for intervals, but at the ride-start for a century:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2245/2160370180_e889d084ef.jpg?v=0

I'm the guy at the front wearing the Team BBC jacket.

Don't you need special permission from the Secret Service to do intervals in downtown DC? And of course the handgun will have to stay at home Nomad. How ironic, just when you'd need it the most.

the handgun ban in dc was over turned

i also wanted to throw in my other favorite spot for riding in dc, the national arboretum. there are cars allowed in the park, but traffic is very thin.

it closes at 5pm on weekdays which pretty much rules it out for me during the week, but on the weekends it's one of the most pleasant road rides around (once you're inside the park) and it's a chance to get some good hill work in.

riding there is a huge pain in the ass. if you follow maryland ave. to its eastern terminus there's a back entrance, but that often involves walking through some mud. alternatively you can take maryland to bladensburg rd. to r to the arboretum gates.

The bike path along the Anacostia is eventually supposed to go up to the Arboretum - it's under construction right now. I took my daughter riding on it on New Year's Day, it's rather nice. It's a two-lane path, Arlington style, right now goes from Pennsylvania Ave SE north past RFK parking lots and stops at the golf course.

The path won't be a good place for interval training, but a much better way to ride to the Arboretum than Bladensburg road. Though, a little out of the way if you live on the West side of the city. It's eventually supposed to link the new stadium area (and Navy Yard) to the Arboretum.