Northeast - may be moving to MD (near or in Washington DC area)

A friend (in Va) last week offerred to pay for my flight tickets to visit him and to check out Gallaudet (which is a deaf university in Washington DC and in case you didn't know, I'm deaf) in April. I've accepted because I haven't seen my family in a long while and I'm actually curious to see if they (gallaudet) have any culinary major or at least have a program for the deaf to use other nearby university for the culinary art major.

Here the thing, i have to "reside" in Colorado Springs, CO until August cause my friend here really need a roommate and if I leave her, she would basically be homeless in a hurry. At least by August, she can find another roommate and a better apartment when her lease have ended.

So this April trip is just a visit for now, I'm not sure how long the visit will be but I hope that it will be about 3 weeks long. More than enough time to visit my family, friend, and Gallaudet.

So is there anything cycling related going on in April that you all think i should check out? Are there good routes/roads around Washinton DC and surrounding areas? Is there any particular cycling club that might do me good to check out during the trip? Is there anything at all I should know about Washington D.C. (Cycling-related or not)?

What is the housing situation for students there like if anybody knows? Is there any particular everyday costs that I should watch out for there?

If everything checks out ok for me, I may be moving there around this august.

I'm not really sure what else to check out. This is my first time really trying to look into and research my next move and since I'm only 22, i don't have alot of experience moving around on my own (my parent was always the one in charge of the moves since my family was a military one)

P.S. Since I'm not really sure which one to post in, I will be posting in both the northeast and southeast forum since I know that many students and commuting employee could be from the northern border of Va.

Welcome to the area and enjoy your visit. By April, the cycling season is in full swing as the weather has warmed up and the cherry blossoms have come out (and all too quickly, gone). I am not too familiar with Gallaudet beyond the coverage that was in the local media last year about the unfortunate controversies they had over school administration. These seem to have been settled.

There's an active cycling community in the area, including recreational, commuting, and road and dirt racing. Several active clubs and groups. There's another thread http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=272080 listing a bunch of DC-area BF members.

A few sources of info: WABA: http://www.waba.org/ - local bike advocacy organization, links to local rides, trails, and other info.
Potomac Peddlers Touring Club: http://www.bikepptc.org/ - lots of organized rides
BikeWashington Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BikeWashingtonDC/

This should get you started. Good luck!

I don't know if there are any specific cycling events, but the first half of April there's the Cherry Blossom Festival: http://www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/

This site http://bikewashington.org/ answers a lot of your questions.

Be prepared for sticker shock when you see the apartment rents. It is an expensive city to live in. The suburbs would be less expensive, but probably still high compared to where you're from.
Best might be a group house or room in a house. Near Metro would be ideal, but you pay for it.
Having a car may give you more flexibility, but this is a pretty bike friendly area and I know many people who don't find the need to drive. Arlington in particularly bike friendly.
Lots of trails and road routes. You can ride to the bay and back, and good hills and mountains are not too far away.
As HC said, Bikewashington is a good general resource for routes and trails.
And as ks1g said, the PPTC is a big club with many rides every weekend, all levels and all around the region. Even in the middle of winter there were probably 20 rides this past weekend. Check their website at the beginning of April. There are also several other clubs (Reston, Oxon Hill) and many teams. When you get here you'll probably find one you like.

For a first visit, if you are here on a weekend, you might want to try Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park (Pierce Mill is a good spot to start) or around the Mall and Haines Point.

At the end of April, there is the Tour de Carroll (http://www.tourdecarroll.com/) in Westminster, MD. Its a bit of a hike, but its a good ride for a good cause. Last year I did the 36 mile ride and there was 3000+ feet of climbing according to the Garmin.

Mike

Hey Mike! How you doin? How's the little bundle of joy treating you? Getting sleep?

-D

Hey Mike! How you doin? How's the little bundle of joy treating you? Getting sleep?

-D

PM sent to prevent hijack.

bikewashington.org is a really good resource for finding routes/paths.

Gallaudet basically has its own metro (DC subway) station, and is close to Union station. This would give you some flexability to live further out of town and commute in by train. As cc_rider pointed out, be prepared for the high rents in the area. Unfortunately, the only way to avoid that is to move further out, and increase your commuting time every day. If you decide to do the commuting thing, check out the VRE (http://www.vre.org/) if you're leaning towards living in VA, and the MARC (http://www.mtamaryland.com/services/marc/) if you're leaning towards living in MD. I currently take the MARC and have come to really like it. For two years I took the MARC all the way from Baltimore, where the rent was MUCH cheaper.

Speaking of Baltimore, from my time there I seem to recall one of the schools in that area having some sort of culinary program... could have been University of Baltimore. Might be worth checking out.

bikewashington.org is a really good resource for finding routes/paths.

Gallaudet basically has its own metro (DC subway) station, and is close to Union station. This would give you some flexability to live further out of town and commute in by train. As cc_rider pointed out, be prepared for the high rents in the area. Unfortunately, the only way to avoid that is to move further out, and increase your commuting time every day. If you decide to do the commuting thing, check out the VRE (http://www.vre.org/) if you're leaning towards living in VA, and the MARC (http://www.mtamaryland.com/services/marc/) if you're leaning towards living in MD. I currently take the MARC and have come to really like it. For two years I took the MARC all the way from Baltimore, where the rent was MUCH cheaper.

Speaking of Baltimore, from my time there I seem to recall one of the schools in that area having some sort of culinary program... could have been University of Baltimore. Might be worth checking out.

It is worth checking into subsidized student housing at Gallaudet as rents here are absurd. We live in an ok building (good security and maintenance, but no parking, ac, or frills) in an ok neighborhood and pay $1400 for a large 1 bedroom.

The culinary school in Baltimore is the Baltimore International College.

It is worth checking into subsidized student housing at Gallaudet as rents here are absurd. We live in an ok building (good security and maintenance, but no parking, ac, or frills) in an ok neighborhood and pay $1400 for a large 1 bedroom...
OUCH. That's more than the mortgage on my 3 bedroom house in Falls Church.
A lot of students live out in the suburbs and Metro in. Here in Vienna/Fairfax where I work there are a lot of GWU, GU and AU students, even some UM students (also GMU but that's local)

bikewashington.org is a really good resource for finding routes/paths.

Gallaudet basically has its own metro (DC subway) station, and is close to Union station. This would give you some flexability to live further out of town and commute in by train. As cc_rider pointed out, be prepared for the high rents in the area. Unfortunately, the only way to avoid that is to move further out, and increase your commuting time every day. If you decide to do the commuting thing, check out the VRE (http://www.vre.org/) if you're leaning towards living in VA, and the MARC (http://www.mtamaryland.com/services/marc/) if you're leaning towards living in MD. I currently take the MARC and have come to really like it. For two years I took the MARC all the way from Baltimore, where the rent was MUCH cheaper.

Speaking of Baltimore, from my time there I seem to recall one of the schools in that area having some sort of culinary program... could have been University of Baltimore. Might be worth checking out.

Hey I take the MARC everyday. I'm at St Denis, what station do you use? Do you bike, take a folder? MARC will be allowing bikes onto the trains in the future...finally:)

Hey I take the MARC everyday. I'm at St Denis, what station do you use? Do you bike, take a folder? MARC will be allowing bikes onto the trains in the future...finally:)

PM sent as to avoid hijack.