Road Cycling - Northern Virginia Riding

Going back on Thursday for two months to help my parents move and I'm bringing my bike. Last time I rode there I wasn't in the shape I am now and I just rode the parkway for 2 hours. 2 hours now seems like a short ride and I want some hills. Anyone have some good routes to suggest in the area? My parents are about 3 miles or so north of burke lake. Anyone have good rides to suggest that are maybe a little farther away? I would be up to riding out to somewhere and not be confined to my local area. How about group rides? I have heard of the mt. vernon trail but I would prefer to stay off paths like that. Thanks

Going back on Thursday for two months to help my parents move and I'm bringing my bike. Last time I rode there I wasn't in the shape I am now and I just rode the parkway for 2 hours. 2 hours now seems like a short ride and I want some hills. Anyone have some good routes to suggest in the area? My parents are about 3 miles or so north of burke lake. Anyone have good rides to suggest that are maybe a little farther away? I would be up to riding out to somewhere and not be confined to my local area. How about group rides? I have heard of the mt. vernon trail but I would prefer to stay off paths like that. Thanks

If you're willing to drive a bit, there are no shortage of hills in Northern Virginia. Two climbing classics that come to mind are:
http://bikewashington.org/routes/bluerdg/

and

Skyline Drive. Just drive out I-66 to Front Royal and hop on.

If you feel like riding with somebody, you can always hop onto one of the Potomac Peddaler's rides (http://www.bikepptc.org/). They have a huge variety of rides each weekend.

Here are some scheduled events this summer in the area...

http://www.ohbike.org/events/index.htm

Going back on Thursday for two months to help my parents move and I'm bringing my bike. Last time I rode there I wasn't in the shape I am now and I just rode the parkway for 2 hours. 2 hours now seems like a short ride and I want some hills. Anyone have some good routes to suggest in the area? My parents are about 3 miles or so north of burke lake. Anyone have good rides to suggest that are maybe a little farther away? I would be up to riding out to somewhere and not be confined to my local area. How about group rides? I have heard of the mt. vernon trail but I would prefer to stay off paths like that. Thanks

I used to live just down the road from Burke Lake. I played disk golf there all the time. this was back in circa 1992 and even then I was terrified of the roads up there. Sorry I cannot help you out but if you head west to the mountains you should be able to pull over park and enjoy some world class cycling. I would recommend going down to Afton Mountain. It's where Wintergreen ski resort is and will give you a wonderful taste of the hill climbing. It's Probably 2 hr drive from Fairfax. I found actually that riding in DC was better then out in the burbs b/s the people are used to bikes. anyway good luck. btw Mt Vernon trail is definatlly a well used 'bike path'

If you can trek you bike out to Leesburg, there are lots of great roads to ride out there. I have a 50 mile loop I used to do on rolling hills, through country roads. PM am me if you're interested.

If you definitely want hills and limited bike trail riding, then I'd suggest going out to the Warrenton/Marshall/Leesburg area. Roads don't have as much vehicle traffic and are quite hilly. If you ride around the beltway area, you're gonna be fighting a lot of vehicle traffic and it's just not nearly as hilly as the area out near the "mountains". The Potomac Pedalers thought is also a good idea. They have pretty regular rides out there and in Maryland.

And if you need a good place to do a recovery ride, I'd suggest the W&OD Bike Trail.

Tri, Clifton! i can give you tons of super hilly routes, PM me if you want some. Also, think you'll need a partner? there are no hills here in IN, only wind, so I'll need someone to kick my butt to get back to a decient hill climber.

Ross