jeffyman

I didn't realize the street yoga was about the Lululemon tragedy.


Checked out the Mount Vernon trail & Old Town today.

Took a few more crappy cell phone pics.


Obligatory airplane shot






GDTRFB at the Four Mile Run trailhead





Busy place





Old Town tunnel

Consularrider

Looks like you took a picture of one of my cycling groups at Gravelly Point. Did you go for ice cream?

jeffyman

Missed the Ice Cream but might have partaken if I had seen it

qmsdc15

Great pics! Gravelly Point especially, and you have people "we" know in it! Bonus! I usually don't bump the thread until I have new pictures to add, but I got nuthin'.

qmsdc15

This thread os no longer the third most viewed in NE. Congrats to metro Boston. This is the Community Connection forum and as far as I can tell nobody has connected through this thread yet . I reach out but y'all cringe. I met up with some of the MD Peoples, now that's a cool crew.

I'm planning a ride on the 16th to celebrate the second anniversary of K street Traffic thread. Combining these rides; WODCO, Waterford Double Cross, and South Mountain Loop, about 150 miles, average speed 12mph, so yeah, pack a lunch!

ahsposo 

Happy 4th!

"Connected"?

I thought you and koffeebrown might have a little something...

qmsdc15

Haha. She wished me luck in that regard, but I didn't pursue it...

qmsdc15

Regrets only. One of the K street Traffic people has declined the invite for the July 16th ride. I assume the rest of you are all in. I'm thinking of starting the ride at the Dunn Loring Metro to make it a little shorter. Your thoughts?

17th and K

cc_rider

Sooooooo tempting.
But we have company all day on the 16th. 17th was going to be my ride day.
And 150 miles is a little more than I can manage.

Consularrider

Have committed to another ride on the 17th, have fun.

qmsdc15

Haha, regrets only. Of course I'm joking, thanks guys for playing along.

I don't expect anyone to join me, but I am planing to do this ride and I would love to have some company. No, I wont be waiting at a designated meeting place unless someone lets me know they will be coming.

CC rider, yes I know it's too long, but I really want to explore further. I've done three century rides in my life, all this year, the most recent 116 miles last Saturday and 104 the Saturday before last. So I'm feeling a little cocky. Two weeks ago was an out and back to mile marker 45 on the tow path, last week Custis Trail to W&OD to Waterford Double Cross to C&O. I am planning on using Metro to Dunn Loring on the outbound and probably ride back to that Metro station from C&O via White's Ferry on the return. Is there an easier way to get back from Point of Rocks to Hyattsville that you know of?

I know this ride is going to hurt, but I want to try. I'll probably give the century riding a long break after this one.

Consularrider, We'll be back before the 17th, no problem!

You need a better excuse. Broken leg? Mount a crutch rack to your bike.


There must have been a Buddhist monk convention in town today.

cc_rider

Dalai Lama is in town. If I wasn't working tomorrow, I'd ride down to the Mall to hear him speak.

idc

wow. love the helmet too.


if i had a bike that I could use reliably on the C&O and I'd ever ridden more than 50 miles in a day, and i was free that day, i'd consider a 150 mi ride, sure.

qmsdc15

qmsdc15

AM rush M Street

Consularrider

Just remember if you are doing your ride this weekend (July 16 - 17), the Metro will have shuttle busses from West Falls Church to East Falls Church. I suggest you add another five miles to your ride and stay on the W&OD from Gallows Rd instead of turning to Dunn Loring.

qmsdc15

I guess I would have figured it out when I got to East Falls Church station on the way out, but it was nice to be prepared with that knowledge. Thanks for the heads up, Consular! I think East Falls is the best stop anyway, right on the trail.

I don't have an odometer but based on the guide sheets and mile markers I figure it was about 143 miles from East Falls Church and back. W&OD to the portion of the Waterford Double Cross from Leesburg to Point of Rocks, C&O Canal towpath to Brunswick, South Mountain Loop, back to the towpath, rejoining the remaining portion of Waterford 2X at Point of Rocks and on to White's Ferry and Leesburg. Leesburg to East Falls Church via the W&OD mostly under cover of darkness (I started the ride at the crack of noon).

A tandem caught me in Reston and would have dropped me if a deer had not bolted through their headlight beam with only a few feet to spare. They slowed down after that and I told them I didn't want to pass and would like to follow at a safe distance (not drafting) if they didn't mind. Later at a stop I explained that I was 130 miles into my ride and having them set a pace really helped. He offered me a Powerbar. The speed picked up when we got towards less forested areas. When I got to the station, I thanked them again for "the lead out" and he yelled back, "It was fun. You pushed us!".

I was chasing (not drafting) a guy earlier outbound on the W&OD when the same thing happened but the deer was not as close. Two jumped across in front of me at twilight but not as close as either of the other incidents I witnessed.

South Mountain Loop literally loops South Mountain going over the ridge north of the summit on Reno Monument Road which rates as a cat 4 climb on the MapYourRide scale which I guess is comparable to a fourth category climb in the Tour de France. 1.11 miles, 400 vertical feet for an average grade of 7.1%. Some pitches are much steeper. 70 miles into the ride and nearly the most distant point, I almost got off to sit down and cry. The hardest hill I've ever ridden, I barely made it. it really made me appreciate the feats of Tour riders and why they need to dope. They do stages longer than this ride with several alpine cols (cat 1s and HCs) on the route!!! Not riding at 13mph avg speed, racing at 25.

I remember that climb better than the downhills but I enjoyed the downhills more and there were lots of long, fun downhills and only the one "killer" climb. Flying around curves, not knowing what's around the bend...

MapYourRide ranked the first half mile of Hoffmaster Road a category 5 (one notch below rated climbs in the TdF), the sting in the tail of the Loop, close to Harper's Ferry.

Furnace Mountain Road on the Waterford 2X also earns a cat 5 ranking. From the other direction Furnace Mountain Road climbs 1 1/3 miles at an average grade of 8.3%, unpaved, only gets a cat 4 rating (lacking distance and elevation, but certainly not gradient!). The surface is not factored into the rating. The lowest part is the steepest with some erosion and was tricky on the descent with 28c road tires at 100psi, but if you want a challenging climb with actual swiitchbacks only fifty miles from the city, that's one. I'd like to try it some day but I don't know if I can make it up. I would probably need cyclocross tires and some EPO.

I posted some pictures in the hybrid forum, link. They only let me put ten in each post. Here's some that didn't make the cut.

Nature break, Lafayette Park.


South Mountain is more than twice as tall as corn. The camera makes it look smaller.


Reno Monument Road is a lot steeper than it looks here.


Reno Monument. I tilted my bike and the camera to give you a better sense of the gradient.


Cow #2


A billboard for some kind of powder carved right into the side of a mountain?


'Round Midnight. Rolling home.

jeffyman

Nice pics and quite a ride! I would like to do something like that once I get in shape.

Did some of the Rock Creek trail last weekend and the Millennium trail around Rockville this weekend.

Trailhead


Love the bike infrastructure around here.

cc_rider

That's a whole lota mile!

That's sort of the ride I did yesterday. Originally wanted to go from Needwood over to Potomac and down River Road and McArthur, but by 2 when I got to the lake it was too hot. Just did an up-and-back on the RTC from Georgetown.
Millennium Trail? I don't know that one.

idc

Nice. I like the sound of that South Mountain loop.

P.S.- The Reno Monument ride link on mapmyride isn't public.

mrz80

I wonder if I wear my Ben&Jerrys jersey into the B&J in Old Town Alex, if they'd front me a free cone?

Is the trail paved clear down to Beach Drive? (assuming you can survive the maniacs commuting by car on Beach )

Is that the new overpas over Viers Mill between Wheaton and Rockville? That was still being built last time I was in the area. Need to know if I should bring the road bike or the mountain bike when I come up to visit my family.

cc_rider

Trail was clear from Needwood to Beach last Sunday, although there are a couple of gravely patches to watch out for. Plus the upper trail is getting rooty in spots.
That's the new overpass. Makes crossing Viers Mill fast and easy.
Road bike should be fine if you-re careful.

qmsdc15

If I waited until I thought I was in shape, I'd be waiting forever . Just do it! I rode my first century this spring and since then three more of increasing length and difficulty.

Thanks, I think I fixed it so that anyone can see that route now.

Another interesting looking ride from the same guide book that I haven't tried yet is the SugarLoaf Challenge Loop. Longer than the South Mountain Loop and not as far from town. Both rides are rated IV in difficulty by bikewashington,org. I can't see doing this without adding the climb up Sugarloaf Mt. Road which is not officially part of the 50 mile ride. Up and back would add about 4 miles and two climbs big enough to be ranked by MapMyRide (a cat 4 and a cat 5).

qmsdc15

idc

Thanks, yep I can view that route now.

I need to get something other than 700c x 23 slicks on my bike(s) if I'm going to ride anywhere via the C&O.

that Tandoori Time place has a pretty decent buffet for the price