lots of pittsburghers in this area, myself included (sort of, I'm actually from Butler).

the I-270 corridor in MD, particularly the west side of 270, gives you good access to lots of bicycling as well as interstate access to the route to WPa.

if commuting to DC is not a consideration, then Frederick, MD is actually a very nice downtown area.

but if you're a single guy lookin' for the womens, then you've gotta be considering NW DC (CT ave/Adams Morgan/Mt. Pleasant/Gtown), Capitol Hill (this has all 4 DC quadrants and all are nice), Bethesda, or Arlington/Clarendon area.

feel free to PM me if you have specific ?s.

Rock Creek Park runs right through the city, so you are never far from decent training routes even right down town.

Tues/thurs evenings in the summer months you've got the Goon Ride that starts out at the north end of the Park. On weekends, you can find large group rides leaving some where in the park Sat (7:00 AM, 7:30 AM, 10:00 AM) and Sun (8:30, 10:00).

I think there's abundant training routes in the DC metro area. Lots of variety.

If women are an issue, try Arlington. The Harris Teeter on Glebe Road is the epicenter for beautiful and fit women in DC/NOVA. A friend of mine described meeting girls in Arlington like shooting dolphins in a barrel.

I'm in the Veirs Mill/Rockville Pike/Twinbrook triangle. 355 and 270 seem to create pretty substantial (i.e., high-traffic) choke points that make it difficult to get to the Potomac routes. And I'd use the MUT to get into the Rock Creek/Beach Drive area, but I need to run down Veirs Mill (60mph traffic with shoulder construction in both directions) for a bit in order to get there.

It seems to makes more sense to drive to ride -- and I hate doing that.

can you get to wooten parkway? it crosses 355 and 270 and can get you to falls road, which connects to river/all the potomac area routes

Nobody lives in or near DC unless they have to. If you want to train on bike paths and hate climbing, it's OK. Cycling is very popular here, though. I've never been to Morgantown, WVa, but I hear it's nice. They have mountains out there and it might closer to Pittsburgh.

again with the 'rich' is relative, but here's some documentation from cnn:
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/...oneymag/2.html

That completely rules out Fredericksburg... Good luck with whatever you decide.


Dave

I'm in southwest dc, 4 blocks north of the washington channel and access to the bike trails...across the street from a metro station too.....

thanks for the contribution to this thread :rolleyes:

If eligible women are a consideration, I think the further out areas are probably too family-focused (Potomac, Western Bethesda, Reston). I live in Western Bethesda. It's lovely but everyone is married with kids. Singles are more likely to be in Alexandria or DC (Adams Morgan, Dupont Circle, Palisades, Georgetown, Capitol Hill/Eastern Market).

I'm not a fan of riding in the District itself (e.g., riding on Rock Creek Parkway) but others may differ. If I was in DC, I'd be taking M Street and MacArthur Blvd out to Potomac / Poolesville for a good ride. DC does have a nice 3 mile loop at Hains Point, which is good for intervals and apparently has some hammer rides during the week.

As an example, the group ride that meets (or used to meet; haven't tried them in maybe a year) at Capitol Hill Bikes on Sunday mornings sometimes takes off for Arlington to do hills. Lots of hills. I suck at hills.

The way I see it, to get to where people "train" means doing a warmup ride on the way there. Sure, there's some starts and stops, but it's more fun to ride through traffic on a bike than it is to get stuck in traffic in a car, IMO.

Unless I missed it, one very obvious place not mentioned is Annapolis. You can live downtown and walk to 30 or more restaurants and bars. There are a lot of shops and a decent shopping mall a few miles away. The cycling along the country roads with farms and views of the Cheaspeake Bay is excellent.

The problem with just about everyplace mentioned is you have to drive through the country's third most conjested area (or second depending upon the study) to get somewhere else. Reston, Bethesda, Silver Spring, downtown DC, Falls Church, Vienna, are awful during rush hour. I-66 is like a parking lot during the dalight hours.

Dude has no reason to live anywhere near DC except for family in Pittsburgh and friends scattered through the mid-atlantic. Are you saying Morgantown, WV. wouldn't be a nicer place to live than DC?

Do not come out to Annapolis, It is not spectacularly beautiful despite what everyone says. Sure it's a preserved colonial town, but who likes old things. Boats everywhere, meandering creeks, but the bay is poluted. The great bars and restaurants are too crowded with beautiful people.

It's a short drive to Baltimore or DC but who wants to drive when you can live right in the congestion and traffic

Repeat: Don't visit Annapolis

I live in Vienna, right where Tyson's Corner and McLean all come together. I'm right off Hwy 267/Dulles Tollway, and it's easy to get to the Beltway/I-495. It's easy to get to the WO&D trail to head downtown or out to Leesburg and Purcellville. I ride with Potomac Pedalers, Oxon Hill Bike Club, and various rides sponsored by shops such as the Bike Lane in Reston and Burke. There are nearby metro stops to get downtown to the District, and I can easily drive for dining, entertainment, shopping and to get to my favorite rides (including Prince William Forest Park down south, Leesburg and Purcellville out west, and Pooleville in Maryland).

Pretty area, but as a racing hotbed it's somewhat limited. I'm sure the 30-something single woman surplus isn't too great there, either... and Morgantown is still a bit too cold for me. It's a nice place, don't get me wrong, and it has great routes to spare, but it doesn't have everything I'm after.

http://www.avant-gardening.com/planting%20zones.jpg

Stay where you are then! Seriously, I grew up in Fairfax, and there is no way I could move back there--too cold, hot, humid, etc. If you absolutely MUST move, then have a look at Great Falls, VA and Potomac, MD.

Good luck!

http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/G...08144_5800.jpg

That's (somewhat) of a joke, there's actually tons of beautiful women out here, really.

But it's too far away from my family for me to want to settle down here.

Got it.

Edit: I know you weren't be serious, but one potential downside... I'm betting there's no hills within biking distance...?

move to Miami Florida

that is really cool to see in that form...I wonder why there are so many single women in the NY, NJ areas

The rest of that post was just noise! The cure for your problem is to marry one of these "beautiful women" and then start your own family out here. That way, you'll still be in a great place, AND you'll have family around! See? That was easy, wasn't it.

Grew up in Annandale just outside the Beltway. DC suburbs are mostly that, boring a** generic homogenous suburbs. You mentioned Reston. It was pretty new when I was growing up. The antithesis of a real city. Really the whole metro area headed downhill fast after Reagan got there - not that it was his fault, just the times.

If I went back I'd second the NW DC idea, old parts of Arlington, parts of Alexandria. Probably pretty $$. Somewhere you don't feel like just to walk out the front door you have to get in the car.

DC area is much nicer than morgantown wv. I've lived in both. morgantown is great if you're a hillbilly or college student, otherwise, it's a junk yard waiting to fall into a coal mine.