About
There are a number of excellent cycling clubs in the DC area. Many of them have various databases of routes, most of which are probably awesome. Problem is, many of them start in Frederick, MD or Sterling, VA or some such. If you don’t have a car or a ride, you’re stuck. Luckily, there are lots of of good places to ride within a few miles of a metro station. I wanted to compile a list of my own favorite rides with that parameter, so I’m putting together this site. It’s still a work in progress, so please forgive my poor comma usage. Got a route or grammar suggestion? Pester me: email | twitter | instagram.
Routes and GPS
I switched over to using RideWithGPS for the routes on this website. I like it because the route planning tools are pretty good, and it isn’t pushy about all the social segment stuff the way Strava can be. Their app works pretty well for navigating, and their cue sheets are solid.
That said, I can’t recommend the old fashioned method enough: look at the map, write it by hand. Partly this is just an impulse toward retrogrouchery, but I also find that once I’ve reviewed the map closely enough to write out a cue sheet, I hardly need either, which makes enjoying the scenery that much easier.
About these routes:
I ride in the city every day. For me, sharing a busy road with grumpy motorists is too much like commuting. When I ride for pleasure, I like quiet places. These routes reflect that. I’ll always choose a bumpy road over a busy one.
A note on tires:
I plotted most of these for a bike with 700×32 tires, and many of them have gravel or poor pavement that I would find uncomfortable on skinnier road tires, but I am a bit of a wimp about that sort of thing. Anything that’s not singletrack you can probably do on whatever bike you want. The singletrack routes on here are all underbikable on 32s and would probably be OK on a knobby 28mm cross tire, but I wouldn’t go much lower than that.
These days I’m totally spoiled by a road bike that clears 26×2.1 tires (with fenders! it’s the best!), so take any comments about smooth road surfaces with a grain of salt.
About me:
Aspirationally, I’m an adventure cyclist. Actually, I’m a transportational cyclist. I ride a few miles to work every day, to the grocery store, the bar, all that.
I ride pretty slowly. I like to take a thermos of coffee and a sandwich with me. I recommend it.
My day job is at your friendly neighborhood bike advocacy organization, so if you enjoy one of these routes, consider joining WABA.
The name makes no sense:
Something about putting your bike on a car? I dunno. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
Also:
Please copy, share, reappropriate, whatever. If you see me out on the road, wave.
The Fleet:
(Because why resist the urge to post pretty bike photos?)
