"Gettysburg Golightly" Permanent Populaire

All,

I've established a new 75-mile populaire route based on the "Gettysburg Gallop" permanent.  "Gettysburg  Golightly" follows the same route starting from Mt. Airy, thus omitting the first and last "easy" legs of the 200K route between Rockville and Mt. Airy.  If you're not familiar with the route, it's an out & back.  The route passes through Union Bridge and Taneytown on scenic central Maryland farm roads and features a nice tour of the Gettysburg battlefield.  Terrain is rolling to hilly.

Crista

Fwd: Correction to "Weenie One Hundred" Cue Sheet

I made a correction to Saturday's cue sheet, so if you're planning to come to the ride and have already printed it out, please pull up a new copy and print out the first page.  Pages 2 and 3 were not affected.

Crista

WEEKEND RIDES, JANUARY 1 & 2, 2011

Dear Friends,

It's been a long time since we've had such a great weather forecast for New Year's Day.  I hope many of you will come out and celebrate with us before things deteriorate next week!  We'll be riding our traditional New Year's "Weenie One Hundred" on Saturday and a beautiful horse-country loop on Sunday.

Please download and print out your own cue sheets and GPS files for the weekend rides by clicking on "Cue Sheets" (on the left side of thise page), and you'll find them there!  When you open a pdf file, just click on "Print" to print the cue sheet.  If you're unable to print the cue sheet yourself, let me know and I'll bring a hard copy to the ride start for you.  I won't be bringing extra copies of cue sheets to the ride start unless you email me directly and advise me that you're unable to print out your own.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 1, 2011 -- HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The "WEENIE ONE HUNDRED," starting from Hains Point, Washington, D.C.  **MEETING TIME 7:30 am.**  We have been doing this New Year's Day century almost every January 1 since1999 and will continue with the grand tradition.  The ride begins with ONE lap around Hains Point, then heads down to Mount Vernon on the bike path.  Next, we'll visit Mason Neck State Park on our way to Occoquan for lunch at the Riverside Grill.  After lunch we'll ride to Fountainhead Regional Park and on to historic Clifton, returning to Hains Point via Burke, Annandale, the W&OD and Custis Trails, Theodore Roosevelt Island, and Memorial Bridge.  With all the bike-path miles and little side trips (and unplanned THINGS that inevitably happen on this particular ride), it is quite likely that the dark monster will get the best of us.  Accordingly, all riders should come equipped with lights.  We actually enjoy finishing at dusk or later, as it's such a lovely sight to cross the Potomac River into our fair city and see the monuments all lit up.  If you DO finish before dark and feel cheated, you can do laps around Hains Point until the cows come home.  Slower riders should be familiar with the northern Virginia bike trails; we have attempted to produce an accurate cue sheet, but there are still several parts of the trails where navigation can be tricky.  100 miles, with a couple of optional shortcuts--you can omit the Mason Neck tour and thus cut off 13 miles, and later in the ride you can cut off 4 miles.  You can also rack up a couple of optional bonus miles if you want to visit Fountainhead Regional Park.  Beginning and end of the ride are pretty flat.  There are some honest-to-goodness HILLS between Occoquan and Fairfax Station so don't be surprised when you encounter them.  It was impossible to make up a useful GPS file for this route, sorry. 

Directions to the ride start:

HAINS POINT (EAST POTOMAC PARK) 

1100 Ohio Drive, S.W., 202-619-7222

Take I-395 north into Washington (over 14^th Street bridge) and take the first exit for Potomac Park/Park Police.  Turn left at the T intersection (Buckeye Drive, unmarked), then left into the parking lot near the tennis courts.

 

************************************************************************

SUNDAY, JANUARY 2, 2011

"LOVELY LOVETTSVILLE LOOP," starting from the VDOT commuter lot in Marshall, Virginia.  **MEETING TIME 7:45 A.M.**  This is a very scenic, fairly hilly tour of most of the classic Fauquier/Loudoun County horse-country towns and villages, including The Plains, Middleburg ("if you're not rich you're not welcome"), Purcellville, Waterford, Taylorstown, Lovettsville, Hillsboro, Round Hill, Airmont, and Rectortown.  All on familiar roads; even the directionally challenged should be able to avoid getting lost on this one!  Lunch in Lovettsville at Andy's Pizza & Subs.  99 miles, with plenty of shorter options. 

Directions to the ride start:

MARSHALL VDOT COMMUTER LOT, MARSHALL, VIRGINIA

From DC beltway I-495, take exit 49 onto I-66 west,  In 36 miles, take exit 28 for US17 toward Warrenton/Marshall.  In 0.4 mi. take the Bus.17 ramp right toward Marshall.  In 0.7 mi. turn left on Main Street/VA55 at traffic light.  In ~ 0.2 mi. turn right on Frost St. & follow to parking lot at end of the road. 

Crista

 

 

New Permanent and a Permanent Populaire!!

 

Dear Friends,

 

Hope you're all having a holly jolly holiday! 

 

I have two new RUSA permanent routes ready and available to ride 12 months of the year.  The first, "North by Northwest," is a 203 kilometer loop starting in Frederick.  This route begins heading north to Gettysburg over moderate terrain on pleasant country roads.  From there it continues north past Arendtsville and then turns northwest to climb over South Mountain on Buchanan Valley Rd.  This is a particularly beautiful stretch, featuring several miles of riding alongside Conewago Creek, some lushly forested landscape in the Michaux State Forest, and a huge scenic area of high elevation orchard country in the Buchanan Valley.  After descending to Caledonia State Park, riders are rewarded for all the climbing with a delicious lunch at Mama's II in Fayetteville.  Then the westward trek continues into the Cumberland Valley on bucolic farm roads to the westernmost point of the ride, the Enoch Brown Memorial Park.  From there the route turns in a southeasterly direction, featuring several more miles of easy valley riding before reaching the last control in Rouzerville.  After refueling at the Sheetz, the route climbs back over South Mountain on Old Rt. 16 and the ever-lovely Buena Vista Rd, followed by a pleasant downhill run into Thurmont and a gentle return to Frederick on familiar quiet roads.  The two climbs are not particularly steep and the route as a whole is really quite moderate compared to most of my permanents.  It's a beauty, too!  Estimated elevation gain is about 6700 feet.

 

The second route, "South Mountain X3," is a 135 kilometer permanent populaire route starting in Thurmont.  It follows the "North by Northwest" route as far as Fayetteville, but then turns south and adds an additional climb on PA233 through the Michaux State Forest up to the village of South Mountain, followed by one of our all-time favorite luscious descents on Old Forge Road.  From Rouzerville the routing is the same as that of "North by Northwest" back to Thurmont.  Just think – you still have time to start your quest for the new P-12 award this year!

RUSA membership required, of course.  If you haven't already done so, don't forget to renew before the end of the year :-)

Crista

Crista

 

 

FRIDAY RIDE, DECEMBER 24, 2010

Dear Friends,

We're scheduling a ride for tomorrow and hope that you can join us.  We won't be scheduling a ride for Christmas day or Sunday, but do hope to schedule our traditional New Year's Day "Weenie  One Hundred"!  Stay tuned for more information next week.

Please read the following carefully, noting that we're planning to take a slight shortcut tomorrow.  Also, please download and print out your own cue sheet directly from the DCCenturyRides blog,

http://dccenturyrides.blogspot.com/

Just click on "Cue Sheets" (on the left side of the page), and you'll find it there!  When you open a pdf file, just click on "Print" to print the cue sheet.  If you're unable to print the cue sheet yourself, let me know and I'll bring a hard copy to the ride start for you.  I won't be bringing extra copies of cue sheets to the ride start unless you email me directly and advise me that you're unable to print out your own.  Sorry I haven't had time to create a GPS file.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2010

"BONNE ROUTE," starting from Dave Berning's house in Potomac, Maryland.  **MEETING TIME 8:00 a.m.**  We first did this ride in August of 2007 as a send off for Randonneurs who were PBP-bound. It's only moderately hilly, definitely the easiest century that we do starting from Dave's house.  Nothing new under the sun on the route, but it's a very nice ride to Purcellville via Seneca, Dickerson, Point of Rocks, Lovettsville, and Hillsboro.  Note that we will most likely take the 14-mile shortcut tomorrow, skipping the leg to Purcellville and having lunch in Leesburg instead.  We return via White's Ferry (I checked and it IS open) (bicycles pay $1.00 to the toll troll).  Full ride including Purcellville is EXACTLY 100 miles.  Our shortened route is 86 miles, but there are two more optional shortcuts you can take that will shorten the ride to 76 miles.

Directions to the ride start:

 

DAVE BERNING'S HOUSE, 12430 McCrossin Lane, POTOMAC, MD. 

From I-495 in VA:  Cross Potomac River and exit to River Road west.  Go about 9 miles and turn right on Travilah Rd.  Go 0.5 mile past 4-way stop sign and turn right onto McCrossin Lane.  Dave's house is 2nd one on right.

 

From Rockville:  head west on MD28 from I-270 interchange.  In 1/2 mile turn left on Darnestown Rd (two lanes turn left at TL).  In about 2 miles turn left onto Travilah Rd (past Great Seneca Hwy).  In 3 miles, left to remain on Travilah at T.  In 0.4 mile, bear left to remain on Travilah where Turkey Foot goes right.  In 0.4 mile left onto McCrossin Lane.  Dave's house is 2^nd one on right, 12430.

 

From points northwest:  Access Quince Orchard Rd MD124 from either I-270 or MD28. South (or west?) on Quince Orchard, crossing MD28.  In 2.5 miles turn right at T onto Dufief Mill.  Continue straight onto Travilah Rd in 0.2 mile.  In 0.4 mile, bear left to remain on Travilah where Turkey Foot goes right.  In 0.4 mile left onto McCrossin Lane.  Dave's house is 2^nd one on right, 12430.

Crista

Note regarding Saturday ride

Dear Friends,

Just a note to let you know that there's a boo-boo on the cue sheet for the "Snow Emergency Rando Ride."  The lunch stop, Carmine's, is actually 0.7 mile after the turn onto MD64 rather than 0.2.  I don't have time to fix the cue sheet tonight so if you have printed it out, please make that correction on your copy.  Note that the total distance will be 53.3 miles rather than 52.3.  No charge for the bonus mile :-)

Crista

Saturday "Snow Emergency" Ride - December 18, 2010

Dear Friends,

We were hoping to check out a new permanent route tomorrow but......ain't gonna happen.  Instead, we're going to ride our "Snow Emergency Rando Ride," a half century ride starting from Frederick. 

The cue sheet and GPS files are posted on the DCCenturyRides blog,
http://dccenturyrides.blogspot.com/.
Please download your own cue sheet directly from the blog.  Just click on "Cue Sheets" (on the left side of the page), and you'll find them there!  When you open a pdf file, just click on "Print" to print the cue sheet.  If you're unable to print the cue sheet yourself, let me know and I'll bring a hard copy to the ride start for you.  I won't be bringing extra copies of cue sheets to the ride start unless you email me directly and advise me that you're unable to print out your own.

Here's the scoop on Saturday's ride:

Saturday, December 18, 2010
"SNOW EMERGENCY RANDO RIDE," starting from the Weis Market parking lot on Opossumtown Pike in Frederick, Maryland. ** MEETING TIME 10:00 a.m.!!!**

This is a variation on a ride we did (at WGR's inspiration) during last winter's snowmageddon period .  Even though it's only 52 miles, we'll climb more than 4500 feet and get a decent workout.  The ride heads due west on US40, a snow emergency route with a wide shoulder.  After climbing over Catoctin and South Mountain, we turn north on Crystal Falls Rd, which we're confident will be clear thanks to the volunteer fire department in Mt. Aetna.  We'll have lunch at Carmine's Italian Restaurant in Smithsburg and then return to Frederick via the same route.  52 miles, 4500+ feet elevation gain.

Directions to the ride start:

WEIS MARKET, 199 Thomas Johnson Drive, FREDERICK, MARYLAND

From D.C. Beltway (I-495), take I-270 north 31 miles to Frederick.  Continue north on US15 3.7 miles.  Take Exit 16, Motter Ave exit (sign for Frederick Community College).  Turn RIGHT at the traffic light onto Opossumtown Pike.  In a quarter mile turn right onto Thomas Johnson Drive (traffic light), then left into the shopping center.  Park in the lot just north of Roy Rogers.

We have a hunch we'll be using this route more than once this winter.  Hope you'll come out and keep us company!

Crista

Saturday Ride -- DC Randonneurs Woodbine 200K RUSA Brevet (no Sunday ride)

Dear Friends,

This Saturday is the DC Randonneurs Woodbine 200K RUSA Brevet, starting from the Woodbine Park & Ride in Woodbine, Maryland at 7:00 a.m.  DC Randonneurs membership is required. 

We're not scheduling a ride for Sunday because the weather forecast is totally dreary.

Here's the info on Saturday's brevet, courtesy of RBA Bill Beck:

The cue sheet and GPS files for the Woodbine 200K brevet scheduled for this Saturday, December 11, are now posted at http://dcrand.org/blog/2010/12/07/cue-sheet-and-gps-files-for-december-11-200k-rusa-brevet/. Please note the comment about the GPS routing through New Windsor.

This route travels through farmland and small towns in the piedmont of central Maryland and Pennsylvania, including a stretch through the Gettysburg battlefield. It has plenty of rolling hills, but runs parallel to the mountains, so avoids any major climbs. Total climbing of around 7400 feet is moderate for our brevets, but save some energy for those final 15 miles, which has a few short, steep hills.

 

Registration starts at 6AM at the Woodbine Park & Ride. There is a Highs store across from the Park & Ride with restrooms. Hope to see you there.

 

Bill

I second that emotion with regard to the last 15 miles :-)  Looking forward to seeing you on Buffalo Road and/or Watersville.

Crista

Sunday Permanent - "Sailing Down to Solomons"

Dear Friends,

We're not scheduling a ride on Saturday but a group of us are planning to ride the "Sailing to Solomons" 206K RUSA Permanent on Sunday, starting from Crofton, Maryland.  If you're interested in joining us you must contact me today so that I'll have time to process all the necessary registration paperwork.  Friday's too late!  All riders must be current RUSA members.

"Sailing Down to Solomons" is a relatively mellow route, suitable for winter riding.  The route heads due south, passing through Prince Frederick on the way down to the pretty nautical town of Solomons, where it takes a nice tour around Solomons Island.  The return route visits Chesapeake Beach, North Beach, Rose Haven, and the lovely Fairhaven.  There are some extended stretches on busy Route 2/4, but the road has wide, smooth shoulders and at least offers an opportunity for speedy travel.  Much of the ride is on quiet, scenic country roads and there are lots of nice water views.

Crista