Riding for Rockville/ N Bethesda residents?

I'm in the College Park area, so not exactly your 'hood. But cover some of the same areas.

Weekdays: mostly the trainer. But for outdoor rides, from here there's lots of great riding to be had in the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center area. I always pass other riders when I'm out there midweek. If the Beltway traffic isn't too bad, then it's an easy drive over to Buddy Attick Park in Greenbelt, which is a good starting point.

Weekends: W&OD is a favorite. Worth the drive. I generally ride it from Vienna. For a longer ride I very much enjoy the Three Cities Tour route from bikewashington.org (DC -- BWI -- Annapolis -- DC). Also if you need a hillier workout, and don't mind driving a little, the roads around Thurmont, MD in the Catoctins are great.

I ride out of Rockville and generally take a route similar to this:

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/21277544

For longer rides I just extend the ride into the Poolesville/Potomac area. Route 28 usually has pretty much traffic but there is a decent bike lane all the way up to Poolesville.

I know River Road will take you all the way to Poolesville as well, but the last time I rode it (2009) the northern part of the road was so bad I wished I was on my mountain bike instead.

Rockville has its Millenium trail but I would avoid it unless you want the fillings jarred out of your teeth.

I love the Poolsville/Sugarloaf area too. 

Here are my three favorite routes (though I do some variations every time):

1hr ride:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/82702768

2hr ride:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/72817506

5hr ride:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/48656839

Beach Drive is also not bad:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/40219641

On weekends you can also ride Shenandoah: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/44556490

or Greenbrier:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/49739501

I also am concerned about the safety, but the routes I ride on the days and times I chose are not that bad at all.

Hope it helps.

Not sure where you're starting from, but heading out River Road (west of Potomac) takes you to some fantastic riding. At the T with Seneca, if you head left, River Road continues for a while, although the road isn't as smooth after a while. You can turn right on Montevideo or Friendship to head North or just stay straight until it T's with 28/Darnestown Road. There's plenty of good riding North of 28, too.

Berryville Road (right at the T with Seneca, first left) has some great hills as does Black Rock (left on 28 after Berryville, first or second Right off 28) over towards the Germantown Soccer complex.

If you go right at the River/Seneca T, and take Seneca 'til it T's with 28/Darnestown, go left and you can ride for hours, out toward Point of Rocks/Leesburg, etc., without having to turn. Dickerson has a rest stop and Sugarloaf is around the corner from Dickerson with a nice climb up to the top.

There's also a major ridge to climb south of 28 past Dickerson but you need to know when to turn left. It's after a metal bridge over a creek/river then up and down a hill, and when you see the nursery/landscape place on your right, you make a left, then right at the T and first L. When you cross 15 (I think) there's a major climb up and over the ridge and a gas station/rest stop at the bottom. Coming back over the ridge is an easier but longer climb.

Potomac Pedalers Touring Club has plenty of cue sheets on their website. Not sure if they are only for members. They also lead tons of rides each weekend.

If you want more specifics, let me know and I'll find out the names of the roads/turns or make you a route in MapMyRun.

Contes in Bethesda holds weekday evening rides out of their shop.

http://contesbikestores.com/articles/group-rides-pg758.htm

I didn't know Conte's Bethesda had their rides too... are they big like Conte's Arlington on Tuesday? Good stuff though... Potomoc club has some nice cue sheets and Conte's Thursday's looks good for a weekday ride.

Might try Sugarloaf/Pooleseville areas for a nice flat ride this weekend.

Unless your Contador, I wouldnt classify sugarloaf as flat....

Thats a lot of climbing. Ride in peace strong man.

Never been to Sugraloaf area. I assumed it was... what are good flat roads for 40-60mi endurance ride.

Hunter your avatar is awesome. Can I steal it?

These are all great to know - thanks! I end up heading up to Columbia on the weekends & riding the tri courses bc (a) I don't know better, and (b) don't know anyone around here to ride with. I'm also wary of riding alone (want witnesses if nothing else!) along the roads I'd be comfortable riding on, and think I have a healthy fear of the drivers on more well-traveled roads.

I'd be up for rides weekends or weekdays (perk of being self-employed), & live in Shady Grove end of Rockville....

Hi Marla.  There were a lot of great suggestions for rides, and you should also consider joining DC Tri club - we have a MoCo group, and typically do at least one ride per weekend - plus people have been suggesting mid week rides as their schedules allow. This weekend is a 42 miler out of Glen Echo Park, medium hilly.  Well, for those of us that aren't doing Columbia, anyway!

If you join DCTri, look for the link to the MoCo specific google group, or feel free to email me offline at hamburger1971 at g mail dot com.

Jeff

Thanks a lot, Jeff. Funny, but when I got into tri's last spring, my charity team offered to pay our membership in any local tri club as a way to get us more involved - I tried to join DC tri for a couple of months, but nothing ever went through, and no one ever replied. So, hooked up with MMTC. Not saying it just to , but wanted to pass that along in case it's helpful for someone to know. That said, I didn't realize there was a MoCo group within DC tri, so will take another look. I've made some great connections in MMTC, and that's where most of my team's based, but would love to hook up with folks a little closer to home, too.

Newbies permitted?