Mountain bike rides in and around DC

Is there any worthwhile mountain biking nearby? The trails near Fredrick are fantastic, but its too far to go after work. Is there anything close by for a quick blast?

I know someone who is moving to within a mile of 3.7 miles of easy single track trail.

http://www.co.fairfax.va.us/parks/accotink/lapmap2.pdf

the burke lake trail is also close by to this person

http://content.mtbr.com/pscTrails/United,States,Trails/Virginia/,Burke,Lake,Loop/PRD_170735_4585crx.aspx

…though both of these are probably too easy for any real thrills…

great seneca park out I-270 is supposed to have some good trails

Cabin John is the best within a close distance of DC

http://content.mtbr.com/pscTrails/United,States,Trails/Maryland/,Cabin,John,Trail/PRD_168223_4553crx.aspx

Accotink has some good trails (not the one shown on the map Rhett posted), but is quite a bit further if you are coming from College Park. As a bonus, Accotink links up to Wakefield, and there are a deceptively large amount of trails hidden in these two parks.

Seneca is okay, but there tend to be too many pedestrians on the trail. If you are going to go all the way to Seneca, you might as well go a couple of miles further to Schaeffer Farms, which has much better trails than Seneca (but still not as good as Gambrills and the other stuff in Frederick).

Cool thanks for the ideas……

Does anyone want to go for an after work ride next week…..

Is there nothing worth cycling on in Rock Creek park?

When they say they will ticket you for using a closed trail….. how much of a fine and telling off do you get.? Or would you not dream of doing such a heinous thing as riding on a closed trail?

Whatever happened to Sir HC? He was a mountain biker of the first water.

Originally posted by muke:
http://www.more-mtb.org/story.php?catID=3

Um…..perhaps you should avoid this park.

http://www.underreported.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=269

http://www.tampabaycoalition.com/files/1125SexInParkWorseDespiteArrests.htm

I seem to recall the Capitol Steps provided ideal mountain biking terrain, but perhaps they cracked down on that after 911 :)

Check out the singletrack in Fort Dupont park, right smack in the middle of DC. Accessible from Minnesota Ave Metro station.

Capitol Hill Bikes has weekly group rides in Fort Dupont. I believe they leave the shop (which is on 8th St SE, right near Eastern Market Metro) at 6pm or so. Call ahead to the shop and ask at 202-544-4324

Don't you urbanite DC living scum dare come out to the burbs and use our bike paths…you don't pay taxes out here so FUCK OFF!

:D

I will not validate that posting with a response.

oh, crap, i just responded.

Originally posted by Bollocks:
Don't you urbanite DC living scum dare come out to the burbs and use our bike paths…you don't pay taxes out here so FUCK OFF!

:D

Okay, you can come ride on our bike paths…but because you don't pay taxes out here don't even think of having an opinion on wether they're nice trails or not.

Mank, you should have thrown in the stipulation that urbanites are required to bike naked.

uhm, considering some of the urbanites spotted around town, are you sure you want to enforce that stipulation?

Originally posted by Random Balls:
Mank, you should have thrown in the stipulation that urbanites are required to bike naked.

Don't ask for things you don't want.

I did the RAGBRAI last year and this guy did the entire thing wearing flip-flops, a loincloth, and a helmet.
There was also a team of folks wearing only pink tutus with their bike shoes and helmets.

*shudder* ew….

Nudity is a good thing. We need more of it in the world. We went to a "nude town" in France last year, where everyone went about their business in the nude. Nothing like seeing senior citizen men and women riding around on their bikes in the nude. Quite a laugh riot.

So that's what RAGBRAI is! I've been lurking on bikeforums.net and have seen mentions of that.

How was your ride chimblysweep? That would be particularly cool for me to do as I was born in Davenport.

RAGBRAI isn't really a bike ride, don't be fooled. It's more like a drunken county fair on wheels. It's fantastic fun. It's naked beer slides, wet tshirt contests, bad cover bands, and a little biking inbetween.

If you're thinking of doing it, though, to avoid boring, camping, non-rowdy folks, make sure you join a large team. (I'd recommend something like Team Fork More Pork, Team Checker, or Team Drunk.)

Originally posted by thirsty moore:
So that's what RAGBRAI is! I've been lurking on bikeforums.net and have seen mentions of that.

How was your ride chimblysweep? That would be particularly cool for me to do as I was born in Davenport.