Will you by my friend?

[madscot13]

Alright! I am moving to DC in 7 days. Gads. I think I will have to ship my bike down there. Maybe I will buy a new- I mean used one. Maybe I will learn to walk. Maybe not.

Anyways I will be living in the Georgetown neighborhood and would enjoy biking with others once I get that whole bike in another state conundrum arranged.

madeline

[Zen]

Hoity-toity Georgetown:D

What lousy timing though!
I have a Dr. appointment at GU Hospital on the 10th!


It's a dobutamine stress echo, I hate them.

[madscot13]

don't know what that is (yet) but umm good luck (sorry not sure what to say to such a frightful sounding thing). ack maybe next time.

[Velobambina]

First, my condolences for having to move here.

On the positive, you're moving into the city, which is much better than the traffic-congested surrounding areas. Even though G'town is crowded, you'll be able to metro or walk just about anywhere. You'll have a lot of fun exploring. There's a lot to do/see. I really love the city---DH and I occasionally talk about selling the house & getting a condo in DC, but with three goldens and my current commute to Dulles, it wouldn't be feasible.

Do you have a 'cross or mountain bike? The C&O canal towpath is in your neighborhood (gravel/dirt surface). Also, you can ride in Rock Creek Park; cross the river and take the Mt. Vernon Trail south or Custis west to ride in VA; and the MD ladies will be able to chime in w/lots of good riding venues on their side of the Potomac.

I'm in Arlington, right across the river from you. :)

Be prepared for HOT/HUMID weather, too. We're in the midst of a string of typical August DC weather!!

[Kalidurga]

Oh cool, another addition to the TE-DC contingency! Welcome, madscot :D We're gonna have to ride together sometime so I can figure out which kind of 'mad' you are ;)

And lucky you, living in G'town with two (or is it three??) bike shops nearby!

[HillSlugger]

Welcome to the area. We always welcome new additions to the TE-DC group. Hopefully we'll meet on a ride real soon!

Nicole

[Zen]

I bet you're gonna be pretty busy with classes, settling in, all that good stuff.
You'll be ready to ride right about the time the weather gets good for it:D

[7rider]

Welcome to the neighborhood!
Settle in and give us a shout when you're ready to go out an explore.

[madscot13]

So you guys promise that it is possible to ride a bike out there? I love the bike paths around my house. Imagine being able to get within any 20 mile distance I could ever want mostly by bike path. Hey can you cross country ski anywhere around there?

[IFjane]

So you guys promise that it is possible to ride a bike out there? I love the bike paths around my house. Imagine being able to get within any 20 mile distance I could ever want mostly by bike path. Hey can you cross country ski anywhere around there?

Only if it snows. Unless you are ok x-country skiing on ice....:eek:

We do get snow, but usually the heavy, wet variety.

[Kalidurga]

There are some ski resorts out in western Md/Pa (Wisp, Whitetail, a few others I can't recall). I've considered finding out whether they offer cross-country or snow-shoeing, but haven't looked into it yet.

And, yeah, there are tons of places to ride in/around DC. Peruse through this and get ready to pedal: BikeWashington.org (http://www.bikewashington.org/)

Also, I don't know if you saw the ride reports from our TE-DC Monument Tour last month, but we talked about doing a similar ride again after Labor Day. You'll definitely have to join us!

[7rider]

Hey can you cross country ski anywhere around there?


SURE! You can XC ski! Cuz, it's not like they know how to PLOW around here! :rolleyes:

The only xc skiing I've gotten in around here since moving to the D.C. area has been on my neighborhood streets after a storm when the plows don't show up - sometimes for days - and the residents are too afraid to leave their houses. "EEK! Snow!! Quick - to the store. Gotta load up on bread and eggs!"

[7rider]

There are some ski resorts out in western Md/Pa (Wisp, Whitetail, a few others I can't recall). I've considered finding out whether they offer cross-country or snow-shoeing, but haven't looked into it yet.



Liberty, Roundtop and (further afield) Snowshoe, Canaan Valley, and a few others in WV. Wisp is arguably a "resort" as it's a 4-season vacation spot at Deep Creek Lake. Actually, a pretty neat area.

Most places will have xc skiing on a nearby golf course if the snow is there. Wisp actually gets the most natural snow of all the local areas. The option most folks opt for seems to be tubing, cuz you can do it on slopes with machine-made snow.

[JmcG]

If it snows, you can always xc ski on the C&O towpath. I work across the street from the towpath in MD and in the wintertime always see xc ski lines on the towpath, so people do it. But I don't know of any groomed trails you can go on around here. (I also see people who skate on the canal, but I wouldn't trust that.....)

As for riding anywhere and everywhere, it's really easy and lots of fun through Gtown, Dupont, Adams Morgan, etc when it's bumper to bumper traffic and you can just speed along through it all! I live in Old Town Alexandria and work in West Bethesda and can easily commute to work. I also have ridden to Silver Spring and Poolesville, in MD on trails and roads, and down to Purcellville, VA on only trails. You really don't need a car in this area unless you want to get far away.

Good luck on your move and settling in.

[madscot13]

maybe I am jumping the gun on the whole skiing thing, but I will miss it so much. But it sounds like I can bike in DC and that there are at least a few paths for it! I think I am going to have my bike shipped out there and avoid airplanes and friends who may or may not be headin out there.

[madscot13]

ha ha. I am here! I miss my friends and family already. My bike will be here in the not too distant future (who really knows, i let my dad take care of it). Now all I have to do is find permanent housing. I hope to join you all on a ride when my bike arrives.

[HillSlugger]

I guess if you can't find a place right away you can always set up in that box of yours :rolleyes:

Hope to meet you soon.

[Zen]

We're your family now. Your dysfunctional family :p
I could strap you on a luggage rack on my mountain bike and we could ride on the canal :)
When do classes start?

[madscot13]

Monday at 3:00. late start huh?

[tulip]

DC and the surrounding area are great places to ride bikes. Pick up a copy of the ADC Bike Map for the DC region. Check out Potomac Pedalers (bikepptc.org) and Oxen Hill Bike Club (ohbike.org). They have in-town rides, mountain bike rides, and road rides farther afield.

Not much snow, though. If that's really important to you, I doubt you'll stay long. Kayaking is great, however.

[F8th637]

Welcome! Check out the local Meetup (http://bike.meetup.com/133)group and also BikeWashington.org (http://bikewashington.org) for cycling info in the area.

[aicabsolut]

Welcome to DC. I live in Foggy Bottom and generally ride out through Gtown to do most of my DC area riding. A popular route is to head up MacArthur into Maryland. From there, you can do a short loop, hill repeats, or a variety of long rides around Poolesville or out to Sugarloaf. There are a bunch of clubs in the area. Some of the more race-oriented clubs also have plenty of members who just do the group rides and don't race. Every day at lunchtime or in the evenings you'll find a bunch of people doing laps down at Hains Point (East Potomac Park), which is fairly easy to get to from Georgetown even during high traffic times on the trails. I don't much like the traffic in DC, and I prefer to ride out in the country when I get the chance, but it's not too bad if you time things well.

[Zen]

Hey Madeline-
you should try to get with someone and come up this way to ride the civil War Century on September 8!
I signed up for the 50 along with MD Hill Slug and I think DivingBiker is doing the 25.
Tam?

[madscot13]

We will have to see. My bike is still at home and I am wicked out of shape. But the half century sounds really enticing.

[Kalidurga]

Hey Madeline-
you should try to get with someone and come up this way to ride the civil War Century on September 8!
I signed up for the 50 along with MD Hill Slug and I think DivingBiker is doing the 25.
Tam?

I don't think I'm going to be able to do the Civil War 25. I've already registered for the Tour du Port in October, but September's turning out to be a crazy month for me. And I'm debating between the She Got Bike! ride on 9/30 and attending a cyclocross race that same morning. And there was talk of doing another DC Monument ride after Labor Day, when the heck can we squeeze that in??

Oy, too many riding options make my head spin :eek: See, Madeline, you've got nothing to worry about, DC's a crazy cyclin' town ;)

[divingbiker]

Hey Madeline-
you should try to get with someone and come up this way to ride the civil War Century on September 8!
I signed up for the 50 along with MD Hill Slug and I think DivingBiker is doing the 25.
Tam?

I'm doing the 50 mile ride also at the Civil War ride. 25 at She Got Bike.

[Zen]

Oops.
Janice, I may have gotten you confused with MD Slug - unless we're all doing the fifty:eek:

[HillSlugger]

I talked about the 50 at the Civil War Century, but now that my Iron Girl triathlon is over I've got to rest my knee for a while and I don't think I'll be ready. She Got Bike is definitely out, but I'd like to do Tour du Port. A lot will depend on what my knee doctor tels me next week.

[Zen]

a shot of synvisc, a shot of cortisone, a shot of whiskey, you'll be fine:p

[madscot13]

let me think about the Civil war ride. If I sign up it will be for 50 miles (sort of to make it worth it). My goal was to ride a century this fall but a half century will half (:D ) to do. If my dad can ship my bike so that I can at least push 35 miles before the ride I will.

[aicabsolut]

What's the drive time to the Civil War ride from DC? 2 hrs?

The metric century looks interesting. No idea what I'll be doing on 9/8 right now.

[7rider]

What's the drive time to the Civil War ride from DC? 2 hrs?

The metric century looks interesting. No idea what I'll be doing on 9/8 right now.

A real basic MapQuest (http://www.mapquest.com/directions/main.adp?go=1&do=nw&rmm=1&un=m&cl=EN&qq=hltF3hzNT9tNhURP0HLlhh9UYBmHRqyBceg4Gkon14D8uewLk7pjHQ%253d%253d&ct=NA&rsres=1&1y=US&1ffi=&1l=&1g=&1pl=&1v=&1n=&1pn=&1a=&1c=Washington&1s=DC&1z=&2y=US&2ffi=&2l=&2g=&2pl=&2v=&2n=&2pn=&2a=&2c=Thurmont&2s=MD&2z=&r=f)search said about 1.25 hours.

[Zen]

That time of day it should be a breeze.
1.25 hrs sound about right.