Road bike rental in No. VA?

[geekgirl]

Greetings all:

I am going to be attending a two-week training course for work in Lansdowne, VA (April 27 - May 10), and think I might have some free time on the weekend in between (May 3-4). I noticed that I will be staying approx. 3 miles from the W&OD trail in Ashburn, and thought it might be nice to rent a road bike and explore that trail.

My questions:
Does anyone know of a bike shop in the area that rents mid- to higher-end road bikes? Most of the info I've been able to find online is for rentals of hybrids and recumbents (which I'm not interested in).

Is the W&OD trail heading west from Ashburn less crowded on the weekends than closer in to D.C.? Or should I just look to ride on roads in the area?

Thanks in advance for your advice/help.
G

[Kalidurga]

Hi there, geekgirl. The W&OD is just plain crowded on weekends, but I would definitely recommend that you head west towards Leesburg. Once you get past that town, the strollers and roller bladers thin out a tiny bit. And the scenery is much more pleasant in that direction as well (borderline rural).

I have no idea where you could rent a bike, but here are a couple of shops you could call:

- Spokes in Ashburn (http://spokesetc.com/page.cfm?pageId=12&storeId=5) is close to Landsdowne.

- Plum Grove Cyclery (http://www.plumgrovecyclery.com/) is farther away in Leesburg, but it's a great shop on the edge of the historic district.

[Zen]

The Adventure Cycling Association's Cyclists Yellow Pages (http://www.adventurecycling.org/cyp/index.cfm)

[geekgirl]

Thanks for the responses -- just as an update, I had no luck whatsoever finding a road bike to rent, seems the shops up there only rent casual hybrids or mtbs.

But, I have to put in a plug for Mike at Pedal Shop (http://www.pedalshop.com) in Ashburn -- he's been incredibly helpful. First, he tried to find a road bike for me to rent, even asking folks on his racing team (no dice, I need a 48-49 cm frame, none available), so now it looks like I'll just bring my mtb shoes and rent a nice mountain bike to hit some nearby off-road trails.

Always nice to find a good LBS, even when out-of-town...

[F8th637]

Actually, Big Wheel Bikes (http://www.bigwheelbikes.com) in Arlington rents out road bikes. My friend rented one for a bike ride we did together here in the area. It's about 35 miles East from Ashburn but if you really want to rent a road bike in the area you may want to consider it. HTH!