Hi from Maryland
 

Hey! Long time rider, finally joined a community—seemed welcoming here.

Howdy, fellow fan of the celestial spectre!

Welcome to the Bikeforums. I am located about 6 miles west of Bethany Beach, 12 from O.C., MD. I have not been in the D.C. area in a long time. I am not from this area, and I can remember the first time I was on the D.C. beltway., 1974. A good bit of it was till in farmland.

While there's still a good amount of farmland around here, you'll have to get a bit further out from the beltway than you did in the 70s.

Even the difference between when I moved here in the 90s to today is pretty impressive—270 north of Rockville used to be almost all farmland... now it's north of Clarksburg.

As a result, road riding here is pretty much a no-go for me.

Hey, dc bike ride 2022 is September 10, you guys.

Where in Maryland? I'm in Rockville. Goin on the BIG DC Bike ride next week. See you there??

Saul

Oh man I wanted to go but am supposed to be in NYC the next day so…

Welcome. Handful of us around here. Come down to boyds for nice road biking.

Info on the big dc bike ride saulgoldie ?

Don't they get excited for Royal Farms, Trader Joe's and Wegman's openings down there?

Farmland is just further north around here. I never forgot some poster on some site I was on swore that you were in a remote area if you lived near a Tractor Supply Store.....there's three around Baltimore.

Cycling on Maryland roads can be done, but I wouldn't trust it many suburban areas. I only ride on the sidewalks, or the NCR. And I ride all the time around here.

I think DC as far as cycling might be less safe than Baltimore and that's saying something.

Amusingly enough, a Wegmans did just open up not terribly far away and there has seemed to be a lot of excitement. I haven't gone yet.

I HAVE gone to the closest Tractor supply store though, to pick up some hitch parts I couldn't find anywhere else that I needed quickly for a trip. That was only 30 mins away. Wegmans is closer though, I think. As are like 2 trader joes. I'm a 10 mile ride from the US capital building—just across the border in Bethesda.

I've given up road riding—just too scary here. I'll use paths and roads well marked as being for bikes, but that's about it. I used to commute into DC every day on my bike when they wanted me in the office (WFH now) and the few parts that were on actual streets stressed the hell out of me. I had a tour bus driver try to take me out once because I kept passing him. It's that kind of riding.

Yeah a buddy of mine is doing it again this year. He loves it.

Most of the route is my old commute (CCT > Georgetown waterfront > capital building), so paying $75 to ride without cars, while nice, feels extravagant. Especially since I'll want to bring my wife which will double the cost.

I was going to add the link for the DC Bike ride site but I don't have enough posts yet. If you google it, you'll find it.

Another good ride coming up (that I'll also miss) is the MoCo Epic. Though this one's for mountain bikers and sponsored by MORE. (same problem with links—I'm too new)

$75 just for the privilege.

(I will not spend my later life in Maryland, or Northern Virginia. No thanks. To much money)