Arlington's toughest hills list

[Brcire]

Have a buddy from Belgium visiting who is doing the Amateur Tour of Flanders this year. Gotta help him stay hill-ified during his week. I'm looking for a mix of the short steep climbs to the long, grinds.

Have a few hills to do, but what others have you found in Arlington? And if you could give it a description (long climb, steep, grade - if possible, other info), and how you get there.

So far I've collected:


Monroe Street - short and steep, enter from Lorcom Lane
24th Street N. to Upton - Off Taylor Street, across from Woodlawn, long and very steep out of the saddle grind.
41st Street - Under GW Parkway
Military Road - good hills with a nice reward of two descents
N. Glebe from under GW Parkway - not steep but long
31st St/26th - enter from Military. 1st climb is steep, 2nd long with a slight kick at the start of the 2nd part. Awesome descent when entering from Old Dominion
Lorraine Ave - enter from Kirby. Short steep climb, then some good narrow road riding, minimum traffic
Williamsburg - from Westmoreland. Long false flat, the up somewhat steep.

Appreciate what you can add.

Eric

[AJsinVA]

I will make a note to avoid these areas...thanks. LOL

[Dirt]

One of my favorite rides is the 50+ mile loop called Kill Bill from the Potomac Pedophiles cue sheet list. I modified it to include the path coming up from Chain Bridge. The only thing it really misses is Walter Reed coming up from 4-Mile Run.

[consularrider]

Climbing S Walter Reed Dr from S 4 Mile Run Dr near Shirlington is 115 feet of elevation gain in 1160 feet of distance. That compares with climbing 203 ft in 1280 feet from Chain Bridge.

Taking Wilson Blvd from N Lynn St to Queen St is a half mile with a good climb at the start, leveling off, then climbing again from Rhodes.

Actually, if you just go wandering around the hills between Military and N Glebe by Marymount, or in the Dominion Hills/Madison Manor neighborhoods you'll get lots of short, steep hill repeats in.

[Brcire]

Thanks for the tip Pete! I've done parts of Tuba's route but now is a good time to do the whole thing.

Eric

[Deb]

Go up Lorcom Lane from Spout Run Pkwy.
R - Nellie Custis Dr, turns into Military Rd
R - 30th St
L - Oakland St
R - Pollard St
R - Roberts Lane
L - Piedmont St
L - 36th St
R - Military Rd
R - 36th Rd
L - 38th St
R - Military Rd
L - Old Glebe Rd
L - Glebe Rd
QR - Upland St
R - 40th St
R - 39th St
L - River St*
L - Highwood Dr
L - Woodacre Dr
R - Laburnum St
L - Balsam Dr
L - Hardwood Lane
R - Oakdale Rd, continue straight on Woodley Rd
R - Forest Lane
L - Albemarle St
R - Delaware St
L - 36th St
R - Williamsburg St

*Going up 39th St from River St is a good climb, too.

Or, going back to Military Rd:
L - 35th St
L - Vermont St (becomes Rock Spring Rd)
Cross Glebe Rd if you can still breathe
L - Little Falls Rd
Straight at Yorktown Blvd (1st intersection with Yorktown)
L - Yorktown (2nd intersection with Yorktown) (becomes Little Falls St)
Cross Williamsburg onto Powhatan St
R - Kirby Rd
L - Ivy Hill Dr
R - Barbee St
R - Tucker Ave
R - Birch Rd, continue up Lorraine Ave
Continue on your choice of low-traffic roads with short steep hills...

[Dirt]

Thanks for the tip Pete! I've done parts of Tuba's route but now is a good time to do the whole thing.

Eric

Tuba and I did Kill Bill twice together last year. The first time he had no idea what he was in for. He was sprinting hills in the first 15 miles and NOT enjoying life in the next 20 miles. A month or so later he completed the whole loop with me. I think I rode it 6 or 7 times last year. Not sure that I'm going to try it on the trike this year. I'll do the Ups an Downs of North Arlington loop though. 26 miles -- 40 with the ride to and from. I'll be slow, but will enjoy every one of the hills.

I'm so itching to ride that I'm about to jump out of my skin. With luck I'll be back on in another 2 weeks.

[mpoethig]

Coming home from work I ride from the Roosevelt Island parking lot to the top of Upton Street off of Old Dominion near intersection with Lorcom Lane. At first this long uphill killed me--not being much of a bicyclist--but now I'm much stronger and it's not so bad. Does anyone know what the elevation is for that stretch?

Margaret

[Brcire]

Coming home from work I ride from the Roosevelt Island parking lot to the top of Upton Street off of Old Dominion near intersection with Lorcom Lane. At first this long uphill killed me--not being much of a bicyclist--but now I'm much stronger and it's not so bad. Does anyone know what the elevation is for that stretch? Margaret

I love that hill! I think the elevation is something like kinda straight up! I'm more interested in the grade changes especially when it goes from 24th to Upton through the turn. Vermont and Utah are also pretty fun.

[Deb]

Coming home from work I ride from the Roosevelt Island parking lot to the top of Upton Street off of Old Dominion near intersection with Lorcom Lane. At first this long uphill killed me--not being much of a bicyclist--but now I'm much stronger and it's not so bad. Does anyone know what the elevation is for that stretch?

Margaret

What specific route do you take for this?

[Mark Blacknell]

The top of Upton St. is ~405 feet. If you're climbing Upton from the north (say, Vacation Lane), that's about a 15% grade, I think. I'm certain that there are at least three other people on this thread with the data to correct me, if I'm wrong :)

[Dirt]

The top of Upton St. is ~405 feet. If you're climbing Upton from the north (say, Vacation Lane), that's about a 15% grade, I think. I'm certain that there are at least three other people on this thread with the data to correct me, if I'm wrong :)

That's the one that is part of the Kill Bill loop, right? I think you may be correct on that one. Honestly I think I like 41st street coming up from Chain Bridge even more though. I think that is because of the frequency that I ride it and where it is located in my rides. I always seem to end super long rides by crossing Chain Bridge. Nothing makes me feel loved like stomping up 41st street after the ride distance has tipped over into the triple digits.

[Mark Blacknell]

And thus Dirt highlights the fact that he's experienced a lot of "tough love" in his life.

(And yes, that's on the Kill Bill Loop. Hit a hill near George Mason Dr. with Pat the other day that he thinks is tougher than 41st, but I didn't experience my usual ohthankgodthatisover 41st St. feeling at the top, so I'm not sure I agree . . .)

[Dirt]

And thus Dirt highlights the fact that he's experienced a lot of "tough love" in his life.

(And yes, that's on the Kill Bill Loop. Hit a hill near George Mason Dr. with Pat the other day that he thinks is tougher than 41st, but I didn't experience my usual ohthankgodthatisover 41st St. feeling at the top, so I'm not sure I agree . . .)

Yeah... I guess that was kind of a cheesy post. I need to get back to where I can handle doing something like Kill Bill again. I'll give it a trial run in early June. Wanna play?

[Tim Kelley]

I'm intrigued by this "Kill Bill" loop. I found a cue sheet for it, but does anyone have it mapped out somewhere? Any idea of total elevation gain?

[Dirt]

I'm intrigued by this "Kill Bill" loop. I found a cue sheet for it, but does anyone have it mapped out somewhere? Any idea of total elevation gain?

I'll see what I can find.

[Dirt]

Here's a partial loop of it. We ran out of time and didn't complete it.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3258/4554894229_3217da8d04_o.jpg (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/7389884)

Not sure if my tags nested correctly. If not I'll fix it in a moment.

I did that ride at least 2 other times last year. I just didn't upload them to Garmin Connect and I'm not on the computer with all the rides on it.

Partial loop with a bit of an intro ride came out to around 5700 feet of climbing according to my Garmin 705.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3403/3647256403_4fca795dcc_b.jpg
Mark and Sean love the hills.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3543/3647256705_2c5598bfaf_b.jpg
CVS chick wants to squish my head in her hand.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3625/3647279161_d977e5317a_b.jpg
Yes. I'm a bit of a camera dork.

[consularrider]

The "Kill Bill" route looks challenging. I regularly ride several portions of it, but not having a Garmin, in several places it's hard to tell what order you take several of the loops. Tim, how can I get a copy of the cue sheet?

[Dirt]

HERE (http://www.bikepptc.org/node/3731) is the link from PPTC's web site.

[consularrider]

Thanks, I'll try this on Sunday.

[Dirt]

Look forward to hearing how it goes for you. I'm gonna do an abbreviated version at 0600 Saturday. No time for a long ride this weekend, so I'm doing two shorter ones.

[consularrider]

I did the Kill Bill route today plus riding to and from the EFC Metro gave me a full 100 km. It certainly is challenging and doesn't repeat too many hills. I'm pooped since it was pretty hot and muggy today. One place was a problem, there was one street sign missing in McLean, otherwise it was pretty easy to follow the cue sheet, but it did make for a slightly slower ride since I had keep checking my directions.

[Dirt]

Nice ride!!! I love that loop and will be back there soon. There are so many turns that it is hard to keep track of the cue sheet. It is a little easier with a Garmin 705, but not that much. It could be "improved" a little by a trip down to chain bridge and up 41st street. :D

Glad you had a good day of it. Keep up the good work!

[Mark Blacknell]

And to think I nearly missed the pictures . . .

[Brcire]

(And yes, that's on the Kill Bill Loop. Hit a hill near George Mason Dr. with Pat the other day that he thinks is tougher than 41st, but I didn't experience my usual ohthankgodthatisover 41st St. feeling at the top, so I'm not sure I agree . . .)

Details on the location of this hill?

[Mark Blacknell]

South Oxford Street & S. Four Mile Run Drive. Access via S. Oakland St. Probably best to take a look at Google maps to see how to get there. I'd like to be helpful like Pete and paint a picture, but I'm not so good at that.

[Brcire]

South Oxford Street & S. Four Mile Run Drive. Access via S. Oakland St. Probably best to take a look at Google maps to see how to get there. I'd like to be helpful like Pete and paint a picture, but I'm not so good at that.

That was good enough! Looks like you can easily incorporate it into the triangle. Thanks! I can't wait to feel the burn!

[Mark Blacknell]

Yep, went up George Mason, right on S. Oakland around to S. Four Mile Run Dr., and then back up on South Oxford. You know, because we didn't have anything better to do :)

[Brcire]

Yep, went up George Mason, right on S. Oakland around to S. Four Mile Run Dr., and then back up on South Oxford. You know, because we didn't have anything better to do :)

Oh yeah, I found it and rode it. Actually got a little lost so I rode up 25th Street which was a short steep one, then ended up going down Oxford first so I could turn around and ride up it! Thanks for sharing. The triangle route has taken on a new dimension!

So for the BikeArlington leaders - how about going out and doing some GPS mapping of these climbs, then put a sign at the bottom giving the distance and grade. I am sure you already have this on your top 10 priorities to making Arlington more bike friendly! Right?:D;)

[mikoglaces]

Climbing S Walter Reed Dr from S 4 Mile Run Dr near Shirlington is 115 feet of elevation gain in 1160 feet of distance. That compares with climbing 203 ft in 1280 feet from Chain Bridge.

Taking Wilson Blvd from N Lynn St to Queen St is a half mile with a good climb at the start, leveling off, then climbing again from Rhodes.

Actually, if you just go wandering around the hills between Military and N Glebe by Marymount, or in the Dominion Hills/Madison Manor neighborhoods you'll get lots of short, steep hill repeats in.

Consularrider - how do you know the elevation from Chain Bridge? Is that up 41st Street? I am asking because I am considering a very hilly out of state ride (some 15% grades) and i am trying to compare to some reference point I am familiar with, like 41st Street.

[Dirt]

I miss this thread. I thought I'd use it to share a quest that I've been on for the last few weeks. While tweaking a few things on the Kill Bill loop to incorporate a few lovely little hills identified by Tim for Version 4 of this ride, My friend Sean made the sarcastic comment that I should plot a century ride with 10,000 feet of climbing that doesn't leave the beltway. My quick response was, "What do you think I've been working on for the last year????"

We're getting close. The most recent version of the Kill Bill loop (without the West Arlington/Falls Church Extension) is a hair under 60 miles with roughly 6200 feet of climbing. When doing that ride a few weeks ago, I realized that I had to also ride into work and get my laptop that afternoon. That alone got me dang close to the 100 mile/10k ft goal. Since then I've been working on perfecting the West Arlington/Falls Church Extra Credit lap. My first iteration was rough. The hills were great, but there was too much flat between. In doing that ride I also found additional hills that need to go in. Brcire made some awesome suggestions for stuff around Lake Barcroft too. I have been scouting ways to link that in and found some tasty hills between Bluemont and Barcroft.

My rough estimate of where I am in the process is about 85 miles in length and close to 8500 feet of climbing. Finding fun, interesting mileage isn't a problem. There are not a lot of additional hills to be added in. I have two areas that I need to tap into.

1) S. Walter Reed Dr. and the roads around it are great, but connecting it in makes for a lot of flat areas;
2) 14th/15th Rd. in Rosslyn above Arlington BLVD is good and can be added in pretty easily to the loop. (Thanks Tim); and
3) Brcire also suggested 8th, near Columbia Pike. I need to explore that.

Including those will get us to 100 miles and over 9000 feet of climbing. The 5-700 feet of climbing can be picked up by looping back for parallel streets that go up nasty climbs. I avoided that in many places, but some hills are sooooo lovely that they need to be included.

Some links:
Original Kill Bill loop from Potomac Pedalers:http://www.bikepptc.org/node/3731
West Arlington/Falls Church Extra Credit lap: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/30554466
Kill Bill V5: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/29839008

One basic comment about MapMyRide.com. Their elevation estimates are useless.

Trying to navigate these loops by cue sheet is almost impossible. It is extremely difficult to navigate them with GPS. The route includes many hundreds of turns and some come very quickly.

Once I get a route that I'm happy with, I'll share it with the world.

Pete

[Brcire]

This is gonna be awesome!

And you are right! Having done a version with you a few weeks ago and my own variations of it, there are going to be more turns than feet of elevation! Maybe the new name should be Turn Bill Turn!

[Dirt]

Yup. The original Kill Bill had around 150 turns. New versions have almost doubled that.

[skreaminquadz]

Looking forward to joining you on one of these upcoming KB rides!

[Dirt]

Looking forward to joining you on one of these upcoming KB rides!

I suggest you jump in before V7 goes live. My guess is that one might require harnesses and ropes.... or at least a parachute. ;)

[JimF22003]

I don't wanna get lost :), but if somebody leads the ride I'd love to try it.

Around Lake Barcroft is where I do my hill repeats. They aren't long, but they're plenty steep (Whispering Lane, Jay Miller Dr, Bent Branch, up Sleepy Hollow etc. I can do 100 ft. per mile over 20 miles just in that area alone. That does require repeating sections though.

[Mark Blacknell]

@Jim - the cool thing about this is that - for all the miles it entails - it's about impossible to get lost in the sense of getting dropped and having no idea where you are (not that this is the dropping sort of group). So if you decided to bail, the furthest away you're going to be from home is probably only 5-10 miles.

[Dirt]

We also keep the group together pretty well. We lost Sean once... he was leading the ride though, so that doesn't count. ;)

[Brendan von Buckingham]

From the Bluemont vicinity, take Edison south from Carlin Spring (lots of hills), at 50 cross to Columbus. Columbus south to trail entrance and cut back north. Then kill yourself on the climb out of the trail up to Harrison Street in Glen Carlin.

If you survive then go have fun around Lake Barcroft.

[Dirt]

That is another great neighborhood to add in. :D Thanks.

[vvill]

Bookmarking this thread! I love climbing.

Also I found a link to the Kill Bill ride.
http://web.archive.org/web/20081121183412/http://www.bikepptc.org/system/files/killbill.pdf

[vvill]

So far I've collected:


Monroe Street - short and steep, enter from Lorcom Lane
24th Street N. to Upton - Off Taylor Street, across from Woodlawn, long and very steep out of the saddle grind.
41st Street - Under GW Parkway
Lorraine Ave - enter from Kirby. Short steep climb, then some good narrow road riding, minimum traffic

Appreciate what you can add.


Went through the list, and eliminated the four climbs I already know well :) That 31st/26th climb is steeep if you come from Military Rd. Might try that Monroe Street one tomorrow, it's only a short detour to my regular commute home on Lorcom Lane.

Not in Arlington, but going SE on Old Dominion (309) from where it meets Kirby until it hits 120 is a decently long climb, but it has a lot of traffic... might as well do the Lorraine Ave one you mentioned (which is also not wholly in Arlington). Any of those parallel street (e.g. Powhatan) will give you a good climb + descent.

What I'd really like is a long tough hill but I haven't found one yet (that's relatively traffic free). Otherwise just taking 29 outbound from DC until it hits 309 is a decent climb.

Two short steeper climbs to add:
1 - Lee Hwy junction with Military/Quincy/Old Dominion going west til it hits Upton
2 - After crossing Chain Bridge from MD/DC, go up the bike lane/driveway that goes up 41st to N Randolph. Super steep climb, but short. Some days I commute home via the Capital Crescent Trail just so I can do this climb. :D

[americancyclo]

I was hoping some of these might be closer to DC so I could get in a quick hill ride during lunch. I managed to find some small hills over in Rosslyn, but would appreciate any more tips leaving from Capitol Hill
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/45600606

[DaveK]

I was hoping some of these might be closer to DC so I could get in a quick hill ride during lunch. I managed to find some small hills over in Rosslyn, but would appreciate any more tips leaving from Capitol Hill
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/45600606

There are some rolling hills east of the river that might be good if you strung them together, and it's a much quicker ride over there than it is to Arlington.

[americancyclo]

There are some rolling hills east of the river that might be good if you strung them together, and it's a much quicker ride over there than it is to Arlington.

Any ones in particular you'd recommend?

[Brendan von Buckingham]

I was hoping some of these might be closer to DC so I could get in a quick hill ride during lunch. I managed to find some small hills over in Rosslyn, but would appreciate any more tips leaving from Capitol Hill
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/45600606

Pennsylvania eastbound over Anacostia. Minnesota northbound. Massachusetts eastbound. Long steady climb up to 200 feet (pretty much same as Courthouse in Arlington). Enter Fort Dupont Park for some rolling hills. Return. Massachusetts on the return is long and straight so you can really bomb down the hill, which is good for getting back to the office.

The bridge and Pennsylvania/Minnesota intersection are little hairy, but Mass Ave is low traffic with bike lanes and Fort Dupont is quiet, shaded and very low traffic.

If you want more urban, a great climb is Morris Rd from MLK up to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Your rewarded with one of the best view of the city from one of the least known overlooks.

[DaveK]

Pennsylvania eastbound over Anacostia. Minnesota northbound. Massachusetts eastbound. Long steady climb up to 200 feet (pretty much same as Courthouse in Arlington). Enter Fort Dupont Park for some rolling hills. Return. Massachusetts on the return is long and straight so you can really bomb down the hill, which is good for getting back to the office.

The bridge and Pennsylvania/Minnesota intersection are little hairy, but Mass Ave is low traffic with bike lanes and Fort Dupont is quiet, shaded and very low traffic.

If you want more urban, a great climb is Morris Rd from MLK up to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Your rewarded with one of the best view of the city from one of the least known overlooks.

Pretty much what I would have answered... I love the descent down from Fort Dupont on Massachusetts, there's not another one like it in the city. Good Hope Road up to Alabama Ave is a steady leg-burner. So is MLK heading uphill from Anacostia into Congress Heights, but I'm not sure I'd do that one alone... goes right by Barry Farm.

Best suggestion to find routes EotR is to join the WABA 50 states ride. That's how I found my quick circuit out there.

My goal is eventually to string together a good ride out there, south maybe on Alabama into MD then back over the bridge. I really haven't had time to scout out that area though for roads that are safe to ride.

[dasgeh]

I was hoping some of these might be closer to DC so I could get in a quick hill ride during lunch. I managed to find some small hills over in Rosslyn, but would appreciate any more tips leaving from Capitol Hill
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/45600606

Cross the Memorial Bridge, take the trail beside 110 up to Iwo Jima and continue straight through Fort Myer. Not the longest hill, but oh so steep. Coming back you can cruise down through the cemetery, and the view is stunning. At Fort Myer you'll have to stop at the gate, and show either a government ID or drivers license. Usually the stop's not that long, and the worst (best?) part of the hill is after the stop.

[thepowersthata]

If your friend doesn't mind crossing the river, head over to BicycleSpace for the Hills of Anacostia (http://www.bicyclespacewdc.com/events/icalrepeat.detail/2011/08/27/802/-/the-hills-of-anacostia.html) ride. Here is one of the past ride routes (http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=439822).

[DaveK]

If your friend doesn't mind crossing the river, head over to BicycleSpace for the Hills of Anacostia (http://www.bicyclespacewdc.com/events/icalrepeat.detail/2011/08/27/802/-/the-hills-of-anacostia.html) ride. Here is one of the past ride routes (http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=439822).

This is excellent... if I were here this weekend I think I'd join up.

[Jsnyd]

Coming home from work I ride from the Roosevelt Island parking lot to the top of Upton Street off of Old Dominion near intersection with Lorcom Lane. At first this long uphill killed me--not being much of a bicyclist--but now I'm much stronger and it's not so bad. Does anyone know what the elevation is for that stretch?

Margaret
From min/max altitude its only 386ft but the climb is a total 678ft. A total of 4mile distance. Assuming you take the Custis trail to N Taylor, Lee hwy and across Lorcom. "Route Planner" is a good app if you have a smart phone. You can plan trips or just track your position via GPS. Itll show you the best way for bike (Like google maps) as well as the elevation, distance, average grade % and total climb. You can also save your route and email it to others. Living about 10 miles from all those nice trails made it hard for me at first to just grab and go without getting lost. Route Planner lets me map a route for the best way through the city and around town. Knowing where the climbs are makes them fun because Im ready for them... most of the time.

[Dirt]

Kill Bill Century Loop is starting to take form. I had to split it into 2 GPS routes since most GPS can't handle all the turns needed to navigate this. It is questionable whether the first part can work in my Garmin Edge 705.

Part 1: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/710705

Part 2: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/30554466

I will at least try to get the 2 routes mapped in the same system later this week. I have a few tweaks to do on Part 2, which I will do using RideWithGPS instead of MapMyRide. MapMyRide's elevation projections are not accurate.

A few of us rode Part 2 this weekend and it is brutal. There are a few sections of mellow rollers that seem out of place, but connect things nicely and will actually be much appreciated because the hills at the end of this ride are some of the worst.

I think our current plan is to ride this October 9th. People are welcome to join in on this, but please come prepared to navigate and support yourself. I can try to keep the group together, but it will not be easy. This will likely be a 10+ hour ride, most of it in Arlington. I'll post up details as we get closer.

This ride is arguably one of the most difficult and diabolical rides I've attempted. There are virtually no sustained climbs. They're all short, most are steep and there is no rest between them. On the 60 mile loop people start to complain at mile 35 about the downhills because they mean that an uphill is soon to follow. I didn't complete the 60 mile loop until my 3rd try. The 100 mile loop, though only 40 miles longer, will be more than twice as difficult.

I will be scouting some of these areas in the next week or two. There are a few sections that I added to get to a hill I love, but I don't know exactly what the streets are like.

I know there are some great hills left out of this loop. Mark, Tim and Eric helped me identify some hills that are further south... The problem is that they add a lot of rolling mileage that pushes the ride distance up closer to 120. That will have to be a ride for next summer. :D

Enjoy. :D

Pete

[jabberwocky]

Enjoy. :DAs someone who has ridden this loop with you a few times, I just want to say that I sometimes watch CSI just to get pointers on how to kill you and get away with it. ;)

[Dirt]

As someone who has ridden this loop with you a few times, I just want to say that I sometimes watch CSI just to get pointers on how to kill you and get away with it. ;)

Awwwww... That's sweet! I'm watching documentaries on WWII Pacific campaign to plan my next ride.

I love you too. :D

Pete

[jabberwocky]

I love you too. :DI get an involuntary nervous tic everytime you say this to me. ;)

[vvill]

Kill Bill Century Loop is starting to take form. I had to split it into 2 GPS routes since most GPS can't handle all the turns needed to navigate this. It is questionable whether the first part can work in my Garmin Edge 705.

Part 1: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/710705

Part 2: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/30554466

I will at least try to get the 2 routes mapped in the same system later this week. I have a few tweaks to do on Part 2, which I will do using RideWithGPS instead of MapMyRide. MapMyRide's elevation projections are not accurate.

I think our current plan is to ride this October 9th. People are welcome to join in on this, but please come prepared to navigate and support yourself. I can try to keep the group together, but it will not be easy. This will likely be a 10+ hour ride, most of it in Arlington. I'll post up details as we get closer.



Niiiiiiiiice. I recognise quite a few parts of Part 1, but I've never strung them into a 60 mi ride, let alone 100 mi. Usually < 20mi is plenty! Don't know any of the riding around Lake Barcroft.

October 9th - I might be interested. I also prefer ridewithgps to mapmyride. Actually I prefer anything to mapmyride.

[Dirt]

The stuff around Barcroft is truly painful... especially since it comes late in the ride. There is a few miles of mellow rollers to get there, then some truly sadistic, short, steep climbs. They're lovely.

[consularrider]

Sounds like a good challenging ride. However, I'll be on my way to the hills of southern Indiana that weekend. Heading to the Hilly Hundred (http://www.hillyhundred.org/), two days, 100 miles, 10,000 feet of climbing.

[Dirt]

Sounds like a good challenging ride. However, I'll be on my way to the hills of southern Indiana that weekend. Heading to the Hilly Hundred (http://www.hillyhundred.org/), two days, 100 miles, 10,000 feet of climbing.
Sounds like a great ride. Enjoy it!!!

[JimF22003]

The stuff around Barcroft is truly painful... especially since it comes late in the ride. There is a few miles of mellow rollers to get there, then some truly sadistic, short, steep climbs. They're lovely.

That's my 'hood :)

[Dirt]

We're riding the Kill Bill Century on Sunday at 0800. If you're interested in joining in, please send me a Message. I can share the details.

In the last three weeks, I have ridden the Total200 (200 mile loop in Southern Maryland) and the Alpine Gran Fondo (93 miles and 11,000 feet of climbing west of Harrisonburg, VA). This ride is going to dwarf those two in degree of difficulty. It will be 100 miles and around 10,000 feet of climbing, all inside the Beltway in NoVa. The ride has close to 70 individual climbs. They're short and steep and there is VERY LITTLE rest in between. The 60 mile version is brutal. While there's a brief lull in the climbs as we traverse to the west side of Arlington, the rest is rewarded by some brutal climbs in the last 30 miles.

Plan 8+ hours for this ride. Plan to be walking funny on Monday morning. I've already got a massage scheduled for Monday... and Wednesday.... and maybe another on Friday.

I'm setting up this ride because I love my friends. I'm happy to share my love with y'all too. :D

Pete

[jabberwocky]

I'm in, as you know. :) This one is gonna hurt.

[americancyclo]

oh man, I REALLY want to go, but I dunno if I can make it. Will you at least post up the cuesheet, or link to the GPS map when you're done?

[jabberwocky]

I mapped it over the weekend, based on Petes most up to date Kill Bill route and the bottom half we explored a few weeks ago. I'm guessing some tweaking will happen before the weekend (Pete was very disappointed with that 9600 elevation gain number and wanted to try and get another 400 feet :) ) but it should give you an idea of the route.

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/745732

[skreaminquadz]

Hmmm.... very tempting. Considering I bagged the Alpine GF b/c I'm out of shape may mean this will be absolute torture if I attempt it.

[vvill]

Aww man I don't know if I can. I'd love to but a) I may have family commitments and b) I'm sick right now

Reminds me of what I do on my commutes sometimes for "fun", except a lot more hellish.

[JimF22003]

Uggh. I've only done a couple of 10K+ rides this year, and I'm way out of shape compared to when I did those. (I'm already adding the extra layer of fat for winter insulation apparently.)

I doubt I can do all 100 miles, but I can go part of it, assuming there's a reasonable shortcut back to wherever we start. I'll send you a PM, Dr. Evil.

[consularrider]

Looks like I'm in town this weekend after all. I up for at least getting started on this, don't know if I'll be able to finish.

[Dirt]

Cool! I'll post details tonight or tomorrow. I still have to scope a few hills.

[Dirt]

On the ride announcement elsewhere, a friend replied "For the record, this is a really stupid idea." when he confirmed his attendance. My reply was "What is even worse, that is the entire point of the ride."

Talk to y'all soon.

Pete

[Dirt]

Kill Bill Century went off with hardly a hitch! With warm-up and warm-down, it ended up being a rather long day in the saddle.

Here's the GPS plot of it: http://ridewithgps.com/trips/415512 Note: My actual top speed was only 42.3mph. I believe the 104 mile version came out to around 10,800 feet of climbing. That is an educated guess.

We started with a great group of people, some of whom planned on dropping off part way into the ride. It was awesome having Skreaminquadz, Jabberwocky, will, Consularrider, MarkBlacknell and TimKelley on the ride. Special thanks to Consularrider for being our cheering squad as we rolled past his house twice! It helped on the slog up to the top of Dominion Hills for the third time.

We started with 11 and slowly had people drop off. We had 2 join for the back half then they eventually dropped off too. In the end it came down to 2 of us that finished the ride in its entirety.

I've done a lot of stupid rides this year. This is top 5 for sure.... maybe top 3. We'll see what next weekend is like. :D

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6214/6228255457_31b171cfe6_b.jpg
The top of Quantico in Dominion Hills. This climb left a mark... especially coming at mile 70.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6111/6228773442_e568623bcd_b.jpg
Jabberwocky on the last climb. There's a reason this street is called Mount Daniel Dr.

We'll do that ride again next year. Today is the first day to start training for it. :D

Have a great day.

Pete

[eminva]

Wow, congratulations to all who did even a part of this adventure! I'm dying to know, who was the other hearty soul who made it the whole way? How long did it take? At least you had a nice day for it.

I spent the day on a pool deck with a stop watch. If not for that, I could have done 10,800 feet of climbing. At least that's my fantasy and I'm sticking to it. ;)

Liz

[jabberwocky]

I'm dying to know, who was the other hearty soul who made it the whole way? How long did it take? At least you had a nice day for it.I was the one who made the whole thing with Pete. I rode from my place in Reston, finished with 130.5 miles for the day. As for how long it took... I left the house at 6:45am, got home at 7:15pm (left before sunrise, got home after sunset). Total time was 12:30, rolling time was 9:15 or so. Weather was definitely nice, but it was cold at 6:45 in the morning! I elected to dress light and was cold for the first hour or so until the sun was up. I got cold again at the tail end as the sun was setting.

I am teh hurty today. This loop is evil.

[Dirt]

Jabberwocky and I were the two who finished. Our friend Sean got close, but got foiled by the Tallwood Terrace climb in Barcroft. The day was perfect for it. It took about 9 1/2 hours for the whole ride. We did a 15 mile warm-up and warm down. The actual century was closer to 7hours of ride time.

[vvill]

Twas an awesome ride. Second longest ride I've done, certainly the most elevation (never had so much upper body soreness after a ride).

When I was a teenager riding around my 'burbs on my MTB I would always find the steepest hills and design circuits around them. When I first signed up on facebook over 5 years ago, I listed one of my Activities/Interests as "cycling up steep hills in hot weather". Earlier this year I'd been building similar loops on Google Maps in my spare time at work and emailing myself the maps but I never came up with a finished ride. So when I discovered Pete had already done this with the help of the Kill Bill template I was pretty excited. I couldn't even sleep the night before the ride.

Many thanks to Pete and Chris for scoping out and leading the ride. Pete, I can't believe you have almost the whole thing memorized! Amazing group of riders too (nice to meet you all) - there's no way I could've dragged myself over so many hills by myself. Sorry I had to drop out without saying bye properly. I waited at a red light on Old Dominion and Williamsburg for the last one in our group and by the time I reached my turn-off everyone was long gone down Williamsburg. Got home in time to do a family's worth of laundry, and we have our niece staying with us for the long weekend as well so it was good to not be completely dead today.

I accidentally reset my bike computer at some random interval and I don't have a bike GPS (I shove my car one in my pocket sometimes), so I just estimated based on the Kill Bill v8a ride. About 68miles, 7000+ ft of climbing.

My favourite parts:
- riding up 41st (near Chain Bridge) with a group
- Tim and Chris racing each other up one of the climbs
- going up the winding paved singletrack near Marymount (been down it before, but never thought to go up)

[Dirt]

It was awesome riding with you, Will. I agree... that path up to 26th street near Marymount was a definite highlight. That was new for this loop. I hadn't really told anyone that this was being added in. :D

[jabberwocky]

- Tim and Chris racing each other up one of the climbsHaha! Yeah, the 24th St/N Upton St climb. Tim beat me, but not by a whole lot. I very quickly realized that I wasn't going to complete the ride if I kept racing up the climbs though. :)

It was nice meeting you (and everyone else) on the ride. We had a super group. Things went amazingly smoothly.

[tuba_transport]

Tim beat me, but not by a whole lot. I very quickly realized that I wasn't going to complete the ride if I kept racing up the climbs though. :)

I beat Tim up the 2 climbs I challenged him on. But then Tallwood reminded me of it later.

[Dirt]

Sprinting for KOM points on that ride is pretty much never a good idea.

You kicked ass, Tuba. Great ride. Tallwood is definitely a heartbreaker.

[vvill]

It was awesome riding with you, Will. I agree... that path up to 26th street near Marymount was a definite highlight. That was new for this loop. I hadn't really told anyone that this was being added in. :D

:cool: There's something about riding through somewhere that cars can't go. I often take little detours on whatever paths between streets I can find. I go through the George Mason one (Rock Spring Park) on my commute. I've found Google Maps is great for finding them.


It was nice meeting you (and everyone else) on the ride. We had a super group. Things went amazingly smoothly.

Yup, only remember that one flat you had, and a couple of chain drops (managed to conveniently drop mine at the bottom of N Rock Spring Rd next to the country club).


Sprinting for KOM points on that ride is pretty much never a good idea.

You kicked ass, Tuba. Great ride. Tallwood is definitely a heartbreaker.

Sprinting - yeah I remember riding up one hill somewhere between Military Rd and Marymount and almost running into the kerb on the right I was so focused on just getting up it.

Just had a quick look at Tallwood on Google Maps. I might have to go on a exploratory ride down to the Lake Barcroft area in prep for this: :D


We'll do that ride again next year. Today is the first day to start training for it. :D

and next time I hopefully won't have a sore arm either (I broke it in early August). I wonder if I need a lower gear still though. I have a compact but I don't like riding at much < 85rpm and some (a lot) of those hills had me lower than that. I think my cassette is 11-25. I guess I could try 11-28.

[Dirt]

I was surprised at how little my shoulder bothered me on that ride. I guess that's a sign that the work that I've been doing with it is working.

Here's the back half of the route that gets you to and from Barcroft. That is a good training loop in and of itself.

Tallwood and Mount Denis need to be experienced to be appreciated. Quantico too. Quantico has dashed a few hopes in the past.

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/752675

Pete

[SwimBikeRunDC]

Thanks for putting this ride together and letting me tag along! That path was absolutely "better than NOTHING", but I kind of loved it all the same. Congrats on making it through the whole 104+ miles!