50 Miles: Thurmont - Greenbrier Loop

A link to an alternate half century loop from Thurmont Community Park. This one goes counterclockwise, and after descending Hamburg Rd, a technical descent of several miles, is fairly flat for the last 12 miles or so back into town. There are refueling points in Smithsburg after about 15 miles and Meyersville after about 28 miles. The route climbs three distinctive mountain passes: up MD-77 at the start, around Greenbrier State Park on Keadle Rd, and over the Gambrill Park ridge on Crow Rock and Highland School Roads. However, all of the other "rolling" roads out here always have a tendency to be more hilly than I remember them.

Here is a 40 mile version that avoids the second mountain ridge for a little less mileage and a lot less climbing. It's probably more fun, to be honest.

54 miles: Thurmont - Catoctin Mountains

This is a route reposted from an earlier entry. I plan on doing this route on a group ride in July. It'll be a good bit of saddle time, and a lot of climbing. I've ridden most of these roads riding with Ernest and Mark, one of our sales reps and a friend (and a great climber). After I ride the whole thing I'll update the post.

61 miles: Columbia - Woodbine Loop

Another route I came up with to possibly use on a group ride next month. Going to go try it out today.

Update: Not a bad route, on a cloudy day. All the roads are rideable and reasonably safe, and there are several convenience stores and gas station marts at which to refuel. The ride was also quite hilly—it was always climbing or descending, never much in the way of flat roads. There were two roads that were really great: Woodbine Morgan Road, running for one mile through the woods along a branch of the Patapsco River; and Shaffersville Rd, a tree-lined road gradually descending for 1.7 miles southeast of Mt. Airy. Almost the entire rest of this ride was in the sun, and with not a cloud to be seen and temperatures in the 90s, I was exhausted by the time I finished.

72 miles: Mt. Airy - Thurmont Loop

A possible ride for 72 miles through the rolling country east of Frederick up into the Catoctin range and back again.

29 miles: Point of Rocks to Mt Airy

The rest of the loop back to Mt. Airy from the last post. In between that and this is about 14 miles of C&O Canal towpath.

54 miles: Mt. Airy to Harpers Ferry

This is a one-way route across the Catoctin and South Mountain ridges linking Mt. Airy, east of Frederick, to Harpers Ferry West Virginia. I'm planning on making this part of a longer loop that incorporates the C&O Canal towpath - but I can't map that using Google Maps!

45 Miles on Day 30

Here is the link to the ride Andrew and I did on our 30th and final day of riding our bikes this month. It was a great route (even with the long out and back section on Patuxent River Rd). The weather cooperated for us and it was a fantastic way to end our daily-ride challenge.