Baltimore Area Biking
- Thread starter bikebabe
- Start date
PM BikeGeek he might be able to help - although he's more down in the D.C. area methinks.
Wow are you in for a shock. Baltimore and California are a country apart in more ways than just mileage.bikebabe said:
-S.S.-
Or just x-post this to the Virginia forum.MMcG said:
I've ridden in both California and Baltimore, and like Shuttles said, they are a country apart.
Riderx is the Baltimore monkey that would know, but I think he's still out of the country.
Most of the stuff I ride in the area is river/creek valley trails that, if combined properly, fall in the 10-15 mile range. Sometimes rocky and rooty with short, but sometimes intense scrambles up hills. Perfect for SS. The more epic stuff is within a 1 to 3 hour drive. George Washington National Forest and Canaan Valley, WV both come to mind.
Check out the MAMBO and MORE sites.
Most of the stuff I ride in the area is river/creek valley trails that, if combined properly, fall in the 10-15 mile range. Sometimes rocky and rooty with short, but sometimes intense scrambles up hills. Perfect for SS. The more epic stuff is within a 1 to 3 hour drive. George Washington National Forest and Canaan Valley, WV both come to mind.
Check out the MAMBO and MORE sites.
He owns a very large beer mug and he's not afraid to use it.BikeGeek said:
Patapsco Valley is where it's at for riding in the Baltimore area. The trails there are mostly rolling singletrack through wooded river valley terrain. I think the trail network there made it on the top 50 list in the last issue of Mountain Bike (for what it's worth). My guess is that there are at least 30 miles of trail there. RiderX would know better.
About an hour west of Baltimore there's also Gambrill State Park and the adjacent Watershed in Frederick, MD where you'll find super rocky, very robust (as in holds up well in wet weather) trails that run along the spine of the Catoctin mountains (foothills really
).
I'm a relatively recent transplant to the DC/Baltimore area from the Pac. NW and I've been very pleased with the quality of riding here.
About an hour west of Baltimore there's also Gambrill State Park and the adjacent Watershed in Frederick, MD where you'll find super rocky, very robust (as in holds up well in wet weather) trails that run along the spine of the Catoctin mountains (foothills really
).
I'm a relatively recent transplant to the DC/Baltimore area from the Pac. NW and I've been very pleased with the quality of riding here.
I'm from catonsville, just southwest of B-more about a mile outside the city. Baltimore has alot of xc riding and alot of riders, the local mecca being patapsco state park. Coming from socal its going to seem very technical(although the park has been fairly tamed out recently), and your gonna have to get used to missing rides for rain. There are about a half a dozen other parks around that offer similar riding, drive a bit west to Gambrills State park and you can do some northshore-ish stuff, this is where the dh-ers go for practice mostly, and the park also has some very rocky xc. For epic weekends, you drive to WV and ride trails that will challenge just about anywhere for scenery, ride quality, and challenge. I live in Boulder, CO now and there are significantly more miles of real mountina bike trails within riding distance of my house in Baltimore than there are here. The downsides- compared to cali, the weather SUCKS. Now im bitter because the last two summer have been unusually wet, but the summer is hot and muggy and it rains alot, especailly in spring/early summer. Fall is usually gorgeous and the best time to ride, winters are all over the place from very mild to tons of snow. The people are better than new englanders as far as disposition, altough we have more than our fair share of rednecks and dumbazzes, but ive decided you cant get away from them anyway. The city is pretty nice, and may be a welcome relief from the sprawl of LA, certianly not as much to do, but if you knows the spots theres fun to be had. I spent last summer back home and cant say I enjoyed it much, mostly because theres nowhere to ride downhill and I was working my ass off. SO anyway, its not a bad plave for mountian bikers, theres no trail-closing envioronazis, and theres plenty to keep any plain old "mountain biker" occupied.
I wouldnt exepct to get too many honest answers on the mideast forum, as soon as they see "bikerbabe" theyre gonna tell you its heaven on earth just to get one more girl in the scene.
http://www.fleetstreetcycles.com
http://www.catonsvillebikeshop.com
Theres the two best bike shops. Fleet Street is right downtown,so if youre gonna be working in the city definately check it out.
I wouldnt exepct to get too many honest answers on the mideast forum, as soon as they see "bikerbabe" theyre gonna tell you its heaven on earth just to get one more girl in the scene.
http://www.fleetstreetcycles.com
http://www.catonsvillebikeshop.com
Theres the two best bike shops. Fleet Street is right downtown,so if youre gonna be working in the city definately check it out.
Yep. Boulder is the wrong town in Colorado for mt biking.TheInedibleHulk said:
Oh - and the weather has not been unusually wet around here - it's been "normal." You got spoiled by those drought years (assuming you were here for those). Nothing like a little drought to give good weather!
-S.S.-
Yeah I was there for the drought years, it was beautiful.
Thanks for all the links, advice and thoughts! I was battling my way through stand-by lists yesterday at airports and couldn't reply sooner. The job isn't certain yet but if it does happen, I'll be asking for more advice on specific trails....and maybe a trail guide! The technical part of the trails will definitely take some getting used to. There are a lot of technical trails here too but they tend to be rocky, steep or loose/sandy terrain. Not rooty, logs, wet rocky stuff. Awesome picture DamienC---my bike would snap if I tried that (and I'm yet not ballsy enough either). It is good to hear that MD is a good place for singlespeeding. I did notice that the "culture" was much different than CA but enjoy how green everything is and how there are actually seasons. I guess that comes at the price of lots of rain!
...and yes my husband will be joining me ....so sorry Opie I guess I should change my user name to SinglespeedGeek before posting in the mideast forum!
...and yes my husband will be joining me ....so sorry Opie
I guess I should change my user name to SinglespeedGeek before posting in the mideast forum!