Calling all Hokie cyclists. Where are your favorite places to ride either in VA or wherever you may live. Now that we are in Gravel season the weather is quickly approaching bikepacking season! Figured we needed a channel for general questions about cycling, bike repairs, parts, etc...
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- A Pic
- Link to routes
- Favorite segments or routes?
- What bike build you're riding
- Favorite Gear?
- Strava handle
Happy Cycling!
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I live 2 miles from the Jamestown start of the Capital Trail so I ride it often. I've never gone all the way to Richmond and back though, my longest ride is halfway there and back. A lot of people here find it boring, but I like the farmland scenery once you get away from Jamestown a bit.
I've been riding a Giant Contend for the last 3 years that I bought on eBay but I'm thinking about making some moves for a lighter weight bike next year - Specialized or Trek.
I do love the Cap Trail. Back when I lived in Richmond I would ride out to the 4 Mile Creek area via Osborne Tpk past the battlefields and then loop through the neighborhoods off Darbytown Rd. Very pretty and flat 45 mile loop.
As far as bikes go definitely recommend the Specialized Allez or the Roubaix for road and the Diverge for gravel, can't go wrong with either of those.
Nice!
Just a heads up... if you want a bike next year, you may want to drop a deposit and order ASAP! Bike manufacturers haven't been able to keep up with the demand. Go see my buddy Chris at Trek Bicycle of Newport News (there's a Williamsburg store too).
In southern NJ, just like to do the loops around Cooper River Park and continue on up through Pennypacker Park. Although I honestly just ride around the streets these days.
In New Haven, CT area, used to like to go up Ridge Road or Hartford Turnpike to Sleeping Giant State Park or go along the Long Island Sound to West Haven and onto Milford along the coast.
Going further back to the days in Blacksburg days, used to like Glade Road and out to the New River and also liked to take Airport Road or North Main out to the hospital area and back through Merrimac then loop back on Prices Fork Road. Ah to be young and fit again.
Edited. Oh man, it has been a long time since Blacksburg and New Haven. Had to go back and look at maps to see the routes and I had messed up several of the names. Fixed now.
I ride my Peloton 4-5 times a week, does that count?
Yea I came to talk about my peloton as well. Thought about making a forum post for it a few weeks ago, but that seemed a bit pretentious.
How do you like yours? I currently use a wheel off bike trainer, but my fiancee is trying to convince me to buy her one to fit in with her friends... worth the cost?
So, my fiance (now wife) decided to buy it before COVID. She got an interest free loan, so it comes out to $50/month for the next 2 years, then another $40/month for the subscription.
I thought it was pretty dumb at first, but now I see the genius. I do a 10-15 minute HIIT rides for a warmup before doing a lower body. Love doing a 20-30 minute hill climb between work calls. If I'm hungover and want to break a light sweat, I can do a 20 minute low impact ride.
It's not my primary means of fitness, but at a time where I'm not super comfortable going to the gym, it's been a life saver.
I live in Brooklyn and the biggest barrier to me working out is actually getting my ass to a gym, park, whatever to work out. It is expensive but I've at least gotten my money's worth out of it, as opposed to a gym membership.
As for the bike itself, I enjoy the programming a lot. Especially if you have friends/family who have one as well, the gamesmanship/competition that develops is definitely a boost in motivation, as well as the challenges, events, etc they build into the programs.
I have one of the alternatives from Myxfitness and love it. It doesn't have all of the features of the Peloton (e.g., no live-streamed classes or connected leaderboards) but you still get classes and mostly the same bike for about $1K less.
As a shareholder, I appreciate your business.
Virginia's Blue Ridge is a heckuva place to live and ride. Awesome roads, groads (gravel roads) and trails. Right now my absolute favorite routes usually involve heading through the gravel roads of Arcadia (usually parking at the Day Creek Trailhead near Montvale).
There's a gravel event coming up November 7thin New Castle:
https://www.bikereg.com/appalachian-mountaineer
and a cyclocross race in Roanoke the following weekend:
https://www.bikereg.com/gocross
Gravel Map is an awesome resource to find some good gravel map routes! Definitely check out Harrisonburg as well.
I live in Upstate SC....favorite ride is the watershed, from northern Greenville up to Saluda, NC. Stop there, visit the bakery for scone/coffee, and then ride back down the hill to Greenville. Only problem is that road is in horrible shape, it desperately needs to be re-paved.
I ride a 2006 Felt F4. Would love something new, but every time I ride, I am reminded what a nice bike it is. Just rides so smooth. Got a good deal on ebay when a bike shop in Arizona was trying to clear out inventory of the previous model year.
Anyone on twitter should follow DJ Parker. He posts a lot of his rides there. I think he just started cycling not so long ago, and has already done a century.
Riding the Saluda grade is impressive!
Upstate here as well...but MTB.
We go to our local ride Southside Park weekly.
I will likely ride Dupont Saturday AM, if rain/trails allow.
I just did Pleasant Ridge which was fun.
I upgraded my OLD Giant 26" (!!) to a new 29"Trek Topfuel and I'm kicking ass...
Forgot to post gear:
Trek Boone with GRX Di2 (currently 1X)
Trek Crockett SS (can make it a 1X pretty quickly)
Various wheelsets for both of the above.
I spend most of my time riding on one of these two bikes. Sometimes I'll use my 10 year old road bike on the trainer for Zwift.
Just uploaded my Motobecane Le Champion Roadie to Di2 last year and man it was the best decision i ever made. I never knew that shifting could be so fluid. It's so hard to go back from it on my Gravel bike.
The Di2 is absolutely amazing. Switched from SRAM Force 1x. The upgrade in brakes and hood ergonomics alone were worth it. Still have the Force1 brakes on the SSCX...
Ever tried waxing your chain (Molten Speed Wax)?
I have not tried waxing, but I will now. Any side effects of it on the chain? Any special cleaning that needs to be done with the wax on it?
The initial cleaning/stripping of the factory grease is the most tedious part. If you ride in a lot of mud or wet roads, may not be the ticket... but it's so smooth and clean.
https://moltenspeedwax.com/pages/clean-your-chain
In San Francisco, just started cycling regularly since my teens because of lockdown. I go from my house, across the golden gate bridge, if I really want to get a work out in I go up Hawk Hill, and then down Hawk Hill and then to Sausalito ends up being around 22 miles, almost 2000 ft of elevation gain. Really nice ride, especially if it's not cloudy out(it almost always is), the views of the bay are great most of the way.
Guess none of it's gravel though all road, although I should've bought a road bike, but ended up getting this one used
https://www.raleighusa.com/talus1
that's awesome. would love to go on that ride. post some pics if you can.
https://imgur.com/a/f7ZHgTJ
these are a few I've taken along the route, I should take more at some point
Kind of amazed nobody has said New River Trail State Park. Start out in Pulaski ride to Galax on the old railroad grade, 37 miles of it next to the River.
https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/new-river-trail
There are a lot of decent trails around Wythe County. New river trail if you want straight and flat. Crystal Springs recreation area has a bunch of different kinds of trails. The road riding is decent too. 76 trail passes through the area for tourer types.
I have a couple bikes with decade old groups on them not getting any love since I had a kid.
70's Gazelle Champion Mondial and a Cannondale Mountain bike. If I were riding, I'd be suffering from an itch to buy others. So... maybe it's for the best.
For your bicyclist what would you recommend for someone who wants to ride on surface streets and multi use paths for a simple workout? What kind of bike? Always had mountain bikes growing up but don't really need that now or is that still best option?
As long as you're not going to be going on any crazy terrain i think you would be just fine with a hybrid bike. They can withstand some gravel, and, and pavement of course.
I have a hybrid as well. Would go with that. They can be more "mountain bike-like" or more "road bike-like" based upon how rugged they are, do the have shocks ...
Have a mountain bike-like one now and kind of preferred my old one that was closer to a road bike. Was lighter and did not have shocks like mine has. If you are mostly road or path, no need for the mountain bike features.
Somewhat depends on the riding position you want. A cross bike with a fatter set of slicks would probably do everything you want. But, that may be a more aggressive riding position that, say, the hybrid.
For a workout, I'd just get an old steel sports tourer that can fit a 32-35mm tire. It's going to cost a lot less.
Currently in Colorado. Most memorable ride is probably pedaling up Mount Evans. Highest paved road in North America and pretty sweet being up above the tree line, summiting at 14000+ feet. The descent is great once you get through the rough pavement up top. Also, the classic ride from Denver to Lookout Mountain is pretty sweet. When I was in Kentucky my favorite route was McCracken Pike between Frankfort and Versailles. Beautiful ride through horse farms and bourbon distilleries.
Favorite bike is probably my '94 Cannondale R600 fixed up for my daily commuter. Set up as a 1x9 with friction downtube shifter. Really zippy and easy to weave in and out of downtown streets. Love it.
Preferred snack during long rides is a Stinger Honey Waffle Vanilla or a burrito I premade the night before. Any suggestions?
Is Pikes Peak (the road up) open for riding in the offseason? Seen some videos of the world climbing championships there and it looks like a hell of a climb.
There really is something special about a reliable commuter. Especially if you ride it every day, you have a better bond with it than a geeked out bike.
As far as snacks go i love the peanut butter banana cliff bar, dates, and the Salted Caramel Honey Stinger.
Pikes Peak is open year round depending on the weather. I'd be surprised if you could make it up there on a bike in the winter, though. They're building a new visitor center at the top so its pretty much a construction zone up at the summit currently from what I've heard. I think the average gradient on Pikes Peak is around 6% with the last mile or so averaging around 9%-10% above 13k feet. BRUTAL.
holy hell, I've driven up Mt.Evans, and that was slightly unnerving because there were no guard rails. I con't really imagine biking up it
W&OD Trail a few times a week, although its getting a little chilly for me now.
Can't go wrong going west or east from gallows, to Arlington or Herndon.
20-25 miles is about all I can stand for 1 ride, but it makes for lovely exercise.
Only been cycling for about 3 yrs now, loving it though. Currently stationed in Omaha, NE and surprisingly our neighborhood is about 1000ft above sea level, then drops off to what you'd think of for Nebraska. So more climbing than I thought. Also a really good trail system to ride on that parallels creeks that run through the city. So I can get in a 20+ mile ride in without dealing with traffic.
Have a Trek Domane SL5. Need to get a "tune-up" I think. How often are you bringing your bike in for some TLC?
In the winter I'm using a Wahoo Kickr Snap to train on over Zwift. It's pretty awesome. I can see the benefit of a Peleton, but for the same price you can a nice bike you can take out on the roads too.
I normally bring my bike in twice a year for tuneups, but i do a lot of TLC for it at home especially on my gravel bike. I try to wash the chain after most rides and then relube it and give the bike a nice scrub down with some cleaner if it was real wet/muddy on the ride. How do you like your Snap?
Yeah I really only clean/grease the chain. Think I'll take it in soon.
The Snap is good. If you live in an area where you'll keep it up on the trainer for months I'd recommend the normal Kickr though. The Snap still wears down your rear tire and you are supposed to calibrate it before each ride, only 2 minutes or so but still better to just get on with it.
I've got the new Kickr v5 (autocalibration, no need for a spin down) and silent, only the drivetrain noise is heard. I love it! It replaced a Tacx NEO (which also didn't require calibration and is silent)... but "feels" better with a physical flywheel.
Added bonus for the Kickr v5, it works great with thru axle bikes!
And now I'm jealous, thanks for that!
You can't go wrong riding the Virginia Creeper Trail. Mostly downhill from Whitetop to Damascus and it's only 17.15 miles for that segment according to my Garmin. I recommend going all the way to the end in Abingdon, which is around 33 miles. Be forewarned though, from Damascus to Abingdon is more or less uphill. It's a rolling 16 miles, but uphill nonetheless.
I have 3 bikes currently, a Giant Iguana that I've had for several years and is responsible for getting me into cycling. I've put many miles on it riding in Umstead here in Raleigh. I've also got a Felt Z100 that is honestly just a little too big for me and actually fits my boyfriend much better. It's currently set up on the trainer collecting dust 😩 My favorite is a Quintana Roo CD 0.1. I haven't done a triathlon in a couple of years, but that bike is so comfortable to ride. I can, and have, ridden it all day.
Unpopular opinion, but having a thickly cushioned saddle is not always the way to go. I have a Selle Italia Diva saddle on both Roo and the Felt, and they are both far more comfortable to ride for hours on end than the gel saddle I have on the Giant. I need to replace it, I just haven't yet.
Does anyone else follow the n + 1 formula for the number of bikes you need?
Stuck in the flat lands of Southeastern Michigan. Lots of gravel roads to explore just north of me so thats what I do generally on my longer weekend ride. I was recently in VA for work and rode Pocahontas State Park. Some fun fire roads as well as nearly empty pavement within the park (mid-September). Currently riding a Specialized Diverge, low end groupset but gets the job done. Glad this topic was started! Can find me on Strava at Mark Bagwell.
Bike: Trek 1000
State: Texas
Routes: local secondary roads
Average: 15-25 miles each go
Truthfully tho, my main ride is my Peloton. Best investment ever. With 6 kids, affords me the ability to ride anytime of day, and the competition in output vs other riders is intense.
Alias: TurboTurkey
I have an older Felt F75, maybe 2007 model. I need to do a tune up on it and new bar tape so that will get done now that it's cooling off. I mostly ride Capital Trail, Riverside and out to the west end of Richmond and around town. Usually shoot for 15+ miles every time I hop on but have a couple solid 10-11 mile routes I can hit really fast for a quick sweat if time is pinched a bit.
Grew up in Christiansburg and the NRV, but I never did any serious cycling there.
I've been in the Nashville area since 1993 and I've been a recreational cyclist for about 5 years. I ride all over middle TN, but my favorite is probably riding around Brentwood, Franklin (beautiful horse ranches) and the 11.2 mile loop in Percy Warner Park.
I've been riding in the DC area for a few years, when I lived in Arlington and worked downtown, I bike commuted. I'm in Manassas now and with a 14 month old, I haven't been riding anywhere near as much as I used to.
The trail networks around DC will easily spoil you, from the views to where you can get to. My place in Arlington was near where the Washington & Old Dominion trail and the Mt Vernon trails met, so the bulk of my riding then was on those two trails. I ride a Giant Revolt which is an excellent "allround" bike. The geometry is relaxed, stable, geared for hills, and clearance for up to 50mm tires. Its comfortable, I've done dozens of century rides, and rode from DC to Philadelphia on it.
My favorite ride has to be Jeremiah Bishop's Alpine Loop Gran Fondo that starts in Harrisonburg, or the Civil War Century that is a loop with Gettysburg and Antietam on each end.
I'll upload some photos when I'm on the computer.
Strava handle: https://www.strava.com/athletes/4996084
This is my international take.
Despite my screen name, I now live in Tunis Tunisia. I brought a mountain bike because I thought I'd be able to find some trails but there aren't many here so I ride my Cannonale Cross Bike with slick tires along the coast. It's kinda cool riding past the ancient ruins of Carthage.
In Nairobi there was a group of guys who rode the Ngong Hills every Sunday (see Out of Africa for the scenery).
Manila is terrible for cyclists.
thought i would share. here is a cycling jersey i designed on owayo.com. pretty $$$, but fun to design
This thing is fire! You didn't have trouble with using the Hokie Bird logo? I've been looking for something like this and may just have to make my own.
No, but I was wondering the same thing. Owayo is in Regensburg, Germany...they probably have no idea what the Hokiebird is. Cool website though, they offer all kinds of designs for all kinds of jerseys.
Selling my 2018 Wahoo Kickr in a month or so once I'm able to begin to brave the weather again if any cyclists on the boards are interested.
Good idea. You definitely should kick out the Wahoo. But what took you so long :-)?
Haven't ridden much lately but wife and I did the Between the Waters ride on the Eastern Shore a few times. A good ride for all levels with different lengths. We would ride around local neighborhoods once a week. Have some nice Trek road bikes sitting idle.