Being from the great state of New Hampshire and having a kiddo in college in Kansas, I’m loving the Northeast US Events 2024 and Midwest US Events 2024 threads. However, I live in Virginia and there’s a large time investment to make it to any of those events, even if in conjunction with a vacation. So, here’s a thread for events in the Mid-Atlantic region.
The Mid-Atlantic is a region of the United States located in the overlap between the Northeastern and Southeastern states of the United States. Its exact definition differs upon source, but the region typically includes Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania are widely considered to also be part of the northeastern region of the United States, while Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia are sometimes affiliated with the south.
For this thread’s sake, let’s include:
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
Delaware
Maryland
DC
Virginia
West Virginia
North Carolina
My favorite site for events in Virginia is cyclingva.com. I’m not sure who maintains / updates it but it becomes quite comprehensive by the spring and includes bike tours, BMX, century & fun rides, cyclocross, gravel, mountain, and road events.
Other events already posted in the Northeast thread but could also be considered Mid-Atlantic include:
Finally, I heard about the Croatan Buck Fifty on The Gravel Ride podcast last year. It is in the Croatan National Forest in North Carolina. It’s early in the year (late March) and flat.
The two Dirty Kitten events (Gralley Cat and Gravel Race) are worth riding. As is the EX2 Loudoun 1725. (both listed on cyclingva, but wanted to call them out here)
The DK events are outside Culpepper, VA on private land so it’s someplace we don’t normally get to ride. Mostly rolling hills with on steep, nasty climb mid-lap (so you do it 1-4 times depending on event distance). The race is a smaller event - usually has some of the DC/VA/MD hitters, but not the pros. The Gralley Cat is an urban messenger style event, but in farmland instead of the city (they provide a map with checkpoints, teams have to decide the best way to get around - not going to get lost, but prizes for most points etc).
1725 is based out of Middleburg (hour west of DC) in the foothills of the Blue Ridge. Elevation is of the death by a thousand cuts variety (but in a good way). Not a race, just a solid organized ride on nice gravel roads.
Not events but the W&OD multi-use path (century route that includes Haynes Point), C&O Canal Towpath (southbound), and a century route that includes parts of both.
I’ve ridden the W&OD century twice, once starting from the trailhead in Arlington and another from the mid-point at Green Lizard Cyclery in Herndon. It’s a nice trail but there are a lot of street crossings, so it is hard to get into a constant pedaling rhythm.
I’m working on plans to do 80-120 miles of the C&O Canal bike packing with one of my kiddos and his Trail Life troop. I rode the portion from Harper’s Ferry to Georgetown a long time ago. If I can steal away for a day I’ll probably try the century that includes both the W&OD and C&O.
The roads in this region are awesome. Real gravel (not hardpack dirt like I have in Philly), low traffic, lots of scenery. My wife and I have been there for vacation twice, and it’s always great to ride those roads!
If you wanna get crazy you could combine the two and do W&OD out and then cross the Potomac at Point of Rocks and take the C&O back. It would probably end up being like 115 mi or so depending on where you start/finish.
my team hosts this event. yes it will be back this year and will actually feature two days of racing. short course crit saturday full course reversed circuit race sunday.
Mid Atlantic has a great racing scene IMO. can basically race every weekend from late march to august if you want to with reasonable drives
If you mountain bike, a great overnight loop is the full MoCo Epic (C&O, Seneca Creek to Little Bennet, then back to C&O on Muddy Branch). We do it as a two night, riding from home (Reston) - W&OD into Arlington, across Chain Bridge, first night at Swain’s Lock. On the return, we’ll either beg a wife for a ride home from Great Falls or take the metro from near GWU.
Adding the Garrett County Gran Fondo to the list. It is a road event in western Maryland, June 22nd. It has 40, 60, 100 and 125 versions. It is very well organized and a climber’s dream. The 100 miler has 12,500 feet of climb and the 125 has 14,800’. I’m too heavy to be a real climber, but I am dumb enough to do the 125 again this year GCGF RIDES – GARRETT COUNTY GRAN FONDO
I’ve done both of these: 5x for the ALGF, 2x for Thunder Ridge. They are both great rides: challenging, great climbs, superb support and good after-party. The ALGF is a great day out whether you do the full GF route with gravel, or the all paved mountain route.
