Seneca Epic

MORE · #1 May 16th, 2010

Seneca Epic
Germantown-Boyds-Clarksburg-Damascus-Gaithersburg-Germantown

Description

Regular Epic:
This is the world-famous Montgomery County Epic. A 4-5 hour ride time (6-7+ hours total time) epic ride through 6 Montgomery County parks: Schaeffer, Hoyles Mills Connector, Black Hills, Little Bennett, Seneca Greenway from Damascus to 355, Seneca Creek State Park and back to Schaeffer. Between 40 and 50 miles, depending on whether and how much of Schaeffer and Seneca Park is done. No real bailout point after Black Hills (even then, you need to turn around). No real technical difficulty but a lot of rolling terrain. Excellent fitness and good endurance required.

Route directions from Nocro: http://www.crowleigh.com/moco_epic/

GPS track:

Extended Epic:
You thought 50 miles and 6 parks was a bit short for a ride? Well, you're in luck as we've just added the Muddy Branch Trail and the C&O Canal to the regular parks on that ride. We even managed to reduce the amount of road by removing the Riffleford Rd section.

Route: Riley's Lock to Seneca Rd to River Rd to Berryville Rd to Darnestown Rd (Rt 28) to Black Rock Rd to Schaeffer (white trail) to Hoyles Mill to Black Hills to Little Bennett to Lower Magruder to Seneca Greenway to Game Preserve to Clopper Lake to McDonald Chapel Dr to Kentlands to Muddy Branch Park to Pennyfield Lock and back to Riley's Lock via the C&O Canal.

Notes from Denis about the extended epic:

Country roads (almost no cars encountered, and riders can ride 3 across): 12.88 miles in 52 minutes
neighborhood streets: 3.09 miles in 13 minutes
paved trails: .75 mile in 6 minutes
major roads (River Rd, Rt 28, 355, 121, Esworthy, etc...): 2.85 miles in 18 minutes
trails (almost all singletrack): 44.34 miles in 5 hours 10 minutes.

Percentages: All paved: 30% of the mileage for 22% of the time; All trails: 70% of the mileage for 78% of the time.

Notes: Bring a full camelbak of water and plenty of food. There are a couple of places to get water on the way, but not many. There's is a 7-11 about three quarters of the way thru the ride.

Information on Included Parks: