Gravel Ride of the Week: Bluemont Loops
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At Mountain Road, our aim has always been to inspire others towards a more healthy and active lifestyle. We understand that healthy, natural living and physical activity go hand-in-hand to achieve true balance in one’s well-being. That’s exactly why we cover topics related to natural living (Mountain Road Life) and fitness & adventure (Mountain Road Ride) on this blog.
To help provide some additional motivation to get active and explore the beautiful world around us, we will be starting a new segment within Mountain Road Ride. We hope that this segment, called Gravel Ride of the Week, will help showcase how gravel cycling can help get you outside and active, all while avoiding heavy traffic and overcrowded training hotspots. Let’s check out this week’s ride...
Ride of the Week
This week’s gravel ride of the week takes us to Bluemont, in Northern Virginia. This quiet little town sits about 20mins west of Leesburg and is nestled in-between the main district highway, Route 7, and some exclusive country properties. The route kicks off at the Bluemont General Store, a perfect place to stock up for your ride. A short trip along the paved road leads you out of town, where you’ll find two attractions worth noting: Dirt Farm Breweries and the Bluemont Winery. These properties sit right next to each other, with a short (400ft/120m) distance separating the two respective entrances. We’ve celebrated family birthdays at both of these venues in the past and can very easily recommend that you stop here, should you be in the mood for some beer and/or wine after your ride. Be warned that in order to get to both of these venues, you’ll need to go up a fairly steep hill. But after the climb, you’ll be rewarded with stunning views at the top.
Shortly after the brewery and winery, the real fun begins - gravel! You’ll be in gravel heaven on these beautiful farm roads. Just take a look at the video that I created, if you want a taste of what awaits on these picturesque roads. The route that I followed was created to include as many gravel roads as possible, all while staying relatively close to Bluemont. That means that it covers two loops, one bigger (outer) loop and a smaller (inner) loop. Along the route, you’ll go through some interesting small villages (or townships) that consists of a cluster of houses. As can be seen from my route profile below, this will include places like Unison, Bloomfield and Airmont. Out of those three, Airmont will be your best bet, with a convenience store, should you need to restock supplies during the ride. Be sure to carry enough water with you from the start, since supplies are limited along this route.
The route that I followed came in at 37.3 miles (60km) and the total elevation gain measured in at 2440 ft (744m). It’s not a technical ride, but with lots of loose gravel, it can be a bit tricky to maintain traction on some steep, short uphills. Be sure to fit some tires that are suited for dry, loose gravel conditions. I’d recommend 32mm-40mm tires for this route. I did ride past one cyclist struggling with a standard road bike fitted with 25mm tires, he admitted to being on the wrong route and wasn’t expecting gravel.
The route offers incredible views along the way. You’ll be spoiled with distant mountain views, historic stone fences and shaded tree-lined lanes. The shade from all the trees also provides some nice relief from direct sunlight. I completed this route during the peak of summer, and while temperatures jumped to 88F (31C) on the day, the shade certainly helped to keep me from overheating.
If you are ever in the area and need ideas for where to enjoy some outdoor time (away from the crowds), then be sure get a dirt-worthy bicycle and check out this route for yourself. You can follow the Strava link provided, to download the route, should you want to try it out for yourself.
That’s it for our first installment of Gravel Ride of the Week. Be sure to follow along with our future adventures, if you want to see some more great ideas for where to ride gravel in Virginia.
-Wiehan
