Gravel Ride of the Week: Waterford
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It’s time to dig into another Gravel Ride of the Week. This week we stick to Loudoun County, in Northern Virginia, exploring some gravel roads around Waterford. The ride kicks off in the quaint historic downtown area of Leesburg, one of my favorite locations to start a gravel ride. You’ll find plenty of safe and free parking in this town, and the town has everything that you might need to get you stocked up before or after a ride. Everything from a bike shop (Transition Tri Sports), to coffee shops and a few great restaurants (Shoe’s Cup & Cork is a personal favorite) are all within close proximity of where today’s route starts. In my previous post about my DIYgravel Rooted Vermont ride, I highlighted a route that traveled south of Leesburg, but for this ride we’re heading north of Leesburg to another picturesque historic town called Waterford.
The route starts with a short trip through downtown Leesburg and then heads up Old-Waterford road. As you exit town, you’ll pass by Morven park, a historic equestrian estate that offers public access to things like a museum, boxwood gardens and lots of trails for hiking. This first section of the route is all paved, but once you pass the last gate to Morven park, you’ll get the first taste of gravel. The first section of gravel is short-lived, but fear not, you’ll soon encounter two pretty steep hills to make the going a bit more challenging. These two hills are sure to get your heart rate up and get you properly warmed up for the rest of the ride. Half-way up the second hill, the road turns back to gravel, and you’ll be rewarded for all that climbing when you see the incredible views along the gravel road that runs all the way through to Waterford.
Once in Waterford, the route follows some paved roads through this antiquated town. Here’s an interesting tidbit that I found on the Waterford’s website; 64% of Waterford's 97 homes were built before 1861, with only four built after 1922. I told you this was a historic place! While in town, be sure to check out The Corner Store, which dates back 200 years and currently sells locally crafted home and garden items, along with food from nearby farms. After passing through, you’ll be on some scenic country roads that offer great views of the mountains off to the west. This is the longest section along the route that follows paved public roads, but after about 4km/2.5miles, you’ll turn back onto gravel. The route sticks to the quiet gravel roads and eventually swings around to a small village called Morrisonville. Blink and you might just miss that you’ve already passed through the entire place!
Shortly after Morrisonville, the route heads onto Purcellville Road, a dead-straight gravel road that offers only a few rolling hills. This is certainly the place to let loose and enjoy the speed as you zip towards Purcellville. Just before you get all the way into town, you’ll turn back east and follow two favorite roads of local gravel riders; Allder School Road and Piggott Bottom Road. The only thing that remains after all those incredible gravel roads is to hop onto the W&OD bike path and cruise back into Leesburg. It’s also a downhill just about all the way back to the start – bonus!
The total distance for this route comes in at around 32mi/53km while the elevation gain measures in at about 2034ft/620m. Should you wish to copy this route, then you can find the exact breakdown as listed in the Strava link below. Also don’t forget to check out the video that goes along with this blog post to see what this route looks like.
I love that this ride can easily be squeezed in when you don’t have a lot of time available, while providing tons of stunning views. So often when we think of gravel riding, it’s seen as an all-day affair that lasts for hours. With a route as described above, you get to experience so many wonderful gravel roads, see a few cool places and yet still keep the distance and time to a manageable level to ensure that you can fulfill other obligations in the schedule. That’s what we here at Mountain Road strive for - a balanced, thriving, sustainable lifestyle!
Be sure to stay tuned for more Gravel Ride of the Week features in the future!
-Wiehan
