Training Rides

ABRT members participate in impromptu group road rides Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday as well as a mountain bike on Monday. These are “open” rides wherein cyclists of all calibers and team affiliations may show up to participate. These rides are not sponsored by ABRT, and thus are not officially sanctioned by ABRT. No support whatsoever is provided on these rides and cyclists participate in them at their own risk.

These rides are typically fast paced training rides, although the pace will be determined by the time of year, weather conditions, upcoming races, and who shows up. There should be no expectation that dropped riders will be waited for and as such all riders are expected to know the route. If you do not know the route, print off a cue sheet (i.e., description of roads and turns) and bring it and/or a gps device on the ride. You can find a link for the cue sheets next to each map. If you are new to riding in a group on open roads and in a paceline, somebody from ABRT would be more than willing to give you some advice. Just ask before the ride starts or, better yet, submit a question using our contact form. No question is a dumb question, and it could possibly prevent a crash. And PLEASE NO EAR BUDS/HEADPHONES are allowed during group rides.

These rides run in all weather, although participation, especially in the winter may vary greatly depending on conditions and since these are not sanctioned rides, there is never a formal “cancellation”.

Ride Map Overview

Click on a route to see more about it.

Saturday Group Ride

Time: 8 am (summer: Memorial Day-Labor Day), 9 am (fall/spring: Labor Day-December/March-Memorial Day, 10 am  (winter: December-February)

This is the “premier” ABRT group ride that starts and finishes and the Davidsonville Rd Park and Ride (intersection of MD 424/US 50). This ride has been in existence since before the formation of ABRT over 30 years ago. There are generally A and B groups. Regardless of group, riders should always be prepared to ride alone if they can not reasonably maintain the group pace, so should always bring a GPS enabled device if the route is not familiar. The time change happens after memorial/labor day weekends.

The A ride is 60 miles and travels to south to North Beach in Calvert County, mostly on smaller roads, and back (https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27264690). The ride takes 2:45 to 3:15 pedaling time (18-21+ mph, slower in winter) and is about 60 miles. The first part of the ride usually stays together for the most part and very often on the second half the ride will split into various groups. There are no regroup points so if you get dropped you are on your own and there should be no expectation of anyone waiting.

The “B” ride (16-18 mph) is shorter ride of 42 miles to Deale (https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28219047) and is typically takes about 2:30. Most riders attempt to hang onto the lead group until the end of Brooks Woods Rd at mile 18 where the groups split. There are often regroup spots on the B ride.

Sunday No-Drop Ride

Time: 8 am (summer: Memorial Day-Labor Day), 9 am (fall/spring: Labor Day-December/March-Memorial Day, 10 am  (winter: December-February)

A number of ABRT riders and other local area cyclists meet in downtown Annapolis for a no-drop ride of between 35-45 miles depending on weather and conditions. The route is out to Sandy Point, College Parkway and slow roll home via the B&A trail or northwest weaving through Crownsville to Severna Park and  and slow roll home via the B&A trail. While the ride does go fast in places, there are many regroup points and the average speed is about 16-18 mph. The start location is on Prince George Street at the USNA Barry Gate behind city dock.

Monday Dam Good Watts Mountain Bike Ride

Time: 6:00 pm March through October – Ride is dependent on trail conditions

A fun, friendly group ride, a great lap of Waterworks Park in a nice flowing counter clockwise direction starting and ending at the Housley trailhead near the PetSmart. Some riders may park in west Annapolis near Chessie’s Wharf for a few extra road miles and to end near refreshments. The ride is as fast or slow as you want it to be. You can be dropped, but we try to have a sweeper. We somtimes regroup at the dam. Slower riders can truncate the route by cutting out the deeper loops. Ride may take between 60 and 90 minutes. For up to date information on weather cancelations see the Instagram profile:  https://www.instagram.com/damgoodwatts/


Tuesday Davidsonville (“Dville”) Group Ride

Time: 6:00 pm March through October

The start finish is at the Davidsonville Park and Ride at the intersection of Rt. 50 and 424. The Tuesday Ride, affectionately known as the “Tuesday Night World Championships” (what club does not have one??) is a very fast paced 34 mile training ride most often done at race pace and averages 21-25 mph. The ride is typically composed of the strongest area riders in the lead group with a B group and on occasion a C group after that. The A/B/C splits typically happen on Harwood Rd. There are several “short cuts” for riders that get dropped and want to rejoin the group. Expect many attacks and breakaway attempts during the ride. In the spring and fall closed to the daylight savings time, we often cut off the Polling House loop to keep the ride time to a little over an hour. Once there is enough daylight, some groups will do the full 35 mile route if speeds are fast enough while the slower groups will do the shortened course.  This is decidedly a “drop ride” and there should be no expectations of anyone waiting. However, it is always a good idea to talk with others of similar ability about regrouping at various point (the gas station at the top of Harwood Rd. for example) as it is always more fun to ride with people.

Thursday Parvilla Shop Ride

Time: 5:30 pm April through mid-October
The  ride leaves from Parvilla Cycles in Edgewater and rolls through 23 miles of south county back roads. It is ridden at several paces but the focus is on recovery and enjoyment and the pace is tightly controlled by the ride organizers. This ride is open to everyone and can split quickly within the first 5 miles into A and B groups. There are several “free ride” sections followed by places where the group stops and regroups but these are short. There is a beer and food afterwards at a spot in the same shopping center as the shop.

Sunday BWI-Ellicott City Ride

Time: 9 am (summer) & 10 am (winter)

On some Sundays ABRT riders do a loop from the BWI Observation Area Parking Lot on the south side of Dorsey Road to Ellicott City, up and down a few of the hills, a coffee stop, and back. Throughout the ride, the riders will typically regroup at various locations when hills split up the pack. Contact us before heading to the ride because participation is very dependent on weather and other schedule considerations.

Other Organized Rides

Many ABRT Riders participate as a group in rides sponsored by other clubs, such as the Artemis Memorial Day/Labor Day rides, Ivy Lane or Bike Doctor Annapolis rides on Wednesday evenings,  Larry’s Ride, The Seagull Century, The Civil War Century, The Lifeline 100 Century and the Potomac Pedalers Touring Club Memorial/Labor Day rides. In addition, ad hoc spur of the moment rides on holidays or warm winter days are announced on our members only e-mail list and Facebook group.

Using the Ride With GPS Routes

The routes above are include in the BikeAAA library which allows any user to use these routes and enjoy all of the paid account features such as turn by turn directions, with any ride in our RWGPS Library. You can either either download the route (in the appropriate format for your head unit device, Garmin, Wahoo etc.) or use the free RWGPS app and a free account.

Head Unit

  • On the RWGPS route page, click the Export .FIT File button
  • Choose the appropriate options
  • Alternately, click the “three dots” next to the Export .FIT File button to choose other formats depending on your device or use case
  • Download the file and install per the instructions for your device

iPhone or Andriod Phone

This allows you to use the free app/account for turn by turn directions on your iPhone or Android device. The directions are audible so the phone could be located in your jersey pocket or if you have a handlebar mount, you can view the map and see visual and hear audible instructions. Here’s the process, it’s simple!

  1. Download the Ride With GPS app from the Apple or Google Play stores
  2. Create a free account on the phone or on the RWGPS web site (ridewithgps.com) and sign into the app on your phone
  3. Navigate to this page on your mobile phone browser and click the RWGPS link for the route you are riding
  4. The link should open in the ride with GPS app (make sure it says “by BikeAAA“)
  5. Click the menu on the route (the three dots on the upper right) and select “Download (Map&Route)”, which will download the entire route to your phone so you won’t use data during the ride
  6. Click the menu on the route (the three dots on the upper right) and select “Ride This”

Go ride the route! The app will give turn by turn directions. There are other options you can select from the menu to control the behavior of the app during the ride. The app will also record your ride details such as speed, elapse time and other data. As always make sure you have a cue sheet in case your battery dies!