This populaire finishes at Smoketown Brewing Station in Brunswick, MD, next door to King’s Pizza. The Brawler crosses into Virginia and encompasses horse county down to Marshall and back to Middleburg, with 13.5 miles of gravel interspersed.
Smoketown is the nickname for Brunswick, MD from the days when it had a 7-mile long B&O railyard in the era of steam locomotives and no pollution controls. This route takes you from a recovering Rust Belt town to the toniest real estate in Central Virginia, with great views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and then on the historic C&O Canal Towpath for a few finishing miles. Gravel makes up 13 miles of the trip. Services are in Round Hill, Marshall, Middleburg, Purcellville, with a finish at Smoketown Brewing Station and King's Pizza. Parking is available at the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal - Brunswick Parking Lot, a short distance from the start control, Beans in the Belfry, which does not open until 08:00.
An overnight 400k to prepare for PBP. This will be an unsupported ride with no club-provided food at the finish. This is a unique ride that starts in Warrenton on Saturday evening and heads to Northern Virginia roads that we avoid during the day but are prime riding in the middle of the night. During the night the route is well-supported with 24-hour convenience stores.
Riders should be prepared to be self-sufficient - we will not have a volunteer at a hotel room, although we will have one on-call through the ride.
This 112k beauty features the big rollers in Carroll and eastern Frederick counties. Frey’s has a limited kitchen to feed us after the ride.