Driving in MD
 

Anyone know of any good roads around the Gaithersburg area to take the 8 out on on weekends?

Also, does anyone know a backroad way to get to NW DC from that area? The 270 traffic makes me feel so bad for the poor Renesis. . .

just click avoid highway on the nav.

Nav
 

. . .not getting it. I'll spend the extra $2k on engine mods when the warranty runs out.

As to your first question - There are many roads in upper Rockville/Gaithersburg area that are fun to drive. Go out towards Sugarloaf Mountain (the Cotactins). Or down towards the Potomac, come down Seven Locks Road, take River Road out till it ends, or go down to MacArthur Blvd and ride out to Great Falls on the Maryland side.

As to an alternate or back roads to get from Gaithersburg down to NW DC - Unfortunately, ALL the roads are bad. 355 (Rockville Pike) comes down from there, but it is a nightmare at rush hour (or even on the weekends). Similarly for Seven Locks. Sorry.

mm

I'm going to be zipping through NY - PA - MD today.....has some interesting routes

For an out-of-the-way alternative to 270, try Rt. 650 (New Hampshire Ave). From the Beltway, take the New Hampshire Avenue exit going north. After a few miles, you leave the suburbs behind and find yourself in a very pretty area. Up near Damascus, 650 ends and you have a couple of options for getting back to 270. I don' t have a map handy, but any Maryland map should show those roads. Note that this route is NOT a timesaver -- it's just a nice drive.

650
 

Thanks, I'll definitely check that out. I need to get from Germantown to NW DC every day, and my poor rotary will not be happy if it has to be in the nightmare that is 270 in the mornings.

I've been experimenting with many different ways to get from here (Montgomery Village) to there (Downtown).

There aren't any.

During the morning rush, every single southbound route is completely clogged.

650, as mentioned above, is nice in parts, but it gets completely blocked up below Ashton.
Really, the biggest problem is getting out of Gaithersburg to begin with. You end up having to deal with 355 or 124 or some combination no matter what.
Even Fieldcrest Rd heading to 108 stands still in the morning rush. It is sad.
Just face it - you live in one of the fastest growing, most affluent communities in the United States that also has the second worst traffic in the United States as studied by the NHSC.

As far as fun drives, I like to head out on 28 and poke around on the various roads around 109, 107 and 85 in the area between 15 and Whites Ferry. There are nice twisties near Point of Rocks, Dickerson and Boyds.
Best part, it is only 15 minutes away from Gaithersburg.

Unfortunately
 

That's what I figured, but thanks for the other drives, I'll definitely check them out. I think I'll just pray they start letting us come in to work at 7 again soon. I seem to remember much less crowded roads when I leave the house at 620. . .

I live in Bethesda and there are a few ways to get to DC and avoid 355/Wisconsin and so on.

ROCK CREEK PARK is great to use to avoid traffic

Also travelling thru the outskirts of potomac and cabin john are great ways to get into DC and avoid all the nonsense traffic