Join us from October 8 – 12, 2025
This year, a new location for Fall Tour; departing Harrisburg on Wednesday, October 8, riding to Gettysburg and on Thursday, October 9, to Frederick, Maryland. We shall be staying at the Best Western in Frederick. Room rate is $85 per night for a double room and breakfast is included.
Members who are not riding down arrive Thursday or Friday by car and enjoy the weekend in the historic area in and around Frederick. No rush to get home; Monday is Columbus Day.
Ride routes in Frederick include Historic Bicycle Loop (flat 13 miles), Civil War Campaign Ride (37 miles), Covered Bridges (40 miles <remote start>), Spirits of Burkittsville (12.9 miles <remote start> and Transportation Heritage Tour (18 miles). For those wanting a challenge, The Catoctin Mountain Challenge (31 miles <remote start>) will test your climbing legs.
The Historic Bicycle Loop traverses the streets, alleys and paths of historic downtown Frederick. It visits the Hessian Barracks, Mount Olive Cemetery, Francis Scott Key Monument, Rodger Brooke Taney House, National Museum of Civil War Medicine, Hood College, Barbara Fritchie House, and more.
The Civil War Campaign Ride is situated in the heart of the Civil War Heritage Area. It includes the Monocacy National Battlefield.
(Note that Frederick is a Bicycle Friendly Community designated by the League of American Bicyclists.)
We have started a collection on Ride With GPS for the routes, to see them click HERE
Frederick County is home to a variety of historic water crossings, many of which are found on the National Register of Historic Places. The Covered Bridges Ride will cross bridges of various construction and design, three of which are the only known covered bridges in Maryland, including the LeGore Bridge, constructed in 1898.
The Spirits of Burketsville Ride focuses on a town of fewer than 200 residents, originally founded in 1824. The town gained national notoriety with the 1999 release of the film, The Blair Witch Project. It was also the locale of the Battle of Crampton’s Gap, a bloody prelude to the Battle of Antietam. The “Blair Witch” is reputed to inhabit Spook Hill along with fallen soldiers.
Since its founding, Frederick has been a transportation crossroads for the turnpike, railroad and canal. The Transportation Heritage Tour takes you from the National Road across Carrollton Manor, roughly paralleling the former B&O railroad route, to Point of Rocks where you will visit a historic railroad station at the gateway to the C&O Canal Historic Park (the C&O Canal towpath).
To register click HERE