Sky Meadows Bikepacking

Sky Meadows Overnighter Odyssey

Memorial Day Weekend - 2024: James Sleigh and I take Max Russ on his first bikepacking trip through the rural-ish outskirts of the DMV.

Expecting a relatively easy, relaxing overnighter we ended up enduring 90 degree weather, thunderstorms, several mechanicals, and fire pit and stove failures.

Hour 5 of riding—thunder booms overhead as we are pelted with raindrops the size of quarters.

Max: “I don’t think I like this very much…”

Me: “What don’t you like…riding in the storm? …or bikepacking in general?

Max: "Hmm…I think the latter.”

As with any bikepacking however, mood can change as quickly as the weather. And to Max’s credit, he was singing a different tune the next day as we sipped IPA’s in the sunshine!

Sky Meadows Overnighter is a gravel loop which starts in Leesburg, VA, winding along quaint, country roads and passing several breweries and wineries. Sky Meadows State Park, a gorgeous place to camp, roughly marks the halfway point of the loop.

Naturally, as three public transit-pilled, car-hating city bumpkins, we joined up at Farragut West Metro stop in D.C., rode the Silver Line to Reston, and then pedaled the W&OD bike path to Leesburg.

Not after long, we were right where we wanted to be…beyond suburbia and beyond highways.

Our journey was filled with side-quests, which mostly involved shopping for treats at general stores, and seeing the amusing sights of semi-country life.

We purchased dinner at a Safeway in Middlbury, expertly selecting hotdogs, baked beans, and mac & cheese…unaware of the misfortune in our future later that evening.

Ominous clouds started to loom and soon the hills were socked in. With a tremendous clap of thunder, the sky opened up and we were quickly soaked to the bone. Max’s infamous declaration as to his distaste for bikepacking soon followed…

As foreshadowed, our tough day was followed by some very bad luck (and yes, poor planning). We had hoped to roast our hotdogs over the fire, but the storm made everything so wet we couldn’t find anything which would burn. So we turned to our stoves. I knew I had very little fuel left, so I decided to boil the hotdogs in the water I was going make the mac and cheese with to conserve it. After about a minute, the stove’s roar quieted to a soft hiss, and then it eventually sputtered out. We were out of options. I poured the lukewarm hotdog water into the mac and cheese and prayed that with enough time, it would be soft enough to eat. To make the cold hot dogs bearable, we topped them with cold baked beans. Lets just say this was a pretty defeating way to end the day.

The next day, things improved. The storm cooled things off and it was sunny again. We climbed an enormous hill to a brewery and finally started to enjoy things again. The relaxation for me was short lived however. Immediately upon leaving the brewery, my bottom bracket seized up—an issue far beyond my home bike mechanic abilities—and I had to call an Uber XL to a bike shop in Leesburg while Max and James S. continued on (Yes, I am still full of shame for this to this day…). Luckily the bike shop guys were homies and fixed me right up. I was able to meet back up with Max and James S. on the W&OD.

The bikepacking gods had one more lesson for us however, and just a few miles from the metro station, they decided Max, who apparently hadn’t suffered enough the day before, needed a mechanical as well. Fortunately, he was able to fix it himself. After stopping at a delicious BBQ restaurant and indulging in a few well deserved beers, we were soon enough on the metro back to to DC.

Exhausted, buzzed, and probably delirious, were grateful to be sitting…and grateful to be headed home.