Good ride! Some interesting route choices. I was a total slacker today. Have started doing the gym again but that's not an excuse (even though I throw it in as if it were). That last leg of your ride must've been a bit wild as you followed Rt 9 onto the Rt 340 bypass and then on to the Currie Road off ramp. You're braver than I am to jump onto those major highways.

The worst part of those sections of 9 and 340 is the automobile tire nose on the concrete - it’s deafening. The shoulders on those roads are as wide or wider than a car lane. I hang close to the guard rail and let the 47mm tubeless WTB Horizon tires role over the detritus. Going on 3 years on these tires without a flat

Noise

Yeah but that noise is caused by cars whizzing by at 65-70 miles per hour, and you've got to get across the mouth of that ramp where 340 heads to Frederick. I do see that you did a little dance at that big intersection by Panera. You had a higher top speed and a higher average speed than I have ever achieved, especially on a ride of that length. A safer alternative route might have been to continue onto Cattail Run over to the intersection on Rt 340 at Aldi & Sheetz where you could cross over to Country Club or Golf Course Road (or whatever the he'll it's called) and than continue to Flowings Springs Road (admittedly another sketchy choice) for a short run up to that left at the church that will take you directly into Shenandoah Junction.

This is a healthy discussion and I very appreciate your thoughtfulness. I determined this entire route in real time as I rode along - especially on my return as I routed myself largely based on the incredible south wind that was developing. It seems my riding style is literally to go which ever way the wind blows. I did consider the alternate route you describe but opted against it. The stretch from the sheets to Flowing Springs Road to the intersection of Daniel Road is one I have ridden before and do not prefer even when the wind is not blowing bicycles and cars about - highly trafficked cut through unimproved 2 lane with several large housing developments on it. And Daniel Road is not great either due to the zero shoulder. From a pure safety perspective on a normal day, it probably would’ve been best to hang a left on old route 9 off of Kabletown and continued to the Junction through Charles Town proper. All this being said, I am not yet convinced that riding the wide shoulders of high speed highways/interstates like new Rt 9 / 340 bypass is statistically more or less dangerous than the other choices for an experienced rider. A quick Google search does not reveal a plethora of data on the subject but there have been some studies: https://mobikefed.org/2015/11/bicycling-interstate-freeway-shoulders-it-safe-answers-research

I read your reply with interest and take your point about avoid some arguably smaller roads that nonetheless have traffic at speed with little or no berm or shoulder. The discussionin the link you included was great and showed a concern for the rights and safetyof cyclists that I don't sense around here. One of the scariest incidents I've experienced happened a few months ago when I cycled from home and down into Clarke County along the Shenandoah. I had to traverse a short stretch of Rt 7, a divided highway but without any meaningful shoulder. As I was pedaling west from Wickliffe Road to Parshal Road on a Sunday morning (usuallythe safest time) a knot of traffic flowed up behind me from the east. They went past at speed and a van stayed in the lane I occupied the edge of and didn't move over but almost knicked me. The driver had options, saw me well in advance, could've slowed or even moved a little to the left to give me some safe margin but seemed to have deliberately chosen not to. It was a very close call. I don't like to stereotype but I am frequently passes by large pickup trucks with one occupant that ride closer to me than necessary and often gun the throttle to create a cloud of toxic smoke. These days it's easy to feel the hostility building in our society from experiences on the road..

That particular stretch of Rt 7 is a prime example of high-speed highway that is unsafe for bicyclists. Rt 7 is such a dissapointment - it could be such a good artery for cyclists especially going over the mountain into Loudoun. I have had the same experiences as you on that highway most of which occurred back when I used to predominantly ride my skinny tire Fuji Team Pro race bike and I had no good choice but to ride in the lane of traffic. Even though it is the law for motorists to "share the road", I have never felt the love there. The close shaves that were given to me on that highway were definitely premeditated because they had nothing but daylight in the passing lane but opted to "stand their ground" in the slow lane as if to say "you ain't supposed to be out here on your bicycle boy". If Rt 7 had a wide paved shoulder like the new segment of Rt 9 does to the top of the mountain or even a wide groomed gravel shoulder, I would ride the shoulder next to the guard rail on my Surly gravel grinder without a second thought.