Riding, Writing, and Building Destinations
The story behind Best Rides DC — and the work it has grown into
Pure Joy — and Stewardship
“My ultimate goal has been to raise awareness of the places we have so we can take care of the places we have. So they are available for many more people to be able to experience what I experience when I'm on the trail, pure joy...”
From the Story of Martin Fernandez
Our Cycling Guides & Route Research
Best Rides DC cycling guides are built from years of riding, route testing, and local exploration. Each book focuses on where we ride — documenting routes, trail systems, and connections that shape real-world riding experiences in and around the DC region.
The guides listed below are the result of hands-on route research, combining repeated rides, mapping, and field notes to refine what works best on the bike. While the books are available for purchase through Amazon, the riding philosophy, places, and route development behind them are documented throughout Best Rides DC in our ride journals, maps, and route summaries.
You can explore many of these routes on our where to ride in the DC area page, which highlights places featured throughout the guides.
Documenting Recovery & Getting Back on the Bike
I’m documenting my personal journey with Ulcerative Colitis — from diagnosis and surgery to recovery and getting back on the bike. This writing focuses on how cycling fits into healing, endurance, and rebuilding strength over time.
You can read the full series at MyUCJourney.substack.com.
Why I Create Cycling Guides
In this short video, I explain what led me to create cycling guides and document the places we ride.
“The genesis of my books was finding new places to ride and sharing the experience with other people. My ultimate goal has been to raise awareness of the places we have so we can take care of the places we have. So they are available for many more people to be able to experience what I experience when I’m on the trail, pure joy...””
Riding, Community, and Experience
I “really” got into cycling by necessity. It was the fall of 1990 in Baltimore, around the vicinity of Loch Raven Reservoir when I crashed my car and could not afford a new one that I bought a bike. Spending $425 on a mountain bike seemed crazy! But the daily commute from Cockeysville to Timonium, MD on that bike changed my life. It not only introduced me to bike commuting, but ultimately the love of my “biking” life, singletrack. My daily trips to and from work turned into long forays within the confines and trails of Loch Raven Reservoir, I simply couldn’t get enough of it.
After a brief cycling hiatus while I attended basic training and served my initial months in The U.S. Army I landed in the Northern Virginia region and made my way into the Mid Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts (MORE). It was mid/late 1992, just as the club was forming. Today, I’m still involved with MORE and since then I’ve managed to pen (ride) four regional cycling guides that highlight some of the best riding destinations in the region.
I’ve made some great friends along the way; even lost a few to the sport. I continue to be involved in one way or another to promote, share my knowledge, and mentor new riders into this wonderful activity of ours. Along the way I’ve discovered the road, gravel grinding, single speeds and the pleasure of swinging a cowbell at a CX race. I’m passionate about riding but no expert when it comes to the latest gear or cycling trends; I just try and keep up (pretty much what my riding is like).
What I do manage to know, however, is that there are thousands of enthusiasts like me that love this sport as much as I do. Through these pages I hope to share some of my passion with you, perhaps find something in common. I’m sure there’s something I’ve learned over the last decades of riding a bike that I can pass along. I also hope to introduce you to some of those friends I’ve made over the years. Some of the people that live for our sport an who also want to share their passion with you, and who most certainly know more than I do…
I ride often — sometimes sporadically, but usually with intention — planning routes that bring together friends, new riders, and anyone curious enough to join. Riding has always been more than miles on a map; it’s about shared experience, stewardship, and understanding the places we move through.
Over time, that perspective has shaped not just how I ride, but how I document and think about the destinations we depend on.
Extending the Work
Over the years, what began as riding and documenting local routes has grown into something broader. Through guidebooks, Best Rides DC, and decades of involvement with regional trail organizations, I’ve seen firsthand how riding destinations evolve — and how important it is that they are not only built well, but understood, supported, and discovered.
In addition to writing and documenting rides, I now work with trail organizations and destination partners to help strengthen riding experiences — from route documentation and wayfinding clarity to long-term digital visibility and search optimization.
It’s a natural extension of the same goal that started all of this: raising awareness of the places we have so we can take care of them — and so more people can experience that same sense of joy on the trail.
You can learn more about my advisory work here: Advisory Services.
Whether through a guidebook, a ride journal, a shared trail day, or advisory work behind the scenes, the goal remains the same — helping more people experience the joy of riding well-built and well-understood destinations.
Hope to see you on the trail or the road.