The day started out beautiful. Terry Moran and I left our hotel in Brighton, Colorado for the one-hour drive north to Fort Collins for the start of my 4th Ride the Rockies.
Arriving Fort Collins, we were directed to a parking lot across from the Odell Brewing Company, which was the official ending point of RTR. We loaded our bikes on a truck and then boarded a bus for transport to Carbondale, the official start town of Ride the Rockies.
The bus headed south to Denver then picked up I-70 and took that west. We had secured front-row seats on the bus and had awesome vistas. I had traveled as far as Idaho Springs before but that was the farthest west I had been on this highway.
This was my first time through the Eisenhower Tunnel and the view was spectacular. We went over Vail Pass and I was marveling at the bike path that was sometimes next to I-70. We followed I-70 through Glenwood Canyon, truly an engineering masterpiece.
Our route took us to Glenwood Springs which looks like a nice place to visit someday. We went through Glenwood Springs and made our way to Carbondale. The sunny skies soon turned gray.
Logistically, Day 0 is always the toughest at RTR. We went to the registration tent and got our credentials. Then we took our luggage and boarded a bus to our hotel. After dropping the luggage off at the hotel and waiting 20 minutes for the rain to subside, we took a bus back to RTR headquarters and picked up our bikes. The rain had stopped.
I’m not sure what happened next. I told Terry I was going to go for a bike ride although I wasn’t leaving from the school. I had a backpack that I needed to offload. I followed a trail down to the hotel, stopping at a Subway for a sandwich to take back to the room.
With gray skies, I set out on my “explorer” route. I had studied some maps and had a general idea where I was headed but wasn’t entirely sure. I found the Rio Grande Trail which is a rail trail built on the old Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad. It connects Glenwood Springs with Aspen and runs 42 miles.
I followed the rail trail until it moved away from the main road. Then I jumped on the road and began climbing. I had planned to follow the road until I reach Crystal Springs Road but once I did I kept going instead. The road continued up and simply looked interesting.
I came to a road called Panorama Drive. Who would want to follow that? Me, that’s who. I rode that for about five miles until I was back at the entrance. I then turned and found Crystal Springs Road. What a wild descent that was. All fun all the time. It was five miles of nothing but downhill. Glorious downhill.
Reaching Highway 82 I trusted my instincts and went left. Looking at a map later, right would have worked even better. But left got me seven miles instead of two back to the hotel. My instincts were a little off.
This simply allowed me to retrace some of the earlier route although I was confused about why I ended up there. But more riding. Back at the hotel, we got ready for an early night with an early rollout in the morning.
Lodging was at the Days Inn. Mostly good but the bathroom was extremely tiny. Ride the Rockies starts tomorrow!
We got devastating news this morning. Meeting with team doctors from Conemaugh Hospital, they broke the news to us that my dad, who fell three weeks ago, had a 5% chance of walking again. It was a punch in the gut.
As we were left to process this I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather. It was in the high 50s, a bit on the cool side, but a sunny day. After seemingly weeks of rain, it was a welcome change.
I pulled into a Sheetz parking lot. I bought a water then asked the manager if I could park for 90 minutes and go for a ride. She said “of course” and told me she remembered me from last year.
This is my go-to route. My happy place. I first rode it seven years ago as my escape from battling cancer. It was the one challenge that could take my mind of cancer.
The ride is gorgeous. Three lakes, a 200-foot tunnel, then a 4-mile climb with an 18% wall that continues for half a mile. What a great ride.
I approached Horseshoe Curve and something was missing. Trees. They had clear-cut the area around the curve. It was disappointing. I went inside the gift shop at Horseshoe Curve. I asked about the clear-cutting and the young woman inside told me they had a grant to remove all the trees. She mentioned Norfolk-Southern but I didn’t pick up if the railroad drove the removal or not. It was hard to see the trains passing through before the trees were cut.
I went through the tunnel and the climb began in earnest. I had come to escape the thoughts of my dad not walking but it didn’t work. There was a strong wind in my face before the tunnel and all I could think of was my dad. Wind in your face is nothing to curse but to praise. What I would give so that he could have the wind in his face.
I started the climb. I brought the wrong bike. My other bike is geared better for climbing steep climbs. But I said I could do this.
I went up the climb, legs burning, just hoping my dad could feel pain in his legs. That maybe my pain could help his. He was on my mind all the way up the climb.
At the summit, I rode over to Tunnel Hill. I looked and thought the time was already one hour in and I was halfway done. No way I would be back in 90 minutes total.
I started down Sugar Run Road. I thought of my post-cancer ride with Scott Scudamore and how we bombed this descent. Twice. I was hitting 45 mph. There were some crosswinds. But it was a great ride back down the mountain.
I did get back in less than 90 minutes. My go-to ride was nice but it did not get me thinking less about my dad. The reality set in that our ride in October was probably our last ride together.
Nine hundred and ninety-one days. That’s the number of days it has been since I last crashed which was on July 3, 2013. I broke my collarbone that day.
Today was to be simple. Real simple. We got a call yesterday that a foreign exchange student on her way home to Denver was stuck in New York since Denver got hit with 18″ of snow. Could she come stay with us for a few days? We said yes to picking up Katrin Bunke from Germany and, as a bonus, her friend, Kaede Furusawa from Japan, too.
So what to do with two foreign exchange students “stranded” in the DC area? Go for a bike ride, of course. We had the added bonus of 80° (27° C) and the cherry blossoms at their peak. I asked Terry Moran if we could borrow a bike from his wife, Patty. He agreed. They agreed. We met Terry and Patty, picked up the bike then drove to Daingerfield Island for our adventure to see the cherry blossoms.
We left the lot and rode to Gravelly Point, stopping to watch the airplanes fly over us, landing just a few hundred meters away. We made our way across the 14th Street Bridge and stopped at the Jefferson Memorial. As I was coming to a stop I saw Kaede stop and was talking to some students. These were her friends from the YFU trip in New York. They had added a Washington, D.C option to their trip but as it turned out, Katrin and Kaede got it for free.
We rode up to the Lincoln Memorial where Patty and the girls walked up inside the memorial while Terry and I waited with the bikes. We then directed the girls to the Vietnam Memorial where they walked down and visited. We stopped briefly at the World War II Memorial then made our way over to the White House.
We circled the Ellipse and as Terry tried to stop for a photo-op he was directed by the Secret Service to keep on moving. So we all did. I came to the transition between street and sidewalk. And lurking there, unbeknownst to me, was a 3/4″ lip that was parallel to the street. As I turned my wheel it did not. I came crashing down on my left side, landing hard on my hip and elbow. Nothing broke but I had road rash mostly on my elbow. But my ego was shattered.
We went to the north portico of the White House so the girls could get a photo-op, which had been denied them on the south side. We then got on the bike lane on Pennsylvania Avenue and rode over to Ford’s Theater. We were hoping to get them inside but there was an hour wait.
Checking the time we decided it was best to call it a day. We headed out, carefully maneuvering through traffic and people to get back over to the 14th Street Bridge where one could ride without the crowds. A 15 mph headwind actually felt pretty good the last four miles back to the car.
For the girls who aren’t used to riding, the sunshine and 25 km (15 mi.) was enough of a ride. For me, it was enough of a ride too. With bruises and road rash, well, let’s just hope it’s another three years before I hit the pavement.*
*EDIT/EPILOGUE – It would be 783 days until I next crashed – this time in Ohio where I was found unconscious on a river trail path
I told my sister, Betsy, that I would meet her and Dad at Markleton, Pa. on the Great Allegheny Passage. Betsy followed him to Fort Hill, where he left his Jeep, then the two of them drove and met me at Markleton. It was in the low 60s but absolutely beautiful.
I chose this route because of the newly opened Pinkerton tunnel. Also, my dad hadn’t been this far on the trail. I knew it trended downhill from Markleton to Fort Hill and packed a lot of scenery into its five miles.
With leaves mostly still on the trees in Northern Virginia, it was strange to be here where most leaves are on the ground. The trail was fully covered in places.
Words cannot describe how pretty the trail is. We went a couple of miles then came to the Pinkerton Trestles. It was probably 10 years since I last rode through here which was always Trestle – Detour – Trestle. And that was a beautiful route.
Prior to the tunnel, the trail followed the railbed across the Pinkerton Low trestle. Rather than enter the tunnel, there was a one-mile detour out and around the tunnel which followed the natural flow of the Castleman River. But with the tunnel open it was now a straight shot from trestle to tunnel to trestle.
With the tunnel opened, it was even more beautiful. Although the trail trended downhill, it is mostly flat. One can’t coast but pedaling is a little easier in this direction. We were in a heavy forest and with leaves on the trail one could not see the surface of the trail.
And then – the trestle. We came to the Pinkerton trestle although we didn’t stop on it. We saw the tunnel and kept riding. It is not lighted, one would be helpful but is not necessary.
At the far end, we were on the Pinkerton High Trestle. We stopped and took pictures off of this one.
Reaching Fort Hill where his Jeep was parked, my dad asked, “Is this the end?” There was resignation in his voice but he wanted to keep riding. I was worried that if we rode four miles down to Harnedsville it would be too much for my 86 year-old father to ride another four miles back up to his car. I grabbed his keys and drove his Jeep down to Harnedsville. And so we rode.
Betsy and my dad rode ahead. Arriving at the trailhead with his Jeep, I rode back up to the trail to meet them and we then continued to the Harnedsville trailhead. At the end, we got a little concerned when he went into the middle of the road where the trail crosses. He stopped. This is a road normally lightly traveled, but now there was a car coming from each direction. Betsy yelled “Dad!” I got the attention of one car and motioned for him to slow or stop. All of a sudden it clicked and Dad said “OK!” And then he moved. Whew!
Although my Dad wanted to ride ahead and look at a church in Harnedsville, there was no way we were going to ride on the road with him. I loaded his bike in his Jeep and he drove home.
Betsy and I rode on down to Confluence. We looked for a place for a snack and found stairs leading from the trail with a bike trough to walk the bikes. The problem was the trough was on the side and not in the middle so the pedals hit the supports as I pushed the bike. Oh well.
We grabbed some cookies and a drink then rode back up to Markleton. What a gorgeous day on a bike.
UPDATE: (SEPT. 14, 2016) – This post has been updated to “My Last Ride With Dad.” With each ride, we wondered if this was our last ride with him but this ride had more of a finality to it than the others. My dad seemed a little out of it standing in the road and I worried for his safety going home. He made it safely and then promptly sold the Jeep.
He never talked about it but looking back I sense he knew his mind was failing and that it was best to sell that beat-up Jeep he loved so much. We were just talking about another ride this spring when he fell in April. I wanted one more ride. I looked first at recumbent bikes. Handcycles. Tandems where I did the work. Ultimately, he would never ride again. And on this day we said our final goodbye to him we were thankful for the rides we shared with him. We were the lucky ones.
Six years ago I didn’t see myself doing charity rides but then … cancer. And today I lined up for my fifth Livestrong Challenge. Two were in Philly (actually King of Prussia) and now the third one is in Austin.
I wanted to ride with 13 year-old Alex Shepherd in Oregon but never got the chance. At his service in June, I told his dad, Dan, I’d like for him to join me in Austin and we would ride for Alex.
I arrived on Thursday and attempted to find a route called the Volente Loop using a downloaded file on my GPS. The problem was there were a couple of spots where the route crossed over (think figure eight) and the GPS wasn’t sure, or probably I wasn’t sure, which way to go. At 16 miles I found myself back at my car. OK, at 95 degrees, I gave up.
Friday morning I went to the airport and picked up Dan. We didn’t have much time as he assembled his bike then we rode downtown to meet Will and some of the Cyclists Combating Cancer group at Mellow Johnny’s. We rode over to a Rudy’s which is delicious BBQ in a gas station.
Yesterday Dan and I went to Livestrong Headquarters to pick up our registration materials. After lunch were able to do the real Volenti Loop. Still hot with some punchy hills and “heavy” pavement. Those 42 miles seemingly took something out of me.
This morning we timed our entrance perfectly. I had raised enough funds to get a priority start in the first coral. I wanted to ride with Dan but being in the front coral meant I could ride out with the top fundraisers. Our CCC team is almost always the top team but this year we were second to “Lance and Friends.” Well good for him (seriously – if he puts his name out there he will get donations to his former charity).
Lance Armstrong lined up in the first group and I thought if I had a chance to ride next to him, I would. I got to the coral at 7:29 a.m. One minute to spare. But there were lots of cyclists in cue and I was at the back of the group. I never even got a glimpse of Lance at the front.
We rolled out at 7:30. Our plan was for me to soft pedal if I wasn’t with Lance and in either case, we would meet at the first stop at Mile 10. I wasn’t with Lance and I began to back off the pace. At Mile 6 Dan and I joined up, both looking splendid in our Team Alex jerseys.
I rode up behind a man wearing a picture of a child and said “Tell me about your daughter.” I slowed to talk and I think Dan saw that it wasn’t all about the riding. The best moments of the day would come from riding.
At the second stop, I met the kids from the Texas 4000. That was a surprise to them as I started dropping the names of Vanessa and Lexi and others who were part of the program the past couple of years. They seemed genuinely excited to meet me. Well, I was excited to meet them too.
Each “challenge” is designed to feature a challenge on the century route. While this route was mostly flat with some rollers, I remembered well the Wall. Around Mile 50 you could see this butte in the distance. As one got closer you could see there was a road straight up the side to the top. Closer still, you could see almost everybody pushing their bikes.
As Dan pushed on I told him we should back off a little. Don’t want to hammer it and then have nothing left for the big climb. At Mile 48 we pulled into a rest stop. There I met Rudy the Chicken. A girl was holding him and offered to let me hold him. She now has me rethinking my love affair with Chick-fil-A,
As we rolled out I wondered about the Wall. Dan went ahead and I found myself next to a woman, Christy. I asked her if she had ridden this century before. She looked at me and said “I rode a century yesterday.” She must have heard “ridden a century before.” We talked.
The next 25 miles went by as quickly as any I have ridden this year. Not quickly as in fast but quickly as in the time few by. Mostly, Christy and I rode side by side and did not notice we were pulling 12 riders. Christy’s friend, Christa, and Dan were busy talking too.
Back at the rest stop (with the chicken – we had made a loop) there’s always that moment of truth when you have been riding with strangers. Do you wait for one another or do you move on? Not sure who but we waited for one another and the four of us rolled out of this rest stop.
Both women are strong. Both are triathletes. Christy has been to Kona for the Iron Man Championships. Do I need to say more? But on this day, her derailleur wasn’t functioning and she was stuck in a small ring on the back. Not the 11t but close to it. Having ridden a century the day before in Houston and now riding in a “big gear,” I actually had a chance to stay with her.
At the next stop, we found a mechanic. He put the bike on a stand and said a piece of hair was in the derailleur and he removed it. None of us believed that was the cause but her bike functioned again. The mechanics also confirmed that Lance and friends came by really early but apparently did not ride the full century. I never saw him the entire day.
We rode back to Austin enjoying more talk about cycling, doping, school, and politics. Once we passed a man, fit-looking, who was struggling, and he looked over and saw two women. Whatever struggles he had that day he put behind him because he took off just like someone lit an afterburner. It was apparent he wasn’t going to get “beat” (it’s not a race, it’s a ride) by women.
As we approached the finish line I soft-pedaled and let the three of them go on. I still find the first 99 miles of these challenges to be easy but the last mile difficult. Even while talking about cancer all day I wasn’t really thinking about cancer. But the last mile is one where I think of others and I reflect on my own journey. I slowed down and moved to the right where volunteers handed out yellow roses to cancer survivors. It was my 5th time receiving a rose but it’s still hard.
Back at Camp Livestrong, Dan and I went to the food tent. While we were there a woman came by pimping her kid with a donation jar. She told us her sad story of how she needs money because he child has brain cancer. Dan and I were taken aback and I was the first to ask “What kind of brain cancer?” We know a little about pediatric brain cancer. Dhe had no answer. She started backpedaling both from her story and from our table. Pathetic but perhaps a pathetic cry for other help.
I made bibs/cards for 60 people that I wanted to put on their message board. Just as soon as we started putting them up, workers started tearing them down. It was 4:00 p.m.
With nothing more to do, we gathered our belongings and went back to shower at the hotel. Dinner. Pack the bikes and reflect on the day. It was a great day of talking about Alex, Jake “the Hero” Grecco, and others affected by cancer. The talking was therapeutic as was the riding.
The day began with meeting the Ride the Rockies bus at 6:00 a.m. for transport to Salida. I stayed in the Super 8 in Buena Vista and was pleasantly surprised the hotel had the breakfast nook open for us at 5:30 a.m. so that we could grab something to eat.
After retrieving my bike from the bike corral and pumping the tires. My rear tire, set up as tubeless, has been losing 40 psi per day but that’s another story as we continue to dial it in. I followed five riders out to the street — US 50. I thought the five were a group.
We began so slowly that I thought of passing them but decided this would be a day to relax. Soon were rolling along in a pace line. A woman sat on my wheel and we had seven riders rolling along as one. It was cool with temperatures around 50°.
After a few miles, I saw a gap opening between the third and fourth riders. If the gap opened up, the front three, my free ride, would be gone. In an instant I took off and passed the two riders, bringing the woman with me. Just like that, we were five riders again. And two of the original seven riders were dropped.
This was a perfect stretch to ride. It trended downhill and followed the beautiful Arkansas River. It was this segment we were supposed to do two years ago but missed due to the Royal Gorge Fire of 2013.
We rolled past the first rest stop although the woman stopped at that point. And we kept rolling. The front three were rotating and we picked up two more. I finally told them to let us do some work too. I moved to the front. By the time we reached the second Aid Station, we had covered 22 miles in 53 minutes. We flew. (Average 24.9 mph / 40 kph)
I had eaten a Bratwurst on top of Cottonwood Pass yesterday and it just seemed like a good thing to do at Aid Station #3. Here I met Lori the Medic and rode with her. At one point we lost contact as I had stopped for a photo op but I caught her on the slopes to the Royal Gorge.
This was a steep climb. They called it “The Wall.” Colorado doesn’t have many steep climbs, just long and gradual, but this road was as though it was lifted from the Appalachians and dropped here. The road turned up quickly and lots of people were walking. It really wasn’t very hard although many people struggled with it. You all are invited with me to ride back East.
We got to the Royal Gorge. I rode across the deck – it is 1000′ down to the Arkansas River. I took a few photos and then left. The Medic had disappeared and I never saw her again.
After a little climbing out of the gorge, it was a seven-mile descent to Cañon City. I know because I rode this last year on my own. Three miles out of town the riders turned onto a road called Skyline Drive. I kept going straight on US 50. Not only was this an official alternate route I thought I might take a train ride if I got to town early enough.
I went to the train station looking for bike parking but didn’t see any. I wasn’t just going to leave my bike so I headed to Sonic. There I met Michelle Hancock, a rider with the “Naked” (sponsor) team. My friend, Lisa Smith, rides for them and said to tell them all hello. Michelle stared at me. She must have been thinking “worst pickup line ever.”
We were both feeling pretty good about finding the alternate way to town but when I had passed Skyline Drive I thought I might regret not turning on it. Before the turn, I pictured it as a parallel frontage access road. The gratification that I made the right choice soon turned to regret as I saw these riders climbing next to the road where I was descending.
I could see them climbing this hillside as I rolled down the road – they going up and I was going down. US 50 is a divided highway and there really wasn’t a safe turnaround option or I would have.
After lunch at Sonic and checking into America’s Best Value Inn, I decided I would ride back out on course and ride Skyline Drive. I did not regret it. What a hidden gem. It was about a three-mile uphill ride from the prison in Cañon City to the turn onto Skyline Drive. But from the top one could see valleys on either side. It is a one-way road and today it was closed to traffic.
After riding it I went back and rode it again. It was that fun. People were astonished to learn this was my third trip into town. My regret was not that I didn’t ride it the first time but that I didn’t go back for a third time.
My night would not go so well. My stay at America’s Best Value Inn two years ago had been nice. This time, my room, 134, smelled of smoke. I have a sensitivity to it – my eyes burn. They would burn all night.
I rolled away from the hotel and towards downtown. Horizon Drive was torn up as a milling and paving operation was going on. I rode this yesterday and knew of a great bike path that went a little out of the way. I jumped on it and wondered what the other cyclists thought of me flying past them all without trashing my bike.
I arrived at the main location at Colorado Mesa University planning to attend Opening Ceremonies for Ride the Rockies. But riders were already rolling out so I joined them. We rolled out of town to Colorado National Monument. I started the climb only stopping for a (real) photo op or two.
I found myself riding beside Dave*, an anesthesiologist from Grand Junction. He was very friendly and a good rider. He spoke to me because I was wearing my Stelvio jersey. He had gone to Italy last summer. We also talked about prostate cancer. His older brother had PCa and chose brachytherapy as his treatment option. Things weren’t perfect with his choice. It seemed every treatment option for prostate cancer had some problems.
Dr. Dave was a medic for the tour. By volunteering, he got to ride for free but he also had to carry some extra weight. I asked him as an anesthesiologist how he would treat a ride that had crashed hard. He told me that he was prepared to put him to sleep. 🙂
On the descent, I pulled over for more pictures. What gorgeous views.
Down in the valley I rolled to the rest stop at Fruita. Here I ran into Don Sheppard, who was on my Trek Travel trip last summer in Italy. It was good to see him plus he introduced me to Nelson Vails, a silver medalist in the 1984 Olympics.
It was a flat roll back to Grand Junction. I caught Don and then paced him for a while. He eventually said he was going to take a break and we parted ways. It would be the only time all week I saw him on his bike.
Riding today was easy and beautiful. Not sure if I figured this out yet but I think RTR tries to choose the easier route when possible. We went clockwise and the Park Service had closed off vehicular traffic from 7:00 to 10:30 am.
As I descended to Fruita I thought that was a steeper grade than we had come up. But I am not sure. Often you don’t realize the steepness until you look back on your ride. And even then, I couldn’t tell.
I was visiting my parents and hoping to get in a nice ride but the weather was anything but nice. So instead of starting in Somerset I set out from Berlin, instead.
It was 50 degrees (10 C) and raining. A good day to try out my new Pearl Izumi rain jacket. I crossed over the summit and was in a moderate rain. But worse than the rain was visibility was poor. I rode the brakes on the descent – a hill that I have hit 50 mph before. Today I kept it in the 30s.
I was hoping for a loop ride back up to US 30. As I went through New Baltimore and turned around I was surprised to see a cycling group on Rt. 31. The day before I had seen them and suggested the safest cycling roads in the area. My suggestion was met with an arrogant and condescending response from a staffer. Shesaid she had looked at Google maps and satellite images. Well, OK then.
Yet today they decided not to ride on the signed Pa. Bike Route S but on the truck-heavy Rte. 31. In the rain. That was the least safe option they could choose. It was one I would not, and did not ride.
I turned around and decided not to ride the loop but simply to go back the route I had come from. Rte 30 would be too long today in the rain. The shorest was route would be where the ycling group had gone but it was much too dangerous. I knew Pa. Bike Rte S was farther than staying on Rte 31 but thought it might be fun to see who would get to the top of the hill first. I did.
I reached the summit then headed back to Berlin. I knew with my upcoming trip to Portland this might be the last day on the bike for a while so it was good to get out – even on a day I got soaked.
I have been doing a series of rides with Terrance Moran, helping coach him to do his first 50-mile ride. We have been going at his speed, which is about 12.0 mph, as he gets comfortable in distance riding with clip-in shoes.
Today I was by myself and I wanted to ride to Clarkes Gap and back from Reston. It was warm, around 80°, and I took off. Unlike weekends, when I seemed to get passed by all the hammerheads, today I was only passed once.
After the Luck Stone Quarry, a young guy on a Time Trial bike came flying by me, and truth be told, scared me a little. He did not call out “passing” or “on your left.” Just head down, earbuds in. So I reacted like any sane, somewhat pissed off cyclist would: I jumped on his rear wheel and stayed there for the next seven minutes (two miles). He was annoyed and when we came to the stoplight in Leesburg he asked why I was drafting him. The real answer was “because I could” but I said, “Oh, sorry, I was just waiting to hear ‘on your left.'” Was that wrong?
At the top of Clarkes Gap I turned around into a slight headwind. After rolling through Leesburg I stopped for a candy bar at the Carolina BBQ restaurant on the trail in Ashburn. As I was walking out, making noise coming down the wooden ramp, an older woman, also a cyclist, said “you’re one of those clippy guys.” Laugh out loud. Yes, I guess I am.
Back on the trail, I felt myself slowing down. I was supposed to have a tailwind returning but was going into a headwind. Once finished and uploaded the ride I was surprised I was four seconds faster coming back than going out. I swear I was slower. I averaged almost 17 mph, solo, on a relaxed day, which was a vast improvement over the 12 mph which I have been averaging. With Terry.
Terry Moran recently got a road bike and was anxious to start getting miles. I started in Dunn Loring and offered to meet him in Alexandria at the Marina for a trip down the Mount Vernon Trail.
Still a bit chilly for late April, the temperatures were in the mid 50s.
This is a popular trail but not so much on a cool weekday. We didn’t have to dodge too many people.
The trail mostly follows the Potomac River although there are some beautiful stretches of boardwalk, mostly over wetlands. Boardwalks scare me ever since I crashed on one on this trail in July 2013.
It is mostly a flat trail but close to Mr. Washington’s estate it becomes hilly. Not long but short steep little climbs.
It was a nice ride. Nothing epic but great scenery. And Terry only fell once – when we approached an intersection the same time as a BMW. He panicked as he unclipped and fell over in the grass. The driver, a beautiful woman, and I laughed.