Hot, Humid and Hilly

Day 69, June 9, 2011, Hot, Humid and Hilly

126.6 miles, averaging 13.2 mph

Route from Fredericksburg VA to Cherry Hill Campground, College Park, MD

Best Moment – I remember when we were last in Washington DC on a family vacation about 10 years ago wanting to bicycle on the Mt. Vernon Trail I had seen when we drove to see George Washington’s estate.  Well, today I got to do that.  It was pretty amazing.

Worst Moment – It was a hard day.  I left Ruby at 6 in the morning and didn’t get home until 6:30 in the evening.  I despise traffic, doubly despise any rush hour traffic and I had to bicycle through rush hour traffic in Washington DC.  It was very intimidating since the streets don’t have bike lanes here and the sidewalks are a bumpy obstacle course.

I knew that it was going to be a long day, but had forgotten (or never realized) how hilly this country is.  It was like doing perimeter rides of Fountain Hills over and over and over.  A challenge.  To make matters worse, the east coast is having record heat – at one point my bike computer registered 110 degrees.  (I don’t really think that it was that hot, but close on the black pavement and with the humidity, the combined heat index was sort of like exercising in a steam bath.)

Leaving the KOA this morning, I was able to find the route within a few turns and other than a few construction detours, was able to follow the route pretty much the whole way until I was in DC.  There was one route sign I must have missed and it caused me to cycle a few extra hills, but was able to get back on track without much problem.  I can’t imagine doing this without a GPS.  The countryside was rolling hills with beautiful homes (I’m certain that the homes were all center hall colonials) and ranches.  The woods have turned to more deciduous trees with fewer pines.  It really reminded me of where we used to live in New Jersey. 

Naturally, as I got closer to DC there was a lot more suburbia and a lot less countryside to look at.  Traffic was heavy and the drivers didn’t seem to care too much for bicyclists.  A highlight was cycling through the small town of Occoquan.  It looked like a fun place to hang out.  I ate lunch as I watched the Occoquan River and those lucky fishermen.

Just east of Lorton, I was supposed to turn right on Pohick Road and enter the Fort Belvoir Military Reserve where I would be on back roads to Mt Vernon.  Well, by turning right on Pohick Road, I rode right into someone’s nicely paved private drive up to their garage.  There was a bit of route change, but I found Mt Vernon and the bicycle path.  I crossed into DC over the Arlington Memorial Bridge and was at the Lincoln Memorial.  There was a bicycle path along the Potomac, which connected to a bike path that went through Rock Creek Park. 

Around Connecticut Avenue, there was major road construction and the tunnel for the bike path was gone.  I thought that I would catch it further north, but never found it.  So, I rode up Connecticut Avenue through Chevy Chase and saw a lovely old section of the capital.  Very cool.  When I turned right on Military Avenue, things were less cool as the sidewalk was only maybe 3 feet wide and that is when the tree roots hadn’t overgrown the concrete.  The shower felt wonderful and tomorrow is a rest day!  Yeah!