bike ride
Sun Sep 15 19:00 EDT 2019
I tried to go for a 40mi (64km) ride 2 weeks ago, but the weather (light rain) turned me back at 15 miles for a 30mi (48km) total. I gave it another go today, and went 42.13mi (67.8km).
I went out the Washington & Old Dominion rail trail and back. I've described it before as "a ride that doesn't take any planning, besides carrying necessities (tools, spare parts), and navigation requires no attention at all."
I got a later start than I planned because I finally took the time to stitch together a pair of knee braces that have been coming apart. I've got some other braces, and I started using another pair last weekend, but they made my knees feel worse. My stitching (with dental floss) looks a bit Frankensteinian, but I think it's going to hold.
I saw four other recumbents today - 2 trikes, and 2 bikes.
I took peanut brittle for snacking today. This seems to be a pretty good choice - peanuts (protein + fat) with sugar, butter, and a little salt. It doesn't take long to stuff your face with a mouth full and get back under way.
The trail has many more rest stops than it used to. There are more places with water fountains (although one didn't work), and a few with air pumps. This may be because there's more people using the bike trails now. And there are more bridges (some on the trail, some on the crossing roads) than there used to be, removing some of the at-grade intersections. The newer trail bridges are wider than the old ones, reflecting more traffic on the trail (or more awareness of usage by the transportation planners). You may recall past postings about Arlington mustering volunteers for weekday and weekend trail-traffic counts. Arlington has many automated counters installed now. The portions of the trail I rode today are in Falls Church, Fairfax County, Vienna, and Loudon County. (The eastern end of the W&OD is in Arlington, but I wasn't on that section today.
On the down-side of traffic, I saw EMTs on the trail twice. On my way out I saw EMTs walking toward Vienna from Clark's Crossing, and then an ambulance at CC trying to manouver onto the trail. I didn't see anyone injured. On my way back an ambulance and fire truck had just arrived at the Hunter Mill Rd crossing - 1.4mi (2.25km) west of the first sighting. I think a woman (cyclist) might have been hit by a car. She was away from the road and lying down, conscious, but I could see that her face was bruised. There were plenty of people there already helping, plus the EMTs, so I didn't stay to gawk. The crossing road is narrow and fairly busy, with curves from both approaches that prevent cyclists from seeing approaching traffic. And prevent drivers from seeing there's a trail crossing until they're in it. I am always uncomfortable making this crossing. (Except coming back today with big trucks and flashers stopping the road traffic.)
I've ridden a "century" (100 miles/161km in a day) only once, and it was many years ago. I'm not in shape to do one now. But maybe I can work my way up to a metric century (100km/62mi) before the days are too short.
[This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/1088938.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]
I tried to go for a 40mi (64km) ride 2 weeks ago, but the weather (light rain) turned me back at 15 miles for a 30mi (48km) total. I gave it another go today, and went 42.13mi (67.8km).
I went out the Washington & Old Dominion rail trail and back. I've described it before as "a ride that doesn't take any planning, besides carrying necessities (tools, spare parts), and navigation requires no attention at all."
I got a later start than I planned because I finally took the time to stitch together a pair of knee braces that have been coming apart. I've got some other braces, and I started using another pair last weekend, but they made my knees feel worse. My stitching (with dental floss) looks a bit Frankensteinian, but I think it's going to hold.
I saw four other recumbents today - 2 trikes, and 2 bikes.
I took peanut brittle for snacking today. This seems to be a pretty good choice - peanuts (protein + fat) with sugar, butter, and a little salt. It doesn't take long to stuff your face with a mouth full and get back under way.
The trail has many more rest stops than it used to. There are more places with water fountains (although one didn't work), and a few with air pumps. This may be because there's more people using the bike trails now. And there are more bridges (some on the trail, some on the crossing roads) than there used to be, removing some of the at-grade intersections. The newer trail bridges are wider than the old ones, reflecting more traffic on the trail (or more awareness of usage by the transportation planners). You may recall past postings about Arlington mustering volunteers for weekday and weekend trail-traffic counts. Arlington has many automated counters installed now. The portions of the trail I rode today are in Falls Church, Fairfax County, Vienna, and Loudon County. (The eastern end of the W&OD is in Arlington, but I wasn't on that section today.
On the down-side of traffic, I saw EMTs on the trail twice. On my way out I saw EMTs walking toward Vienna from Clark's Crossing, and then an ambulance at CC trying to manouver onto the trail. I didn't see anyone injured. On my way back an ambulance and fire truck had just arrived at the Hunter Mill Rd crossing - 1.4mi (2.25km) west of the first sighting. I think a woman (cyclist) might have been hit by a car. She was away from the road and lying down, conscious, but I could see that her face was bruised. There were plenty of people there already helping, plus the EMTs, so I didn't stay to gawk. The crossing road is narrow and fairly busy, with curves from both approaches that prevent cyclists from seeing approaching traffic. And prevent drivers from seeing there's a trail crossing until they're in it. I am always uncomfortable making this crossing. (Except coming back today with big trucks and flashers stopping the road traffic.)
I've ridden a "century" (100 miles/161km in a day) only once, and it was many years ago. I'm not in shape to do one now. But maybe I can work my way up to a metric century (100km/62mi) before the days are too short.
[This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/1088938.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]