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WOD ride wrap-up

Nice day, it wound up being about 53 miles.   I had a little extra excitement with not one but two flats!   I only had one spare tube, so it was lucky the second one happened less than a mile from the end of the trail where the Trails End bike shop fixed me up.  Why two flats?  The last 5 miles of the bike trail had been freshly paved, and there was some small gravel bits, really almost stone dust, that had sharp edges. My tires picked this stuff right up and it embedded itself and poked through to the tubes.    I changed one flat and picked out 5 or 6 pieces of gravel, rode a mile, and picked up a fleck of quartz that blew out the second tire.  Morale of the story:  carry a patch kit in addition to a spare tube, I used to do this but got out of the habit, but no more!

Perhaps the flats colored my opinion, but I wasn't a huge fan of the WOD trail.   It's convenient, and I understand it's not too safe to cycle on the roads in Fairfax county, but by and large the trail isn't pretty until you get out past Leesburg.    I hear it can get pretty crowded although with the grey day it was OK for me. 

But, once I got off the trail onto Scott's Spring road (state route 690), and the Snickersville Highway, I finally

saw the Virginia countryside that I had come for.     It was rolling hills with a few good climbs that taxed my fitness level, combined with some ridge riding with fantastic views toward the Shenandoah / Blue Ridge.     Pics below are hopefully worth more than a bunch of additional words.

Lastly it was nice to pull into Uncle Jim's house and find Greg, Sara, Suzanne and crew ready to greet me with a glass of Chardonnay.

Battle of Aldie memorial

June 17, 1863

Snickerville Highway

Two Creeks

I'm about 20 miles in.  The suns starting to break through and its just turned country.  Quite pretty.   Caught a wheel with Dave from Alexandria and we had fun talking then he pulled me at 21 / 25 for awhile, so I'm on track with time.

Grey day on the WOD

With cousin Greg, who accompanied me for the first 5 miles.

Virginia WOD ride

I'm in Virginia this weekend, visiting my cousin and his family a couple days in advance of this year's Freedom to Connect conference. Steve's Bike is along for the trip, but it's been pretty rainy so I had to scrub yesterday's plan to go cycle by the Potomac and see the Cherry Blossoms.

But today is looking a bit better, it's grey and damp, but the drizzle has stopped. They say there's a chance of one last thunderstorm and then it's supposed to clear. It's time to get on the road though so I'm going to risk the Tstorm, I can always take cover if need be.

So in a few min I'll be off to ride the WDO railroad trail. It passes within a few hundred yards of Greg's house, and I plan to ride it out to the terminus in Purcelville. From there I have a 18 mile route south down the Snickersville Parkway that goes through Virginia horse country and past Civil War Battlefields, eventually arriving at Uncle Jim's house where he's planning a nice cookout tonight. I'm guessing it's going to be right around 50 miles, a nice early season distance.

I'll get some pics uploaded along the way (first bike trip with the google phone, we'll see how it looks). I hope I stay dry!