[one-highlander]

I successfully figured out how to get to the Mt. Vernon trail from the entrance near the Crystal City Water Park, and have ridden it for the last couple of weeks. I’m pretty impressed. Truly beautiful. I logged more than 150 miles on this trip. Even managed to pack my panniers with my laundry and go to that 24 hour laundromat on Arlington Ridge.

I would have loved to ride with some of the locals that offered, but my ridiculous work hours (7a to 7p) consumed me. It turned out to be a good thing — I’m a lover of night rides — and the daytime temps have been kind of ridiculous, especially this past weekend.

I do, however, think I’ll be going back to Los Angeles, minus a quart of my AB negative. Seriously, I’ve never had this many mosquito bites in my life. Probably 20-30 over the last two weeks. And what’s with these dive-bomb insects? I tend to go about 10 mph on the trail, and what seemed like an innocent running into a bug, developed into these giant swollen bites 24 hours later. I literally took a picture of both of my forearms last week, and I looked like Popeye. I guess it’s because of the way my forearms are similarly exposed during a ride (I’m on a hybrid) that make them take the brunt of the bites.

I really like the 14th street bridge, and the way it connects to the trail. Used it several times. I had to go to the GWU area also, one night, and the Key Bridge was not bad. I don’t mind riding city streets, so it worked out.

Speaking of city streets, I have avoided Washington Blvd., but it’s interesting how none of the main arteries seem to have bike provisions. Glebe was a nice ride — early on Sat. morning — but those cars were incredibly close. Went to Potomac Yard a number of times, but used parallel streets (Eads) rather than Jefferson Davis hwy.

I biked from (took a bus there) Tyson’s Corner yesterday (June 26) and had to go along Broad to Arlington. (Always funny when pulling into a 5-star restaurant , Chima in this case, in Spandex, and proceeding to dress myself for their “proper attire,” ad then reverse the process at the end.)

I’m happy to report that I didn’t die and I guess I’m getting the hang of these freeway-streets. I ended up on the Old Dominion trail, which was truly wonderful. Like cycling through a rain forest, figuratively, and literally. It’s also the first time in my life I’ve every ridden in a total downpour. I didn’t know rain drops got that large…they don’t in Calif. Good to know that my Schwalbe Kojak slick tires can actually stand up to rain. It’s been more of a hope/theory/other people’s testimony since I’ve been using them.

Funny story, is I ride with cycling shoes and I attach my street shoes to my rear rack with Velcro. Got to my hotel at 10:30 p.m. and noticed one of them was gone. Ended up taking a bus to Carlin Springs and Columbia Pike, and biked up the mountain to the trail. Thank God I found it lying near the entrance to the trail. I didn’t feel like biking back up the mountain, so rode the Ol’ Dominion back to Columbia Pike at around midnight, which is incredibly creepy. Haha. If I were a serial killer, that’s exactly where I’d hang out.

Last thing, I never attempted to take my bike on the Metro, because of the silly rules. Is that a real thing? No bikes during certain hours, and then a max of 1 or 2 per car? That would never fly in LA. People would riot and revolt. In fact, the commuter train just added an entire car to each train that holds nothing but bikes.

Thanks again everyone!

[Author]

Posts