[OneEighth]

It was a lovely ride home.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]568[/ATTACH]

[OneEighth]

Closing a segment of a fairly heavily traveled commuter route during rush hour just isn’t common sense.

[OneEighth]

As a former year-round motorcycle commuter, I remain convinced that how fast and straight people can drive their cars has more to do with competence/ability than with conditions…
Just check out traffic around here when it rains.

[OneEighth]

The wind was aggressive. So were the drivers—more than usual.
I prefer the wind.

[OneEighth]

Hmm. I counted roundtrips. Probably need to determine how to best capture and present the info and have folks resubmit.

[OneEighth]

What time did this happen yesterday? I rode through there a little after 4PM and saw three people, at least one of whom was a rider, standing in a clump at the worst possible part of the blind corner.

[OneEighth]

Thanks for setting up the google form.
My mileage is estimated based on individual routes measured when I still used a computer regularly. (That was several years ago.)
Now, the best I can do is gauge my speed by counting cadence while my wristwatch beeps on the minute.

[OneEighth]

Great photo Dana! Almost looks like you are on the water taking the shot.

[OneEighth]

Liz,
If you stay straight where the MVT forks at the northern edge of Alexandria, the path dumps you onto the sidewalk (or you can salmon those 50 feet on the street). In any case, I assume you saw the train tracks—just past them is a path to your left. Take that (be forewarned it is bumpy). It cuts a corner and dumps you out right by the entrance to the power plant where you can either pick up another trail on the other side of the plant driveway (don’t bother) or can hop onto the street heading south. That’s North Royal Street. Take that all the way to the end, pick up another trail under the bridge and follow it to the right (where it runs uphill along the side of the bridge) and you will recognize the rest of the MVT on your left at the top of the hill running parallel to the Parkway.
It’s a lot easier than it sounds.
As for the barrier at Hains, I think you hop the curb and continue around the loop at your own risk. That having been said, you can definitely see a well-worn path around the barrier.
They often close it after a particularly high tide because the road gets covered with lots of debris.
Get better quickly and have fun!
Tom

[OneEighth]

I headed out at 9 this morning just as the rain started. I rode through Georgetown out to the Angler’s Inn and enjoyed the ride up the hill to the Great Falls park entrance. Took the towpath back to Georgetown (thank you cx tires) and saw lots of birds out enjoying the quiet. Had a hawk swoop overhead and land on a branch directly over my path.
It was a lovely 2-ish squishy hours.
Glad to know that the fox is still at Hains. Haven’t see it in a while.

[OneEighth]

@Dirt 12284 wrote:

“This will go down on your permanent record.”

Oh yeah? Well don’t get so distressed. Did I happen to mention that I’m impressed?

[OneEighth]

One could always ride in a kilt…

[OneEighth]

I just have to give JL Racing another plug here (no, I have no financial interest). But seriously, the tech shirts, though intended for rowing, work very, very well for bike commuting and are not expensive. The shoulders allow for lots of reach and the shirt tail is long to cover your lower back. I wear the coolmax short sleeve tech shirts anywhere between 60-something and whateverthesummerbrings degrees. The long-sleeve coolmax works on its own down to around 50 comfortably and is wonderful under a cycling jacket for anything lower. I suspect the heavier blends work better at lower temps, but I have never needed to test them.
Made in USA.
http://www.jlracing.com/tab.1.html

[OneEighth]

I was glad to see you—wish I could have ridden with you, but I needed to pick Ms. Sofie up from school.
Hope the rest of your ride was fun.

[OneEighth]

Eminva,
That photo is absolutely awesome!
Tom

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