Today’s Highlights:
For the first time on this trip, we had a group start and stayed together for the first 15 miles of the ride. Shane, the ride leader, guided us through the city streets of DC for a few miles, then on the bike path along the Potomac River and over the I395 bridge. Entering Alexandria VA, we continued together on the Mt Vernon Bike Path for another ten miles. It’s a beautiful path that winds along the Potomac and through the woods, and in places dips and rises. It’s quite fun. There were several boardwalks over wetlands. For walkers, there is a lot of nature to obverse, including Osprey and Eagles. But we traveled along quickly, passing by the views, flora and fauna. It is impressive how many people use the bike path, many commuting to work in Alexandria, Rosslyn and DC.
I really enjoyed cycling with the whole group this morning, since most days I cycle alone. After leaving the bike path, I cycled with 4 or 5 guys until about half way – 50 miles, then spent about 30 miles by myself, and rejoined Rene, Barry and Allen near the end.
While we were all together, I tried to get pictures of the group. It not very safe to do that in a line of cyclists, so I was very selective. It was also the prettiest part of the route. Once off the bike path, there was nothing special about the scenery. We cycled on major roads, past malls and industrial area, or on tree-lined streets with no open views. We passed some mini-mansions and only a few nice farms.
The afternoon got hot, in the high 80’s and above 90 in places. I finished the 93 miles at 3:30 PM, after eight hours on the road.
We had four new riders join us today. One couple is from Canada, one from Maryland and one from Virginia. We now have 22 riders and our four staff people on the road.
Pictures Of The Day:
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Statistics:
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