Yesterday was an exciting ride. I believe it had to do with a combination of fresh legs because I had not cycled in a few days and a bit of a tailwind. I felt like I was riding quite a bit quicker than normal.
My ride is broken into a few distinct segments. The first segment, which is thankfully the shortage, is navigating the mean streets of DC, including one section where I have to time the lights right to cross a total of 8 lanes of traffic. Fortunately there are a number of islands that provide refuge, but it is still very similar to Frogger. This section usually goes pretty well. Most of the time motorists are pretty considerate of cyclists and due to the congestion in the city I can usually keep uf with traffic. One time, I was able to get behind a big tour bus and draft off of it. The pedaling was easy, the diesel laden fumes, not so much. The nicest part of this section is cycling over a bridge. It has a dedicated cycling lane, separated from the vehicles with a sturdy barrier. The bridge is along the approach to Regan National Airport, so there are usually a few jets thundering in overhead.
The Second part involves cycling along the Potomac, this is always a highlight. The trail is flat, there is usually a lot happening on the river and this part of the trail is surprisingly lightly travelled. Unfortunately, this section is only a few miles. At the conclusion of this section there is a pretty steady climb next to a busy road. It is along this section that I frequently pass people on the uphills and get passed on the downhills. This part feels more like you are simply pedaling along a sidewalk that just happens to be a bike trail. Indeed, that is what it is. They do a good job of separating the busy road from the trail with a high barrier, but it is still very noisy. This trail was not converted from an old railway line like so many bike trails are, so there are steep grades and tight turns.
The third section is the longest, 14 of the 25 miles are on the Washington and Old Dominion Trail. This trail is very well maintained and quite pleasant. The only drawback is that there are a lot of road crossings. Although most drivers will cede the right of way to you, you still have to slow down to a speed where you can stop. For the very busy crossings, like over major highways, the trail goes over the road.
There is a 5 mile section towards the end that has no road crossings and is flat or even perhaps a downhill. This is where you can really cruise and yesterday I was feeling very strong on this section. As I was bashing along, I hear this voice behind me say "I'm going to ride your wheel for a bit" So I turned around and this rather fit woman on a road bike was taking the liberty of drafting off me. I had no problem with this. In fact it encouraged me to push harder. After a mile or so, she indicated that she was passing me and told me "thanks for the pull" I now felt like I was part of the club! She passed me and pulled a bit ahead, and together we passed this other guy who was all decked out. He was none too happy about this and came zooming past a short time later!
Unfortunately, all good things must end and the trail begins to climb again. Not overly steep, but definitely noticeable. I figured I had one last chance to pass the drafter, so I dug in hard and pushed as hard as I could up the hill. My legs were burning, but I was definitely making progress. Finally, I passed her but realized that I had very little left in the tank. Fortunately, but unbeknownst to me, she was pulling off at the next parking lot. Once she was no longer behind me, my pace slowed markedly. At this point there was only a few miles to go though. After recovering for about a mile, I was able to push along again and got home in good time.
It was pretty warm and humid yesterday, and I was pushing hard, so I was soaked in sweat. One other interesting thing about Erin is that she is extremely against wet clothes. If any of her clothes gets wet, she will insist on taking them off, regardless of where she is. She applies the same standards to me and as soon as I came in, stopped what she was doing, and proceeded upstairs to get me a dry shirt. She was adamant that I put it on. We are supposed to get a ton of rain this afternoon, I can only imagine what her reaction will be.
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