Remember me?

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. That’s because it’s been a while since I’ve ridden any distance. I took a temporary job that lasted 5 weeks, and it’s sort of over. Actually, I’ve got 4 days off, then it begins again for 5 days…. then it’s done. The hours have been long, but it’s been a special time. I got off work Friday night around 9 pm, I had a fitful night sleeping, which is typical when I’m not cycling. My Saturday morning appointment with a friend had fallen through, so at 11:20 am, I headed north, to the W&OD trail.

The Washington & Old Dominion was a railroad line and is now a 45 mile rail trail for multi-use, but mostly cycling. I did all but 18 miles, twice (out and back). There were a lot of cyclists this morning, in the cool of the day, but not nearly so many last evening, from 6-9 pm, which was equally cool.

There were bikes of all makes, and configurations. To name a few, there were road bikes, long and short wheelbase recumbents, tandems, quadricycles and trail-a-bikes. I saw one LWB recumbent with fairing and one tandem that was upright in the rear and recumbent in the front. A three-wheeled recumbent, and a tandem, three wheeled recumbent. A LOT of variety. The trail reminded me of the bike “highway” I rode in Minnesota.

My new SWB recumbent hadn’t been fitted to me properly yet, so I was having some knee problems. Halfway through the ride today, I finally built my confidence to tilt my seat back, in the way many recumbents are, and to my surprise, this gave me leg extension and relieved the knee problems. It allows for a leg/body extension much more like upright cycling. This does mean that my recumbent (yet un-named) needs a headrest.

I met some really wonderful people in Leesburg, at http://www.bikeoutfitters.com/  Unfortunately, I didn’t need to buy anything, but they were very helpful in getting me to the trail, and encouraging me to find local lodging, rather than going 30 minutes to the nearest campground. They weren’t open on Sundays, but I’m sure they can help you find what you are looking for, when in Leesburg.

Along the trail, there are some places to stop and eat. Some of these photos are of one of these places. The trail stretches from Purcellville to Alexandria. The photos are shot on the fly, with the exception of the Lime Kiln, an overpass shot and the Luck Stone Quarry.

It’s great to be back in the saddle, even through it’s a seat, on a recumbent, rather than an actual Brooks saddle. My touring bike is visiting with my friend Ed, over at Cycles Ed, in Ashland, VA.

For the next 3 weeks, I’ll be conditioning for a hike into the Grand Canyon on 8/28. Keep us in your prayers for safety, as we plan to do this hike at a time of the year that is traditionally dangerously hot. It isn’t really the trip into the canyon that I’m concerned about. Anyway, for the next 3 weeks, I’ll be hiking more than biking, then I’ll be out west for a couple weeks. In order not to bore you with my tales of pedestrian fun, posts may be infrequent until my return.

Go make your own breeze and remember: if you’re not having fun; you’re in the wrong gear!

Cycle Joyfully.