I ended up not riding this weekend. Kind of a long story. There is a Smithsonian Environmental Research facility located on a river that feeds into the Chesapeake Bay. It's about an hour from my house (by car). They have a few short hiking trails that are open to the public, a dock where you can put in a canoe or kayak, plus lectures and volunteer opportunities. They also lead short canoe trips (2-3 hours) on weekends during the warmer months, and this past Saturday was the last one for the year. I had planned to do it with a friend, with the idea that I would bring my bike and do a ride from there after the canoeing. I had a route all planned and a cue sheet ready. But my friend had to cancel at the last minute and I was too tired when I got home on Friday to get the bike stuff together. So I decided to do the canoe trip and then find a place for lunch and figure out what to do for the afternoon.

The weather was absolutely perfect, not cold in the shade or hot in the sun. We had a nice time canoeing on the river and a creek that fed into it. After we finished I decided to check out part of one of the hiking trails that went along the river. I ended up staying for more than three hours. They had benches at various points, and I kind of lollygagged, hanging out in one area for a while, taking pictures and just sitting, then heading up the trail a ways and stopping at the next bench, etc. It was very pleasant. I plan to go back again. I also want to plan some bike ride that stop there, since there are picnic tables as well as a visitors center with rest rooms and water.