Today was just gorgeous in Maryland. No tights, no knee warmers, no jacket... I headed out to Fort Frederick, where the Western Md Rail-Trail begins and parallels the C&O Canal towpath. Just for fun, I cut over to the C&O early in my ride, thinking I'd do a loop linking the two trails. Unfortunately, the recent windy weather had blown down so many tree limbs on the towpath that I quickly got tired of dodging them and headed back up to the WMRT after a couple of miles, and took that all the way in to Hancock. One of the great things about autumn is how much more of the Potomac River is visible from the two trails when there are less leaves on the trees. At one point, I noticed that the sun shining through what's left of the leaves looked just the way it does when it shines through new leaves just bursting out in the spring. As warm as it was this afternoon, it really did feel almost like a spring day.

After a break in Hancock, I got back onto the C&O and again did just a couple of miles on dirt, just for variety. The area near Hancock is popular with pedestrians, so it was nice and clear and a much easier ride than the lower section. Then, I cut back up to the paved WMRT for the rest of the ride and ended up with a total of almost 22 miles.

I worked on pacing myself again today. I've decided that distance really is more important to me than speed, so I'm going to settle for an average of 12-13mph if it allows me to be on the bike longer. I also worked on riding in the drops for longer periods of time, and getting used to braking in that position. It's definitely beginning to feel much more comfortable, with the exception of the last 4 miles of today's ride. Tucked down in the drops is just not a comfy position when you have to pee like a racehorse Aside from that, though, I'd be thrilled to have more autumn days like today.