April 14 rides

[snapdragen]

I stood under a very large tarp slicing ham rollup sammiches, or out in the rain mixing Gatorade. Woo hoo!

[SadieKate]

Sounds like the karma of the universe is balanced.

We did the luxuriously unproductive thing and you did the intrepid beleaguered volunteer thing. All is well.

I'd say you earned a cocktail.

[Crankin]

Did 31 not so great miles. The beautiful sunny day never materialized, so we headed out at around 2:00 or so. Concord is overrun with tourists here for Patriot's Day festivities, so i was on guard about weirdo drivers as we rode through the center of town. It was actually, OK, though. It was 53 when we left, cloudy, and there seemed to be a headwind no matter which way I was riding.
We did a 12 mile loop around Hanscom AFB and when we were turning onto the main road that leads in and out of the airport, I heard a loud volley of gunshots! There was a battle reenactment going on there, tons of cars, police everywhere, but we managed to get through with no issues. Then we rode back to Concord, to Great Brook Farm, taking a more direct route than usual. Steve felt tired and his back hurt. I tried pulling for a while, but then my back hurt! We stopped and i ate a Clif bar. Then we rode back home, taking a route that is mostly uphill, but not really a big grade. Just lots of rolling 5% hills. My quads were aching and then my bike started rattling. We stopped twice and figured out it was probably the bottle cage. It was extremely annoying, but got it fixed partially. Finally, we got to Strawberry Hill Rd., grateful to be going down. Of course, then we finish with the climb up our street, but I managed to maintain 7.5-8 mph up the 15% part of my driveway...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Did a 10 mile easy ride in the morning, then a 21 mile hilly ride in the afternoon with friends. Total 31 miles. A good day and 45-50 degreesF breezy and pleasant (assuming adequate layering of course).
Several days of rain and sleet now, so not sure when I'll next be able to ride again!

[7rider]

Well, I got to see a part of Maryland I have never seen before. DivingBiker, Kalidurga, and I did the C&O Canal - as K mentioned. It was really nice. I love this time of year - the fresh spring green, the openness of the woods, and the crisp, fresh air. And a social ride, chatting it up in good company is always a nice way to spend the day, too! 26 miles off road on "The Flat-Tired Dust Collector" - i.e., my mountainbike. First time it's seen dirt in ... well, a loooong time.
Here are some pix. I shrunk them to fit - some are bigger in the MA forum, but I hope they're not too big here.

[withm]

Nice pix! I really thought about coming over for that ride - but I haven't bought my hybrid yet, and didn't think my tires could handle that road - would have been ok for a mile maybe, but..... not the right tool for the job. Where did you start from?

Martha (used to live in Gaith)

[7rider]

Nice pix! I really thought about coming over for that ride - but I haven't bought my hybrid yet, and didn't think my tires could handle that road - would have been ok for a mile maybe, but..... not the right tool for the job. Where did you start from?

Martha (used to live in Gaith)

DB and I were on mountainbikes: Kalidurga was on a cyclocross bike with 32's, I believe. Yesterday, it would have been fine on a hybrid - dry and hardpacked. It might have been difficult for a skinny road tire - maybe if you had 28's it would have been okay - as long as they were tough. I guess it can get quite muddy there - especially in the summer?

We started at White's Ferry (near Poolesville) and went up to Point of Rocks. The bridge is the (help me here, Tam) Monocacy Aquaduct over the Monocacy River, just before it joins up with the Potomac.