Per the great advice, I just received on the general forum I thought I'd say hello over here. I'm a dork though -- I didn't realize Beach Drive would be open!
NYBiker, Let's ride together sometime in the future. Depending on how far you'd like to go, we can start out in Reston and ride to Leesburg or beyond, your choice. I went out today for a ride but not as far as I had hoped. Wound up doing some bicycle maintenance, such as changing tires, tubes, rim tape, etc. It was work that needed to be done but I didn't realize it would eat such a hole into my day.
I ended up wimping out on outdoor riding this weekend. Saturday morning, I swam 4,000 yards, which tired out me, and I didn't want to deal with the "first warmish weekend" crazies crowding the trails....
I've been riding --- on the trainer --- since abandoning outdoor rides in late November. Ironically, all that time with Coach Troy has definitely made me stronger. Can't wait to get outside and take a "rest." LOL
Just a ride report from ROVA (Rest of Virginia): 25 miles around Ashland on Saturday. Cold but glorious. 42 miles yesterday along the James downstream from Richmond and through the Civil War battlefields. Both days were great!
That's why I decided to go with an on-road route yesterday instead of a trail. It was quite peaceful. The only problem was the short stretch of Fairfax County Pkwy trail in Reston, which had a couple of snow piles and very cold mud puddles that I had to get through/around.
I did encounter crowds before and after the ride, though. The whole world decided to go ice skating at Reston Town Center yesterday. The guys at Yogen Fruz said they had a very busy day.