BRAVO , Tourist and SandsMan

[Smiley]

60 hot , sweaty , hilly , long miles to nowhere close. Both of you sucked it up and REPRESENTED well today.

Vermont here we come Tourist :banana:

[Smiley]

Did I say hot , well I meant STINKIN HOT :)

[palincss]

60 hot , sweaty , hilly , long miles to nowhere close. Both of you sucked it up and REPRESENTED well today.

Vermont here we come Tourist :banana:

Where'd you go?

I was out in Remington by myself, checking some long and short cuts for a 50/60 mile version of the Brandy Station ride. No Maryland for me this weekend, thanks to the Wilson Bridge replacement. And yes, it was hot - damned hot. Every scrap of shade was a treasure, and 5 miles of completely shaded road was a blessing.

sc53 and I were out there last weekend, scouting the long northern loop and part of the long southern loop. We found one of the key connectors was a dirt road, and you know how some folks are about riding on dirt. (Not us, of course; I had my Saluki and sc53 had her Atlantis, so we really enjoyed the dirt.) I still had the short northern loop to check, and I rerouted the long southern loop in hopes of avoiding the dirt, but alas, the pavement ended at Mt. Pony Rd. And today, I wasn't on 650Bs, either.

I had a hair-curling surprise as I was loading the car: the little stripe of tar on my left crank that caught my eye as I was loading the bike into the car turned out to be a crack right through the pedal hole, halfway through the crank arm. That would have been a very nasty thing to have discovered when the crank arm broke off.

I've done that 4 times before, all on an old commuter, and all within 2-6 miles of both home and the office. Twice, I ate the asphalt; once, leaving a gory residue all over 15th St. in front of the Washington Monument as I scrambled to get self and bike out of the path of the oncoming traffic (and you know they don't stop for something as insignificant as a cyclist down, not when the light is getting set to change!).

That would have been pretty bad had it happened today - I was 65 miles from home, and as far as 25-30 miles from the car at times.

I'm so happy I caught it while loading the car!

[Smiley]

You done good Steve , We SandsMan and Tourist left the Rec center heading towards Darnestown , Tourist wanted to do River Road the whole distance , so we turned left on Seneca Rd and headed out towards Poolesville out River extended , made the right on West Willard and road into the Ville and stopped at Subway for eats and drinks, from there we proceeded out 109 to Partnership back to River and then to Potomac Village for another rest stop. From there I convinced them to ride down Falls Rd to Mac Arthur Blvd , made a Left onto Wilson and climbed our way back to Bethesda and from there onto Old Georgetown to Cedar and back to the Rec Center where I am sure both S&T where happy to be done for the day. They were both Troopers for going the distance today :)

tell sc53 that we miss her and want her to come ride fixee with us soon, now that RT has that road rocket Kirk built up and she drank the kool aid too :banana:

[Rapid Tourist]

Well, I should clarify that Sandy and I did 60 very hilly* miles in the infamous DC summer heat. Our only saving grace was Smiley, who never got his heart rate above a conversational pace, and made it all look easy. We had a ball, and I much enjoyed the company of these two outstanding cyclists and friends.

*Smiley did slightly more, 65 miles, and it wasn't hilly for him. :)

Vermont here we come!!!!!!


Steve, I'm so glad you caught the crack before it caused a major problem. Good catch! :banana:

[Too Tall]

OK, no more wheelsucking for you Mr. Smiley :cool: Apparently y'all are in some seriously good shape. Great route, tough day for sure. Congrats.

[Ginger]

Sounds like fun. Y'all keep talk'n 'bout Vermont...????

[Smiley]

Sounds like fun. Y'all keep talk'n 'bout Vermont...????
Tourist , Tourist's Dad , Karen and myself are going to do a Bike Vermont Middlebury 6 day / 5 night Tour that spans 3 B&B's . I think thats why Tourist is getting seriously stronger cause she does not know that Vermont is FLAT yet :)

[Too Tall]

Queen and I did a similar tour with VBT many moons ago. Take my advice, leave late each day and linger. Plenty of time in the day to ride and see some sights. Also, there are armfuls of great swimming spots...bring your suits.