May 29, 2008
Day 17: Lorton, VA to Washington Grove, MD
66.44 miles, 5:35:54 Ride Time, 11.87 Average Speed, 31.08 Maximum Speed
Today started off well, turned into a nightmare, but was ultimately redeemed by some good company at the end of the day.
I had decided I could get either an extremely early start, or a later-than-usual start, in order to avoid the rush hour traffic. Since I was staying in a very nice motel again, a later start was clearly the logical choice, and I didn't start riding until about 10:00.
Adventure Cycling has a new routing for this section of the route - there are now directions to take you through the Fort Belvoir Army Base. I wasn't sure what to expect when I entered the gate, but it was simple - I just had to show them my driver's license. I was impressed with the place - everything was very neat and well maintained, and the low speed limit meant that I didn't have to worry about traffic.
I exited Fort Belvoir and rode a short distance to Mt. Vernon, where I was shocked to see dozens (more than a hundred?) tour buses lined up. I found the Mt. Vernon bike path easily enough, and the next several miles were enjoyable. Unlike the bike paths I'm familiar with back home, which are rail-trails, this one was more interesting - curvy and hilly in places. It was a sunnier, warmer day than yesterday, and it was great riding for several miles, with the Potomac to my right much of the time.
Eventually, though, the bike path ended temporarily (as these urban paths always seem to do), so I had to take to the streets, but it was fairly easy to find it again, and I rode it past the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. That was interesting.
I crossed the Potomac into Washington, DC, and joined the thousands of tourists milling around the Lincoln Memorial. The first person I asked for directions was a nice girl who told me she had relocated to DC literally hours ago. That set the tone for much of the next few hours as I tried to get out of Washington and into Maryland - everyone was very nice, but it was hard to get directions. Of course, I wouldn't have had to ask people for directions constantly if there had been some reasonable signage. Others have commented on how confusing it is to follow the Rock Creek Trail. I can confirm that, and I'm sorry to say that the whole experience was a major disappointment. I don't understand why DC and Maryland spend the money to maintain this trail, and then apparently spend almost no money putting up some signs. It made for a long and frustrating day.
I crossed into Maryland at some point - no sign indicated that, of course - and made my way slowly to the Rockville area, where I lost the trail for a while, and the rush hour traffic became terrible. I met a local cyclist, Charlie, who gave me some helpful directions back to the trail. I finally got to the end of the trail, and shortly thereafter left the Adventure Cycling route to find my hosts for the night. After a few phone conversations with John, I gave up a few miles from their house, and stopped at a little park, as several lanes of rush hour traffic whizzed past me. John arrived a few minutes later, and we loaded my bike into his car and soon arrived at his and Linda's Washington Grove home.
John and Linda were very nice, interesting people. Their hospitality redeemed the most trying day so far of this trip. I had been worrying about getting through the greater Washington, DC area since planning for this tour, and I was hugely relieved now that a big chunk of it was over.
Note: I do want to be clear about one thing - everyone I talked to today was helpful (or tried to be helpful), so my bitching is directed at the people who are responsible for maintaining the Rock Creek Trail in DC and Maryland. The Mount Vernon trail on the other side of the Potomac was well-signed; maybe the DC and Maryland people can get some pointers from those guys.
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Today's ride: 66 miles (106 km)
Total: 1,281 miles (2,062 km)
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