Capital Idea to Purcellville (200m shy)

I set out for a long bike ride last night after work.  Not sure why I thought this was such a "capital idea", but the thought of going 70 miles was appealing to me.  I thought I could make it so I set 2 hours as my limit for riding west.  I started about 5:30pm and wouldn't you know it, 2 hours later I found myself out in Purcellville 35 miles from the car.  At this point I ate some peanut butter and jelly crackers and decided to head east.

What I didn't know is that I was only 200 meters from the Trails End!  That's where the W&OD trail comes to an end at the Trails End Bike Store, go figure.

So heading east was getting a little chilly.  I was hoping for warmer weather but didn't have too many options.  However, one option I did opt for was heading into 7-11 off Dry Mill in Leesburg.  A kiobasa on a roll and hot chocolate for everybody!  Wow that really hit the spot.  Then heading east again I was wondering to myself why this was a good idea, along with not being able to get that "Over You" song by Miranda Lambert out of my head.

The further east I got, the warmer it was so the climate was just perfect for riding.  Wind was at a minimum, trail was all mine, and it was quite peaceful cruising in the dark with the only illumination the bike light and stars.  I did have to watch out for the Easter Bunnies who were making an early appearance, plus all the fox, deer, and other rodents scurrying around the trail.

Somewhere outside of Ashburn I decided that I'd try for my first lifeline.  Unfortunately, Michelle didn't answer and as it turned out she wasn't playing racquetball at Worldgate in Herndon, but was already home on the couch.  Great, capital idea and I was going to be seeing this through to the end.  The ride was pretty nice in hindsight, but all the long rides are somewhat mentally tough.  

4 hours and 20 minutes later I returned to the car while logging 71 miles.  Here's the Garmin trip data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/162955425

Surprisingly, I got up early today and feel just fine ... albeit a little hungry.

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5-0 on the W&OD

Obviously more training is required if I get a little weary from a slow 2 hr 40 min ride down the CCT with P Binning.  So to toughen up I set out Wednesday March 25 for a 5-0 ride out the W&OD trail.  Weather was great, trail wasn't too busy, and I was ready to go.

After work, I parked at the Gallows Road and W&OD intersection and rode 25 miles west, then turned around and rode 25.1 miles back.  You figure that one out.  I pushed it a bit on the way out trying to keep over >20 miles hour.  At the turn around, I was averaging almost that.  The ride back was a little slower but not much. In the end, 2 hours and 38 minutes for 5-0 miles with the final average of 18.9 miles/hour.

Just over 2 months from now will be another ridiculously hard 100 mile mountain bike race through the Mohican State Forest in Ohio.  There's got to be some harder riding between now and then.

Many miles ahead.

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