C&O-Day 5
Blue sky and sunshine on my way over to Will and Sinclair’s this morning. The rained moved out last night and we were slated for partly cloudy weather today. Apparently the clouds did not consult the forecast, but more on that later. But a 9AM skies were clear when Will and I set off on today’s ride.
Our goal today was to ride along the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) bike path until we had reached 20 miles, then turn around and come back the same way. This would take us due west of DC and give us a roundtrip of 40 miles. The start of the W&OD was down south along the Mt Vernon Trail we biked on Monday, but there was a more direct shortcut called the Custis Trail, that intercepted the W&OD. We decided to take the shortcut.
We took our now regular route around the Capital and down the Mall and picked up the bike path along the Potomac over to Georgetown. Since we were in Georgetown we decided to stop at Tatte ‘s and grab a pastry and coffee. (I know, but I’m on vacation.) Then we worked our way over to the Francis Scott Key bridge and crossed the Potomac where we picked up the Custis Trail. (mi-7 to mi-11 on map above.)
As you can see from the picture above we had lost our clear blue sky by this point and although it looked like it would rain all day, it never did.
The Custis Trail was not the most scenic bike trail we’ve done this week. In fact, neither was the W&OD when we got to it. The Custis and the part of the W&OD we rode were utilitarian. A way to ride a bike, or walk, through a land of Interstates and highways and urban landscapes. Mostly we rode next to multi lane highways and along utility right of ways. The trails were paved and most of it pretty smooth, but the traffic the other side of the fence was loud, and distracting. The right of ways were a linear clear cut. Still, nice to be out in the countryside.
After 4 miles on the Custis we joined the W&OD for the next 9 miles. This took us through the town of Falls Church and then Vienna. About 2 miles beyond Vienna we hit twenty miles and turned around. The W&OD Trail continues another 36 miles beyond there along the old Washington & Old Dominion Railroad roadbed.
Will and I rode back into Vienna and got some lunch before returning home the way we came. As we rode the last part up along the Mall, the skies briefly became partly cloudy with more blue sky than clouds.
We lugged our bike up the 4 flights to the apartment and then I headed over to my place for a shower and a chance to work on the blog. Later, about 6PM, I returned to Will and Sinclair’s to have dinner. They made fresh sweet corn and baked salmon and finished it off with a blueberry/blackberry pie and great conversation. All of it outstanding.
Tomorrow we return our rental bikes and maybe go for a hike.
Until tomorrow, Happy Trails…
