on yer bike

I finally got out of the city on a bike ride this past weekend, which I'd been wanting to do for some time.

There are a number of places which look close enough on a map to make me think I could bike there. Mount Vernon, for one. Great Falls, for another. That's where we decided to go Saturday.

Great Falls is a 14-mile trip up along the Potomac River (the trail follows an old canal which was briefly used to ship cargo into D.C. in the 19th century). Following the canal makes for a level ride, although the dirt and gravel path created a jarring ride which slowly worked its way to aggravation.

A relevant note: I haven't ridden a bike at all for several months for obvious reasons. Even when I first got to D.C. and actually had a bike, I did little more than bike around a mile or two of our house. I haven't ridden a bike for any extended length of time for several years.

On the way home from our jaunt it occurred to me I may never have ridden 30 miles in a day. This, perhaps, was slightly ambitious for our first day out. It wasn't a problem to make it back to Georgetown, although it would have been tougher if not for a snack stand where we could load up on extra drinks a few miles out of D.C. My legs were about done when we got off the trail and had to go uphill to get back home. My legs told me they'd actually been done some time before that once I stopped and my legs had a chance to tell me how they really felt.

I haven't been keeping to my running regimen as much as I'd like, and I'm just one for three on attendance with my Ultimate Frisbee season. The bike ride was much needed. I just might warm up with some shorter rides before I try another 30-miler.