The Coho and I had some nice adventures this weekend.
Ride out to Leesburg was a nice and quick 5hrs for a fairly hilly 71 miles. The most fun of the outbound route was a small rd called W. Old Baltimore rd. It meandered through dense wooded areas, then the surface turned to hard packed dirt, then I saw a road sign that said "FORD" which I took to mean the car. Since I drive a Chevy, I cruised right past. Then I got to this:
Oh, that's what FORD means.
Off came the socks and shoes for an ankle-high crossing. Got to Leesburg by 11AM in enough time for a quick lunch and cool down. The Best Western hotel where the event is held allows all the bikes to get stored against any free standing object in the lobby and halls. When I first got there, I was looking for a place to lock up the bike outside and someone said, "what are you doing? just bring the bike into the lobby" Weird, but true- the inside of the hotel lobby and hallways to the conference rooms were strewn with snazzy vintage bikes of all eras. Very cool.
Talked to Charles the Coho builder. I met Dan Artley soon thereafter and discovered he'd just broken his collarbone from a fall during a morning group ride.
Seminars were fun for me, but my family were teasing me about how seminars about "period correct" restoration of racing bicycles couldn't possibly be construed as fun. I had lots of chillin' out time talking to the (other) rando bike snobs and checking out all the bikes. Sunday, I rode to the fairgrounds for the swap and show. Lots more chillin' and chatting. I noticed that Chuck and Christa and other DC Rand-ers showed up and talked to them for a bit. (mostly about possible coordinating of their rides and my BBC rides. hmm.. maybe so)
Headed back into Leesburg by 1pm, ate a veggie burrito and took off for B'more. After I took the ferry across the Potomac my troubles began. I had only cued my ride for the way out. For the way back, to save time, I used googlemaps return route. Whoa, did I get lost. And then I found my way back. And then I got lost again and then one more time. Finally, I got out my outbound directions and began reversing them which got me back to Baltimore environs. All my getting lost added an extra 22 miles + time asking for directions and stopping to look at maps. I got home at 9PM. 5hrs out and 7hrs back. Sheesh.
But the trip was super fun and even the getting lost part was not too bad because the weather was so nice. Good stuff. -GB