Ride report:

Well all this talk of long rides and fireworks really started to get to me, I had tons of stuff to do on Friday but all that wound down by 5 PM. I needed to go out and get something to eat, so I decided what the heck and make a weekend of it. So I throw my camping gear on my bike and headed toward Fredrick.

I forgot the hills are really kicking my butt now so I stopped and rested about every 10 miles. So it wasn't till midnight that I got to Mt Airy, stopped at the gas station/convenience store and when I came out, there was another cyclist! So I asked what he was doing out so late and he said he was trying to meet up with a friend who was just finishing RAAM and was lost. So I told him that Mt Airy bike shop was a stop for RAAM and that was just down the road, just then his friend road by. So he ran inside to get something then we both headed for Mt Airy Bike Shop. There I met Bill Bradly the last of the RAAM riders but still impressive meting someone who can do more then I can. Any way, Larry Black offered to let people camp out to watch RAAM, so I saw RAAM, so I camped. I forgot to mention that Friday was such a gorgeous night, near full moon and idyllic riding temperatures.

Saturday morning was a mess as I did not pre-plot my route on my GPS (I thought I could wing it) so the gremlins got wind of this and removed all but one of the route 144 signs in Mt Airy and the one remaining sign just put me back where I started. I finally figured out how to get out of Mt Airy only to totally space out my route out of Fredrick, but at least that was only extra miles on wonderful country roads.

Finally I got to the C&O and headed down to Whites Ferry and then the W&OD trail. Well some genius in VA decided the shoulders on US 15 business did not need to be maintained so that route is not as nice as it once was. Speaking of VA geniuses, the little rest areas along the trail where they decided to tear down trees to put the benches in the hot sun, really reminds me of of a quote that goes something like this: It's not amazing that a great pedestrian space that attracts people can be built, what is amazing is how often it is not done.

So riding down the W&OD trail I see two guys walking, one is pushing a bike and has another one over his shoulder with a bent wheel. The second guy is leaning against the first and hobbling along. So I pull alongside and ask if they could use some help. "Not unless you are a car." was the response, so I said funny you should say that... So I loaded up the wounded cyclists and his bike for a two mile trek back to his car.

The next bit of my adventure was trying to connect up with the Custis Trail to get to DC. Their was this sign about 300' after a turn that said Custis Trail to the right. A cute cyclist just happened to come along so I asked for clarification on how to get to the Custis Trail. She said she thought it was that turn that I missed, so I head back, follow the bike route signs and about a half mile later she pops out on to the path I am following, so I say hi again as I pass and continue trying to find the Custis Trail. I keep making sure I am on the correct path and finally I meet someone who'll guide me, so up over a pedestrian bridge that goes over I-66 that joins the Custis Trail at a "T" and who should be coming along the trail but the cute girl I was talking to earlier. The next bit was trying to find the bridge cross into DC, That again was so poorly marked and had some comedy in errors when people directed me first one way then the other and then back....

Anyway it was cool watching the people coming out to see the fireworks and close to half along the river front came by bike. I was debating whether I wanted to stay and watch the fireworks and deal with the crowd or just have a quite night at the camp site. So as I headed toward the Capital Crescent Trail I noticed people were still setting up places to watch the fireworks. So I figured I could stop and eat something off my bike to wait and if I could see the fireworks from there great but if not no big deal. Well it turns out I had a nice view of the fireworks and hardly any delay to get onto the trail. So awesome fireworks and no zoo, I'll have to do that again sometime.

So overall my weekend millage 235, with 12,000 feet of climbing.