Recovery Ride Gone Wrong

After yesterday's ride, I thought I'd take it easy and do a nice easy, flat ride.  21 miles would get me to 100 for the week so that's what I decided on.  Big Nellie had other ideas. Damned if I don't have my bent legs back.  Off we bolted at 15 miles per hour into the wind. What's this about?  Soon we were cruising the side streets of the scenic suburban Hybla Valley. Trust me, it sounds nicer than it is.  The best part about the neighborhood is it's uncanny flatness.  

I couldn't let the flatness go to waste, now could I. I cranked it up to 17 miles per hour and slalomed through a series of lefts and rights until I came to a stop six miles later near Fort Belvoir where the hills begin anew.  I skirted the hills and made my way to Woodlawn which has a few small hills.  I rode a loop around the Mount Vernon Country Club and Yacht Haven two quiet suburban neighborhoods.  After riding by Mount Vernon High School, I reversed course and headed to Mount Vernon where I picked up the Mount Vernon Trail. The MVT had its usual glut of pedestrians and cyclists but everyone was either moving along nicely or standing off the trail (a minor miracle around here).  I made good time to Fort Hunt Park and rode two laps around its circular road. 

Next I found myself buzzing through Plymouth Haven and the Collingwood on the Potomac, avoiding the nasty parts of the MVT.  This one mile stretch has two abrupt hills that never fail to cause unexpecting trail users to stop without warning causing a cascade of bicycle mayhem.

After a brief spin along East Boulevard Drive which gets surprisingly little use, I reconnected with the MVT for a ride to the Beltway. There I turned left and took the new connector trail to Fort Hunt Road. Fort Hunt Road took me over three respectable hills back home after a stop for a Gary's Lunchbox sammich at Sherwood Hall Gourmet.

As I arrived home my odometer clicked 37, I pulled into my driveway where my blossoming lilac bush greeted me with its superb fragrance.

Lilacs (and an azalea)

So I went a little farther than I expected. That's what spring bike riding is all about.

I'll rest tomorrow.  I have to drive to work so I can go to an eye doctor appointment in the middle of the day.  I feel bad that I will miss a bike commute, but, no worries, my ophthalmologist is a bike commuter. He'll do the riding.