Mt Vernon Or Bust

Yesterday, I participated in Seamus' casual "Mount Vernon or Bust" ride. He is getting ready to do the 5 borough ride in NYC and started organizing weekend touring rides to prepare. Luckily, I got invited to go.


I had no idea what to expect. When you hear 38 mile ride, you think that the type of people going will be hardcore cyclists and I haven't really ridden more then just commuting 14 miles a day.


I got to Jacks Boat House under the expressway at 12noon. It is where all the rowers congregate to navigate the Potomac. Next Seamus showed up. I was pretty sure it was him as he rode by but I only met him twice before at our annual Tour De Bars ride we do in Bethesda. He rode over and said "Ray?" And then we got to talking. Tracy and Jason came by a few minutes later, found a parking spot and we were on our way. 


To get from the boat house to the bike path you have to make your way up a 5 story climb to the Key Bridge and cross it over into Virginia. The hills are steep but the bikes have gears. Georgetown is a beautiful area with a canal and old buildings everywhere. We crossed the bridge and headed back down the hill toward the Mount Vernon Trail. It is a wide paved path with divider lines and there wasn't many people out as the weather was quite cool and windy.


The trail was scenic with great vistas of downtown DC across the river. We continued south and the first place of note that we came upon was a large field with baseball diamonds. There was a whiffle-ball league playing and we stopped for a few minutes to watch while a couple of us used the extra stinky and overflowing Johnny on the Spots. Then the cops started piling in putting on bulletproof vests and carrying rather large guns. We decided it was time to go. Drill or real, this was not a scene to be hanging around in. 


We then rode past Reagan International Airport. This part of the path is wide open and the wind was howling. The path crosses several large pedestrian bridges over roadways and several exit/entrance ramps. Be careful or you will get creamed.


Once we got over the bridges we got down into a beautiful path through manicured lawns, woods and nicely constructed boardwalks through the wetlands. After the wetlands we came across this really long mural describing all of George Washington's adventures: crossing the Delaware, Valley Forge, Fighting the Redcoats.....those limey bastards....and becoming the first President of the United States.


I love the path. You follow it and just keep ending up places. One of the most pleasant places in all of Virginia is a section of Alexandria called Old Town. Riding along the river through the historic village was one of my favorite parts of the ride. More on that described later on the return trip.


And so the path continues. We stop, We pee. We eat some food. We get to Mount Vernon, don't go into the estate, but instead turn around and head back. Even though going back is against the wind, it is also downhill and seems to go easier and quicker then the ride there. Feeling pretty good about ourselves we are back in Old Town. We stop at O'Connell's. A wonderful little irish pub. http://www.danieloconnells.com/history.jsp 


We ate two different flatbread pizzas, ate some mini burgers, and enjoyed some Smithwicks.
Good times, good conversation and full bellys we head back to the bikes. A few minutes later we are looking for the restrooms and boom - back at the baseball diamonds with the overflowing Johnny on the Spots. Everyone is gone. The sun is going down. We pee and we move along. There was a lot of peeing on this bike trip. 

Everyone was tuckered out at the end. We rode 38 miles with wind, hills, and beer.............going over the Key Bridge back into Georgetown I decided on one last adventure before loading the bikes up onto the car. There was the stair with a ramp that straddled both sides. I was a little buzzed still and very tired and although it was probably a stupid decision, I successfully navigated the ramp down onto the gravel path on the canal. My friends congratulated me on a nice maneuver and I only incurred a slightly skinned knuckle on the stone retaining wall next to the ramp. Its always difficult to do a little thing like this in front of people without some sort of incident.


Great day. Glad I went. Thank you Seamus for organizing the ride. I look forward to the next opportunity to do it again.