I took the Shortcut
Saturday morning around 6am found me on my bike riding the W&OD trail to Ed Felker's house for the start of the "Alcova on the Rocks" century. The forecast was for 23 degrees at 6am warming up to a high of 51 degrees. When riding in weather that cold, my chief concern is that my waterbottles or my camelback hose might freeze. My waterbottle got a little slushy, but didn't freeze. My camelback hose did freeze up, but it was near Ed's house and I was able to use it after a couple of minutes inside. Other than the cold it was a beautiful, clear sunny day. I haven't ridden much in that area, so it was a good change of pace.
The ride headed into Georgetown up through the Capital Crescent trail and then up through Potomac to Poolesville. It was around 21 miles to Ed's house, then another 36 to the first rest stop. My legs were getting pretty fried by then and I had drifted to the back of the group. (Actually there were several groups and if history is any guide, the leaders were about an hour up the road from me at that point.) I decided to limp into Poolesville and take the Gen. Jubal A. Early Ferry to get across the Potomac. Then I took another stop in Leesburg, another stop at Partlow's Store on the trail, another stop at Smith's Switch in Ashburn, and then finally made it home. The shortcut brought the ride down to 81 miles and it took me 9 hours from start to finish. On the plus side, I was home by 3pm.
