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| 2014 Veteran's Day Ride |
Happy Belated Veterans Day to all those who are and have served!
Six friends and I chose to celebrate with an all day ride here in the Nation's Capitol. We set our sights high, the 84 mile 'Leesburg Loop'. I've been wanting to do this ride for over a year after I became aware of Whites Ferry and the possibility to complete a true out and back loop all the way to Leesburg. We departed my place in Alexandria VA around 0630 with five riders and met two more in Georgetown at the foot of the C&O/CCT Trails. It was a brisk but gorgeous morning and the forecast promised warmer temperatures and continued pleasant weather all day.
I'll let the pictures and captions tell the story, I had a great time... the distance was pretty daunting and two of our little band had practically zilch for recent bike experience. Well done Pete and Al! Great attitudes and the willingness to do something crazy gets you in all sorts of interesting (if uncomfortable) situations!
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| From left to right; Al, Wes, Jude, Tony and Pete |
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| Al and Pete speeding along Gravelly Point, both were riding borrowed Bridgestones from my stable. Al on my wife's silver MB-3 and Pete on my XO-3. |
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| Sunrise over the Potomac, note the crew teams out early. Great color, I love Nov skies in this area. Morning and evening they offer so many crisp horizons and interesting clouds. |
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| Quick detour for the Reflecting Pool and Lincoln Memorial. |
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Pete at the Memorial.
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Quick stop on the spillway
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| Blow up for two reasons, first to show the Women's Cross Country runners behind us, the girl closest to Pete's shoulder was hauling ass!!! She passed us soon after this picture and it took us a couple hundred yards to catch up, she must have been running at a 8-10mph pace at this point. |
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| Joe in his element (and on his UBI-built custom steel commuter - he still hasn't wrapped his bars!) |
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| Up close to Great Falls this wonderful basin was like a mirror, rock formations on the far wall were also stunning. |
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| The crew in middle center speeding along towards morning coffee |
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| How gorgeous is this!?! Note the moon... less than an hour by bike from the National Mall, you can't beat this! |
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| The crew enjoying the view. |
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| The first shot of the new ride - say hello to Mr. Bombadil! |
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| How's this for coffee outside, coffee w/ a view even. The Great Falls Overlook on the MD side has an awesome rock formation that offered a perfect stove placement. Note my new Japanese wire coffee filter holder and Ocean Air Cycles roasted beans. #coffeeneuring, #coffeoutside |
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| MD side of Great Falls... never gets old! |
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| More glamour shots of the Bombadil |
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| Three bottle cages is pretty sexy... (and useful!) |
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| ok ok I know... gratuitous amounts of Bombadil shots. |
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| Whites Ferry! We had splendid timing and literally rode straight on and were carried across. |
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| Looking back on the VA side of the Ferry crossing |
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| You have to admit that Pete and the red XO-3 cast a pretty sweet shadow here as we join up w/ Rt 15 to head into Leesburg. |
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| Once on the W&OD the ride did start to grind a bit, we stopped for an amazing lunch at Carolina Bro's BBQ in Ashburn but I think we were about an hour late in getting those calories as it had been a long 50 miles leading up to lunch. The W&OD's new coat of asphalt was much appreciated though. |
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| Double top tube shadow... I belive this is inside the beltway crossing I-66. We were chasing the setting sun at this point and nursing our aches and cramps but everyone kept up a good attitude and we finished strong. Happy Veterans Day! |
