Summer, Fare Thee Well

Officially summer doesn't end until September 21st, but with temps right now in tolerable range, I bid adieu to the heat and humidity. Yeah, summer will give one last try in the coming days to give the Mother of all heat wedgies, but it's a lamentable last gasp of desperation. Fall will come striding in, an with it, the finest riding weather of the year!

I've got an inkling to do an overnighter on the Pocket Crusoe along the C&O Canal towpath. I did a warmup ride this weekend, and discovered that riding the trail in my slicks is about as much fun as puberty. So, instead of riding the trail due west, I am going to ride west on MacArthur Blvd, then pick up River Rd. Waaaay out there, River becomes a tiny little tree-lined road that should be beautiful in the fall. At some point I'll duck over to the trail to camp out, and ride a bit of it to take in the Potomac River. and the canal. The hard packed dirt you see in this picture isn't so bad (minus the embedded rocks you have to dodge), but as the trail rises up to meet each old lock, the grade gets covered in loose gravel--not the finely crushed gravel as found on the Great Allegheny Trail. That stuff is smooth and secure. No, this gravel is more like large fish tank rocks and it does its best to dislodge me from the bike by playing tug-of-war with my front tire. Hence, I'm thinking to ride the road. Buying new tires with some grip is not immediately in the budget, especially considering the little used they would get. Most of my riding is road and paved trail. But, some expanded tours could be in my future. Any excuse for a bike ride!