Long Haul - Day 23 (9/8/21) Linthicum Heights - Alexandria, Va - 54.6 miles
Updated: Sep 8, 2021
What a day! This might be an extra long blog since there are quite a few things that happened.
First of all during our first 16 miles we had 8 miles on US 1, with no shoulder and quite a bit of traffic. We tried to stay out of the way of traffic and some just had to give us a love hug as the passed. The good news is that no one decided to give us a kiss so we are left unscathed. It was a bit hectic but we just had to be cautious and keep our wits, oh and maybe kept a few angels hopping.
We left the hectic highway and ended up on some pleasant roads with minimal traffic. We were just finishing that leg of the day and had stopped at a road where I was going to check the map to see where we were and where the upcoming route would take us. As we stopped, a women on a bike pulled up and asked where we were going and where we had come from. I asked where she was from and she said she was heading to work and that they had a bike and coffee shop. My dog ears perked up and I asked if they could true up my back wheel. She said “I think we could, follow me”. She took us through several parking lots, several residential streets, into a subway station and out the other side. We ended up in a strip mall and they had a super lovely bike shop with a really nice coffee shop in the front and to the side. She told us to wheel our bikes to the back and told one of her techs to check out the wheel. Back story: yesterday we were coming down a hill and at the bottom we crossed a bridge and there was a pretty big pot hole I couldn’t miss and I hit it pretty hard. Later that day as I was changing the tire (unrelated to the pothole) I noticed that the wheel had a slight wobble to it. I was planning to have it checked out at a bike shop in Fredericksburg as I knew there was a shop there. Dana ordered some drinks and several pastries for us and meanwhile the tech started working on the bike. I was standing there at the counter and a female tech looked at me, pointed at my shirt (Lincoln Avenue Cycling) and said “I have been at that bike shop”. I asked, you know it’s in Goshen, Indiana? Yup I’ve been there. It ends up she went to Goshen College and frequented The Brew while she was a student. (See pic below). We sat and sipped when the tech came out and said there was a broken spoke (damage from the dang pot hole). So he fixed that, tweaked my shifter, checked out Dana‘s bike (changed her chain) and gave me another spoke. We chatted with Laurie and just had to chuckle at the “chance” meeting on the road. She was on her way to work and was running late as she stopped to talk with a neighbor. A 15 second difference in timing and we would have never met these wonderful people. I called her our Trail Angel. As we were prepping to leave, her husband offered to lead us to the bike path that took us to the center of DC. The path was absolutely a delight. It wove through thick forest, along a river, through grassy fields, peaceful and beautiful. We headed to the Washington Monument, took several selfies, pics, ate Polish Sausages, and headed toward Alexandria. We were fortunate to have a path most of the way to our hotel. The path went right by Reagan International Airport. I mean right by. At one point I could almost have thrown a stone and hit a plane at one of the gates. We arrived at our hotel tired but happy for the more than interesting day.
People are awesome when we stop and let them into our lives.
We broke 1000 total miles today.
Five guys burgers, fries and a milk shake for dinner.
https://www.treesforgoshen.org/biking-for-bucks-expand-goshens-tree-canopy/
Today’s Ride Ratings
Weather 8 (a crisp 60 in the morning and the weather was really beautiful till about the last 10 miles when it got a bit toasty)
Temperature 70 at start and 87 at finish
Scenery 9 (trail and downtown) 4 (all the rest)
Riding Surface 9
Terrain 8 we had some hills but nothing bad
Kate Schrock? I think that might be Rohrer's 1st cousin's daughter. What the heck?!?!
I've often been reading these stories at the end of my day, and it is so heartwarming (but not really surprising) to hear how people are just really KIND. Thanks so much for sharing!
It seems to be hard to go anywhere in these United States and not run into someone who knows of The Electric Brew! Thank you for the great stories and pictures from today.