Long Haul - Day 24 (9/9/21) Alexandria to Stafford VA - 49 miles

We woke up this morning to a drizzle which we thought was supposed to end in the early hours. We pulled out all our rain gear and prepped to leave. As it turned out, we had some drizzle and we almost got wet but it ended and we dried up fairly quickly. The first 10ish miles were on the Mt. Vernon trail. It was paved and a pretty nice trail, although there were plenty ups and downs. I think this was probably the hilliest bike path we have ever been on. Fortunately the hills were short, although some were pretty steep. The path ended at, you guessed it, Mt. Vernon. After that we spent most of the time on the roads. There were maybe 5 miles with nice paths/sidewalks along the roads. We assume that most of the Virginia drivers never learned to share, since the “Share the Road” signs were basically interpreted to mean 95% for me and 5% for the cyclist. I put a bunch of them in timeout but I doubt it did much good.

Our route took us through the Quantico National Cementary. The problem was that cyclists weren’t allowed. We walked our bikes through the cemetery and after we were through we got on our bikes and slowly rode through the rest of the forest. Well, that was until a man on a lawn mower yelled us that we weren’t allowed to be there nor allowed to ride bikes. He yelled at us that we had to walk our bikes back to the entrance. So we rode about a mile to get to the cemetery, then almost a mile in the cemetery, and then reversed. In spite all that it was an educational diversion and it seemed worth it although it probably took an extra hour of our day. It looked like they were prepping for a burial but we felt like we were intruders so we moved on out of there. The cemetery reminded me a lot of Arlington National Cemetery, if you have ever been there. All the simple tombstones in precise and measured rows. There were several people who had come to look for a specific burial site. There are many different views on war; there are good and bad wars, pacifism, war hawks/doves, just wars, etc. Stepping back for a moment on our/my personal views, I saw a young woman with a 8 (?) year old girl as she looked at her phone as if they were getting directions for a specific burial site. I was reminded that for each tombstone there is/was a family that wept at the loss of a loved one. These are real losses and hearts were broken while tears moistened cheeks that would never feel the soft kiss of the one they had lost. Personal perspectives aside, the loss is real and heart wrenching. Even though we were intruders, I sensed something deeper than just what we were able to see. Maybe it’s time to put aside some of our differences and feel the pain and loss of those who could be our neighbor, if we just allowed them space to get a little closer.

Lots of hills and we were ready to call it a day when we arrived.

#treesforgoshen #eastcoastgreenway

https://www.treesforgoshen.org/biking-for-bucks-expand-goshens-tree-canopy/

Today’s Ride Ratings

Weather 7 (the temp was good but it was dreary all day)

Temperature 70 at start and 77 at finish

Scenery 9 (trail) 4 (all the rest)

Riding Surface 9

Terrain 7 we had some hills that put some hurt on our legs

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