48 miles… woah

That certainly wasn’t the plan when I started!

As an after-work bike ride, I originally decided to go 30 miles along the Washington & Old Dominion Trail (thank you Rails to Trails!). The weather was great, both sunny and in the high 60s (nearly 70). I set out at 5 p.m.

After breezing through the first 10 miles that I’ve covered many, many times in my life without so much as a hesitation to speed, I decided to continue going forward until I reached the 2 hour mark. There were plenty of people on the trail, from fellow bikers to joggers, runners, walkers sometimes with dogs, and families with their strollers. Something amazing also happened: every time the trail crossed a street, the drivers were much more polite and would slow to a halt to let me and other trail-goers pass. In all my experience on the trail, I’ve never witnessed so much politeness!

The entire time I was biking the first half, I only had to stop maybe twice. I’ve never had to stop so little number of times before, so that gives credit to my improved fitness (good thing I started this blog!). Eventually the sky started turning to dusk, and I was glad that I was going to turn around. At 7 p.m. I stopped at mile marker #27 and took a break.

Whew! It’s starting to get a little colder, hmmm, good thing I brought my long-sleeved workout shirt. I knew getting back would take longer, as was the usual for my long distance bike trips. And it did take longer.

My initial energy started to wane by the time I was heading back. At least I knew I had a hot dinner waiting for me (to cook, no easy way here) at the other end of my trip. I had to stop quite an extra number of times on my way back. Also as the sky turned to night, I had to turn on my bike lights in order to see and be seen. With my 4 granola bars and bottle of water, I was going to have to make things work so I’d return in one piece. I made plans to stop by my friends Mig and Peter’s house since they live even closer than I do to the trail.

With the advent of the night, the trail became almost deserted. Only a few courageous enough still remained on the trail, most smart enough to go with some sort of reflective gear or lights. For the ones who chose to wear dark colors and nothing to be seen, I almost hit a few of you! Don’t be so stupid next time!

Once I got to Mig and Peter’s, I took a quick break and chatted a bit. It was all I needed to complete the final few miles of the journey. I counted down the mile markers (set every half-mile) until I finally hit Bluemont Park, just 2 blocks from my house. Ascending the final hill to my house, I gave a very excited fist pump and knew I had completed my challenge.

Here are the stats for the ride:

Number of miles originally planned: 30
Number of miles actually done: 48
Time for 1^st half: 2 hours
Time for 2^nd half: 3 hours
Average speed (1^st half): 12 mph
Average speed (2^nd half): 8 mph
Number of granola bars eaten: 4

I’ve basically grown up on the Washington & Old Dominion Trail. Heck, you might even find my birthplace there (though my parents are adamant it’s Georgetown Hospital)!

Today was the 3^rd longest bike ride I’ve ever taken at 48 miles. The 2^nd longest was 50 miles at the Shenandoah Bike Festival in summer 2007. The longest was a 66 mile bike ride from Harrisonburg to Charlottesville with my roommate Colin in spring 2007.