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DAY 9

Our 7th state...or different place

DAY'S OVERVIEW: Our final day on our first leg down the east is finally here.  Seems like we've been on the road for a almost 4 months but it's only been just over a week...oops, I guess Barb and I HAVE been on the road for 4 months.  That explains it.  Everyone was up and at it and chomping at the bit to get on the road after breakfast.  It was a foggy morning and we had a little more climbing to do today before arriving into DC for our day off tomorrow.  Since I missed my day of riding yesterday, Jim was good enough to let me ride this morning (the hilly part) until lunch where he took over the riding chores on the Rock Creek Bike Path.  We needed a mechanical staff member riding near the backend to keep an eye on folks while they were away from roads the vans could take.

When I pulled out, it was already pretty muggy but the temperatures were cool and the sun was shining...that's a good thing since Katrina is eyeing our path in a couple days.  Hopefully, we'll sneak in behind it after it goes through, but we'll probably get some rain tomorrow on our day off and maybe Wednesday when we leave DC.  I spent my part of the day riding near the back end taking photos until lunch...finally, I got to ride some of the great hills we've been in for the past few days.  This ride is a hill climber's dream and if you happen to be a shutterbug...you'll love it too.

Our route was a little busier since we are getting closer to the big city, but we still rode some nice back roads before entering the Rock Creek Bike Trail about 13 miles north of the city.  The trail was a combination of paths, streets, and even dirt in a place or two.  The trail took the riders right to Pennsylvania Avenue for a mile of deep city traffic.  I'm not sure DC is ready for cyclists who ride bikes and who follow the vehicular laws.  Bikers in the city don't pay any attention to stop lights or one way streets...they ride helter skelter with complete disregard to any logical order...I digress.

It was really a pretty uneventful morning except for a derailleur adjustment for Evelyn and trying to find Bill when he missed a turn at 21 miles.  I was talking to Jim when we discovered Bill was missing and when we got a call about Evelyn's derailleur problem so I sent Jim back with the van to find Bill and I went on a 7 mile time trial to catch Evelyn at the SAG.  After successfully finding our lost chick and fixing the shifting problem, I was back on my way to lunch...boy is it hilly out here.

By the time I got to lunch, I was about ready to get off the bike.  I had been riding pretty hard most of the morning since I knew I would only ride for about 50 miles.  Barb had found a neat little place beside a creek and by a historic building compete with tables (right)...life couldn't be better.  When Jim and I traded places after lunch, I was planning to drive to the bike path trail head and wait until everyone got on the path.  Then it was a drive into downtown DC...something if I had to do all the time, I think I would slit my throat.  I've determined that you have to have a horn so you can blow it at everyone you see.  Also, there's no need to have turn signals on your car, because no body ever uses them...I could go on and on.  Anyway, my plan was to drive to the motel and then to get on my bike and ride backwards on the route to check on people.  Jim was riding sweep on the path so that should about cover our group pretty well.  When I got to the motel, Barb told me that where we were parking the vans and the Box would be gone tomorrow...the bulldozers were going to doze it up and they were going to build a new building on the spot.  What?  Where are we supposed to park these things?  I thought that was a problem, but the real problems were about to come later...riiiiiiing!  I got a call from Barb that said she had been talking to Jim on the path and that Rose was lost somewhere in DC.  No problem, Jim was in the area call him and give him her location and have him find her.  Barb asked Jim if he had something to write with so she could give him Rose's cell phone number...he didn't but he said he had a pile of dirt he could write with his finger...now that's ingenuity if you ask me.  So there was Jim using his pointer finger to write in the dirt so he could call Rose.  Whew...everything is on track so I could get on my bike and head out...maybe I could find her too...not so fast.  Before I could get everything together I got another call from John W. stating that Rose had fallen and had damaged her front wheel.  She was OK, but her bike could not be ridden.  Now, I had to find a way to get to her with the van.

Washington DC is hard enough to drive through when you know where you are going...none of our maps were detailed enough out of DC proper for us to find a way to where she, John, and Jim should be so Bob and I jumped in Silver to go fetch Rose.  Stories are told around here that DC streets were laid out to confuse the invaders in the 1800s...well, I must say it worked.  It took us quite a while to work our way through the busy rush hour traffic that was virtually standing still and when we were finally moving we had to negotiate all the road closures and detours.  After about a dozen calls from John and Jim, we finally found them standing on Beach Drive waiting for us to arrive. 

It was about 6:15 when we finally got back to the motel with Rose and her bike, Jim and John beat us in by riding the path.  I had just enough time to put rap together and then Jim and I had to make up maintenance after releasing all the riders.  As you can see at the right, we had a pretty good task to get Rose's wheel straightened out...it didn't happen, time for a new one.  It was  almost 8:00 before we finally got all the bikes fixed and locked up the vans for the evening...anyone for a quick sandwich before bed?

Tomorrow we can sleep in.  We pick up about 7 new riders so we'll be doing bike assembly and orientation in the afternoon.  The riders will scatter all over DC to take in the sights and I'm sure they'll enjoy a little time off the bike before setting the pace again on Wednesday.  Katrina may dump some water on our parade tomorrow but we may just luck out and be in the clear on Wednesday...we'll see by then.  Meanwhile, I need to get to bed.  Hope you all have a great day tomorrow...no report till we get to Fredericksburg...see you then. 

HEARD ON THE ROAD:  "Are we to the downhill part yet?"

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