To the end of the trail
Our weekend was so busy that we weren’t able to get out on the bikes Saturday or Sunday, so we thought we’d make up for it today. We got going around 9:30AM – a bit later than intended, but dammit, I had to finish Jimmy Neutron.
We decided to ride along the W&OD from Vienna to the end/beginning of the trail in Arlington and back, a ride we’d done once last year.
Just after getting up the “big hill” we spied a painter across the road. I snapped a quick picture, but didn’t want to disturb her. She was gone by the time we returned a couple hours later – perhaps the light had changed too much, or it may have been getting too hot.
One of the main reasons I wanted to do this ride again, besides pushing us back up to our longest ride, was to see the little swamp area we stopped at last year. This wetlands has frogs and turtles living among the many, many lilipads, and it’s a lot of fun to take a short break and try to see them despite their great camoflage. I snapped a few pictures – click on them to get to a larger version where you might actually pick out the frogs or turtles.
The end of the trail had been spiffied-up since we were there last year. Last year there was a pathetic little rusted sign and a bunch of chain-link fencing. Now, there is a little garden and water fountain.
As usual, I stopped along the way to snap pictures of the wildflowers that populate the trail. I even caught a couple of bumble bees in action.
It got fairly hot on our way back. The last few weeks have been unseasonably cool in the area, so we were spoiled on our last few rides. We’re going to have to start getting out of the house earlier if the warmer weather holds up.
Total miles: 23.0
Weekend miles: 23.0
Season miles: 86.8