So I headed for Ed's start location. He starts at the historical village parking in Johnson Park, and I've had little success finding a toilet there (all my parts are as old as I am, which will be 59 early next month, and a toilet near a ride start is no unnecessary luxury). As I was passing Grove 5, I saw that there were porta-potties, so I stopped in one, and as I was attending to my inner muse, I heard the THUNK of the door of the next. When I emerged, there was Eoghan B's Rivendell, and when HE emerged, we had a few words about the excellent new Sackville Bag on the new pannier rack.
I was wearing my Justice jersey, and we had a quick discussion about why it didn't say "Liberty", and whether it should say "Mercy," (I opined that mercy is not an American virtue), and as we were settling these and other matters, Rick and Ed came in. As we expected no others, off we went.
We'd gotten down to the canal, when up from behind comes Alexei (I have no idea how to spell his name, so I may spell it differently each time I list it). He said he saw us and decided to catch up, but I wouldn't put it past him to have purposely gotten a late start just so he could show us up by catching up; he's that strong and fast.
My Garmin is having issues regarding elevation, so here's the route on RideWithGPS, and this link is on MapMyRide. (I'll be grateful if you let me know which, if either, you think is more reliable.) We did Dutchtown-Zion on the way out. The unpaved section was dry and gravelly today, and we can not do that again, thank you; it was terrifying, not least because I got a lesson on why not to use the rear brake on a gravelly downhill (Eoghan was most elucidating afterwards; thanks). We stopped at the Main St Cafe, where I ate too much junk, and where Aleksey told us about a bad crash on Ed P's ride last week. Then four of us took off to head back up Canal Road (Eoghan was close enough to home that he left us).
We went up Old Georgetown/down Coppermine on the way back (Coppermine is repaved, so I can go down in slightly less terror [I'm not a great descender; Rick suggested I not go as fast as Ed, and when I caught up to him at one point going down Coppermine, I decided to re-think my priorities]). Then back through Colonial Park, and a circuitous route that Rick knows that gets us back near the river crossing without going on 514 (I can get lost in a bathroom, and Rick just whips through this; it reminded me of Han Solo going through the asteroid field, and that's what I call that area now). He went off home, and Ed and I made it back to my car; I was the only one who drove in.
On being lost, though: I've now done this route enough that I can get from Johnson Park to the bottom of Dutchtown Zion without getting lost. For me, that's an accomplishment!
Pics (not many):
I'd say that the MapMyRide number is more accurate, although if anything I'd guess it as somewhere inbetween the two. That's basically a flat ride other than Dutchtown Zion and Old Georgetown. I had 3800 feet today on this ride: http://app.strava.com/activities/129491797
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