Day One Hundred Twenty-eight, Date Monday, July 6, 2009
Time in Saddle: 4:55
Distance for the Day: 35.29 miles From Fairfax To Silver Spring, MD
Accumulated Trip Distance: 6188.94
Altitudes: Starting/Ending 422’/360’, Highest: ? Accumulated: ?
Speeds: Avg: 7.1 mph, Max: 38.9 mph
Weather: 73° clear, becoming partly cloudy and warm in low 80s
Expenditures: $12
Time in Saddle: 4:55
Distance for the Day: 35.29 miles From Fairfax To Silver Spring, MD
Accumulated Trip Distance: 6188.94
Altitudes: Starting/Ending 422’/360’, Highest: ? Accumulated: ?
Speeds: Avg: 7.1 mph, Max: 38.9 mph
Weather: 73° clear, becoming partly cloudy and warm in low 80s
Expenditures: $12
Ready to roll at 6:20am and will make Wash DC today; I had previously planned to go to the Capitol and the Mall in Wash DC, but then thought it would be too congested, but then as I approached it, I knew that I couldn’t pass up the photo ops, so took the plunge and dove into the center of the District of Columbia to ride around our nation’s capital, take pictures and video, and get out to my Warmshowers host to the north about 12 miles in Silver Spring; just before going in, I stopped and had breakfast ($10) at the Silver Diner restaurant, then at 9am I rode through Ft. Myers to approach the Lincoln
Memorial over the Potomac River on the Arlington Memorial Bridge – I made it to Washington DC! I took pictures and bought a cold soda ($2) and just rode around the mall with people everywhere looking at my trike with interest and amazement (as usual); I went from one end of the Mall to the other, but of course, couldn’t leave my trike to go inside and look at anything – maybe some other time; I left at about 2:30pm to go to Silver Spring, and used my computer map to find out how to get there; the route was still surprisingly hilly, but it wasn’t far, so it didn’t take too long; along the way, I stopped to borrow some electricity at a school, and I made
a surprising discovery: I found a firefly flying around me and climbing up a wall next to me; the surprising thing was: I could tell that he was still flashing his light, even during the day. I thought they were only nocturnal creatures, but apparently, they’re like other normal bugs. Amazing! I reached my Warmshowers host home at about 4pm; they’re son Matt was home, so he helped me bring my stuff up to their condo on the 14th floor (great views to the east!) and I consulted the lobby attendant where I could park my trike. I took my warm shower, and I changed out of my thoroughly toxic cycling clothes into my civies my hosts, Steve and Karen, arrived home
from their respective jobs and we hugged and shook hands, chatted about my trip and got to know each other; Karen made a terrific dinner of chicken and vegetable tomato sauce over pasta using fresh herbs from her terrace garden, and we watched the Tour de France on TV. We chatted more until it was time to hit the hay; they wanted to give me Matt’s bedroom, but I assured them that I actually preferred to sleep on the carpeted floor (right, Bev?) and so that’s what I did, but not before beginning to catch up on all my super-backlogged blogging, which I did until about 12:30am.
Memorial over the Potomac River on the Arlington Memorial Bridge – I made it to Washington DC! I took pictures and bought a cold soda ($2) and just rode around the mall with people everywhere looking at my trike with interest and amazement (as usual); I went from one end of the Mall to the other, but of course, couldn’t leave my trike to go inside and look at anything – maybe some other time; I left at about 2:30pm to go to Silver Spring, and used my computer map to find out how to get there; the route was still surprisingly hilly, but it wasn’t far, so it didn’t take too long; along the way, I stopped to borrow some electricity at a school, and I made
a surprising discovery: I found a firefly flying around me and climbing up a wall next to me; the surprising thing was: I could tell that he was still flashing his light, even during the day. I thought they were only nocturnal creatures, but apparently, they’re like other normal bugs. Amazing! I reached my Warmshowers host home at about 4pm; they’re son Matt was home, so he helped me bring my stuff up to their condo on the 14th floor (great views to the east!) and I consulted the lobby attendant where I could park my trike. I took my warm shower, and I changed out of my thoroughly toxic cycling clothes into my civies my hosts, Steve and Karen, arrived home
from their respective jobs and we hugged and shook hands, chatted about my trip and got to know each other; Karen made a terrific dinner of chicken and vegetable tomato sauce over pasta using fresh herbs from her terrace garden, and we watched the Tour de France on TV. We chatted more until it was time to hit the hay; they wanted to give me Matt’s bedroom, but I assured them that I actually preferred to sleep on the carpeted floor (right, Bev?) and so that’s what I did, but not before beginning to catch up on all my super-backlogged blogging, which I did until about 12:30am.
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