I took the bike out to the Mt. Vernon trail today. Since I work in Rosslyn, VA and very close to the Key Bridge and one end of the trail, I brought the bike to work with me and showed it off to my boss and coworkers. Then after work, I changed, got on my bike, navigated through the traffic to the trail and went. It was...interesting. I was getting used to the feel of the bike. The padding on my shorts got caught in the seat a couple of times, preventing me from properly getting onto my bike. I also played around with the gears to get used to the shifting and feel of where they should be on different inclines. When riding towards Old Town Alexandria, there is a little bridge just before you go under the set of 14th St. Bridge that's a bit of a hill. Not a great distance but still, for me, it was traumatic. I've got 3 gears up front, and my boss had told me to get the chain on the little gear in the front to go up the hill. So, I was a little too over eager and took the chain off all gears completely. I'm stuck on the bridge and thinking, "Oh my god! What do I do? I should've had him show me how to take the back tire off cuz we would've then covered how to put the chain back on!" I decided to play around with it a little bit on a grassy area off to the side and if I got desperate, I'd call my boss and sound pathetic and ask how I fix my bike. I did figure out that the chain stretched so I was able to get it back on the small gear. So I got back on the bike and road a little more to one of my favorite places. There's a bend in the trail when you approach Reagan National Airport. It's the last section of one of the decent paths and you can actually get up close to the fence that keeps you out of the airport. I enjoy standing there under the flight path as the planes take off and land. It's really amazing. I normally stop here to enjoy it when I run Mt. Vernon so I decided to make this my turn around point where I could pause for a few minutes, enjoy the planes, and grab a drink of water.
Thank you camera phone. I also figured out how to pair the phone with the laptop thru bluetooth so no more emailing these pictures to myself.
2 comments:
Wow, your phone takes some great pics. Sounds like you had fun. I hate putting the chain back on - dirty and black oily hands....
You should come riding the Chris and me! I haven't ridden in about a year, and Chris is a maniac, so you'd probably fit between us. Now that I have some weekend help, I should be able to bike!
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