Saturday Butt Hurt

Cue crazy old lady on bike:

Add my determination to finish the C&O Canal towpath this year.  And a strong desire to play rather than do anything that might resemble chores or responsible activities and off I go to the towpath again, this time picking up at the west end of the Western MD Rail Trail at Sidling Hill, which is where I left off the last trip.  Gotta say, this is the nicest section of the towpath that I've ridden.  Much smoother than the sections around Harper's Ferry.  My bike is a hybrid, which means that although it's got kevlar protected tires and trail bike style handlebars, the tires are high-pressure and the frame more ridged than a mountain bike, so I feel those roots and rocks.  Sometimes makes my eyes jiggle until I think they are going to fall out...

Beautiful, very beautiful, from the starting point at mp 136.5 on.

Some of the sections of canal are wide and have varying levels of water in them, reminding me of swamps in the deep south - I kept expecting to see an alligator basking.

Because of the water, there's a lot of wildlife to be seen, some of it a bit of a surprise, like this mute swan.  They are not indigenous to the U.S., having been brought from Europe as ornaments for lakes and ponds, and they've become a nuisance ins some areas, but they are still pretty to see.

It was hanging out with a lot of small wild ducks that I've tentatively identified as blue-winged teals.  The more common mallards are so noisy and loud - I love the peeping of the smaller wild ducks.

Of course, there were the ubiquitous turtles sunning everywhere:

His neighbors were plopping into the water all around him with startled eeps!, but this bullfrog just completely ignored me.

Some of the locals wouldn't hold still long enough for me to photograph, so I stole their pictures off the web to share.  Zebra swallowtail butterflies and indigo buntings were abundant in places.

This section of the towpath pulls away from the river in quite a few places so that you have fields on one side and canal on the other.  At one point I noticed that the locks were getting close together, which told me that I was probably on a slight up-grade and nearing the day's destination, Paw Paw Tunnel.

The 3100 foot long tunnel was finished in 1850 and allowed the canal to bypass about 7 miles of tightly twisting river. A flashlight is recommended - the towpath surface can be uneven and occasionally you splash into a pot hole full of cold water. 

It's a bit disorienting as to distance, but eventually the light at the end of the tunnel starts getting closer. 

And then you are out and a jog a little further takes you to the Paw Paw campground at mp 156.  Lunch and a little rest, and it's time to start back.

The cool water outside the tunnel is full of minnows and frogs, and dragonflies are abundant, so these northern water snakes probably live very well there as long as people leave them alone.

So now to pedal back.  That whole slight uphill coming makes for a long stretch of "Wheeeee!!!" heading back.

 And there's still a lot to stop and enjoy.

There's only 30 more miles to the end for me.  Next time I plan to stow an inner tube, towel, and change of clothes in the SUV for after-ride fun.  These folks were making me jealous.  It was HOT!

I had a little bit of time still, so I stopped at another old fossil picking site.  This one was a bit disappointing.  It's a couple of abandoned quarries side by side, one for limestone and one for glass sand.  The trees have grown up so much and the cliff face eroded so badly that a quick look didn't show much.  And I wasn't going to do any serious climbing or picking around in the brush without having boots and jeans on.

So home again, satisfied with doing nearly 40 miles.  About half way home my butt stopped feeling like it was on fire. And since it's summer the application of deck and beer constitutes emergency first aid after a busy day.

W & OD Rail Trail

Since the weather has gone back to Gorgeous Summer Day, yesterday afternoon's adventure was trying out the Washington and Old Dominion Rail Trail, whose west end starts at Purcellville, VA. The W&OD operated from 1859 to 1968, and although the original investors had high hopes for moving products and passengers between the Port of Alexandria and the Appalachians, it struggled during most of its time in operation. The right-of-way is now a 45 mile long paved multi-use trail.

Purcellville is a pretty little Loudoun County town popular for antiquing. It also has a very fine restaurant that just happens to be right beside the end of the trail.

Magnolias at the Mill

So, off I go. Welllll... This is a highly populated corridor. So while you might be seeing this:

You turn around in the same spot and see this:

Not only does it have a lot of street crossings, but it runs parallel to some major roads, so even when in a green corridor the roar of cars is next to you.  But at times you do get to see some of the remains of the history of the county, which was formed in 1757, and there are some peaceful stretches.

Remnants of railroad days are still around, like this building at Hamilton Station.

And there is a lot of historical signage along the way.

As I was noticing all this, I was also noticing that there seemed to be a slight downward slope as I headed east.  And that it's a heck of a breezy day, with long stretches on the trail where you are pretty open to getting pushed around by the wind.  Since I had decided on 10 miles out and 10 miles back, I was a little concerned.  But, oh well, it stays light late and if coming back is harder it will just take longer.

Um, yeah.  If I had read the web page more closely I would have seen this - " a four mile long gradual climb over Catoctin Mountain through Clark's Gap" - in reference to the trip back from Leesburg to Purcellville.

It was a MUCH longer trip back.  I was already tired from fighting the head wind, and a constant up-slope for miles was miserable.  Did I mention the head wind?  It was pushing me so hard at times that there was no way to coast - it would just stop me.  A turtle could have passed me at times.  My quads felt like they were exploding.  I finally started dismounting and walking the bike across intersections in order to give my legs a little break.  And oh what a relief it was when I finally passed Clark's Gap, though I didn't realize at the time that things would ease up from there on.  Except for the head wind.  Did I mention the head wind?

But finally milepost 44.5 appeared, and I actually made it back to the suv, loaded the bike back up, pulled on a dry t-shirt, and got down to the important business of the day.

'Cause life is very, very good, even with tired quads.