I met Laurie, Deb & Steve Lane, Lisa, Jay, and Brenda for a ride around Leesburg. The route was 40 miles but most wanted to do 30, so Laurie and I met there early to get the extra miles in before the group set out.
There was confusion at first because Map My Ride is difficult to use, especially if you aren't a member. I wrote out a cue sheet the night before because I knew I wouldn't have the route on my phone, but not everyone was impressed by my crumpled specimen:
I know it doesn't look like much, but sometimes a set of simple directions is all you need. I did have one wrong turn built into this, which Steve L. caught on his phone, but other than that, it served me for 45 miles of country riding.
We headed out from Cacoctin Elementary School in Leesburg and Loudon County didn't waste any time letting folks know what riding around those picturesque roads entails. I think we had more than one walker going up the first hill.
This is Laurie, Jay, and I somewhere at the top, I think. (thanks for photo Lisa)
This was Brenda's debut to this kind of riding and after some valiant practicing with her gears on a few steep uphills, she decided she'd be cutting out early, Several miles further, Lisa, Jay, and Deb decided they'd join her. That left Steve, Laurie, and I heading out at about mile 8 to tackle the rest of the ride.
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| cute cabin at the top of one uphill |
The gravel continued for about 2 miles.
Until we got to Mt. Olive. This picture doesn't do this really lovely little village justice. We had just passed a purple house! And many other picturesque scenes. We'd stopped so often up to this point that I didn't dare pull over to take a better pic, but now that it's over, I wish I had.
It was too bad, though, because we finally hit our groove with the riding after that. The next 5 miles after Steve departed were up and down on a gravel road called Telegraph Springs. The gravel was awful, but the distance meant we finally got to stretch our legs and ride without interruptions. Laurie was a champion climbing hills steep enough to make our wheels spin in the dirt.
Here we came out of the woods to a sudden view of the mountains in the distance. It doesn't look like much here, but it was a nice surprise. Of course, still more gravel.
Laurie was annoyed at me for stopping here and breaking her momentum, but c'mon, they're horses! Just before this I passed a deer standing in the brush just off the shoulder. We didn't see each other until I was upon her. Neither of us had time to react, so she stood staring while I rode by.
Finally some pavement. This is Snickersville Turnpike. Love this road. Beautiful and easy riding. What a relief.
We pulled into this little store just before a herd of men arrived on their bikes. We secretly complained that they were ruining our quiet stop and taking all the seating while we were pushing our way into the private lot in the back to pee in the porta potty (complete with broken fence we had to squeeze through, shed full of junk, and several matted looking barn cats). Then they shamed us by sharing their water with us. This is Laurie taking a swig.
The store had no name. I'm actually in this picture!
This was a bed and breakfast across the street from the store. It had these two rook looking things at the bottom. For some reason I only took a picture of one, which kind of ruins the effect.
Laurie cranking back toward Round Hill.
We came to one of our final turns: Paxson Road. I'd just told Laurie that it would be a simple ride home from the store, but then there was Paxson Road. It was deep gravel, with ruts cut out by running water, and a steep hill with a sign that said "Road Narrows Next 2 Miles." That was exactly how long we were supposed to be on Paxson road. Laurie took one look and said, "I'm not riding up that hill." I didn't want to either, so we opted to go around. This meant riding up to Route 7 then taking 7 Business from Round Hill into Purcellville. In purcellville, we planned to catch the W&OD which meant we were home free.
I was happy when I saw this sign after riding for about 5 miles on busy route 7 with folks flying by at 50ish mph.
And then this: we knew we were almost there.
Here is the train station at the end of the W&OD. Apparently, there is a restaurant in this building called Magnolia's that Laurie and Mike always eat at with the family when they come out here to get their Xmas tree. At this point, we are starting to fantasize about beer and french fries. We've gone about 34 miles and have 7-10 left to go (depending on beer detours).
This section of the W&OD is perfect. Shaded, flat, and not too crowded.
And the pay off, a beer from Crooked Run Brewery. Delish--and well deserved. We ended up going 45 miles, which was Laurie's longest ride ever. Congrats Laurie!
The entire menu was done in chalk. Pretty impressive! The bartender/artist worked on this while we were there. She was funny. The place had no food, not even any napkins for the food you were allowed to bring in from other establishments. I had to get a papertowel from the bathroom! Still, I'd go back. Although once on this route was enough. Who needs 7-9 miles of unexpected gravel?
