Last week I was in Washington DC for Adobe LiveCycle training at Figleaf Software. I had hoped to get some riding in, before I left I looked into a few places to rent a bike while I was there along with some local bike shops. The first couple of days were pretty cold (20 degrees) and raining. The weather was so bad my hotel couldn't get DirecTV reception almost my entire stay, the TV didn't start working until Thursday night! I think I've started to lose my tollerance for the cold living in Texas these last 3 years as I was not prepared for the blast of cold. Luckily later in the week it started to warm up to the 40s, on Thursday night I rented a mountain bike from Better Bikes.
They came and dropped the bike off with a helmet and a lock. It didn't look pretty but it got me around the Nation's capitol just fine. It took some getting use to the shifting as I've come so accustomed to index shifting and not having to find the gear. On Thursday night I road around the hotel and to the Bike Rack DC. It was still cold enough to warrant wearing gloves so I picked up a pair from Chuck at the Bike Rack. He kindly replied to my email inquiery regarding the bike rentals and pointed me to Better Bikes.
I'm not sure if the government runs interference in DC, but my Garmin had a hard time finding satellietes. It would take 20-30 minutes for it to sync. On Friday morning I got up early before my class started and rode down to the Lincoln Monument, Washington Monument and the Whitehouse. Class ended a little early so I embarked again on another ride, this time I followed the canel and crossed the bridge to the Arlington Cemetary and then came back over the bridge and then went out past the Reagan National Airport on the trail to Mount Vernon. It was starting to get late and I didn't want to have to ride in the dark so I headed back. I snapped another picture of the Washington Monument from the bridge. I then went by the Smithsonian and down to the Capitol Building.
Morning ride map (first 15 - 20 minutes is missing as my GPS didn't have reception)
Recent Comments