In order to keep in some sort of cardio shape, I have started to increase my riding and swimming. During the week, I ride to and from work 3 times a week, and have started to ride on Sundays. A couple of buddies of mine from work talked me into riding in a Century (a 100 mile bike ride/race) I don't think I will be doing much racing, but I am pretty sure I can ride it. This morning we got together and road about 35 miles on the Washington Old Dominion trail, one of the many rails to trails projects in this area. It was a pretty good ride, some nice flat trail, maybe a few rolling hills, but it was fun. Average pace was about 17 mph, I was pretty much the slow guy, no problems there.
This afternoon I got together with a group of folks from my running group for another ride, they told me it was about 20 miles, but it turned out to be almost 29. The route we took was the tow path of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, which ran from DC up through Maryland to Cumberland, MD near Harper's Ferry. It was a nice ride, the tow path was a gravel/dirt path, very different from this mornings ride which was on a nice asphalt path.
The canal was designed/thought of by George Washington, kind of a highway into the western part of the nation. It was a booming business for about 20 years, then the railroad took over and it became more of alternate way of transportation, apparently it also acted as a pretty good filter for the Potomac - - as sewage flowed out of the urban areas, it backed up into the canal. The trees along the canal absorbed the sewage and used it as fertilizer. These are the things you learn when you read the signs along the canal.
I have posted a few pictures of the canal and the falls.
The Falls: Pretty popular area for walking around and some kayaking. I guess the water level was way down, you normally can't see the rocks at the bottom.
A replica of one of the canal boats. The locks on the canal were only about 10 feet wide, so the boats had to be very narrow.
One of the locks:
