Saturday we headed out to do another hike. This time the objective was Mary's Rock high up on Skyline Drive. We hiked 2600 vertical feet on the Buck Hollow and Appalachian trail in a drizzle to arrive in the pouring rain. The views were of clouds. This 9 mile hike seemed almost harder than our Century ride last week.
Above is the hunchback of Buck Hollow
-------------------------------------------
September is the traditional Century month...
At some point in these past few weeks, we decided to try and ride bicycle century (100 miles - nothing metric about this one). We didn't feel quite ready for the annual Shenandoah Bike Club century in the Harrisonburg area, but our friend Carl told us about the century that the Potomac Peddlers put on in the Berryville area. So we committed to that one, paying our $37 fee ahead of time as an extra motivator.
I'm happy to report that we all completed it, Anna with the aid of mega-ibuprofen and Flex-All muscle rub. She's seeking the help of a chirporactor, and will let you know how that goes.
The ride was beautiful -- very nice scenery, the roads were mostly in good shape and not that much traffic. A big success!
Anyway, here's the happy crew, still smiling after 100 miles in the saddle...
-------------------------------------------
We managed to do another Metric Century...
We rode our second metric century, this time in Anne Arundel and Calvert counties in Maryland. We rode in the areas around Deale, Fairhaven, North Beach etc. We used to keep our sailboat here on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, so it was great to be back in this area. Bob was strong, and Anna felt great for the first 2.5 hours until her back seized up... she made it back to the start, but 4 miles short of 62.
After the drive home, she rode around around the neighborhood for those miles to finish the metric century (62.04 to be exact)!
-------------------------------------------
A Metric Century...We've been trying to keep our bike rides and hikes going. We did a metric century (100k/62 miles) from our house by riding the following route:
- North on the Mount Vernon rec path to Roosevelt Island
- Across the Key Bridge into Georgetown
- Cross the C&O Canal towpath, and then up the Capitol Crescent Trail to Bethesda, MD
Even after all that high altitude in CO, we found this metric century to be challenging -- it was our longest single ride this year.
-------------------------------------------
Hiking on Old Rag Mountain In Shenandoah National Park
One day we got up at the crack of dawn and drove to the Berry Hollow parking lot of Old Rag to hike up the backside. Part of this was just to do a fast hike with a good climb, and part was research for Bob's upcoming "Continuing Epic" to celebrate his 50th birthday year (more on that in a later post - there's a website under development).
It was hot and too humid for words, so we were glad to be done and back to the car by 12:30pm.
It was hot and too humid for words, so we were glad to be done and back to the car by 12:30pm.
-------------------------------------------Another Table !
Other than exercise, we've been getting back into the rhythms of work which was rough the first week back -- not that we're complaining! Bob's been busy woodworking and Anna turned another rough bowl on Frank's lathe. She's also working on finish-turning another bowl which is much harder. No pics of that, but here's a table that Bob made for our friend Taz. It breaks down for easy shipping to Colorado.
-------------------------------------------Hiking Up Hawksbill Mountain In Shenandoah National Park
Bob drove up to Shenandoah Natl Park to do a training hike by himself. The hike ascended 3000 vertical feet up the Cedar Run trail and then continued to the highest point in the park, the summit of Hawksbill Mountain. Of course he had to decend the 3000ft also. A large copperhead snake was sighted near the end of the hike. This hike will be used as part of the "Vertical Mile" hike that Bob is planning for his "Continuing Epic" Project. As you can see more training and shaping up is needed!
1 comment:
Awesome table Bob! Thanks so much!
Post a Comment