(pic purloined from david m)
On the way in, I ran into opposing traffic on the Mt Vernon Trail from the Arlington and Alexandria Community Bike Ride. The downside of all these people excited to ride, even on such a sweltering day, was the downright dangerous congestion on the trail. I had to come to an emergency stop, and even bail onto the grass, numerous times to avoid oncoming traffic. And a special swing of my frame pump to the guy who thought it prudent to pull out and blast past a slow group of 20 down in his aerobars. Seeing this guy doing the aerobar snake-charmer wobble straight at you, 25 feet away and closing, did as much as my iced venti americano to wake me up this morn.
It was HOT. [how hot was it?] It was so hot, the glue on my tubie tires was melting. Not a great punchline, but true.
Anyway, enough grousing. A hearty crew of four joined Sol and I....
...ladies are obviously made of tougher stuff. Away we went, down to the Rock Creek Trail.
Plenty of other folks were out riding, despite the schvitzy weather.
Rock Creek Park really is a beautiful place, it's nice to ride it at less than a time-trial pace (perhaps the Mt. Vernon Trail contre-la-montre champion will give it a try). 
It is just a little bit more uphill on the way out of town (no, really). So that, and some underinflated tires, meant we took our time making our way to Chevy Chase. After going under the trestle bridge....
... we got to the Chevy Chase shop, where we sat down for some of Sol's baked goods. I especially enjoyed the gingerbread.
Yum! After pumping up some tires, choking down lots of water, and convincing ourselves that the ride back was a lot less tiring, we set off.
What a difference a litre of water, some gingerbread, 60psi in the tires, and a slight downhill will make. We were practically pacelining back.
Back in town, headed for home. Come on out and join us, every Saturday at 11AM. That was my very relaxing morning. Stay tuned for the afternoon report, from World Naked Bike Ride DC.
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