August 21, 1998 - Leesburg - Washington D.C.

DISTANCE TRAVELED: 41.53 Miles

TIME: 3 Hours

AVERAGE SPEED: 14.0 Miles/Hour

TRAVEL CONDITIONS: Hot, humid and sunny all day. A slight head wind.

ROAD CONDITIONS: The trails were in great condition since they were all paved. The roads were also good but the mall consisted of all gravel trails.

TERRAIN/DIFFICULTY LEVEL: Small rolling hills all day that were very easy to bike on. Overall a very easy day.

DAILY JOURNAL COMMENTS:
I woke up at 7:00 and quickly packed up my gear and filled up with water. For breakfast I had one bagel. After Jonathan talked to us for a little while, Matt and I left around 8:15 and quickly caught up with the leaders who were all from San Francisco. We rode with them for a while and then made some notes on the sidewalk for the bikers behind us indicating which way they should go. We then continued on and stopped at a huge rock-quarry overlook that was incredibly large. We met up with David from the San Francisco route and then stopped at a 7-Eleven for a quick snack of two Hostess cupcakes and a 32 ounce Slurpee. We rode on again and were still in front of everyone else. At one point we saw a detour sign which we had to follow so we stopped to make the Bike-Aid arrows with chalk and decided to make a little joke. We first wrote BIKE-AID DETOUR AHEAD and then, a little further on, wrote BIKE-AID DETOUR with arrows pointing to the right. To the right, there was a sound barrier next to the highway. The arrows went to the barrier and then we started to draw them up the face of the barrier. It was about 14 feet high so Matt grabbed one of my feet while David grabbed the other one and pushed me up to the top of the wall so that I could put arrows at the very top making it look like we really went over the wall. After this little joke, we rode on and quickly found out that our fellow bikers were close behind and catching up since we had now stopped for over a half an hour between 7-Eleven and the detour. They caught up and we then stopped about three miles later for our lunch stop -- it was 12:30. We were about a half hour late and were supposed to leave immediately but since so many people were hungry, we decided to stop for about ten minutes before continuing on. Once all the riders were together we rode as a group of 37 people, first to the Lincoln Memorial and then past the Washington Monument along the gravel paths of the Mall.(Picture109) After this, the Capitol Building was in sight and we sensed the "beginning of the end". We cycled up to the second tier of the Capitol building(Picture110,Picture111), circled around the fountain and then piled our bikes together so that they would stand by leaning against each other. Everyone went down to listen to some speeches by the coordinators of Bike-Aid and then one rider from each group gave a brief speech.(Picture112) After this, we all sat in front of our bikes on the stairs to the Capitol and had at least fifty pictures taken.(Picture113) I climbed up all of the stairs with my bike so that my mom could take some pictures of me holding my bike above my head in front of the Capitol -- my victory salute! (Picture114,Picture115,Picture116,Picture117) After this, I went for a private tour of the Capitol building with a Congressional intern that my cousin knew. After the tour we got onto the floor of the House where the President gives the State of the Union address and then saw a few other rooms that are not normally seen. We went to Union Station for lunch and, in the bottom level, there were about 50 places to get food. I got a baked potato with cheese, bacon, and sour cream, two kielbasa with sauerkraut, and a coke. I walked back to the Capitol where my fellow Bike-Aid riders were waiting for their lobbying appointments. I laid down for a little while and then left with Lana to go to the church where all of our gear was. After a short ride, I pulled my bag out from the large pile of other bags. I got into the long line of riders who wanted to take showers and then, about an hour and a half later, finally got in. I watched TV for a little while until it was time to leave the group for the last time. All my friends surrounded me and piled on for a good-by hug. I went outside to load everything into my parent's car when Tami appeared. She had missed the first hug so we had another one and then I left, knowing that it would be a long time before I would see anyone from the trip again. I rode back to the hotel with my parents where I changed for dinner. We went to a local Italian restaurant where I had farfalle pasta with a rich creme sauce. After eating, we went back to our room where I got to go to bed around 11:00.

TRIP ROUTE:
Take W&OD Trail from leesburg all the way through Falls Church. Just after mile marker 4.5, take a Left to pick up the Custis trail. Then another left to stay on that trail after about 200 feet. The Custis Trail ends without fanfare after 4 miles in Rosslyn at a big stoplight with a little, hard-to notice bike sign. The trail is now the Mount Vernon Trail-a slow snaking wooden ramp will take you to the river level and then spit you out into a parking lot. The trail continues on the far side of this parking lot as a wooden plank bridge. After 2 miles the trail will pass under the Arlington Memorial Bridge. Regroup here before riding across the bridge. Go underneath the bridge and you will see a trail to your right that crosses the offramp. Wait for a break in traffic then cross the offramp and go up to the bridge, then ride across on the sidewalk. Once on the other side, cross traffic to get to the Lincoln Memorial. Once there, regroup again if the group has gotten split up, and then take sidewalks all the way down the mall to the Capitol. Ride up the side paths and onto the West Terrace.