Day 6: Indian Flats to Washington D.C.

Well we made it! Currently headed back to Phil's parents house. Today was our "easy" day. We only had 42 miles to do. We took it easy getting out of the campground (against Phil's wishes) and didn't roll out until 10:50am. We got to White's Ferry around noon expecting to stop at the little general store but it was closed up. The building was stripped of everything inside! Might have been related to recent flooding. So we continued on.

Speaking of flooding, the trail through this area was horrible! All we did was dodge puddles and mud! Some spots there was nowhere to go so you just rammed through it. It got to be pretty tricky running a bike with skinny tires loaded with weight through mud. You'd feel your bike start to sway and think "Oh no, I'm going down!" I was so glad I put that new really knobby tire on the rear! I was shocked not to see Mark go down! He was riding a road bike with skinnier tires than my bike.

We must have had about 10 miles of the mud; it really wore us out! Eventually we made it to Great Falls. This place has gorgeous views of the Potomac! You have to see the photos (see the Picasa site). They were even running canal rides in the area (canal boat pulled by mules). We stopped and got a hot lunch before moving on.

Leaving Great Falls you're heading into canal area that's heavily used so you're constantly passing. Some of it became quite boring actually. We watched the mile markers dwindle and eventually came into the Georgetown area of D.C. Phil was our guide since he's done this before. We ended up on some sidewalks and then some busy city streets. I got some pictures, but it was tough with watching traffic and changing lanes. Good thing Phil was with us, because Mark nor I would have found that 0 mile marker that quickly and easily! Got there about 5:30pm.

It was a big relief to be done! We took plenty of photos and then waited about 40 mins for our ride. Ride back to Phils was then 1hour 30 mins. Ride back to Cumberland was in pouring rain. Gonna be a long evening of getting home! Next post will likely be awhile and announce the upload of all my photos to Picasa. Perhaps I'll even do a memorable moments post with key photos.