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Disclaimer: This Tour de Conservation Easement Gnarly Gravel Grinder recap contains affiliate links… Land Trust of Virginia In its fifth year, the Bike the Gravel Tour de Conservation Easement was organized to bring awareness and appreciation to land protected by the Land Trust of Virginia. Private landowners who wish to protect their property from […]
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links Whenever my husband and I were cycling with a group, my pink and his orange helmet made it easy to find each other in the sea of mostly black or white helmets. Our helmets had lived a nice long life and after about six years of use, both […]
Disclaimer: This US Endurance Gravel Grinder Nationals and Mini G recap contains affiliate links… About the Event When Bill and I first heard about the US Endurance Gravel Grinder Nationals and Mini G coming to Loudoun County, we knew we wanted to be a part of this event which would be held on the […]
Disclaimer: This 46-Mile Upper Tampa Trail and Tampa Bay Causeway Tour recap contains affiliate links… Finding the Perfect Route At least one bike ride while visiting family in Florida was a must and I left designing the route in the capable hands of my husband Bill. After a little research, he landed on a […]
Disclaimer: This 2022 133-Mile North Key Largo to Key West Bike Tour recap contains affiliate links… Not Quite Miami to Key West In December 2019, our Dawn Patrol cycling friends participated in Bicycle Shows’ ride from Miami to Key West. Bill and I regretted skipping out on the fun and vowed to join […]
Short Segmented Trail Detours Signs along the W&OD Trail have been warning us for months that Dominion Electric would be making critical repairs to the aging electrical lines running along the W&OD Trail. Additionally, nearby residents received letters letting us know of the infrastructure improvements coming our way. During the early part of the […]
Disclaimer: This 2021 Reston Century Tour recap contains affiliate links… Picking the Right Distance In its 38th year, the Reston Century Tour, organized by Reston Bike Club (RBC), has four distances from which to choose – century, 80 miles, metric century, and half metric century. Bill and I completed our first organized metric century […]
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links… Fueling, My Biggest Challenge As a marathoner, I always said, “Point me in a direction and I can run forever.” Bonking when running was never a problem, but when cycling… Learning how to avoid bonking while cycling versus running took a little while for me to figure out. […]
A Simple Training Plan Always looking to for a challenge and to push it to the next level, Bill and I registered for the August 22nd Reston Century. My training plan was pretty simple… • Spend more time in the saddle with three to four rides per week • Ride at least one 70-miler • […]
Disclaimer: This 41-Mile Mount Weather Climbing Tour recap contains affiliate links… Destination: Top of the Mountain Mount Weather is easily identifiable from the many roads traversing western Loudoun County and is often a convenient landmark during our gravel rides. From down below, the open clearing on the spine of the Blue Ridge Mountains is […]
Disclaimer: This Virginia Creeper Trail: 36-Mile Damascus to Whitetop Mountain Climb and Descent recap contains affiliate links… What Goes up, Surely is Fun Coming Down Two summers ago Bill rode his bike to the top of Whitetop Mountain on the Virginia Creeper Trail from Damascus while we were visiting my mom; and joining him […]
Disclaimer: This Loudoun 1725 Gravel Grinder recap contains affiliate links… This Is Not a Race The 1725 Gravel Grinder ended up being one of the most fun events in which I’ve participated in a very long time. Even though we had no intention to race the 40-mile event (60 and 80 milers were also […]
Disclaimer: This Tour de Madison Metric Century recap contains affiliate links… Road Trip for a Bike Tour Cyclists have been riding the beautiful rolling hills of Madison County, Virginia the third Saturday in May as part of the Tour de Madison since 1988. After the tour was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus […]
Disclaimer: This 41-Mile 1725 Gravel Grinder Practice Ride recap contains affiliate links… Riding the Course Before the Race Bill and I, along with some of our cycling friends, are registered for the Loudoun 1725 Gravel Grinder in mid-June. Even though it’s a race, we’ll be riding at party pace taking pictures along the way. […]
Disclaimer: This 23-Mile Mount Vernon to DC Loop Spring Tour recap contains affiliate links… Riding Along the Monuments and Memorials It was a glorious day for a roundtrip ride with our friend Barb into DC from Mount Vernon. With the sun shining brightly and the temperature rising from 61° to 68°, we couldn’t have […]
Disclaimer: This 37-Mile Gravel Loop from The Plains to St. Louis recap contains affiliate links… A Little History Before Starting Our Ride I had planned to sleep in, but FOMO won out and I agreed to join Bill and our friend Ed for a gravel ride on a course Bill had raved about for […]
Disclaimer: This 27-Mile Bull Run Mountain Brutal Gravel Grinder recap contains affiliate links… Climbing a Mountain on Loose Gravel The thought of climbing a mountain on my gravel bike was just intriguing enough for me to agree to join Bill on the 27-mile route he offered up for our Saturday riding adventure. Short, sweet, […]
Disclaimer: This recap, 30-Mile Loudoun and Fauquier Gravel Grinder Loop from Civil War Era Goose Creek Bridge, contains affiliate links… A Little History Before Starting Our Ride My husband, a history buff, created a loop route of mostly gravel roads starting and finishing at the parking near the Civil War era Goose Creek Bridge […]
Disclaimer: This recap, 30 Miles of Leesburg Gravel and Hills, contains affiliate links… When the Course Turns Out to be Much More Than Anticipated I set out without any great expectations on our 30 Miles of Leesburg Gravel and Hills ride which started in the town of Leesburg at 9 AM, but the course […]
Disclaimer: This recap of Deb’s 63-Mile LoCo Birthday Tour contains affiliate links… I’m Barely Older Than a Metric Century Back in the fall after I completed my first metric century, it dawned on me that if I could ride 62.13 miles, I could certainly ride my age on my birthday, a mere .87-mile farther. […]
