Thoughts on the Bike

First off a great ride this morning. I was up and out of the house by 6:35 am. I went all the way to Mt. Vernon and a little beyond. In all 46.13 miles. This was almost the total I did for all of last weekend. It took just a little over 4 hours to complete.

The weather has been very warm the past few days. In fact the low this morning is usually the average high 67 degrees. It was supposed to get close to 90 today.

I had a couple of obstacles today. The first was streets closed off near the World Bank. This was because of the meeting going on there. This was easy to get around. I just needed to get down to the Mall a few blocks further away.

The next one was larger. There was a 10k that started at Mt. Vernon and went to the water front at Alexandria. I had to change the route I normally take in Alexandria. Once past Alexandria things to interesting. South of Belle Haven Route 1, which goes to Mt. Vernon, was closed to traffic. I decided to use that. I was on the road for about 20 minutes when I decided it was time to get back on the bike path.

I did that just in time because all of a sudden the runners were on the road. I'd say there were several thousand of them. I continued on the bike path until I reached Mt. Vernon. I then got back on to the road. I rode a little past Mt. Vernon and then made a pit shop. I decided then to turn around. I stayed on the road until I ran into the end of the runners. Then it was back on the path. Once I reached Alexandria I had to do some maneuvering around the runners but then it was a clear shot to home.

So when you're on your bike for 4 hours, it gives you some time to think about things and observe what's going on around you. It would be nice if someone could invent something that would write down what you were thinking. I had some really good insights on the ride down. But of course I've forgotten most of them. It's like when you are drifting off to sleep and you think of something. You say to yourself I need to remember this, but you rarely do when morning comes along.

One thing I did see on the way to Mt. Vernon was the end of a party. There were several groups of people coming up the street in my direction. They were all in their early 20s. Usually the people you see out at this time on a Sunday are a little older. Most likely on their way to church. I finally passed the house where the part was and there were quite a few people coming out the door. It was interesting that they were finishing up their day while I was just starting mine.

Usually during these rides at some point I start thinking about the news of the day. I thought about the passing of Bea Arthur. It made me think how much TV has changed. Sitcoms at one point really had a huge impact on our society. All in the Family, Mary Tyler Moore, the Jeffersons, Maude. I can't image any sitcom on today that has such an impact that any one of those did.

I rode past a drug store and thought about the swine flu out break. I wonder if we'll have a pandemic as the World Health Organization says we might have. The operative word here is might have. Of course that's all you hear when you turn on the TV. I started to wonder what actions the government would take if it really did turn into a pandemic. But that might be getting just a little ahead of things. I leave that up for the news people to speculate endless on the disaster scenarios.

Somewhere in Alexandria I rode past a car with a McCain/Palin sticker on it. I had to shake my head on that one. I also was so very thankful that McCain did not win and how happy I am Obama is president. And with that I put on a burst towards my goal of Mt. Vernon.