Not much to report here. Training for the MS ride is going slowly, more due to lack of motivation stemming from a weather-related funk. The fact that I actually have to drive to ride my own bike feels backwards and kind of takes the fun out of it. Growing up, I could just roll out of my driveway and let the road take me anywhere, not having to worry how to get home. Now I have to go online, map out my route, write up a cue sheet, decide where to park the car, etc. Despite my best efforts in plotting out my ride, I still manage to get lost… which isn't good if you're in an area that you're not familiar with and is also boxed in by busy roads.

This weekend I decided to drive up to Riley's Lock and go from there. On the way, there's a great stretch of River Road that has bike lanes and plenty of "Share the Road" signs. In essence, they weren't bike lanes like the city ones, which are 2 feet wide and wedged between the street and curbside parked cars… they're basically shoulders, which are commonplace in New England but noticeably absent from DC area roads. Since New England usually gets more than 6" of snow a year, it has to actually go somewhere when the roads are plowed… otherwise the buildup would narrow the roads and cause all sorts of problems.

The existence of shoulders is (are?) fabulous for us road cyclists, as gives enough of a buffer to not have to worry about blocking any traffic. Of course, there are the few people (coughcouchDadcough) who forget about staying to the right of the white line and thus pissing drivers off to the point of throwing ice cream out the window on the unfortunate soul who happens to be in front. Ask me how I know.

Anyway, back to River Road. As I was driving down the 6.5 mile bike-friendly stretch toward Riley's Lock, I realized that it'd be lots of fun once my legs get stronger. Here's why:

The ascent doesn't rival that of the famed Hebron Ave. climb back home (ascending 621 feet over 4.3 miles - thanks, mapmyride!) or the "backside" (~300 ft in less than a mile, if my plot points are right).

I never thought I'd take those hometown bike rides for granted, but I really do miss them.