Washington D.C. is filled with streets named after all of the states. The Washington Area Bicyclist Association organizes an annual 50 States & 13 Colonies ride. Note: the roads aren't closed so we're riding next to cars and sometime on uneven pavement. Each year the course is different and you don't get the directions until the morning of the ride. Geek Girl and I aren't quite ready for the hilly 65-mile long 50 States course, but we were willing to give the 15-mile 13 Colonies ride a try.
Here we are at the start:
We knew that showers were predicted and it did spritz off and on. We made it to lunch at Eastern Market relatively dry. However, after lunch, the showers became cold rain. The ride was no longer fun, so we decided to stop for a break to wait out the rain. We continued along the ride and here we are in front of the White House.
Daddy Geek did take pictures of the street signs for each of the Colonies, but I'm not going to show you all of them. Here's a picture of the Connecticut-Rhode Island sign. Do you see Geek Girl and me?
So, where should a fun group ride end? At a pub for beer, of course. Here's Geek Girl before going in to pick up her t-shirt and glass of water. I don't think they gave her a beer coupon...
Unfortunately, on the ride home Geek Girl had a small crash on a steep downhill. It probably didn't help that the roads were still a little wet. But she was a trooper and was able to ride to the car. We all slept well that night. Which was a good thing, because the next morning, Daddy Geek and Geek Girl had signed up to run a 5K fundraiser for the schools. I volunteered at packet pick-up and they showed up a little later for the race. Here they are at the start.
They walked the first mile with a friend, who turned off for the end of the 1 mile fun run. Geek Girl (under protest) continued on the 5K course with Daddy Geek with intermittent running. We all slept well that night too. And now we have Girl Scout camping to look forward to this weekend.
