My employer sent me up to Reston/Herndon VA (west of DC) for a weeklong training class in February. I opted out of the rental car and booked
myself passage north on the Amtrak "Carolinian" the weekend prior to the training and took a bunk at the hostel in DC.
I've got plans to do a ride in Bulgaria in June, so I hoped to stop in at the Bulgarian embassy in DC to say "Hello"
and check things out.
Looking out the Hostel windows in the morning, I was thinking DC traffic sure was light...oh yeah - it's "President's Day". Doh! - everything's closed!
I rode over to the embassy anyway - sure enough, closed for business. The bust is Bulgarian hero Vassil Levsky, who fought against the Turks in the 1800s. The bike is my KHS Fixed-gear (What did you think I was going to ride in the city?)
(Dang thumb!)
I sought out a coffee shop with free WiFi, had lunch and then set out for Georgetown where I spooted this real nice "Kogswell" fixie chained up to a tree in the frozen grass.
From Georgetown, I crossed the Potomac on the Key Bridge and took up the Custis Trail which connects to the W&OD (Washington and Old Dominion) Trail.
The trail includes signage of interest to cyclists - E.g. directions to bike shops!
Gilbert had warned me there may be ice on the trail, but I didn't encounter any until close to Reston.
The hotel was located close to the W&OD and the training center was too! So I was able to bike to and from class every day!
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