Heat and hills

A quick look at the weather forecast for Mazan, France shows they have been having similar weather to Washington, DC: sunny and hot! So it seemed appropriate to head out in heat of the day (already 85 degrees at 10am) for one last hill workout before we pack up the bikes this weekend.

The early heat had already cleared most of the traffic off the usually crowded Mt Vernon Trail so it was a quick spin along the Potomac River to Rosslyn. That's where the hills begin. If DC area cyclists want to find hills quickly inside the Beltway, they head to North Arlington. I decided to head UP Lee Highway to Military Road. The wide, tree-covered Military Road has two of the most popular hills in the area. (On Tuesday nights you'll find literally hundreds of cyclists along the route!). I decided to ride Military "out-and-back" to maximize the shade.

Next up, after a bit of recovery riding through a flat part of Arlington, was "Mt" McKinley, one of my new favorites. It's right off the Washington & Old Dominion Trail, so I've ridden past it thousands of times. But I only just discovered it (thanks, Matt H. and Strava!). And since I was there, I tackled Quantico St, too, for the first time. It's s-t-e-e-p! Thankfully, it's short and takes you to one of the highest points in Arlington. It was a nice, fast downhill ride back to the house.

In addition to the training for the actual rides in France, I thought it would be a good idea to practice a time-honored apres-cycling tradition, too: sucking down a teeny can of ice-cold Coke!