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0 miles. Had a few branches blow down while I was in SD. Didn’t have a pickup load. There were a bunch of smaller sticks I have been shuffling as I mowed. Decided to rake up some of the worst areas. 5 hours later, I had a significant portion of my 1/2 acre lawn raked.  I had just enough time to get to the city transfer station. By the time I got back from there I was content to shower and relax. Supposed to be nice again tomorrow. I’ve been meaning to do a gravel ride on some road north of here. I feel a lot better about my old MTB after the road trip last weekend. I think it’s time. 

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No dog walk today.  It was raining this morning.

In the late afternoon, the grass was dry again.  WoBG used the JD and mowed.  I used the push mower for 2 1/2 hours trimming around everything.   When I get my new watch, I'll know how many steps and how far I walk during the mowing/trimming.  

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Saturday threatened afternoon rain, but instead delivered lovely all day mildly overcast skies! :cheerleader:

As I've been trying to do, I was able to get out on the Diverge to see new roads I have never ridden in the past.   Yesterday added a new 20+ mile stretch of gravel country roads to the mix, and all told, I finished with 67 miles - 30 gravel/37 paved.  Simply GREAT riding conditions and barely a soul out there on the gravel stretches.

If @Old No. 7 hasn't taken his bike that far west, I have to strongly suggest he give it a try.  I plotted a 37 mile mostly gravel route that starts and ends in Leesburg, so someone can make it a "day".  Either hit the road early and finish with lunch and a beer or coffee in Leesburg, or start in the afternoon and finish with dinner.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/33618932

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2 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Saturday threatened afternoon rain, but instead delivered lovely all day mildly overcast skies! :cheerleader:

As I've been trying to do, I was able to get out on the Diverge to see new roads I have never ridden in the past.   Yesterday added a new 20+ mile stretch of gravel country roads to the mix, and all told, I finished with 67 miles - 30 gravel/37 paved.  Simply GREAT riding conditions and barely a soul out there on the gravel stretches.

If @Old No. 7 hasn't taken his bike that far west, I have to strongly suggest he give it a try.  I plotted a 37 mile mostly gravel route that starts and ends in Leesburg, so someone can make it a "day".  Either hit the road early and finish with lunch and a beer or coffee in Leesburg, or start in the afternoon and finish with dinner.

Tell me more. I’ve ridden Old Waterford Rd and Featherbed between Waterford and Lovettsville. Nice riding out there. Gravelmap.com is good for finding routes. 

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4 hours ago, Old No. 7 said:

Tell me more. I’ve ridden Old Waterford Rd and Featherbed between Waterford and Lovettsville. Nice riding out there. Gravelmap.com is good for finding routes. 

Yep - I like gravelmap too and go back to it to piece together ideas.  Right now, the Diverge is my "weekend" bike as I have the time to ride longer distances rather than my usual "quick 30" after work.  It is working out as a nice mix - road rides for the speed, gravel for the "adventure of new places". And it is a learning lesson - both in different on the bike skills and being patient with seeing the world at significantly lower speeds.

Essentially, I rode out to Leesburg and then made a big circuit using some routes I have seen on Strava - one being parts of a Spokes group ride. The Spokes one was based out of Waterford (Start/Finish), so I just tacked on my Reston -> Leesburg and then did the Old Waterford stretch to get me to the start of the Spokes loop.  Instead of finishing the loop (from Hamilton Station to Paeonian Springs to Hurley back to Waterford), I added the Irene/Meadowlark/Simpson/Dry Mill to get back to the Leesburg beginning and then rode the final bit home on the W&OD.  So, ignoring the 30 miles I ride out & back to Leesburg, if I just started in town, it's a nice 37 miles or so loop.  Only the final bit from Hamilton Station is on the road (or could use the W&OD instead). 

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A goal is to grab that loop, but instead of going fully around the traffic circle onto Dry Mill (the red VA7 box on the map above where the red path goes through it) , I would go west a short bit on E Colonial Hwy (7) up to Canby (yellow line in map below) and then come over to join up with the gravel rides I do out towards Philomont.  I might have to do that as a "start in Leesburg" sort of thing as those extra 30 miles getting to/from Leesburg is a bear after just 35 gravel miles, so 60+ gravel and then 30+ might not be something I will do unless I know I will take a few full breaks which I rarely do on other rides.  Likewise, I see some more terrain to try out once I get out to Philomont and would probably rather add those 25 miles over new road/gravel than just the ride home on the W&OD.

Honestly, each ride opens up a new ride which then opens up another ride.  It's fun to be a "novice" again and riding on roads I have never been on ever.  I get that joy on the road bike, but have to go much farther from home anymore, and all these gravel roads are now just calling me.

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1 hour ago, Razors Edge said:

It is working out as a nice mix - road rides for the speed, gravel for the "adventure of new places".

I’ve found my Slate works really well for my riding style - that is: “make shit up as you go along”. Having some pretty robust off-road capability opens up more possibilities. If I’m on pavement, and see an interesting snowmobile trail, I can hop on and see where it goes, no worries.

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