An Urban Boychick Takes on the Outdoors

Tall Tom, Me, Larry, Susan, Whit, Deke, Alan, and Rob Halloween Day marked the final Pirates of Georgetown paddle for the season. Our usual paddling night is Thursday, but since the club subsidizes an end-of-year event we decided to do an extra Saturday paddle and brunch. The day started grey but turned quite lovely and warm. A great outing with friends. Only Larry and I wore costumes :) After paddling about 10 miles we went to Sine at Pentagon Row where we all enjoyed brunch drink specials and some yummy food.

About three quarters of the way through the ride I was composing a dour lead for this post as follows: "Well, you can add bicycling to the list of sports I can't ever do with other people." But, truth be told, I had a good time and the post really deserves a more positive start. Kayaker Rob has been organizing Tuesday night bike rides this season. Every week I want to go and every week something comes up which prevents my participation. Well, since it's now getting dark early he decided to switch to organizing weekend rides instead, which works out better for me. I'm generally leery of cycling with other people since I'm still quite the slow cyclist, but Rob assured me that it was a leisurely ride and so I signed on. My Glow in the Dark Friends The group was Rob, Nelson, Nelson's twin brother HalfNelson (OK, his name is really Norm) and me. We met at the western end of the W&OD Trail in Purcelleville, VA. Our goal was to ride to Ashburn and bac...

Not much to say about this one. Just really neat light as we paddled the Boundary Channel last Thursday.

At the Launch - Hands Not Cold Yet The first wintry feeling day of the year - in the upper 30's when I left the house to head for Riley's Lock in Maryland. I guess I was a little bit in a hurry - I forgot a spray skirt! Still, I was otherwise properly bundled up and so didn't anticipate any problems. Tall Tom had organized this outing. Jim G., Peter H2 and Gina rounded out the group. We headed upriver - that's the preferred direction since downriver leads you into some bumpy, rocky stuff and ultimately Great Falls. On the River Unfortunately, my cold hands problem acted up almost right away. The constant flow of cold water over my hands makes them go numb. Then I get nervous because I don't really feel in control of the paddle, and I fixate on the pain in my hands, which makes it seem worse. Between my numb hands and the lack of skirt I kept close to shore, which meant I was paddling by myself. I turned around before the rest of the group. On the way...

I was really taken by the scene in Floyd, VA when I briefly stopped here last Spring and I've wanted ever since to return for a deeper visit. I decided to plan a trip for Columbus Day weekend figuring it would be about perfect timing - cool weather and foliage - for Valerie's annual camping trip and would as well as a chance to expose my kayaking friends to this cool music scene. Planning for the weekend got off to something of a rocky start. As is so often the case, Suzanne and I exchanged some testy email. Valerie dropped out because of back problems. Only a few kayak friends were available to come. Suzanne dropped out because her mom was sick - though she dropped back in soon thereafter. Even the people who were on board from the beginning ran into travel hiccups: Susan and Whit came down with their shiny new camping trailer but experienced some hiccups along the way - initial mechanical issues with the trailer (fixed by returning to the dealer), GPS leading them the ...