Training Log Archive: Nadim

Michaux State Forest, PA. I went scouting terrain for QOC's 2014 bid to host the Long and Middle Championships again. Mostly, I was searching for terrain that wasn't too green or too steep. Since areas considered haven't been field checked and the map is not yet complete, I had to go through considerable amounts of not so good terrain. Fortunately, I did find some viable routes. It was interesting how much water levels changed in just 2 weeks since I was there last. I specifically wanted to focus on start and finish areas on this trip. Given that there is not much development in the area, of the possibilities, I think progress was made. Jon Torrance and I drove out together. He ran and searched separately. The other problem we looked to solve was where to park people. We came up with some possbilities for that too. I hadn't gotten much sleep this week so I was dragging through much of the run. Spirits and energy lifted upon finding the nicer areas.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 12th and C St. SW, Washington, D.C. Finally getting my first ride into town, I rode a modest pace. I rode the flats after Fletcher's Boathouse with another commuter, chatting about how nice it is to have this trail.

From 12th & Independence Ave, SW, Washington, D.C. to Edgemor Ln. in Bethesda, MD., then to Northfield Rd., via Old Georgetown Rd. I rode home w/my laptop since I need to work from home on Monday. As I was riding home, somewhat later than planned because I had to turn in a budget call at work, I got a call from Max. We talked while I was on the move. My stop at Edgemor Ln. was to fulfill his request to bring home a Chipotle dinner.

From Northfield Rd., to Arlington Rd. with Max on his bike, then to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Arlington Rd. From there I rode in the dark towing Max's bicycle to Northfield Rd.

45 situps. Some long days at work, and staying up late making map corrections have induced some laziness.

Cabin John Regional Park, MD. I made an attempt to update the map. I hadn't done any updates since prior to damage that occured during the derecho storm last summer. In general, the park had been pretty well trashed-up by fallen trees and branches. There are still some nice areas but the new damage tended to occur where there were white woods before. I stuck to updating the southern half of the park along the main trails mostly. Given how many trails there were, that covered a lot of the area. I didn't get to the west side of the creek. I jogged along between places.

Cabin John Regional Park, MD. In an unusual situation for a Saturday, I hadn't any particular plans so I went back to the park to make map updates on the north half of the map. In particular, I went to capture some new trails that mountain bikers had made. Once again, I stuck to the east side. I found a bunch of new trails which is somehwhat unfortunate. The southern half of the park has so many trails that having fewer of the in the north would make for better courses. The new trails generally went through the better woods though in one stretch, there was some punching through the new deadfall. Similar to what I found in the southern half earlier in the day, the derecho storm had knocked down a great number of trees and significantly reduced the area of nice forest. I kept moving through much of this effort and was pretty tired as I finished up.