Skyline Drive- Visit #3 of 3

I was hoping for the third visit to Skyline Drive this season, that the weather would play in our favor. Trip #1: Sleet and hail. Trip #2: Thick fog and rain. And as it would play out, trip #3 had fog as well. Many of us came ill-prepared without lights. As a result, the park ranger would not let as pass any further than Dickey's Ridge, at mile marker 5. It turned out to be a moot issue for me. Due to my knee woes, I knew climbing hills on Skyline Drive would be sort of touch-and-go. Not wanting to press my luck, I elected to descend and call it a day after reaching Dickey's Ridge. Everyone else descended with me, but they all repeated the climb up to Dickey's Ridge two more times. My maximum speed descending was over 36 mph... a little weak.

Because I carpooled out to the ride with Pam, I needed to occupy myself for two hours to await her return. Conveniently, a coffee shop was open near our cars. A chance to drink coffee and read the Sunday newspaper like normal people do! Now, the challenge was, finding the Sunday newspaper. Neither the coffee shop nor the nearby grocery store had the Sunday paper. I found the Northern Virginia paper from yesterday. (Uh... Washington Post please.) I wound up settling on this Warren County weekly paper. The front page news announced Miss Warren County and also showed someone's Independence Day Tree. (Turns out the guy doesn't have the heart to ever break down his Christmas Tree and just instead rotates the decorations depending on the season.) Weak. I elected to roam the nearby bookstore instead. Sadly, although not surprising, the bookstore is going out of business and one can purchase the store, the books, the computers, and the bookshelves for the bargain price of $50K. I felt compelled to try and help and bought a book I've been eyeing for a while, Three Cups of Tea. It was on the NY Bestseller list. It's the true story about a man who, after a failed attempt to summit K2 and still in Pakistan, decided to help and begin to build schools. He's built 51 or so schools there since then. Inspiring.

Needless to say, although it was somewhat disappointing to not ride more on Skyline Drive, I adhered to my top priority at this point, to help heal my knee. Besides, it was nice to have the chance to enjoy a Sunday for once and relax. So, perhaps the need to cut the ride short was a blessing in disguise?