Opening Season Ride to Vienna, Virginia

The Lake Barcroft Bike Club's first ride of 2014 on Saturday, originally bound for Buzz Bakery in Alexandria, diverted to Vienna, Virginia instead, for a fun but challenging, chilly and windy morning ride. 

Our hearty three person contingent included Rick Uritus, recumbent bike aficionado Bill Cook and me. The newly constructed, but very unwieldy detour on the Four Mile Run Trail (just before the Mount Vernon Trail) led me to make this last minute change to our itinerary. Unfortunately that detour will continue into the summer, and bike riders will need to face it if they want to enjoy rides south into Old Town and on to Mount Vernon. But maneuvering that detour on a recumbent bike would be difficult.

We set out at 8:30 a.m. and faced a tiring and chilly headwind as we pedaled west to the W&OD Trail, through Falls Church and Dunn Loring and then on to Vienna. 

Bill and Rick at Bluemont Park

Despite the relentless wind we finally made it to Vienna under a bright blue sky and warmed up with coffee and bagel sandwiches at Caffe Amouri, a great little local coffee shop on Church Street. Check our their website here: http://www.caffeamouri.com/ .

Rick, Bill and Larry outside Caffe Amouri

On Bill's recommendation we then headed over to the Pure Pasty Company,                         http://www.purepasty.com/, to pick up some Cornish pasties (pronounced "pass-tees") to take home. These baked gems wrapped in a wonderful pie crust are traditional meat and vegetable pies, somewhat like empanadas but with a lot more filling. The wives and mothers of tin miners in Cornwall would make them for their hardworking husbands and sons to help them get through the day. Easy to carry even on a bike, they make a satisfying meal today as well.

Loaded down with our pasties, we headed east down the W&OD trail, with the wind at our backs on the return ride, for a well-earned afternoon of relaxation and Cornish pasties.

Next week, the 2nd Annual Cherry Blossom Ride. Check your email for details.