Recovering on The Washington & Old Dominion Trail

After three months of physical therapy and healing form sacroiliac joint dysfunction and a new exercise routine, I have overcome an injury and have returned to riding,  slowly hitting the road and trails. This week while in Leesburg, Virginia, I rode the Washington and Old DominionTrail (W&OD) to Herndon, VA (Fairfax County), a 15.5 mile stretch of the asphalt-paved rail trail that runs from Purcellville (west) through densely populated urban and suburban communities as well rural areas to Shirlington (Arlington County) [total length 44.7 mi (71.9 km)]. The W&OD is one of the skinniest parks in the commonwealth of Virginia, and also one of the longest.

While riding I saw numerous cyclist on everything from inexpensive mountain bikes to various commuters and even some carbon-fiber road as well as runner, walkers and parents taking their children on a walk.  I even met an individual cyclist who was touring from DC to San Francisco. An added bonus to the trail is a parallel horse trail that runs along much of the trail, which provided me some time to ride some gravel.

I was grateful for the ease of the paved trail and only slight elevation climbs on what for me was my first day ride in recovery.