Flora & Fauna 2.0

 

I'll start off by saying two things.  First of all, I had a really good time with you on this ride :-).  I think you did a great job keeping up and that we had a perfect day for it!  I really like this route too because you get to see a lot of nice scenery. And it was great that we planned a lunch stop, I remembered that was one of your complaints after the first time so I made sure not to repeat. :)  So kudos to you!

 

AND, it was also nice having done it once before so that we were aware of the few minor details in the directions that were misleading.  There was one specific item that was incorrect, but the rest of our issues from our first attempt were a direct result of my misreading... so I apologize to the book for my previous post on this ride, because in fact I was the one that was wrong.  I will still argue, though, that the part right after the Pinchot Sycamore is a bit deceiving.  Anyhow, here are my updated updates... you will notice there aren't nearly as many as after the first time..

 

@17.2 - remove "bearing RIGHT"

@26.3 - this is a RIGHT turn to the dirt road, not a LEFT

@26.4 - straight is assuming you went into the park and the straight is from the park 'road' across 185 and onto Nod road... it does make more sense after realizing what they meant, but I still think it could be easily misunderstood (me last year on this ride, case and point!)

@29.7 - this turn is closer to ~29.2 but thats not a big deal... most of the other distances are plus or minus 2/10 of a mile, but this one was a little more

 

Other than that though, the directions are spot on..  according to Google Maps, so I retract my comments about these from my first post on this ride!

 

And here's a bonus for you:

 

 

Here's a picture of my pretty little riding companion having a pb&j and yogurt snack @ McLean Game Refuge

 

Game Refuge or Nature Reserve: A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research. Nature reserves may be designated by government institutions in some countries, or by private landowners, such as charities and research institutions, regardless of nationality. Nature reserves fall into different IUCN categories depending on the level of protection afforded by local laws.

 

And here's me in my riding getup!  My phone camera couldn't really handle the color of my windbreaker :-).  I left the pics small though because my phone camera isnt the greatest.

 

All in all, I'd say this is a perfect ride for a day like this past Saturday (9/29/12).  I would definitely give it a thumbs up and would be open to doing it again if we're looking for something to do on a nice weekend day.  Not too difficult, but long enough to put your butt on the seat for at least 2hrs and get some fresh air and good scenery (I know I repeated myself from above..)!