Skyline Drive Cycling

This morning I went for a bike ride on Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. I’ve lived in Northern Virginia for a long time and I’ve been to this park a handful of times, but this was my first time riding my bike there.

I’m considering some cycling events next year in which hill climbing is part of the courses. Here in Northern Virginia, there aren’t many big hills. Skyline drive has lots of hills and it has a biker-friendly reputation. The weather is good this weekend, a bit chilly but calm wind. And the Fall colors are approaching peak. So I made the drive to Front Royal and parked just outside the fee station at the north entrance.

Fog Obscures the Shenandoah River

The first 6 miles were about 1600 feet of climbing to the top of the first hill. Or is it a mountain? Anyway I took it easy, knowing I had a lot of climbing ahead. Then the roller coaster started. It was a sequence of climbs and descents, with hardly any flat ground. I alternated between sweating climbs and chilly descents. I reached the Elkwallow wayside at mile 24, rested, ate, and started the return trip.

The first climb after the wayside on the return ride was kind of grueling, but after that the miles flew by. My speed on the descents were often in the 30s. Finally I reached the entrance station, only to see cars lined up trying to enter the park. This line extended into Front Royal for quite a long way. These were people who wanted to see the Fall colors.

I got back to my car a sweaty mess. Final numbers: 47.74 miles, 5,778 feet of climbing. That’s a new single day climbing record for me.

Artemis Launch Attempt #3: Third Try Was The Charm

Finally, it launched! This trip was unlike the previous two, in lots of ways.

After the previous two scrubs, two hurricanes delayed the launch attempt from September all the way into the middle of November. My wife couldn’t go this time because she had a work conflict. So I made the trip alone, this time flying. Because the launch window opened at 1:04 AM, I didn’t even bother with a hotel. I took an airline flight to Orlando, got a rental car, drove to Titusville, and with several hours to kill, visited several parks looking for birds. I explored the Titusville and Cocoa areas. Finally, it was time to go.

For the previous two attempts, parking was at Space Coast Regional Airport. This time it was at a warehouse. I drove up, parked, waited because I was early, and finally boarded the bus for the ride to the Banana Creek viewing location. I didn’t bother taking any shots on the pad: it looked the same as it did for the previous attempts.

Artemis 1 on the pad during tanking

It was a long wait, several hours in fact. Then there was a series of problems that the launch team addressed, leading to a long countdown hold. I wondered if there would be yet another scrub.

Finally the countdown restarted. The NASA team dimmed the lights on the bleachers. The countdown got to a few seconds left, and I held my camera up.

Artemis 1 Liftoff

The bottom of the rocket lit up, the clouds of smoke and steam billowed, and the rocket lifted off. It got brighter and brighter as the flame got longer. The whole area was bathed in orange light. As it climbed, eventually the sound reached us in the crowd. It wasn’t deafening, but it was really loud and the bleachers started shaking. I watched the rocket for about seven minutes, until I lost sight of it, already more than a hundred miles down range. Even though I adjusted my exposure settings, my photos of the rocket after it cleared the tower were mostly just long flames with trailing smoke. The rocket itself is hardly visible in the photos. Eventually the solid rocket boosters separated, barely visible in the distance.

Solid Rocket Booster Separation

A long trail of smoke was left behind, hanging in the sky for a few minutes. Finally we boarded the buses, made the drive back to the warehouse, and I got back to Orlando at about 4AM. I tanked the car, turned it in, switched to an earlier flight, and came home.

Boy am I tired! Actually I’m exhausted. But I could only sleep for an hour when I got home. But I’m sure I’ll sleep well tonight! And it was an awesome experience.