Karen and I logged about 10 miles on foot on Saturday dodging parades and tourists, investigating the nation’s attic, and walking to and from dinner. By the end of the day, I could definitely feel that we’d been out hiking.

Sunday brought another walk (but only 2 miles or so this time) and, following a disappointing Nationals game on tv, a bike ride.

Now, I’m not a bike-for-the-fun-of-it kind of cyclist. I don’t mind riding to work or to the grocery store, but you won’t see me jumping up and down just for the opportunity to ride around the neighborhood. But it was a nice day and I managed to find a ride that sounded manageable in one of Rudi’s books — 14 miles from start to finish. It didn’t sound terrible and it paused in Bethesda, where I could catch my breath. Plus Rudi promised a field of yellow flowers along the way, and how could I argue with that?

So I trundled out and down to Georgetown, where the Capital Crescent Trail begins. And, sure enough, there is a lovely field of golden buttercups (or something akin to them) in the middle of the woods. And a spot along the Potomac where there’s a picnicking grove. But I hit the 6 mile mark on the trail (about 8 miles in on the ride) and suddenly I knew I’d been too optimistic about my abilities. But I convinced myself to keep going with the ride, thinking that I only had 6 miles to go and that Bethesda was only a few miles away.

So I reached Bethesda and treated myself to an ice cream cone (strawberry cookies-n-cream — yum!) and then followed the directions to get me to the Rock Creek trail. Following Broad Brook Road through Rock Creek was lovely and downhill; I managed to get up to 23.5 mph for a while. But Rock Creek trail itself was mildly hilly and at one point I just had to dismount and push the bike the rest of the way up. And by the end my whole body was moving with my legs and I was saying aloud to myself, “Just a little while longer. Keep going. You’ll be fine.” I’m sure the other cyclists thought I was crazy.

And as I pedaled up the street the burrow lies on, I gave up and phoned Rudi at home to ask him to come open the door for me. He went a step further and acted as my crew — came and took the bike for me while I groaned at each painful step downstairs behind him.

I was useless the rest of the evening and am still a bit sore today.

But the total journey was impressive — just under two hours of riding (which means there was also 45 minutes of stopping along the way) and 18.6 miles (the book lied). Since my career-high is about 22 miles, that was pretty impressive for me. But definitely no more double-digit rides again until next weekend when my legs and back have forgiven me.