Out to Harper's Ferry on the beautiful C&O trail. A lot of fun, totally shaded, with hard packed dirt and gravel, very few intersections and very few people on it on a Thursday morning. Met Jen in town and ate lunch at a good restaurant, Coach House. Walked up the hill to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy's home base and then I got going because I was going to have to hurry to beat sunset. Rode some suprisingly busy but beautiful(and refreshingly hilly after being on the towpath), roads in WV and VA to get to the Washington and Old Dominion trail in Purcelville. Was very happy to get on a protected path. Had a silly crash on the path after a highway overpass, I unknowingly ran over a small section of a large stick which caused me to lose grip with my right hand. I almost saved it but there was a fence and I couldn't gain control fast enough, so I flew into the fence and the path and escaped with a bruise on my back and a fairly deep road rash on my right knee. After dusting myself off and stretching a bit, I pushed on basically like I would have anyway(had another 50 miles or so). It was nice to be around other cyclists going in both directions so far into a ride of this distance. Felt less alone than being surrounded by passing cars. Didn't make it to DC before dark but I carried my light and had no trouble making it in safely. Great ride despite the crash. Would love to do this ride again but would definitely reroute the road section from Harper's Ferry to Purcellville.