Day 4 - Occoquan to Alexandria.  We only rode 31.86 miles today.  This was planned to have some time to visit some sites in D.C.  The day started badly with a ride on Route 1 south of Fort Belvoir.  There was a lot of traffic and unfortunately debris on the shoulder.  I rode over a large screw and put it through my tire and tube in the first 1.5 miles.  The change went smoothly thanks to the piece of tire Mike Fore gave me.  Absolutely saved the day!!  I had to put it inside the tire to protect the tube.  There was a noticeable bump with each rotation so I knew I would need a new tire.  The back tire held up all day.  We went through Fort Belvoir and had a second breakfast at the Dunkin Donut shop, then headed for Mount Vernon (Picutre 1).  There must have been 25 buses lined up outside and lots of school groups.  We took a quick break and headed down the George Washington bike trail.  The weather was clear and sunny and this was a great ride (Picture 2).  We met an Army Vet (about 24 years old), who is riding from Maine to Richmond and then west on the TransAm to Montana.  He will start college at Montana State this fall.  He was sitting at the bench where I was run over by Dave and Shawn several years ago.  We got to Old Town Alexandria by 11:30.  We decided to go to the Holiday Inn near the Metro (Eisenhower Ave) but after 2 hard days, the group didn't have much energy to sightsee.  Dave and I planned to head back to Old Town to find one of the bike shops.  Sam, Bob, and Fred decided to join us and look for some lunch.  It took 2 bike shop visits to find one with a tire.  Turned out I had broken a spoke too.  The bike shop, Wheel Nuts, on Montgomery Street is highly recommended and fixed everything, new tire, spoke, and alignment in about 20 minutes.  Dave and I tried to buy several items but stayed rational and didn't add any things to our packs.   By the time we were done, Sam, Bob, and Fred had found the Chart House at the Old Town waterfront and were sipping some beers.  We passed an hour or 2 with some late lunch and a beer and headed back to the hotel.  May go out for a late dinner and another beer pain killer.  It was good to have an easy day because my legs are sore.  Tomorrow we hit the Washington and Old Dominion trail with a stop in Leesburg (think Mom's Apple Pie Store) and on to the C&O Canal.