What do you do when the temperature drops and the winds pick up and your winter “spare tire” needs another layer of fat for reading season? For me, the answer is the Cider Ride. This is the Washington Area Bicyclists Association’s (WABA) early November event, showcasing the Anacostia River watershed, the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC), and the Patuxent Research Refuge. The course I rode was the 60-mile Honeycrisp Route. This has 1,904 feet of climbing, most of which is in the BARC complex. My steed du jour was The Mule, my Specialized Sequoia touring bike.
My group of riders originally was the usual suspects: Chris, Michael, Kevin, Neena, and me. Over the last few days and weeks we were joined by Marc, Kyle, and Taylor all of whom rode the 50 States Ride with us back in September. Sara and Beth, also from the 50-States posse, had planned a fun weekend in Philadelphia but changed their mind and joined the crew. Finally, Domitille and Timothee who have been intermittent participants decided to ride the first part of the ride. They brought along Sonia, our only newbie.
The weather conditions made for uncertain clothing decisions. Temperatures were in the 50s with a chilling wind. After adding and subtracting layers, we posed for a picture and rolled out just before 9 a.m., hoping to avoid the main group of riders who were set to start at 9:30.
The route begins with a traverse of the middle-class neighborhoods of Northeast DC on city streets. You don’t hear about these on the news but this could be AnyCity, USA: modest detached houses with front porches. We crossed into Maryland at Mount Rainier. Here the route differed slightly from the past but Chris and Michael guided us through the changes. We ended up, as in prior years, on the Brentwood Levee Trail before transitioning to the Anacostia Tributary Trail. (On the Levee Trail I was riding on the left chatting away when I nearly collided with an oncoming rider. She alerted me by calling me a vulgarism. I didn’t disagree with her assessment. I veered out of her way.) After about a mile we picked up the Northwest Branch Trail. Foliage alert! Wow!
Somehow I managed to get in front of our pack of riders. I was being ultra careful not to slip on wet leaves, the only downside to the abundant foliage. We came to a fork in the trail and, despite having done this ride multiple times, I wasn’t sure which way to go. (We had taken a wrong turn here in the past and I couldn’t remember which way was correct.) I pulled off the trail and heard Michael yell something about “BLUE”. There were blue dashed lines on the path to the left, This was the Paint Branch Trail which led us to and around Lake Artemesia, which looked amazing with the sun and the foliage reflecting on the water.
We continued on the trail past College Park where I waved hello to my friend Lisa who was participating in a fun run. At this point I was lagging behind most of our group riding with Sonia. Michael was waiting at the critical turn that took us away from the watershed and onto the streets of Hollywood. Hooray!
In short order we arrived at Proteus Bikes, the site of the first pit stop. Mile 13.5 for those of you keeping score. Donuts (and other snacks) and cider were consumed. Here our group splintered. Michael and Neena had a need for speed so the rode off together. Chris decided to ride back to his home near the start; he needed to take it easy because of an upcoming medical procedure. Domitille and Timothee also turned around to rendezvous with other friends who were doing the 10-mile route of the event.
The remaining eight riders soldiered on. After a mile and a half on wide suburban roads we arrived at the edge of the 6,500-acre BARC. A few people were holding signs opposing the Trump administration’s proposal to close the site.
We turned onto Beaver Dam Road to begin our five-mile, west-to-east traverse of the rolling farmland. The group split apart here with six riders breaking away and Sonia and I behind. Sonia confessed that she had not ridden much before the ride and her bike was in need of some mechanical work. Every time she shifted to a lower gear to make climbing easier her chain made a chittering noise. She carried on in a higher gear, slowing her uphill pace to a crawl. I slowed and kept an eye on her in my mirror. We had talked about navigating the course at the start. She wasn’t familiar with much of the route so she decided to just follow the group. That meant that, with the group mostly well ahead of us, she would have to follow me.
I looked in my mirror to see her and, time and again thought “That must be her.” Nope. The riders that began after us started passing in twos and threes. Eventually she’d make it to the top of a hill, take drink of water, and forge onward. At 20 miles into the route, I thought for sure she’d throw in the towel but damned if she didn’t persist.
We left the BARC and made our way a few more miles to the Patuxent Research Refuge. The access road was through a riot of dense trees in full autumn attire. We arrived at the visitors center. I learned there that the other six riders arrived there 90 minutes earlier. Ugh. Sonia took a long break in the visitors center. When she came out she said that she planned on quitting in about 20 miles on the Trolley Trail near her home in College Park.
On we rolled, back out of the refuge and onto a Powder Mill Road, reversing our steps for two miles. We turned right to begin a six-mile loop through a wooded area followed by suburban neighborhood. On this stretch we met a fit, obviously experienced, older rider with a road bike standing on the side of the road. He had a tire “blow out” and didn’t have a spare. I would have tried to help him but I knew my much wider tubes were unlikely to work. (There were at least a dozen course marshals who are supposed to deal with this sort of thing but I only once saw a marshal actually helping a rider. The rest were riding in groups chatting; not one said so much as hello as they passed Sonia and me – even to ask if we were okay as we trailed the rest of the field. End of rant.)
We returned to Powder Mill Road along the northern edge of the BARC. We banged a right on Research Road to head south on a flat road, flat that is until the biggest climb of the day into Greenbelt. About half way up the hill the road is blocked by a gate. I waited there as I watched Sonia grind away at the incline. I thought for sure she’d walk it but made it nearly all the way to gate. I was impressed with her tenacity.
After the gate there was a bit more climbing before we descended into Greenbelt and the second pit stop at Buddy Attick Lake Park, The WABA crew was beginning to take down their tables but, lucky for us, there were still plenty of donuts and hot cider. (Sonia opted for popcorn which she pronounced to be delicious.) I noticed a WABA employee whom I had seen at a pit stop on the 50 States Ride. She looked like a younger version of a friend of mine so I ask her if she was related. They weren’t but they were friends and, as it turns out, I wasn’t the first one to notice the similarity. Dopplegangers are so cool.
We left the pit stop and made our way back to the trail around Lake Artemesia. We rode around the lake and backtracked along the Paint Branch and Northwest Branch Trails. More foliage. Dang. At 42 miles we left the trail system (the cue sheet said, “turn right at the porta potties”) and rode Somerset Street in Riverdale Park. The neighborhood looked like Mayberry with small detached houses all seemingly freshly painted. I swear I saw Opie on a scooter.
With Sonia trailing a block behind I signaled my left-hand turn onto Lafayette Street which ran parallel to a railroad line. A half mile later I was crossed the rail line and arrived at a parking lot for the Trolley Trail. I looked behind me expecting to see Sonia. No Sonia. I waited then backtracked to Somerset but she was nowhere to be found. Abducted by aliens? It turned out that a right on Lafayette also leads across the rail tracks to the Trolley Trail. I figured she took that route so I went back the way I came. Sure enough, Sonia had done exactly that and was waiting for me in the parking lot.
It was now time to part ways. Sonia headed home. I headed for the finish about 16 miles away. All day the temperature had fallen and risen whenever clouds blocked the sun. Now the temperatures were not rebounding and I had a strong, cold headwind to contend with. The sun was getting low in the sky. Expecting to be done well before sunset, I hadn’t bothered to bring lights. Time to boogie! I more or less doubled my speed down the Trolley Trail through Hyattsville where I discovered that a restaurant that I want to visit backed onto the trail. It also sells ice cream. Alas, there was no time for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough,
In a mile, the trail intersected with the trails on our outbound route, a new connection not on previous Cider Rides. A nice surprise. I glanced at the cue sheet and recognized the rest of the route. I arrived at the Bladensburg Waterfront Park on the Anacostia where the final pit stop had been. Emphasis on past tense.The donuts and cider were long gone.
The route continued down the east side of the Anacostia River eight miles before crossing to the west side and heading back upriver for a mile. I turned off the trail near RFK Stadium or so I thought. The stadium was torn down so I couldn’t tell one vast empty lot from another. I consulted the Google and got back on track, taking C Street and Massachusetts Avenue west past the Capitol and around Union Station.
Two miles of cycletrack and off-road trail, I arrived at the finish. Dead last. Oh, the shame.
I was pleased to find most of the gang had stayed for my arrival eating pizza and beer. Michael bought me a beer and Neena graciously agreed to eat some of the pizza I bought to keep me from gastronomic excess. I drank. I ate. Night fell. Stories were told.
As we parted ways a cold wind arose as if to announce the end of bike event season for 2026.
Thanks to all the good folks at WABA and the volunteers for staging this event. Thanks to our awesome bakers dozen (appropriate, no?) of riders who made the brief time we rode together grand.
” I was being ultra careful not to slip on wet leaves, the only downside to the abundant foliage. ”
On my W&OD excursion last Friday I told my companion that the difference between riding on wet leaves and on glare ice is that at least on glare ice you KNOW you’re going to crash, so you can be ready for it. On wet leaves, you can’t be certain.