Tag: East Potomac Park

Blossoms and bikes and yard work

We’ve been really weather lucky lately here in the DC area. We had five days in a row with high temperatures in the 70s. That means SHORTS! Yes, baby. And shorts mean longer rides. Yay.

I have switched to The Mule in the hopes that it will help my neck problems. So far it seems to be working. My range of motion is better and the pain is less. Fingers crossed.

The week of riding started with a two-wheeled recon ride to DC to check out the status of the famous cherry blossoms. Alas, I was a few days early but at least the trees on the way to Hains Point in East Potomac Park were putting on a show.

The road to Hains Point

The next day I rode mostly trails to the Kenwood neighborhood of Bethesda, Maryland. Conveniently located a block from the Capital Crescent Trail, Kenwood is lined with decades-old cherry trees. Alas again, the trees were still in winter mode. After a stop for an everything bagel in the downtown Bethesda, I rode home clocking my first 50 mile ride of the year.

Next up was a family auto tour of the DC tree scene. Once again we were disappointed. As a consolation, we drove to Great Falls Park in Maryland to check out the raging waters of the Potomac River where it passes through Mather Gorge. We followed a path out to Olmsted Island in the middle of the river and saw and, even better, heard the deluge as it passed all around us. After the drive, I did a 30-mile jaunt on The Mule in the area near home. During the ride I spotted the head of a bald eagle peaking above its nest in a tall pine tree in the backyard of a McMansion.

The rapids at Great Falls

Next was my Friday morning trek to Coffee Club. My route conveniently passes the Tidal Basin on the awesome new cycletrack. The trees were starting their bloom.

On Saturday, I rode to the Lincoln Memorial then back along the Potomac on Ohio Drive in DC. Once again I skirted the Tidal Basin. Now the trees were starting to put on a show in earnest. I managed 31 miles before spending the rest of the day weeding the garden.

Sunday brought what I call my perimeter ride. I ride on neighborhood streets around Mount Vernon. I stay off the bike trail and do mostly right turns on local streets. No tourists. No root bumps. No cold breezes off the river. Just beaucoup spring colors from southern magnolias, forsythia, yoshino cherry trees, weeping cherry trees, bartlett pear trees, daffodils, and tulips. This 30-miler was also followed by a stint working in the yard, doing maintenance on my drainage ditches.

Monday was officially the start of peak bloom in DC. I rode into a headwind to the Tidal Basin and reconnoitered with my wife and daughter who had driven into town after a dental appointment. They were just about done with their clockwise walk around the basin. I continued on, walking my bike counterclockwise around the basin. After passing the Jefferson Memorial I saw a group of people in business attire walking toward me. A few of them were rather large humans. In the middle of them was Merrick Garland, the US Attorney General. He had surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis about six weeks ago so I was happy to see him walking perfectly upright without a cane. The rather large humans were likely with the Secret Service. (Why is it called the Secret Service? A better name would be the Obvious Service.) This was my first DC celebrity sighting in quite some time. The ride home made for another 30-mile day.

Stumpy
MLK Memorial

Sadly over 100 cherry trees are scheduled for imminent removal as the National Park Service rebuilds the area around much of the Tidal Basin and West Potomac Park. Stumpy is doomed but most of the trees near the MLK and the FDR Memorials will be spared. Eventually, the perimeter of East Potomac Park will be restored as well. Depending on who you ask, either the water level is rising or the parkland is sinking. Either way, it’s going to be quite a mess for the next couple of years. I do hope that in the process the jersey barrier farm near the Jefferson Memorial will be removed. It’s been there for over 20 years. Other DC monuments had their security barriers upgraded years ago.

Today was cold and blustery. My daughter was headed back to law school so I decided to take the day off from riding to see her off and get more yard work done. I managed to spend about four hours edging the rest of the gardens and clearing and widening the drainage ditch across the back yard. It is safe to say that I used muscles I forgot I had. It’s going to be an ibuprofen night.

I have started to think some about my summer bike trip. I need a few things. A simple water filter, a bigger pillow, a power pack for my phone, and some sort of noise maker (for warding off dogs). I might take The Mule in for a tune up and buy a new tire or two. The front tire still has plenty of tread after over 5,000 miles of touring. My rear tire has been going strong since my flat near Sisters, Oregon in 2022. They may ride like rocks but Schwalbe tires last a very long time.

I still haven’t decided on a route. Three possibilities would involve the eastern most section of the TransAmerica Trail. The fourth possibility is a ride out west in bike over country. Stay tuned.

After driving to DC to see the blossoms with my family,

Rolling Isolation

I tested positive for the Covid virus about 72 hours ago. I still have no symptoms other than those from my seasonal allergies. It seems that every lawn crew around is spreading shredded bark mulch which causes my sinuses much distress. I found out the hard way by spreading it in my garden years ago. A good snout-ful makes me seriously sick. I am also allergic to tree pollen, specifically pine and cedar. It’s a bit ironic that my childhood home was down the street from Pine Tree Lane and that I moved to Mount Vernon which is full of cedar trees.

In any case, I have been vaccinated five times, have had Covid once already (a very mild case), and I am taking Paxlovid. I must have antibodies out the wazoo.

Other than the allergies, I feel fine. So I took The Mule for a ride to DC to take in the cherry blossoms on Wednesday. It was a day before full peak bloom and the Tidal Basin area was packed. I had masked up on the Virginia side of the river and was otherwise careful to hold my breath whenever I passed or was passed by someone on the trail.

Even though I was masked I avoided the throngs at the Tidal Basin, surfed through the cars in East Potomac Park and made my way to Hains Point which had surprisingly few people. After returning to the Tidal Basin area I made my way away from the crowds to the National Mall. On the north side of the mall, with fewer people around, I rode west to the Lincoln Memorial and then home. A 36 1/2 mile jaunt. Not bad for having a supposedly deadly disease.

For what it’s worth the best time to see the blossoms at the Tidal Basin is at sunrise when there are few people and slanting rays bouncing off the blooms and the water. Of course, the best way to get there is by bike. I am not just saying this because I ride. The area becomes an epic car sewer as the day progresses. (Walk around the basin (never ride on the sidewalk.)

Yesterday I rode to the Kenwood neighborhood of Bethesda, Maryland. All the streets in this stately old slice of suburban heaven are lined with cherry trees, mostly quite ancient, in full bloom. WOW. It is really much nicer than the Tidal Basin. There were very few cars and just some folks rolling and strolling beneath the canopy of white. It is incredibly peaceful and beautiful. It is easily accessible off the Capital Crescent Trail which runs from Bethesda Row to the Georgetown waterfront on the Potomac River. (Turn off on Dorsey Road, midway between River Road and Bethesda Row.)

After my half hour of zen, I stopped for a snack along the Capital Crescent Trail, once again away from others. Then I rode the trails home. Another 46 1/2 miles in the books on The Mule.

The only down side to the day was the lousy shifting on The Mule, caused most likely by stretching shifter cables. I will deal with this in a day or two.

On the way home I received a text that my wife’s car battery had died. When I got home I tried a few tricks to get it started. I scraped some corrosion off the battery’s negative pole. Then I turned off all the accessories in the car. I turned the key in the ignition. Click. No luck. Dead battery.

This morning instead of riding to Friday Coffee Club, I jumped the battery using my car. It’s a bit of a hassle getting the cars to line up and to figure out the proper positioning of the cables. I took off my mask to read the instructions on the cables. The instructions were ambiguous. As I was futzing around with the cables my helpful neighbor Ted saw me struggling an came over to help, looking up the proper procedure on his phone. He then walked me through it standing a few feet away, the cars awkwardly angled between us.

Success. Then the perils of being asymptomatic struck. I went to thank Ted and as I shook his hand I suddenly realized “Oh no. I have Covid.” Derp. He went inside his house to wash his hands. Being outdoors I doubt I infected him but it was a reminded that I need to be more careful.

We next drove to the mechanic. I had the windows in my car open and my wife drove her car. I masked and stayed outside, well away from the mechanic. I drove my wife home, she being masked and recently recovered from Covid herself.

This illness would be a lot easier to navigate if I was actually, well, ill.

I contacted my bike mechanic to let them know I won’t be picking my bike up until late next week.

According to the CDC I should be in the clear by Sunday and non-infectious by next Friday or Saturday.

Cherry trees at peak in Kenwood
Kenwood – note the temporary pink no-parking signs.

Spring Sprung Yesterday

Today’s post is dedicated to all my friends who moved away from DC.

Yesterday marked the first day of spring in DC. Not the meteorological spring. Not the vernal equinox. The cherry blossom bloom.

The last couple of days, the National Park Service has banned cars from the Tidal Basin area. For those of you unfamiliar with DC, this is the odd man-made lake of sorts which is lined by cherry trees and three memorials (Jefferson. FDR, MLK). If you go at sunrise, this is the place to check out the blossoms on foot. If you go any other time, you’ll encounter crowds, although judging by today, much smaller crowds that usual.

Of course, the best way by far to see the cherry blossoms is by bike. I rode to DC and took the 14th Street Bridge which ends right at the Jefferson Memorial. Then I rode east on Ohio Drive along the Potomac River. At the intersection of Buckeye Drive there is a stand of early bloomers that are amazing. Buckeye Drive took me across East Potomac Park which is a short man-made peninsula in the Potomac. Buckeye dead ends into Ohio. I took a left and rode 3 miles down to Hains Point and back. The entire way was lined with trees nearly all of which were in full bloom. I was in a tunnel of cherry blossoms.

(L-R) Heading toward Hains Point. Heading back from the point. Just past the MLK Memorial.

After the 3-mile ride I was back at Buckeye Drive. I re-traced my route but instead of going to the Jefferson I continued upstream along the river to the turn off for the FDR and MLK memorials. The path along the edge of the basin was nearly full of people but the road that I was on 50 yards or so away was empty.

At Independence Avenue I took a right and rode with the big metal boxes. They were going about 10 miles per hour so I was very safe but on guard against drivers distracted by the blossoms. I followed Maine Avenue and rode clockwise around the basin past the Jefferson then back over the bridge.

Five miles. Five bazillion blossoms. Perfect.

Tomorrow I’m going back. If I feel spunky I may ride up to the Kenmore neighborhood in Bethesda. It is packed with cherry trees. And, unfortunately, cars.