Tag: fall foliage

Leaf peeping to Bethesda

For a variety of reasons, I found Saturday’s 62-mile bike ride to be frustrating and exhausting. To make matters worse, I didn’t even bother to take pictures of the beautiful scenery I was riding through.

Today’s ride was better. I left home in shorts into a 43-degree headwind, headed for Rock Creek Park in DC for some good old fashioned leaf peeping. The first ten miles were a chilly slog; I was underdressed and the headwind felt like a relentless uphill grind.

After 10 miles, roughly at National Airport, I found a rhythm. Five more miles cruising along the river brought me to the mouth of the wooded urban canyon known as Rock Creek Park.

I was happy to find that the walls of the canyon blocked the headwind making for much easier pedaling. For a few miles I rode the paved trail without a care until I arrived at the National Zoo. The trail continues along the edge of the Zoo compound, but the Smithsonian which owns the Zoo had closed off the trail because of the government shutdown. The trail which doesn’t actually go into the Zoo itself could just as easily been left open but whadareyagonnado?

Riding north in the southern part of Rock Creek Park
No trail for you!
Rock Creek and all those leaves

I duck-walked my bike on the narrow side path through the adjacent tunnel along Beach Drive, the road along the Creek. Once back in the open air, the rest of the ride was mighty sweet. The grade of the road probably averages about one percent as it winds its way along the creek. With very little traffic of any sort, the riding was peaceful and mediative. I stopped to have a snack and take pictures.

Beach Drive going over Rock Creek
The grade is not nearly as steep as the picture shows. Easy riding.

At about 25 miles, I began the climb out of the Park and rode west a couple of miles to Bethesda where I picked up the Capital Crescent Trail for the return trip. As I started out I passed two dog walkers who had between them about a dozen dogs on leashes. The dogs seemed perfectly calm as they ambled en masse down the trail.

On the Capital Crescent Trail

The riding was easy and breezy thanks to the tailwind and the gentle down grade all the way to the Potomac at the Georgetown waterfront. As the day wore on, the cloud cover was building. I wasn’t dressed for rain so I got down to business and rode without delay.

In Old Town Alexandria I encountered some mist. Is that rain? Nope, just river water churned up by my friendly tailwind.

The tailwind made the last few miles a piece of cake. I arrived home feeling much better than at any time during Saturday’s ride. Riding when your 70 is something of a crap shoot, I suppose, but just think how the Mule feels having broken the 81,000-mile mark somewhere in Alexandria today. The Mule didn’t complain once. The Mule abides.

The Mule hit 81,000 miles today.

Snaps, Flaps, and Cats

Snaps and Flaps

I was finishing up 50,000 miles on Big Nellie, my Tour Easy recumbent. I was four miles from home when my rear cable snapped. I still had three usable gears so I made it home without too much aggro. I took the bike to Bikes at Vienna and left it in the care of Beth.

When I picked up my bike a few days later, I had a new cable and a new chain. Actually, I had three new chains because that’s how many chains the transmission on this long bike takes. Beth did a light tune up, replacing some seriously noisy brake pads. As I went to take my bike for a test ride, Beth pointed out her aesthetic enhancement to the bike. I had long ago broken off the small, cheap plastic fender flaps and replaced them with black duct tape. Beth noticed the tape had become ratty. She took it off and replaced it with these enormous mud flaps. I think they look awesome. Thanks Beth.

Left to right: Busted cable. Rear fender flap. Front fender flap.

Cats

My friend Rachel lives in Oregon, the high desert part. She has lots of critters. Chickens, a couple of dogs, and a cat. She posted a picture online of how she screened in her porch to create a catitat, or his it habicat? I told her about my friends Mike and Lisa who have built elaborate habicats or cat houses onto the front of their home. It was a lovely day so I rode Big Nellie 23 or 24 miles north to check take some pictures for her. One section is connected to their porch. Another is stands next to the front door. Cats can pass back and forth between the house and cat structure through a basement window.

Clockwise from top left: The porch cat house from the side. The view from the porch. The house next to the front door. The porch house from the street. The front door house from above. The front door house from the side.

After talking with Mike and Lisa and their house guests, Mike showed me an easy way to get to Rock Creek Park for the ride home. Just a couple of blocks through an alley and down a side street, we came to the old Walter Reed Army Hospital grounds which is being converted into a mini-city. Mike is especially happy that they included a Whole Foods store. Most of the development is new but many of the old brick buildings that were once the hospital complex still stand and are being renovated into housing. Mike pointed out one building which was where Dwight Eisenhower died. Imagine living in a condo where an ex-president died.

Mike’s tour ended with the two of us directly opposite Sherill Road and the entrance to the park. The trees are just starting to turn. It will be a riot of colors in a week or so.

Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park. You can almost feel the crisp autumn air.