Tag: nature

Going long for sunflowers

Two of the highlights of summer in the DC are the Lotus and Water Lily Festival at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens and the sunflower blooms in the exurbs. I went to Kenilworth three times this summer. It’s a little over 20 miles from home. The only downside to going there is the fact that the flower ponds have no shade. The flowers are pretty but the heat and humidity are intense. No complaints from me though. Pick a lotus blossom and stare and your brain goes to a quiet place.

One problem with these two events is that they occur at nearly the same time. Fields of sunflowers can be found in many places but McKees-Beshers Wildlife Management Area in Maryland is pretty easy to access by bike. Easy, that is, if you don’t mind riding a long way.

The sunflower fields are a little over 40 miles from my house. What better way to see if I still got it. I haven’t ridden over 75 miles in a day in over a year. My tour fiasco this summer combined with my upcoming birthday (don’t ask) has eroded my self confidence.

I took The Mule to Bikes at Vienna the other day. It needed some serious TLC. Because of staff illnesses and the usual summer repair surge, they are backed up big time. No worries. I have other bikes.

Gulp.

Recently I have ridden Big Nellie, my Tour Easy recumbent. Recumbents are normally ideal for people with bad backs. Despite the fact that I have put 51,000 miles on this bike, I have lately been experiencing nerve pain after riding it.

That leaves me with Little Nellie, my wee Bike Friday, and the Tank, my Surly CrossCheck. The former is tough on my lower back on long rides. The latter has been such bad news for my neck that I have all but ignored the bike for three months.

No guts, no glory. I decided to ride The Tank. Three days ago, I took it for a 40-mile ride, an out and back affair on the paved Washington and Old Dominion trail. The trail from Vienna to Leesburg transitions from suburbs to towns to fields of data centers to somewhat wooded areas. Northern Virginia farms used to grow bites; now they grow bytes. I had 19 deer and two bunny sightings during my ride. When I finished my neck and back felt fine.

The next day I rode The Tank another 40 miles. This time I rode to Friday Coffee Club. After that I rode to northeast DC to scout out the parking situation for September’s 50 States Ride. (It’ll be my 16th. The posse is looking good!) After a stop at home, I did an errand run to the local pharmacy. Once again my back and neck felt fine afterward.

Yesterday, after sleeping only about three hours then procrastinating all morning, I took off for the sunflowers. I rode the Mount Vernon Trail to Georgetown where I picked up the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal towpath. After three miles I climbed up a steepish hill to MacArthur Boulevard. This road goes straight to Great Falls, Maryland with just one hill along the way.

In Great Falls I switched back to the towpath for about 13 miles. I saw egrets and herons and deer along the way. After crossing Seneca Creek I took an unpaved path through the woods to River Road. River Road is a hilly, two-lane road that is a favorite of speeding drivers. The hill west from Seneca Creek is steep and long, not the kind of thing The Tank is good at. We made it to the top after which I heard a creepy skidding noise behind me. An SUV driver had slammed on its brakes and slid on the glazed asphalt. A few seconds later he stomped on the gas and blew by me with engine groaning.

A couple of miles later I came to the parking lot for the sunflower field. (There are more than one but I’d already ridden 40 miles. No need to go further.) Having left my cane at home, I used The Tank as support for my short walk to the field. The flowers nearest the parking lot were short and dried out. I continued to the far side of the field along the electric fence which has been added since my last visit. I stopped when I saw what I came for. Peak bloom. Dang.

Time to head back. I retraced my route knowing that I had not eaten enough (just a few cookies) since breakfast. Despite being nearly flat, the towpath can be a grind. No gliding , just grinding. This is what the Tank was designed to do.

At Great Falls, I realized that I was flirting with a serious bonk. Time get serious. I switched back to MacArthur, thankful for the smooth asphalt. With about 20 miles to go, I switched back to the towpath for a few miles. This section of the towpath is the bumpiest part and my arms started to grow weary of absorbing the shock. The palms of my hands started to blister, the result of wearing five-year old gloves. Dumb.

The ride back on the MVT was business as usual. Arriving at home, you could put a fork in me. I was done.

Once again, my neck and back were fine. Go figure.

Today I did an easy 30-mile recovery ride. I only felt tired near the end.

I don’t know what I am happier about doing 81 miles, my first time over 80 miles in over a year, or riding The Tank without pain for the first time in two years.

Totally worth the effort.

The towpath. Not a bad way to get around.

A great blue heron waiting on dinner in the canal.

Widewater, a section of the canal 12 miles from Georgetown.

Winter’s End? – A Walk in Huntley Meadows Park

We are tantalizingly close to spring. The cherry trees in DC should be at peak bloom in less than two weeks. This weekend was cold. Cold for around these parts anyway.

I took a day of rest yestimg_7580erday. We watched basketball and lolled around the house. Today, we started filling out retirement forms. If two people with masters degrees can’t figure out the forms, something is amiss. We planned for this. We each have about ten questions for HR people. It will only take a few minutes to finish all this nonsense. Then I wait until my birthday and launch into the unknown. It’s one part scary and one part exciting.

To get my calm on before the paperwork, I went for a walk. Huntley Meadows Park is tucked away off US 1 in southeastern Fairfax County Virginia. It is little known and I hope it stays that way. (Don’t tell anyone, okay?)

It is what I as a child called “woods”. Not a forest just woods.img_7570 And there is a big swamp (they call it wetlands to make it palatable to neighbors). The swamp used to run dry from time to time, but nowadays the beavers have been allowed to dam it up and the water is high and wide. A boardwalk winds its way over the waters.

Huntley Meadows is different each time I go. This time of year the beavers were nowhere to be seen but there was a very loud hawk (or maybe a vulture) circling overhead, some mallards and coots and Canada geese floating about, and a great blue heron stalking his lunch. I startled a flock of grackles in the woods. They would launch in unison, fly 10 or 15 yards and land. Then I’d catch up to them and they’d repeat the process. I could hear the call of red wing blackbirds, one of the few bird calls I recognize from my days hanging out near Dead Man’s Pond in Albany. (If there was a dead man in it, he had decomposed. I never saw him.)

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The trail through the woods is well groomed, unpaved, and flat. I did a figure 8 which probably amounted to 2 miles total distance. It was just enough of a walk to wake me up and chill me out.

There are some more pictures over on my Flickr page. I used an old Canon EOS Rebel digital SLR. I was stunned at how much better the pictures are than the ones I take on my point and shoot camera and my phones. I will try to remember to bring this camera with me to events in the future.

Eagles Fly, Turtles Lay

As regular readers of this blog already know, I am gaga for bald eagles and snapping turtles. Last night on the way home, I spotted my first turrle. It was off in the grass between the trail and the river about a mile from my office. Since I was away during the first seven days of June I probably missed the trutles laying eggs along the trail this year. I am still hopeful though.

There are (at least) two active bald eagle nests on my commute route. One is located near the Morningside Drive exit of the George Washington Memorial Highway which runs right next to the Mount Vernon Trail. The other is near the Tulane Drive exit. (For locals, these are between 2 and 3 miles south of the beltway.)  They are both very hard to see now that the trees have their full set of leaves.

The trail passes through Dyke Marsh Preseve. The Friends of Dyke Marsh often look for wildlife activity. This week they saw the eaglets being taught to fly. This probably takes place along the river’s edge, away from the trail, but I am going to give it a close look on the way home.

The Friends have a Facebook page (doesn’t everyone?). Here’s a link for those of the nature nuts who read this blog.

Friends of Dyke Marsh