Get me to the church on time

June 4, 2022

Washington DC bike day

One of our goals today was to reach the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

We've sure hit the weather jackpot here in DC! After last week's horrid 90's, it's now forecast to be in the 80's all week, although a little rain could come in later.

So we decided to take advantage of it and do a long bike ride. Don spent nearly an hour mapping out a rather crazy route that would take us to several sites - the National Cathedral, historic Rock Creek Cemetery, The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America. It would be a rather ambitious ride and likely we would get lost at some point as most of it would be on city streets with lots of turns.

Between a temperature in the 50's when we woke up and the time Don spent on the computer with the mapping, we didn't get on the road until nearly 10:30. The first part of the ride was along the usual bike trail near the campground until we reached the University of Maryland for our first turn.

It was pretty quiet on campus and we enjoyed looking at all of the buildings. This university was started in 1856 and has over 41,000 students. In 1912, most of the buildings were destroyed by a large fire.

I found it interesting that their mascot name is the "Terripins" which is a turtle native to the Chesapeake Bay. Doesn't seem very "sporty" to me like the lions or bears, unless it's a snapping turtle!

We hit our first hill here and it was steep enough that we put"four on the floor" (thanks for that term, Jeanne and Kerry!). There was also road construction and a detour that caused us to miss a turn. Realizing our mistake, we were able to backtrack back to the correct route without going too far out of our way.

A couple of more streets took us to the bike trail we were on the other day - the NW Branch Trail. We encountered a large group of cyclists soon that were out of a club ride. They were all clustered around a woman who had crashed. She had tried to bike through a little dip in the trail that had water with mud and I guess it had caused her to fall. As it looked like they had ER coming soon, we continued on down the trail.

A short while later we got off of the trail and wound our way through lots of streets. Most of them were neighborhood roads, but several were quite hilly. So we walked and walked some more. Trudging up one steep sucker, Don tweaked his knee somehow. That didn't sound good for the rest of our ride. But he said he wanted to continue onward.

A few more turns took us to a Metro station and a trail that paralleled the rail line. We only stayed on that trail for a short way before exiting in the Catholic University of America campus.

This is a private university that was established in 1887. It's located adjacent to the Brookland neighborhood that's known as "Little Rome" because it contains 60 Catholic institutions which includes our first stop - the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

We'd been seeing the dome from a distance so at least had a landmark to help guide us.

The Basilica is the largest Catholic church in North Amnerica and one of the largest in the world. It is also the tallest habitable building in DC. Construction of the Byzantine and Romesque revival structure began in 1920 and wasn't completed until 2017.

It houses 82 chapels that flank the sides of the upper Church. The Greek-styled interior is crowned with numerous domes decorated in mosaics. The Basilica does not have its own parish community although many Archdiocese events are held here.

Don's knee was bothering him so he opted to sit in the shade by the bike while I climbed the steps into the upper Church to take a peek inside. It was quite something to see and I was able to wander around taking lots of pictures even though they were getting ready for confirmation.

But back at the bike, Don said his knee was starting to swell so he wanted to head home. That was disappointing as both of us had looked forward to seeing the other sites we'd mapped out. But it was also worrisome as now we didn't know if the injury was bad enough that it would keep him sidelined for the rest of stay in DC. And all he was doing was walking up a hill!

We turned around and pretty much retraced our route back to the campground. Back at the trailer, he spent the rest of the day icing the knee and taking vitamin I. He also used the massage gun around the knee and on his tight calf muscle thinking it could also help. Anything to get him better soon! I just crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.

Low tech mapping method - handwritten turn by turn directions written on paper - both sides!

Our first turn off of the bike trail was into the campus of the University of Maryland.

The university had a number of impressive looking buildings. Many had slate roofs and these domes.

We had to do a little bush wacking when the trail was closed due to construction.

The Basilica was located on the campus of the Catholic University of America.

This university also had some cool looking old buildings. I liked these stone ones better than the brick structures on the University of Maryland campus.

This sculpture is called "Angel Unawares - the Journey to the Catholic University". It's based on Hebrews 13:2 - "Be welcoming to strangers, many have entertained angels unawares" and it was created by Canadian artist - Timothy Schmalz. The sculpture depicts more than 140 refugees who are tightly packed onto a 20-ft. skiff. Some figures look back but most look forward with hope toward the future and a new life. If you look closely, you can see the Holy Family among these migrants and a pair of angel wings in the center. The piece was gifted to the university because the Catholic faith is committed to the cause of immigrants, refugees and migrants.

This entrance to the Basilica had the bell tower where there is a working carillon but it wasn't being played today.

Incredibly ornate interior of the Upper Church.

And another one. The domed ceiling was covered with gold mosaic tiles.

A different one with 3 alcoves near the altar.

The organ loft. I would have loved to have been able hear this massive pipe organ.

Example of the intricate stained glass panels on the side of the church.

This unimpressive building is the Saint John Paul II National Shrine. It includes over 16,000 sq. ft. of exhibits on the life of John Paul II.

We thought the Ukranian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family was a lot more interesting looking. It was completed in 1999.

In one park on the way home we found this fun sculture.

A cricket match was being held at this park. We had seen several cyclists pass us that were carrying cricket bats with them.

In the wetlands section of the last part of the trail we came across mama and her just born babies. She was right on the pavement and didn't move for us at all. I didn't get too close to her when I took this picture.

Today's ride: 26 miles (42 km)
Total: 600 miles (966 km)

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