Rolling along the river

June 8, 2022

Washington DC bike day

After yesterday's rain, the morning was clear and it looked like would be good for a ride until the next round of storms moved in in the evening. We decided to just do an easy ride following the Anacaostia River trails close to where it emptied into the Potomac.

By 9, we were out on Garfield. It was much warmer and a LOT more humid than on our previous ride. Although we've done these trails before, there still are a couple of spots where they fork and you have to decide whether or not to go left or right. I imagine that if you rode these frequently it would become second nature just like at home in Denver.

There were people out walking and cycling, and in the campus area, lots of students. In one spot a road rider pulled up next to us to talk and mentioned that he owned THREE recumbent trikes! I asked him, "Why are you riding this upright bike when you could be more comfortable"??! He said he just wanted a change. Hmmm - not me. Once we went 'bent, then that's the only type of bikes we ride now.

We also saw several deer today and a groundhog. And lots of turtles, one of which was on the trail itself.

When we got near the stadium, Don wanted to try a different trail that ran along the east side of the river vs the one on the west that we'd ridden the other day. So we followed that one which had a little detour/closed section up to a bridge that left us scratching our heads for a bit.

Once we figured that out, it was easy to access the bridge where we had a protected bike lane that took us to the west side. Continuing a bit further, there was an arrow pointing toward the Congressional Cemetery. We'd seen this on Google maps and thought it would be interesting to visit. (you know us and old cemeteries!)

Many notables are buried at this still active cemetery, including a Vice President, J. Edgar Hoover and John Phillip Sousa. Members of the U.S. Congress who died while Congress was in session are also interred here.

So we turned off of the trail and made our way to the cemetery's front gate. Unfortunately there were signs posted that NO bikes were to be ridden or even walked in the cemetery! Oh good grief, not another one! But they let people walk their dogs here and you know what dogs do!

There was a guy on the porch of the office that reiterated that we couldn't bring the bike in but could leave it at the building and walk around. No thanks, as it wouldn't be a secure spot. So I just used the restroom, took a few pictures and we left.

Back on the trail, we crossed back over to the east side of the river and continued a bit further. The Anacostia was much wider here and there were several marinas. We could see a large stadium - baseball we think - and many other buildings. But none of the monuments were visible.

I'd hoped to see the Potomac, but we reached a construction area where the trail ended. At this point, we just turned around and found a shady table in the park to eat our lunch. It was a pretty trashy area but we still haven't seen any homeless anywhere along the trails. We wondered if the city runs them off? In Denver, we find them all along the trails.

Back on the bike we made our way back to the campground. We were both feeling the heat now, even though I think it was only in the mid-80's. I went through 2 bottles of water for dousing my legs in an effort to prevent heat rash. Even Don was drinking more of our electrolytes today.

But we made it home before 3 where we both found a spot to cool off and relax. It had been a good ride and we had both enjoyed the day.