Sweaty Betty

May 31, 2022

Washington DC bike day

Although it was going to be another hot day in DC, I was itching to get out on a bike ride. I had hoped to do a tandem ride but Don wanted to take a day off and rest a knee that was a little sore. Fine.....I'll just go on my own!

Even though I was ready to roll by 7, I had to wait for Don to wake up enough to put the pedals on my bike and do some lubing on it. So it was nearly 9:30 and already in the 80's before I got on the road.

I opted to do what I figured would be an easy route - basically the same one we did the other day along the river to Bladensburg Park. Depending on how I felt at that point, I might go a little further. I was confident that I knew the turns and trails I needed, and wouldn't get lost (hah - more on THAT story later!).

It was pleasant and cool on the first part of the ride as I was in the shade of the trees along the creek. But I knew that some sections would be more out in the direct sun. I had brought extra fluids with me, as well as worn my neck cooler to help with the predicted heat which was supposed to get into the 90's.

This bandana-like wrap has cooling beads inside that swell up after you soak it in water. Then it stays wet for a long time. It helps keep my head cooler and works best in dry conditions like the West, but I hoped that even with the humidity here that it would still be better than nothing.

I enjoyed the ride and had initially no problems with making the correct turns. When I came to the big lake, I spotted a trail that went over to a bridge where it looked like water lilies were growing. So I went over to take a few pictures.

As I neared the bridge, I saw a guy with a large camera aimed at something in the water. Hmmmm - I wondered what he was focused on?

There looked to be some kind of duck swimming toward us. I thought at first it was a goose, but as it neared the bridge I saw that it had a black and white spotted back and a black head. Hey - that might be a loon!!! Wow! I'm going to have to check my bird book when I get home.

I took quite a few pictures of it as it swam underneath the bridge, along with some flower and turtle shots. Then I retraced my steps back to the bike trail to continue my way south.

The rest of the way to the park was a piece of cake as I made all of the correct turns. As I came by the airport, I stopped to read the info sign which talked about its history.

This was the College Park Airport - at 1909, the oldest continuously used airport in the world. The WORLD?????!!!! I wasn't sure about that claim but it definitely was an interesting fact.

In doing research later, I found out that this airport was known to have a number of "firsts" in aviation. In 1909, Wilbur Wright instructed 2 US Army Corps officers to fly in the government's first plane. Other ones included the nation's first military aviation school, the first helicopter flight and the first postal airmail service. In 1911, civilian aircraft began flying from the airport which continues through today. There is a museum located here that might be interesting to visit.

On down the trail, everything continued smoothly and I soon made it to Blandensburg Park. Since it wasn't even noon yet, I decided to explore the trail a little further. Other than a long boardwalk over a wetlands area and rowing club, there wasn't much to see. No waterfowl at all which was disappointing.

After a couple of miles I stopped at a ballfield and opted to turn around. From here I returned to the big park and found a shady gazebo with benches for a lunch break.

Back on the trail, I headed back toward the campground and figured it would be easy peasy following the route. But nooooooo - somehow I turned onto the wrong trail which was called the Indian Creek Trail. I was supposed to be on the NE Branch Trail which followed the river.

I realized I had made an error when I noticed that this new trail had no painted lines down the center (remember to follow the paint colors!). Plus it wasn't near any river.

But since I had already gone quite aways on it and it seemed to be trending in the correct direction, I decided to stay on it and not go back to where I had caught it originally. Besides, I thought I had remembered seeing a sign for this trail the other day so I figured I would eventually run into the trail I needed.

That was mistake numero 2! I should have just turned around and gone back but I was hot and not thinking clearly.

It was still pleasant riding as I wound my way through the woods until I came up to a big street. Now where do I go? It looked like the trail continued on the other side. Crossing at the light, I got back on the trail and went a bit further until it abruptly came to an end near a townhome complex. WHAT THE HECK????!!!

This just wasn't looking good as I had no idea where to go. So I gave Don a call and guess what - he didn't answer his phone. I was on my own.

I walked back and forth along the busy road but saw no other signs indicating this Indian Trail anywhere let alone the NE Branch Trail. Finally I stopped in the townhome complex, after asking 2 different people for directions. (of course one person didn't speak English while the other had no idea what I was talking about!)

I got my phone out and tried to Google Map some biking directions to the campground which helped a little. I got back on my bike and found a less busy road to take that sort of went in the general direction I wanted.

After a few blocks, I stopped again and tried calling Don as I couldn't find any of the roads listed on my phone. This time he answered and was able to give me a route to take. Of course, he HAD to give me the hilly road to turn on which I ended up walking. I was SO hot and tired by now and I just wanted to be DONE with this ride!

I continued along his route and called him one more time to see where I needed to go when I was next to another busy road and couldn't see any sign of a trail.

He told me to walk down by this auto service center near me and that the trail would take off at the end of the alley. That sounded a bit bizarre, but I saw another cyclist go in that direction so I crossed my fingers that it was the correct trail.

But as I was putting my phone into my waist pouch, I dropped it on the ground breaking it open with the battery lying loose on the pavement. Good grief!!! What next??!!

I tried to put it all back together but now it wouldn't turn on. Guess I was REALLY stuck if this trail didn't materialize soon!

Luckily it did and I finally found myself on the correct trail. Yeah!!! Now I recognized the landmarks like the golf course and wetlands area. But the last hill going up to the campground entrance just about did me in. I had absolutely no energy by now so got off and walked one steeper section.

It was nearly 3 pm but the time I reached our trailer. Don said my face was beet red, and all I wanted to do was get into the air conditioning and start redydrating with some electrolytes. Despite carrying extra fluids on the bike, I had gone through both bottles and my camelbak.

It took a couple of hours, but I finally cooled down enough to take a shower and then eat dinner as I was famished. I had never intended to ride 31 miles today but other than getting overheated along with having lots of heat rash on my legs, surprisingly I felt pretty good.

Don had spent the day doing trailer chores and working on the tandem where he found a broken roller. He said he had contacted our bike shop and they will be shipping us a replacement while we're here in DC.

He also said the rest had helped his knee so he's talking about doing a tandem ride tomorrow. We'll see if I recover from this one first!

Part of my route took me by the University of Maryland.

Water lilies were blooming on this lake.

I believe this is a Common Loon? Not something I expected to see in this area. We've only seen them while in Minnesota.

There were also several turtles in the water near the loon.

This is the large lake where I spotted the loon. There looked to be a bike trail going all the way around it but I didn't want to add to my mileage today.

Nice fishy mural on the railing near the trail.

Near the Blandensburg Park were a couple of soldier statues depicting the battle that took place here in 1814.

South of Blandensburg Park was a long boardwalk over a wetlands section.

Today's ride: 31 miles (50 km)
Total: 657 miles (1,057 km)

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