A Moment of Spring

February 23, 2023

Seize the opportunity when you can

I'VE BEEN TRACKING today's weather forecast for over a week. It's been a mild winter overall but today will be exceptionally nice. Thanks to a warm front sweeping its way north and east from the Gulf of Mexico, the high temperature in my area is expected to be in the middle to upper 70s with clear skies and westerly winds of five to ten mph. Yesterday we only got to about 50 with more clouds than sun and by Saturday we'll see a high of 36 with chances of cold showers or possibly even light snow so today's a rare gift, not to be wasted.

I've planned a 67-mile route (ambitious: given the time of year and general lack of riding so far, possibly too much so) that takes me out to Poolesville, loops up to Sugarloaf Mountain for a climbing test, returns to Poolesville, then follows a different return route back to the house. Hubris knows no bounds, but routing twice through Poolesville, which by coincidence more than conscious design falls at the one-third and again at the two-thirds distance points, gives me ample opportunities for extended rest and refueling stops. There are a few other waystations along the loop as well, so as long as I'm careful about paying attention to how I'm feeling and diligent in staying hydrated I should be fine.

The plan.

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At 10:15 it's still cloudy and about 55 degrees- okay, but not really what I was hoping for. Still, the forecast is for the best weather in the afternoon and I don't want to leave it too late so I'm on the road by 10:20. Sure enough, within ten minutes of the time I depart the trailing edge of the cloud cover slides past revealing brilliant sunshine in a bright blue sky. The temperature begins to rise perceptibly; it's going to be a nice day after all.

Miles roll easily under Serenity's wheels as I pass through the familiar roads close to home. I'm pleased when a bluebird flits across the road not far ahead of me but there's no photo opportunity so it exists only as a pleasant memory. Since I'm carrying my pocket-sized point-and-shoot camera with its pitiful 4x optical zoom, I'm not likely to get any decent bird pictures today anyhow.

My one-and-only attempt at a bird photo today. I think it was another bluebird but I'm not really sure.

As I get into Potomac the houses get farther apart and are set on large plots of land; I've commented on many of them in other pages here and elsewhere so I'll forego much more commentary for today. Suffice it to say that traffic is low and the scenery generally pleasant, making for enjoyable riding.

I like this house. It's nicely set and not over-the-top nouveau riche look-at-me in style.

One feature of this area of Potomac (which is simply the name of an area of the county, not an incorporated town or village) is the Glenstone estate, built over a number of years in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It's set on 230 acres and is hard to miss.

Glenstone is a private estate with its own extensive collection of mostly modern art. The owners made it big in the pharmaceutical industry and built themselves an enormous estate including a museum to house their collection. The museum and much of the grounds are open to the public (for free, which is something of a surprise given that such things do actually cost money to operate) by appointment.

About ten miles into the ride I stop for a Gatorade and a Payday bar, at the middle-of-nowhere convenience store that serves sparsely-populated Potomac. I don't really need the break but also don't want to push things too hard this early in the season.

Back on the bike after a few minutes, I head for Poolesville. The day's warming nicely and I'm thoroughly enjoying my ride. Somewhere along the way I catch another rider and we match paces for several miles. We talk about where we're going, retirement, and health issues. Reaching the edge of town, he peels off to the left while I continue toward the business area.

It's a brilliant day. The trees are definitely starting to show signs of coming back to life after their winter dormancy. Bad news, trees: in 36 hours we're expecting temperatures at or below freezing and possibly a little snow.

You know you're in a rural area when there's land enough for a polo club. There are at least three separate clubs along my route today, and numerous establishments set up to house at least a few horses (though not all of them are polo ponies).

Deciding that I don't really want to stop for a full meal, even though it's going on 1:00 and one of my preferred local family-owned restaurants is right there, I also elect to skip a gas station stop to replenish my water supply. I know that in another seven easy miles I'll reach the Dickerson Store, another tiny gas station and convenience store that serves the population of this rural part of the county.

On my way I see that White's Ferry is still closed. There's been an ongoing legal battle between the ferry owner/operators (based in Maryland) and the (relatively new) landowner on the Virginia side of the river. The entire Potomac lies in Maryland, according to the original charter granted by the British monarch when the colony of Maryland was founded. For 230 years (the Ferry's been in operation since 1786) there was an agreement that permitted the ferry to discharge and pick up passengers from the Virginia side, presumably without paying the Virginia landowners for the privilege or at least not paying an exorbitant amount.

The property that includes the landing on the Virginia side changed hands a few years ago, and the new owners have not been amenable to the previous arrangement, demanding either a one-time $3 million ransom or an ongoing $0.50/vehicle fee. That forced the ferry to suspend operations, and the wrangling continues to this day. It's really sad.

Just behind the Ferry closed sign, however, I see an acre of community-supported agriculture. This offsets my sadness at the ferry issue.

Riding north I come across a farm preserve: it's a working farm owned and operated by a local community preservation organization. Much of the western part of my county is designated as an "agricultural reserve" and is supposed to be sheltered from the economic pressures that go with land development but in the past two decades the ever-encroaching rot of development has become increasingly apparent.

A barn gleaming in fresh white paint makes a lovely scene, especially when you know it'll be preserved for a while longer yet.

This is also an area where small historical artifacts can be spotted. Among them is a couple miles of stone fencing, which makes a pleasant border for the quiet roadway on which I'm riding.

There are a few places in this part of the county that still have preserved stone fences.

The county does what it can to keep them safe, but they're definitely no longer pristine.

A "lawyer's road", supposedly created to give lawyers traveling the circuit viable access to clients living in what were once out-of-the-way corners of the county.

Arriving in Dickerson I capture my only rural church photo of the day. There is another that I passed earlier but I've photographed it before so didn't stop this time past.

My only church of the day: a Methodist establishment on the edge of Dickerson.

At the thirty mile mark I reach the Dickerson Store. It's time for a bite to eat so I buy and eat a sandwich and a couple side items.

Next up on the day's agenda is the ride up to Sugarloaf Mountain, a monadnock that's also the high point in the area. From the base to the top is about a 500 foot climb over a distance of something like a mile and a half; I want to see how I'll fare and how Serenity does as a climbing bike.

When I reach the small parking area just outside the entrance it's full and there are several cars sort of milling around in evident confusion and indecision. I don't realize why until I get to the entrance and see the gates are closed.

Well alrighty then, I guess I'll have to test myself against that hill some other time. I'm secretly relieved because I can feel that I'm no longer really as fresh as I was thirty miles ago and it's not clear that I'd have done well either on the climb or in the miles that must be covered to get back home.

Much newer: this vineyard dates from 2006. There were a bunch of folks at the outdoor tables, enjoying the splendid weather as well as the wine.

Along Comus Road stands a house I absolutely detest. It's gargantuan, a hulking behemoth sited baldly at the top of a hill and with absolutely no trees or even shrubbery to mitigate its domineering "look at me" presence. It spoils the entire neighborhood, in my opinion.

Mercifully, the garish hulk is only in my field of view for a few minutes and then I'm back in lovely, wooded semi-isolation. There are plenty of homes dotting the roadside but they're set back from the road, screened and surrounded by trees that help make them reasonably inconspicuous, unlike that hilltop eyesore.

Sadly this scene lasts for just a few miles before modern development once again intrudes. What's the point of designating a part of the county as an agricultural reserve I wonder, if that reserve is subsequently eroded and destroyed by piecemeal development (or development of any sort) and placement of ginormous "country estates"?

There are still magnificent vistas, if you know where to look. (Ironically there are also two distant agglomerations of high-rise office buildings on the horizon, but they're far enough away so as not to intrude too grossly on the immediate scene.)

Hideous and ghastly are two of the milder adjectives that come to mind when I see this.

This one- almost completed and ready for sale- isn't as ugly but geez it's HUGE.

Every time I ride past this I think it belongs at the end of *my* driveway.

These aren't merely "view blockers", they're soul-crushing view-DESTROYERS.

Continuing, I eventually reach Poolesville for the second time today. It's now been over 40 miles and I'm ready for a longer break, so I hit my new favorite pizza joint for the customary slice of pepperoni and a couple Cokes. Coupled with a longer rest they have the restorative effect that I hope will be enough to see me home. It's 18 miles if I take a more direct route than the original plan calls for, and I'm pleased to see that the anticipated gentle west wind has materialized as predicted: it'll be a tailwind and should help me squeeze the last miles out of my tiring legs.

Reaching my immediate neighborhood, as I pass through the grounds of the Senior Center I'm startled to see that the ornamental trees along the bike path have burst into bloom. This almost had to have happened just today, because the days earlier this week have been cool and wet. I have bad news for the trees: in 36 hours we'll be at or below the freezing mark.

Arriving back at my driveway I find that I've cut a total of about four miles off the plan: three of them went away when I was stymied in my attempt to climb Sugarloaf and the last one evaporated when I took a slightly more direct route in the last few miles of the return leg. Still and all, though, it's been a good and encouraging ride. The only questions remaining are: will I be able to get out of bed tomorrow, and will I be able to walk?

What I actually rode. Pretty close to the plan.

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Today's ride: 63 miles (101 km)
Total: 260 miles (418 km)

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