June 25, 2023
Day 2: Annapolis to Washington, DC
In which I test the limits of my knowledge of profanity
What a day! Not in the "What a wonderful day!" sense - more in the "I'm glad that's over!" sense.
The day started out pretty well - leaving Annapolis had a fairly complicated route, so I had to pay close attention to road names. It reminded me of cycling in St Louis - short, sharp hills and lots of them - hardly anywhere was flat for very long.
I got out onto the minor highways, and was surprised how busy it was. I thought Sunday morning would be pretty sleepy, but I was wrong. There was a lot of traffic, and some were driving way too fast.
I was passed by a trio of what I can only think were 13 year-olds driving in the country with their fast cars. A Porsche, a Mustang, and I think the last was a Lamborghini, but it went by pretty quick! I really don't get these people that just want to disturb the pastoral landscape by filling it with revving engines and squealing tires. I appreciate that you can afford a $100K car, but you also need to acquire the wisdom to use it wisely. Grow up!
Then I passed a lady getting a DUI test from a police officer.....at 11:00 on a Sunday! He was having her walk a (hopefully) straight line. Where has she been on a Sunday morning, that he thought she was drunk. Not church!
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I passed a few of these. I agree, but with the amount of traffic and the speed they were going, I wasn't willing to risk it! Shoulders would come and go, so sometimes I just had to stop and let cars go by.
I eventually got to a part of the route that said it had more trails. Great! Except in these suburbs, the trails were atrocious! I'm calling out Bowie, Fairwood, and Lanham - do some maintenance on those things! They look as if they were built 20 years ago, and then ignored.
I fell. Not badly - I was coming down one of the aforementioned badly maintained trails, and hit a nice downhill stretch that felt wonderful. Except at the bottom (hidden in deep tree-shade) was a bunch of mud on the trail. I lost traction and my tires squirmed around trying to get purchase on the trail. By the time I exited the mud, I was moving WAY too fast, and got to a crossing over a culvert and a 75-degree right turn. I braked HARD and managed to stop, just at the edge of the culvert, but then slowly toppled off the trail into the drainage channel.
I sustained scrapes on my left elbow, knee and hip, but I'm well aware it could have been much worse. One of my bags fell off. My mirror was destroyed as the bike rolled over, and I think my front brake disc is now slightly warped. BUT, I didn't hit my head, break anything, or cut myself on the edge of the culvert, which might have been nasty!
I picked myself up, assessed the damage, and saddled up again, cursing the bad conditions. I may have used more foul language on this day than any other during these tours.
The next several miles were just really bad riding. Ostensibly on a trail, these were just glorified sidewalks, with curb-cuts for driveways and streets every what felt like 15 feet. Not smooth cuts, either! It was jarring, and unpleasant, and made it really hard to keep my speed up to what I'm used to. These trails were all along stroads of the worst type - completely car-centric and very little thought given to cyclists or pedestrians. Look up the term "stroad" if you're unsure what that means. It isn't good...
I ran into another touring cyclist going the other way. This is part of the East Coast Greenway cycle route, and he was coming from somewhere in Florida, but was from San Diego. Nice guy - he lifted my spirits by letting me know the path ahead was much more pleasant. I probably dampened his by describing the awful stretch he was about to hit - he was bound for Annapolis. Thanks, Peter - hope you had a good day!
I did get to the part Peter described - an actual honest-to-goodness bike trail. I had reached the edges of Washington DC and the infrastructure improved dramatically!
It wasn't long after this that I crossed the Anacostia River and actually entered the District of Columbia. There wasn't a sign, but I'm counting that as a new state.
In Edmonston, I passed a free library with a nice little shady gazebo to sit in. It had books, art pieces (!) and even food! It had a decent supply of canned and dry products inside the box. Sometimes the things people do out of generosity really amaze me!
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The next few miles wound along the Anacostia River - quite pleasant, flat and there was even a nice cooling breeze. I saw kayakers and paddle-boarders using the river to get a good workout.
It wasn't too much longer that I reached central DC . My plan had been to take pictures of the capitol, Washington Monument, and White House, but I ended up running smack into Pride Fest. The festival had taken over part of the National Mall, and getting around became fairly difficult. I ran into a couple of dead-ends and had to re-route multiple times. After a while I just got tired of it and headed to my hotel. Here are a few pictures from the Capitol area:
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All-in-all it wasn't my best day. The amount of climbing (nearly 2000 feet) along with the accident, hot humid weather, and lots of sub-optimal road conditions made it a mixed bag.
Tomorrow I start up the C&O Canal trail, heading to Harper's Ferry, WV and I'm hoping it will be way better. A car-free trail sounds lovely right now!
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10 months ago
You are going to hit a detour at about mile 10 of the towpath, but it didn't look too bad.
10 months ago
10 months ago
Unless you want to be a Towpath purist, take advantage of the Western Maryland Rail Trail paved path into and out of Hancock.
The way you are heading, about .4 miles after you pass Mile Marker 114 you will see a dirt path on your right. It might say Ernstville Rd, haven't been there in a while. .1 miles on that takes you to the WMRR, turn left towards Hancock, 9 miles of smooth riding away!
Leaving Hancock, the WMRR gives you another 14 miles of really beautiful and scenic paved path before you get back on the Towpath.
10 months ago
10 months ago
I hope your path avoids the bad air quality from the Canadian wildfires.
10 months ago
10 months ago
10 months ago
By comparison, you will love the GAP! I did it West to East in 2 days in 2021, it was awesome. My wife and were out in West Newton/Cedar Creek Park area biking a few weekends ago, it was in great shape out there.
10 months ago
10 months ago