 |
| (Just Cruisin' Past the White House!) |
Miles Ridden Today - Average Speed -
Today was a day that we have anticipated for many, many days. The kids are very anxious about completing their riding goals and with the finish line so close this was the day we had planned for them to complete a large chunk of their goals. The plan was to ride at least 15 miles but perhaps more if we could. As it turned out, due to all the thrills and spills fifteen was all we could handle.
The day dawned somewhat inauspiciously in that there was wet and drizzle going on. Now you have to understand, due to the nature of where we were staying for the last two nights in our little slice of Alexandria, all the bikes had been kept inside the hotel room. Quite frankly, we didn't want them to get stolen. When you go to retire to your room at the end of the day and people are just sitting outside of their rooms hanging out and you can catch a whiff of someone in the complex indulging in large quantities of the wacky weed, you get a little nervous for your personal property. And we were extremely nervous. Especially since we knew the phone didn't quite work as it should.
To make a long story short, we had to get everyone up even earlier than usual in order to get everything reloaded onto the van - all five bikes, much of our clothing and all of the electronics (including the computer). This took about 45 minutes and by the time we finished the drizzle had stopped so the kids would be able to ride with me. The deal was (which the kids were NOT pleased about) was that if it was still raining when we got to the park where we would begin our ride, they wouldn't be able to ride with me that day. So imagine the great cacophanous joy that sounded when we got to the park beside the Potomac and the clouds were clearing up. It was still gray and dreary but no more rain. We unloaded the bikes, pumped up the tires and headed North along the Potomac river along the Mount Vernon Trail;
And the view was AMAZING! It was early in the morning yet we had seen a fair number of cyclists on the path ahead of us. Unfortunately, it was shortly after this video was taken that we got or first bruising of the day. James was crossing a section of railroad track and as it was wet and the crossing had wooden sections his tire got caught in the track and he went down. As it would happen William was following closely behind him and ran into him. At first I was a bit frantic (and it came out a bit snappish at the boys) because I thought William had run over Jame's hand. It turned out to be alright in the end but James had a nice bruise on his cheek and William had chain marks on his legs from where he went down.
Eventually we got back on our way and although we saw some lovely town houses with views of the river, nothing could compare to riding along the river and seeing our Nation's Capital from this angle;
Before we knew it, we were crossing the Arlington Memorial bridge;
And after negotiating some rather busy roads (it was rush hour in D.C.) we crossed over and managed to ride on the plaza in front of the Lincoln Memorial;
Now I'm sorry, but how many nine and thirteen-year-olds can say they've ridden their bikes in front of the Lincoln Memorial? And then we (okay, I) proceeded to get lost as we tried to find the Rock Creek Park Trail. As a subscriber to the Adventure Cycling Association maps, I for one wish they would mark the twists and turns to get across the Potomac and onto this section just a little more clear. We wasted a good fifteen minutes before we finally asked a cyclist and a motorcycle policeman for directions.
Eventually we made it onto the Rock Creek Park Trail and as we were traversing this winding path we came across a motorcade speeding by;
We never did find out who it was but we enjoyed a lot of time postulating who it might be. And it was shortly after this filming that we had our second (and biggest) mishap of the day. The paths we had been traveling were all wet from last night's rain storm but the kids had been (for the most part) fairly good at regulating their speed and keeping themselves in check. However as the boys and I climbed and incline we heard a crash and a loud "Owwwww!" from Sarah up ahead. As we got over the rise and headed down we saw her on the ground and she didn't look like she was in good spirits. There was a small (but substantial) tree branch in the path and when she tried to brake to avoid it her tires had slid out from under her and she had gone down. She had scraped up her leg and was in a bit of pain. I felt sorry for my little road warrior who had had these great plans of trying to ride 25 miles with me today. Unfortunately, we were in a dead spot and I had no cell phone service and there was nothing to do but press on for another five miles to reach the meeting place Amy and I had agreed on earlier that morning. This didn't sit well with Sarah and I'm afraid I next snapped at her a bit letting her know that she HAD to go on because there was no other way.
So patched up, and at a significantly slower pace, we all got back on our bikes and slowly made our way to the park entrance where Amy was to meet us. She got the kids all bandaged up, gave me food and my rain gear and she and the kids headed off to Bel Air North where my brother-in-law Per had booked us a room in the Hilton Suite there. I was once more on my own.
After following the Adventure Cycling Maps for a while I got very bored and very tired of traversing the Rock Creek Trail so I decided to head off on one of my patented "off the grid" rides. I'd been lucky so far so I figured it couldn't be too bad. As it turned out, I was able to cut across a section of the route and knock off about ten miles of what was going to be a long day anyway. I reached a place called Glenelg, MD on the Triadelphia Road (not really sure what that name means) where I stopped at a gas station for lunch (my usual modus operandi) when I noticed that I had shared my lunch spot with an unsuspecting guest;
And then it was back on the road. I was back on the Adventure Cycling Association maps and I would stay that way until Baltimore. Riding through Baltimore was a bit surreal I have to admit. It seemed like the southwestern part of the city was ringed with a very economically depressed area - lots of boarded up houses, lots of people sitting on their steps in the middle of the day, a sort of urban version of what I had seen in much of Kentucky and Western Virginia. And to top it off, I was conspicuously conscious of the fact that I was the only white person around - and I was wearing spandex. I'm sure many of the residents probably thought I was some rich white guy who was just sight seeing in Baltimore. And to top it off, I missed my turn to get out of the downtown area once I finally got there (of course, it could have been becuase I was too busy ogling the concrete barriers and metal fencing that had been installed for the Grand Prix race which happens on Labor Day) so I ended up losing three of those hard won miles.
But eventually I found myself to US - 40 which was my route to get to Bel Air North, MD - it was already 5:00 in the evening and I still had a good 25-30 miles left to go. And the clouds were starting to roll in. Fortunately, US-40 is an official bike route and there were signs all over proclaiming it as such so I wasn't too concerned about the safety, just whether or not I would make it before I got rained on. So I kept pushing and watching the clouds coming at me from the West.
Suddenly, the sky turned dark and the wind picked up about five miles from the hotel - and the race was on. Could I make it before the rain started pouring? I kept at it and about half a mile from the hotel I realized it was going to be incredibly close - and lo and behold, the hotel was uphill! This time I couldn't blame it on Amy and her penchant for booking us in accomodations that had me end in an uphill finish, this time it was due to the largesse of my brother-in-law. It was a Hilton Suite and even riding up to the front of the hotel I could tell it was going to be an amazing place to stay! While I was riding up to the van to put my bike up the day manager was just leaving but asked me if I was the one who was riding cross country. I told him I was and he told me how amazed and in awe he was of what we were doing.
I still really don't know what to say to people when they say things like that. Despite the tiredness and the near dehydration (and the days like the one on the way to Larned) I don't really see it as being that unusual or that amazing. I'm just trying to do something to help some folks that really need the help - families who can't afford any other way to take care of their children in the summers and children who so desperately need and deserve the type of experience Sunrise can afford them. It's my hope that more folks like the day manager will feel inspired to give a little then it will all add up and maybe we can send another camper to Sunrise.
I made it in the hotel just as the rain started coming down and went upstairs to one of the most amazing rooms we have stayed in on our journey - THANK YOU UNCLE PER!!!! But I didn't get to stay long as I needed to change so we could go and partake of "The Best Crab Cakes in Maryland" according to the manager. They were huge - the size of baseballs! And were they the best? I'm not sure but they were pretty damn good and they hit the spot.
Now it's time to hit the hay and get up to ride to Swedesboro, NJ tomorrow! We're so very, very close and I can't wait to see my family (and have a day off!) and know that we'll only be two more rides from our own home!
And today's report;
FFR - 2 deer, 2 raccoons, 2 possums, 10 birds of indeterminate species, 1 cat, 6 UFO's
RRL - Oddly enough, nothing really to report here. In such a huge urban journey I saw very little - weird!
Stay well and I'll update more from the road!
For another perspective on our journey check out Amy's blog at http://www.crosscountrymama.blogspot.com//
To help us get the kids to Sunrise go to https://www.wizevents.com/register/register_add.php?sessid=1809&id=1056
Check out our website at http://www.connorsarmy.org/
No comments:
Post a Comment