Pennyfield Lock – Splattered Brains

People Get Ready

It snowed on Saturday, March 12th, 2022. It is rare that we have snow storms this late in the season, but it does happen once in a while.

It was cold enough that day the snow stuck to the ground. Prudence led me to set out on a simple walk along the canal the next day, on Sunday, rather than a real hike that would involve the conquest of mountain peaks (hahaha!). I am glad that I did this.

I did not realize how much I missed this place – the towpath. I walked from Rileys Lock to Pennyfield Lock and back. The temperature was about 20°F when I started. Fortunately, there was no wind. There was not a cloud in the blue sky. And the blue waters of Potomac matched the sky in its brilliance.

What I had really missed while I had been away from this trail for quite a while were the little birds that you always find hanging around. They create their own unique sense of atmosphere. Their background noise accompanies you in your time of solitude. Perhaps it helps soothe the soul. It is not as if these birds are even all spectacular looking to the eye. The simple sparrow is my companion on the trail. There they are, all of these different kinds of birds, just going about their business of living, hopping from one branch to another, singing, hanging around on the trail, hanging out with the squirrels, swimming in the water…. There is pleasure to be found in just observing ordinary life on the trail!

And then there was the fox that was running away from the trail in the snow near Pennyfield Lock when I first saw it. It stopped to look at me – to make sure I was not going to pose a danger to it. One look at my camera as it came up to my face and it bounded away even though I was too far away from it to do any kind of damage.

I had concluded in the past that pictures taken of snow are usually not very effective. It can be difficult to capture the proper spirit of winter when you are just seeing white everywhere in the picture. But, it has also been a long time since I visited the canal after a snowfall. The novelty of the experience must be acknowledged. I got a few pictures that I liked that morning.

The bridge over Seneca Creek at Riley’s Lock has been reopened. There is a brand new metal span over the water. I was able to cross over to the northern side of the trail and explore the area near the pond and the Seneca Quarry and Mill.

The cold did not really bother me, but I did notice when I returned to the car after the walk that the skin on different parts of my face had turned red from the exposure. It had warmed up to about 30°F by then.

One of the songs that went through my head during the walk was this one.

Eva Cassidy was a great singer who died young and never achieved the recognition that she deserved. An earlier version of this song sung by Curtis Mayfield was another classic.

Running On Ice – The Towpath In Winter (02/07/2005)

This write up is from my early days on the towpath. The pictures shown were taken with an analog camera, and I just scanned them into the original text for the purpose of this blog.

**************
I ran from Pennyfield Lock (mile 19.6) to Great Falls (Mile 14) on Saturday. I left home at around 7:15 am, as the sun was rising between the suburban homes that line the roads of Montgomery County, as it began to flood the intersection of Darnestown Road and Quince Orchard Road with a brilliant yellow. The sky was clear except for the jet trail of an airliner – a tiny dot in the sky, carrying human beings on their morning ride to a far off place. Imagine all the souls in that one tiny speck…

I arrived at Pennyfield Lock as the sun was beginning to hit the canal through the trees. It was below freezing as I backed-up the car into an ice-covered spot in the lot. It had snowed on Wednesday, and as I walked on to the trail I noticed that it was still covered with snow. I was uncertain about how far I would be able to go under the conditions. I could see that others had traversed this area after the storm – shoe prints, paw prints and tracks from bicycle tires were clearly visible. I started walking and realized that the soles of my shoes were offering a pretty good grip on the ice and snow. All I had to do was avoid the slippery parts, either where the sun had started to melt the snow, or where the trampling of feet had melted the ice, only to have it refreeze once again in the night. I found out that I could run!

The river was quiet early in the morning and covered with a layer of mist. There was no sign of ice on the water. The canal itself was frozen in parts. The water was pouring out over the gates of the lock and through its cracks, but further away from the lock the canal was a sheet of ice. There were footprints in places, perhaps from when it had been colder, and the ice thicker. There was even a snowman. It did not look too safe to be on the ice today. I could see cracks in places.

Great Falls is an area where the Potomac River drops by about 60 feet through ferocious rapids. The power of the water is awesome. As you approach the falls you can hear the roar of the water. As you cross the bridges that take you to Olmsted Island in the middle of the river, you experience the river at close quarters – the violent rush of water, and the white boiling foam as it blasts through the channels and crashes against the rocks.It was fantastic to be out on the Lookout at the tip of the island in the cold of the morning.I was the only person there, looking down at the roaring rapids and the rocks partially covered with snow below me. The birds that I had seen in summer at the bottom of these cliffs were gone, probably headed south. There were geese flying up in the sky in pairs, honking noisily, and probably also headed south. I started singing loudly to myself – I will survive, as long as I know how to love, I know I will stay alive, I’ve got all my life to live……

I started getting cramps in the calf muscles as I started my way back to Pennyfield Lock. It took me completely by surprise since I had covered greater distances in the past without problems. Perhaps it was the cold and the extra effort being made to ensure that one did not land on one’s butt! The rest of the trip was covered more carefully. As the sun had come up and was in the process of melting the snow and ice, it had also become more slippery on the trail. I negotiated the trail bareheaded and in my T-shirt as I removed my ski cap, track-suit top and gloves to enjoy the feel of the cold against the sweat on the skin. On the way back, I saw something sticking out the ice in the canal. A more careful investigation revealed the head of a deer with the neck all chewed up, probably by birds pecking at it. I then noticed that the rest of the body of the deer was below the melting ice of the canal. I think this was a case of an animal trying to cross the canal and falling through the thin ice. This is nature in action, and should also serve as a warning to us “civilized” folks to be careful out there. I also noticed that the river was not as quiet as it appeared to be at first glance. There were various birds on the rocks. I saw a group of more than 100 ducks and ducklings in the middle of the river, fighting the current. What a sight!

This trip to the outdoors made my weekend (and probably the rest of this week).
********************

I cannot imagine tackling the cold these days in the way I did in 2005 as far as the clothing is concerned! I would certainly try to run on the snow/ice under similar conditions if I were on my own.

Songs From The Woods

Let me bring you songs from the wood:
To make you feel much better than you could know
Jethro Tull – from Songs From the Wood

The weather report indicated that it was going to rain that morning. But I was determined to make it to the towpath anyway. The irony was that we had had good weather earlier in the week, suitable for outdoor activities, but I had successfully made excuses for not going outdoors and doing my exercise. The weather turned out to be bad on the one day I was going to be making up for my laziness during the week. Rats!

It rained as we drove to Pennyfield Lock last Sunday, and it was raining as we began our walk.The rain was not too heavy, and I kept my camera under a poncho that I was wearing. We were comfortable. And the rain did peter out as the morning progressed – even though the skies continued to look threatening from time to time. The wet weather did nothing to dampen our enthusiasm for the walk.

When we arrived at Pennyfield lock, we were met by a steady background noise, the sound of some kind of an insect it seemed, emanating from the woods all around us. We stopped to listen, but we still could not make out the source of the sound. It seemed to be everywhere. You can listen to these sounds in the background of this recording that I made in a section that also happened to be full of birds. I am thinking of crickets, or maybe cicadas.

There were more Spring flowers to be seen this week along the trail, including the unique Dutchman’s Breeches!We also saw Cutleaf Toothwort, Gill over the Ground, and some small yellow flowers that I did not recognize.

We also encountered a few different birds. There were quite a few Great Blue Herons in this section this morning.The Canada geese were also plentiful. They seem to be somewhat ornery this time of year. I think it is nesting season. They were squawking at each other, and we even witnessed one loud fight going on on the river.We speculated that this was a situation of two males fighting over a female. We had no informed basis for coming to such a conclusion.

We saw a few of the musical Carolina Wren,and the colorful Northern Cardinal.They brightened up the place.

A Barred Owl also made an appearance.I even sighted a couple of Wood Ducks. They are not that common in these parts, and the only time you are likely to see them is in winter.

As usual, there were noisy sparrows in the bushes all over the place. I reacted to their presence by dismissing them, half jokingly, as “just sparrows”. I think it was an unfortunate response, and it happens a lot because we see a lot these birds. The truth of the matter is that they are also amazing creatures like all of the other birds – regardless of how often we get to see them. Perhaps people would tend to respond differently in places where there are fewer of them. I am sure any curious child would find them amazing. Can any of us even claim to be able to fly around effortlessly like these birds? How many of us really understand the phenomenon of bird flight? And yet we take it all for granted….

The lyrics of the song I noted at the beginning of this blog are worth listening to:

My Continuing Search for Autumn Colors

The weather turned wet on Sunday after an extended period of sunshine, a period of time that had left me wondering whether the solar panel system on our roof would end up generating a record amount of energy for the month. I now do not think this will happen. There is a concept called the law of averages that will probably even things out over the the month. (Note that the law of averages more of a common sense statement rather than a mathematical statement of probability. But that is a discussion of another day!)

Anyway, it was a sunny morning last Thursday when I did a bike ride, heading towards Washington, DC. The experience of this bike ride left me with the feeling that I could be reaching the tail-end of the riding season – or that my strategy of starting a bike ride early in the morning – in order to ensure that I was back home at a reasonable time – was not going to work for the rest of the year. It was much too cold! It was cold enough that I went off-trail to visit the fully-equipped restroom at Great Falls after about eight miles of riding – to turn on the dryer in the facility in order to warm my hands and get sensation back to my fingers. It being early in the morning, I was riding in the shadows of the woods, and I could not even depend on the touch of the sun to warm me up.

I was still feeling the cold when I got to the end point of the ride, a spot beside the trail between the mile 7 and 8 markers of the towpath, just beyond the footbridge across the canal.In order to keep myself warm (while I refreshed myself with a Clif bar and some water), I parked the bike next to a bench that happened to be in the sun.

It had warmed up nicely by the time I started making my way back to Rileys Lock, to the extent that I encountered many more riders headed the other way during this stretch of pedaling.

As you can see from the pictures above, and also from the pictures below that I took at the start of the ride at Rileys Lock, the leaves on the trees were still generally green that day,but there were also signs that they had begun to drop!

I did not feel too tired at the end of this ride. I am sure the outside temperature had something to do with it.

We went for a walk on the towpath last Sunday starting at Pennyfield Lock and heading north towards Rileys Lock. Because of the threat of rain later in the day hanging over us, we decided to get a very early start. We did not even have breakfast before heading out!

You observe more things around you when walking than when biking. There were the early signs of the coming change to the foliage, and there was at least one point at which we also got a glimpse of how extraordinary the Autumn view can become as the season progresses towards its peak.

In any case, a walk along the canal is beautiful and therapeutic in so many different ways.

Unfortunately, we were also reminded of how busy, and sometimes unpleasant, this section of the trail can get during the weekends, with hordes of inexperienced bikers and walkers taking over the towpath. We had to be on our toes and aware of traffic in both directions while walking. We encountered large groups of people who were unfamiliar with the protocols and courtesies of the trail, people who created a danger to themselves and others. What to do? I made the mistake of trying to let people know in one instance even though I am not good in situations like this.

When The Old Becomes New Once Again

Some folks know that I have biked literally a few thousand miles in the last few years. While I have done it as a pastime, the primary driver, the primary motivator if you will, has been the occurrence of certain events, certain planned bike rides with my friends, that I needed to train for. Or it has been a case of where I needed to prove something to myself – like the ability to get back on the bike after a major fall during one of the aforementioned rides. Lacking any such motivating forces this year, it has taken me a long time to get back on my bicycle this year. But it did happen finally in spite of all the regular excuses. And I am hoping that this is not the last time I ride a bike this year.

The process of getting back on the bicycle for the first time each year poses its own challenges. Things that you take for granted as a part of a regular schedule can become challenges once again. Where did I leave my bicycling gear last year? Do I have enough shorts, tops, or even gloves, stored away? Where did I put these things? What happened to my favorite gloves? What are the things that I want to carry during a ride, and how will I carry them – a bottle of water, a Clif bar, my keys, my smart phone, etc.. Do I really need my wallet during the ride? Do I carry stuff in the pockets on the back of my shirt, or in the pockets of my shorts, or in the pockets of my camera bag, during the ride? Will I remember to close the zippers for the pockets of my shorts so that stuff does not fall out at some random place while I am riding? None of this is a habit any more.

What is the state of the bike after all this time? The tires are flat after many months of sitting in the garage. Will they hold the air in once I pump them up? Where did I leave the bicycle pump? Should I not oil the bicycle chain? I need to find the instructions for doing that.

Is my bicycle helmet alright? Is it where I think I left it last year? Should I have gotten a new helmet? (I already know the answer to that last question, but I am not good at planning ahead.)

How do I get the bike to the trail? I used to throw it into the back of the Prius in the past (as talked about in a paragraph here), but we have now switched the use of the family cars. Is the old bike rack still functional? What adjustments need to be made to attach it to the back of the Honda Civic? Have I attached the rack securely? Have I attached the bike to the rack securely? As I drive to the trail head, my eyes are shifting to the rear-view mirror more often than usual, to make sure the bike has not disappeared from view somewhere along the way. How the heck did I have the nerve to drive long distances on the highways with a bike tied to the back of the car when I was young? Was I young and stupid? (Don’t answer that last question!)

And then one arrives at the trail head. You take the bike off the rack and check that everything is in order. There are days in the past when I have ridden off without my helmet or gloves. That did not happen on Thursday at Pennyfield Lock.

And then you are biking. It all feels quite effortless. The bike feels too small. But that is the same way I feel every year when I start biking for the first time. But then you get used to it very quickly. It is all coming back. You ease into the routine. There is no reason to hurry. You can see how the muscles feel after many months of disuse. I have no worries. I have done this so many times that it is all going to come back – the rhythm, the zen of the bicycle trail.

And then I am off, and it is hard to stop. If I do, I will lose the magical feeling. I do not even stop for the flowers by the trail. The air is cool, you encounter the occasional human being. At this point, there are some people who are zipping past me with a sense of purpose. There are others making their way at a more leisurely pace. I know that I will eventually join the first group. That is how my mind works.

After a while, you begin to feel the effort of the biking in the muscles. It is time to slow down, perhaps stop for a drink of water, and/or a pee.

The trail transforms itself in different sections – mud and potholes in the first part (smooth), the roughness and unevenness of the differently sized pebbles on the trail in the second part (bumpy), and, finally, the new crushed gravel for the last section of the ride (cushioned) all the way up to Whites Ferry. The sounds of the wheels change as the surfaces change. The rhythm becomes new once again – and then you get used to the new rhythm.

I stopped for the turtle I found on the trail. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

It had obviously emerged from the waters of the canal.I did not slow down for the green heron that was flying by me, but the still great blue heron caught my attention.I stopped and walked back to where it was standing on a branch over the canal. So engrossed was it in looking for fish in the water that it did not move an inch during the whole time. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Then it was relaxation time at Whites Ferry before I started biking back to Pennyfield Lock.

The statue of a confederate soldier that used to stand on this pedestal (on private land) at Whites Ferry has been torn down by vandals. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA The statue formerly used to stand at the Montgomery County government offices in Rockville. It was donated to the owners of the ferry a few years ago after the political environment in the county shifted. The owners of the ferry did not know what they were getting themselves into. They now want to have nothing to do with the controversy regarding confederate monuments. The even renamed their ferry boat almost immediately. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA It used to be called the General Jubal A. Early. Jubal Early was a Confederate General during the civil war.

It was nice to see that the operations at Whites Ferry seemed to be in decent shape despite all of our recent troubles. The local store at the ferry site looked like it was getting decent foot traffic from the summer visitors who are flocking to the outdoors more than usual during this time of COVID-19. I was completely in the zone by the time I started riding back. As I expected, I was picking up the pace as I rode. It seems to be a natural tendency on my part. It was a different state of mind from when I started the ride. This time, I took a break for a snack and water at Sycamore Landing. I also stopped to take a picture of the flowers I had ignored on the way out. I initially thought these flowers were Dames Rocket, but they have the wrong number of petals. I think these are Wild Sweet William, a kind of phlox.

There was the frog that hopped on to the trail in front of me as I was biking, and then, as I slowed down hoping that it would stop so that I could take its picture, decided that it was going to take a circular route back to the side of the trail that it had come from. It all happened in an instant.

There were the opportunities for further examination when the butterflies flew past me, and I considered whether to stop and turn my head to see if they had landed somewhere. The only time I really stopped, the butterfly kept going in the opposite direction that I was biking in, following another bike rider who was headed that way. It seemed to be able to keep pace with the rider easily. One other time, the image of a black butterfly with red stripes on both wings imprinted itself in my brain the moment it flew past me, and then the moment was gone. Someone could tell me that I only imagined that moment, and I would not have anything concrete to offer to counter that assertion.

I got a surprise as I got closer to the end of the ride. I found this snake across the trail. Although it was much smaller than the version of the snake I had found the previous year on the Capital Crescent Trail, it was not very difficult to recognize the Northern Copperhead, one of only two venomous snakes in Maryland. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA The eyes on this snake give me the creeps even now, many days later.By the time I was done with the ride, I was back in the swing of things. My overall confidence level was back to normal. I stopped the GPS device when I got to the car. I had done over 32 miles in over three hours. I loaded my bike on the bike rack once again, and drove home the recuperate and recover.

I hope this is not the last ride this year.

A Closed Section of the Towpath

I saw this at the website of the National Park Service for the C&O Canal Park after I got home from my bike ride.I might have been the only person to ride the section after it was closed.

In fact I had to cross this barrier at Pennyfield Lock to exit the closed section after I was done with my ride.Earlier on, I had encountered a young girl working for the NPS who belonged to the Student Conservation Association who was taking a count of the number of fallen trees in the closed section. She said that she had counted 20, and that she had stopped because she had come to an impassable section. I was able to cross this section by carrying my bike off the trail and back on to it.The section of the trail in the picture below looked beaten up from water flowing over the trail.A park ranger had stopped me earlier. He looked a little upset when he saw me. He got up from the stump he had been sitting on. “Did you not see the sign that the trail was closed?”, he asked. I had been prepared for the encounter. “I have to get back to my car which is parked at Pennyfield Lock,” I said. He immediately relented. He actually smiled.

I had actually encountered an NPS pickup truck with a couple of kids earlier on in the closed section of the trail. They were backing away from the site of the destruction on the trail, all the way back to Swain’s Lock it seemed. Because of the width of the towpath, there was no place to turn the pickup truck around. They had told me to be careful, but had made no attempt to stop me. The kid mentioned that they were not responsible if I hurt myself.

Back at Swain’s lock, as I approached the sign for the blocked trail, I had a decision to make. I could stay on the trail, or I could try to get to the main road and ride along the road. Riding along the road would have added a couple of miles to the ride, and it would have also involved riding up and down decent slopes on the side roads to get to the main road. It would have also been more dangerous because of the traffic on the road. Besides, I was tired after having ridden more than 30 miles at that point. It did not take too long for me to decide to stay on the trail and face the consequences of my action if I encountered somebody who objected.

At that point I was returning from a ride all the way out to Fletchers Cove. The highlight of this ride was the stop to see the swallowtail butterflies feasting in the morning sun on the milkweed growing beside the waters of the canal.Crossing the damaged section of the trail earlier in the morning on my way out had been an adventure in itself. I could ride my bike for only short sections at a time. I had to carry my bike over tree limbs laying across the trail, and walk under fallen branches balanced over me. I even had to carry my bike off the trail through the woods to get past one section. Fortunately folks had created a path off the trail in this section. (The trail must have been blocked for at least a little while at this point in time for this to happen!) I carried my bike past the park ranger who was sitting in his front-end loader on the trail. He did not stop me. Perhaps he remembered me later in the day when I encountered him again, which was why he let me get by that time.

The destruction was extensive. Trees were fallen all over the place. The trail had also been washed away in a few sections, as if the canal had overflowed. I kept going.

When I started the ride earlier that morning, I had met a person who had just finished his bike ride. He had warned me about the fallen trees, but had apparently gotten through to the other side, where the trail was completely clear. He did not say anything to discourage me from my plan to ride towards the city.

The strange thing about what I saw on the trail was the localized nature of the damage. I have a hunch that some kind of twister must have touched down during a storm that had taken place a few days earlier. The funny thing is that I was not aware of the extent of the storm when it happened even though the trail is not too far from home. I wondered how things might have looked on the trail when the storm was actually happening. The power of nature is awesome.

And that is the end of this little tale told backwards!

Hah!

Of Photographs and Stories

I felt that I had to bike today because I had not gotten out for my regular exercise in over a week. The temperatures had been in the “dangerous” range, and it was dropping to more comfortable levels today. I left home very early, and was surprised by the large number of cars in the parking lot at Pennyfield Lock at that time on a weekday. The sun was still rising as I set out. I saw a large number of bicyclists at the lock house for Pennyfield Lock as I approached the towpath. It was obvious that they had spent the night there as a part of the Canal Quarters program. I then turned on to the towpath headed for Washington, DC.

The level of water in the river is low right now. It has not rained for a few days. Work at different sections of the canal where there were detours – the waste weirs near Great Falls, and mileposts 7 and 9, are being rebuilt – was already underway for the day. I even had to navigate my way around a truck bringing in material to a construction site. I can see that the work at the different sites is coming along. I believe there is a long term plan to re-water the entire stretch of canal starting at Violette’s lock. The current work could be a part of that long term effort. Wonder if I will survive long enough to see the end result!

Pretty soon after I got on the trail I realized that I had not taken my camera. I had been thinking primarily about the exercise aspect of the ride and had forgotten. But it did not bother me. However, a few miles into the ride, my thoughts drifted towards the thinking process behind taking pictures. (It was that kind of a morning!) To me, it is not necessarily just about taking a picture that looks good, but it is more about capturing a story. Sometimes, a single picture can tell a story. But, these days, I also like to add pictures to a story that is being told with words to give it more character. This is something that did not do in the past. In spite of the fact that I did not have my camera with me, I did get to a point during this ride when I felt the need to stop and take a picture with my smartphone to somehow capture how it felt at that time during the ride. That would be the story. The first time I had this feeling I did not stop because I was focused on the exercise aspect of the ride. But a few hundred feet later, I came to another point where I could not resist the temptation to take a picture. Here it is.When I reached Fletcher’s Cove, I got on to the Capital Crescent Trail headed in the direction of Washington, DC. The ride on this trail is smoother than on the towpath since it is paved. As I approached DC, I began to feel a rhythm of the wheel that was unusual. There was a bouncy feeling, and very little noise associated with it. When I got to the end of the ride at the far end of the Georgetown Waterfront, I decided to check out the tire and realized that there was a bump in one small section. Oh, oh! It looked like the tire was about to blow out, and I was about 20 miles from home. I had been barreling down the towpath over pieces of gravel on my way out (remember, this particular ride was about the exercise, and not necessarily sightseeing – each ride has a different feel to it!). I had to either find a local bike shop to replace the tire, or bike more carefully on my way back. I decided to risk it and bike back, but only after releasing some air from the tire to reduce the pressure. I did manage to make it back to Pennyfield lock in good shape and in good time.

I found a few pawpaw fruit on the ground during this ride. Perhaps it is time to return to the section of the trail that had an abundance of these fruits last year.

The rhythm of life goes on.

The Rhythm of the Wheels

“The beat goes on, the beat goes on
Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain”
Sonny and Cher

Strictly speaking there is no rhythm generated by the turning of a wheel – by something that is circular that simply goes round and round. But a rhythm can indeed be established by some process related to the turning of the wheel. Thus it is with riding a bicycle, where the wheels contribute to rhythms that are established in other ways – whether it is from the sounds of some intermittent but regular contact between the wheel and something on the bike itself, or because of something getting stuck in the treads of wheel itself making contact with the ground; or whether the rhythm is in the movement of the legs, the movement that causes the wheels to rotate. Some of these rhythms can become addictive, like a drug, and the feeling that takes over can overcome all other feelings, especially when you are in the groove. The rhythm overcomes any feeling of tiredness that may exist, and can indeed make what you are doing at that moment feel somewhat effortless. Perhaps biking is addictive, and what one is experiencing is a high – when one feels the rhythm of the wheels.

You might be able to sense from what I wrote that I am back to a regular biking routine. Consider that I had only started biking once again recently just to get some practice for the long rides that I have done with friends the last couple of years. Now that I have started biking again, I have the urge to go on and on. Yes, the feeling of a need to bike may also be a sign of an oncoming addiction.

Last week I decided to try out something a little more challenging. I rode the towpath from Great Falls to Fletchers cove,

IMG_20180815_091332530 — Picnic tables at Marsden Tract

and took on the slope of the Capital Crescent Trail from Fletchers Cove to Bethesda from then onwards. The ride on the CCT was a breeze! I feel like I have not lost the strength and ability to tackle the slopes. My only adventures that day were on the towpath. The first time was when I was forced off the path into some shrubbery that proved to be quite irritating to the skin (wonder if it was poison ivy). This was because of the approach of a group of heavy-duty work vehicles on the narrow path. They were probably trying to get to a place to do some repair work on the trail. Thankfully the itching feeling did not last. (Perhaps I was experiencing the effect of the rhythm!) I encountered the same convoy on the trail at an unexpected location on the way back. It looked to me like a skid-steer loader had gotten partially off the trail and was being pulled back on to it by a heavy-duty excavator. I had to carry my bike off the trail and through the trees to a spot well below the towpath that was closer to the river, and then take an unmarked detour in order to get by! IMG_20180815_113624614 The next time I biked that week, I stuck to the towpath and went all the way up to Whites Ferry from Pennyfield Lock. The ride was uneventful, except for the fact that I got so irritated by the state of the trail in one section (something that I have complained about in the past) that I even wrote a letter of complaint to the National Park Service. The letter has probably been ignored, but at least I was able to get it off my chest.

Teresa came biking with me last Monday. She was doing this for the first time in years. She did feel the aftereffects!

IMG_20180820_093504975 — At the half-way point in the ride with Teresa

The last bike ride to report on was from Whites Ferry heading north. I was hoping to get to Brunswick, but I had forgotten about the washout of the trail just south of the town. This happened because of all the rain we have been getting recently. This one is going to take a while to fix. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Meanwhile I intend to continue to ride. It may be an addiction!

The beat goes on…

A Moment of Determination

I had not been on a bicycle since the accident that happened almost a year ago. The doctor had given me the “all clear” to go back to my regular activities a while back, but I had not done it even though I had decided a long time ago that there was no way other than to get back on the bicycle. The truth was that I was also missing all the training rides that I had being doing in the years past – on various sections of the C&O Canal towpath, on the Capital Crescent Trail into Bethesda and Silver Spring; on the Custis, the W&OD, the Mt. Vernon and the Four Mile Run trails in Virginia; and even the ride up Sugarloaf Mountain. I knew these trails somewhat well by now, and I could even picture some of the specific experiences and challenges that one came across along the way, whether it was the stop at Fletchers Cove to use the facilities and get a drink of water, crossing the Potomac on the Key bridge, or riding along the river on the Mt. Vernon trail past Gravelly Point and National Airport, or the challenge of one of the slopes on the Custis trail or Sugarloaf mountain. I needed to do it.

But time passed and it did not happen until now. You could say that there was a bit of apprehension on my part, not because of the fear of riding a bike per se, but because of a fear of falling off the bike. It was specifically about the possibility of falling on my separated shoulder once again. I had a mental picture of how severe the damage could be to a clavicle that was already floating around. I did actually look for specific protection that could be worn it this regard, but the only solution out there would have made me look and feel like a gladiator with plastic armor-plating on a bicycle. I could not picture that! But there were other real excuses. We were busy with a wedding and with guests who were visiting until now. Before I knew it, we were half way through the year.

I finally made the move Wednesday morning. I checked out my biking gear the first time in many months – the shorts, the tops and the gloves. Things were where I expected them to be. I checked out the bike, still covered with dirt from last year, reinflated the tires, grabbed my helmet, and after a test ride around the cul dec sac, loaded it into the back of the car.

Finally at Pennyfield Lock. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA I decided to ride a distance of about 16+ miles (one way) to Fletchers Cove this day. I had forgotten how cool it could be under the trees even on a July morning in the middle of summer as you rode against the wind. I had forgotten the rhythmic sound of the crunching of the tires against the gravel of the trail as one rode on the dirt. I had forgotten the easy and peaceful nature of an early morning ride. There was a feeling of serenity, and the mind could wander once again.

I took it easy. This is the way I usually start a ride, especially after a break from when I have been challenging myself. But then the Adrenalin kicks in and, before you know it, your legs are moving to a steady beat and the pace is increasing to another level. And it is all so effortless at this point. You are enjoying the ride.

I can still sense some fear in me, a fear of falling off the bike if I got too close to the edge of the trail, but it is no more about the shoulder. I know I am over it, and it has happened quickly. The other general fear of wandering across the trail and falling off into the woods or the water will disappear with time, just like it used to in the past. It is a defense mechanism of the brain that I appreciate.

Life along the canal has not changed. I have to stop for pictures along the way. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

There are people around on this cool summer morning, especially later in the morning. I re-familiarize myself with the practice of passing people who are on foot on the trail. There are many such people. Recent rains also seem to have done severe damage to the trail. I take a couple of detours off the trail along the way.

The ride back to Pennyfield Lock is when the muscles in my thighs begin to feel it. It is a familiar feeling, but it is not a feeling that you tend to remember the details of once the ride is complete and those sore muscles have recovered. I ride steadily, without a sense of rush, but by now I am also in the groove once again, and I have to make the conscious effort to slow down, and perhaps even stop once in a while to take a picture or two. This is all familiar territory for me.

The ride ended successfully. I am going to try my best to make sure this was not just a one-time effort, a flash in the pan if you will. I need to do more rides for my sense of balance and sanity. Perhaps longer group rides are in the cards once again starting next year.

Chasing the Deer

The scene unfolded during our Sunday morning walk along the C&O Canal.

We were headed back from Swains Lock to Pennyfield Lock along the towpath (the trail). The canal, which happens to have water flowing in it in these parts, was to our right, and to our left was vegetation and a somewhat sharp drop off to the Potomac river. The only people on the trail in front of us were a middle aged couple who walking towards us from the distance.

We heard a commotion behind us. After initially ignoring it, I turned back to see that there were two deer running on the towpath in our direction, being followed by two bicyclists. One of the deer was bigger than then other, probably a parent. Even though the deer had seen us, they keep coming, veering neither left or right. They were scared by the cyclists, and also of what lay on both sides of the trail.

We turned to face the deer. I feared a possible collision and I moved to protect my broken ribs. The deer finally stopped not too far from us. The bigger one then jumped into the trees and bushes on its left, towards the river, and the young one followed. The bicyclists went by.

As the people coming towards us got closer, the bigger deer crashed out of the bushes beside the river and ran across the trail into the canal. It swam across to the other side of the canal and climbed up the hill beside the canal. You could barely see it behind the trees. There was no sign of the smaller deer, but we knew that it was still on the other side of the trail, separated from the deer that was probably its parent.

As the folks approaching us went by, the little deer jumped out of the bushes beside the river in front of them. It saw the people approaching. It took off in the opposite direction along the trail, heading back towards where it had originally come from, and away from the other deer. The folks who are now walking behind the sprinting deer are pantomiming and trying signal to the deer to cross the canal to be with the other one. The deer is in a panic, neither can it understand human communications. Go back and get your young one, we ourselves say to the bigger deer who is on the other side of the canal. Of course, we are not speaking the deer’s language.

We did not wait to see how the drama of the lost deer finally played out. I would not be surprised if the two deer eventually found each other. While they might be considered creatures without intelligence by some human beings, animals have capabilities that would surprise many of us. They are not necessarily limited by the kinds of senses that we human beings normally use. (Check this out!)

The places that we frequent during the weekends allow us to experience things that may be considered out of the ordinary, things that we do not see during the normal course of the day in our usual surroundings. It may simply be that the turtles are hanging out on the logs, or the great blue heron are fishing, or that the wren is singing on a tree as you pass by. You just need to keep your senses open and a different world opens up to you. But our experience last Sunday was unique even by those standards.