WMRT – Splattered Brains

The River Runs Brown at Cohill Station (5/19/2014)

It is a strange process of the mind that has gotten me to post this particular blog. I actually started out wanting to bring Christina’s blog from her Peace Corps days back to life (at least temporarily). The final blog, before she leaves Guinea, is a classic. But, then, I thought that the circumstances of my referral to that blog in my original e-mail in 2014 were also interesting enough. I post my original e-mail in full. I do this in spite of the fact that we are heading into the season of Winter at this time, and not Summer. In fact, the temperature outside right now is about 20°F.

**********************
It rained cats and dogs, and squirrels and gerbils, last Thursday. The wind rattled the blinds of the open window in the bedroom waking me up in the middle of the night from my solitary slumber. Teresa is in Bangalore with her dad, Angela is in school taking her final exams, and Christina is wandering around the country, taking a break after returning from her Peace Corps adventures. The wind blew hard enough that night that I had to get out of bed to close the open windows. A little bit of water even got into the bathroom through a skylight that was apparently not sealed adequately on the roof. Our region also experienced a significant amount of flooding and road closures in the aftermath of the storm. We have been seeing an unusual number of similar storms this Spring. Is it the impact of global warming?

Since I was alone at home, I decided to head out as far west as I could this Sunday morning in order to extend my coverage of the 184.5 mile C&O canal trail. Two weeks ago I had started my run at the Cohill Station traiI access point at near mile 130. Today I started my run from the end of the WMRT at Pearre, MD, near mile 136. I managed to get all the way to mile 139 today. Some day I will get to the end of this trail. (KJ note – I did get to the end of the trail finally in 2016.)

Very few people live in this part of Maryland these days. The ridges of the Appalachian mountains run north to south, and in these parts they provide natural barriers that cause the Potomac to turn left at the Cacapon mountain and actually flow north for a few miles before the river turns east and south again to head towards the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. Further to the west lie the Paw Paw bends of the river that cause the it to meander in S-shapes through the hills. I wondered about the processes that caused this section of the river to actually be created. Was the Potomac formed because of erosion by glaciers during an ice age? As you make your way to the trailheads on roads off of Interstate 68, you will find yourself traveling along the valley or the crest of the little known Tonoloway ridge . You see abandoned homes along the road. When you get to your destination, you also notice the many abandoned trailer homes beside the trail. I wonder if this used to be a poorer part of Maryland. How did people survive? Did their source of living vanish due due to changing times? OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Three weeks ago one could make out the new leaves of Spring on the trees along the trail. Today the area looked lush and green. Change can happen quite quickly!But the thing that caught my particular attention was the high level of water in the river and the nature of its swift flow. When there is flooding, the initial impacts are usually felt in the local streams and creeks, but all of this water eventually flows into the rivers, and the river can actually crest a few days later, after the storms have long gone by. The Potomac only crested in certain sections on Saturday, the day before my run. The river looked browner than usual. Imagine the massive quantity of mud that was being swept down the river because of erosion in our backyards, the mud that was causing it to look different. There is no way to reclaim this sediment and to reverse the process. Material that was in a certain location at one time is gone forever from that location. This change is irreversible. It reminds me that we human beings have difficulty adjusting to change, while in the grand scheme of things irreversible change is inevitable. To what extent does it make sense to put up a fight? No other species has done as much as humans to put up a fight, and with knowledge and technology we have brought tremendous sophistication to this endeavor, and quite often we do not care about the secondary consequences. When does it make sense to accept nature’s reality gracefully without trying to fight it? OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA The solitude of the trail (and perhaps even the quiet of the empty home) actually soothes the mind. Such conditions provide moments of clarity that would otherwise not be possible with the constant interactions and distractions of daily life. The trail is perhaps one of the very few circumstances when I am capable of trying to ponder if there is a bigger picture considering how inconsequential our existence is on the grand scale of things. The trail provides perspective. You are aware that everything else that is going on around you is for the most part independent of the human factor. The world can actually exist without us humans. Why do some of us think there is an overall purpose that is to benefit our species to the detriment of others? Why does it seem that the progress of human society appears to be a process of positive feedback that is leading to increasing inequality in almost all dimensions, while the ultimate result is inevitable? What does a human really need beyond food, clothing and shelter, and what happens when you get beyond that? All things considered, what should I be trying to do? Should I even spend my time thinking about things like this? You might actually get some answers that work for you under the right conditions.

So, what about Cohill Station? It used to be a real railroad station on the Western Maryland Railroad in the old days when the population in this part of Maryland used to be more significant. Nothing remains at the former site of the station. Dust to dust! I wonder how things were for people who used to live along the river, especially when it ran brown.

Things change.

The 2016 KVIITM75 Bike Ride – Day 5

At the end of our fifth day of riding there is a sense of being tired, but also the sense that something unique and remarkable in our experiences is coming to an end. I am looking forward to getting home, but at the same time I could do this forever!

Our ride from Hancock, MD, to Shepherdstown, West Virginia, was somewhat more mellow than the previous two days’ rides. It might have been due to the fact that we covered a shorter distance, and it was over flatter territory. The experience on the towpath is very different from that on the more challenging and exciting Great Allegheny Passage. We started the ride on a cloudy morning after a nice breakfast at the Riverrun Bed and Breakfast place that we had stayed at overnight. Yes, there was stretching taking place before riding, and icing of sore muscles at the end of the day.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

It had rained during the night, but it was not expected to rain while we were riding. The first part of the ride was on the smoother Western Maryland Rail Trail that parallels the towpath.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

We stopped at McCoys Ferry for a break.Then it was downhill at Four Locks.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

We rode by a slackwater area where the canal disappears for a short while. The boats used to be pulled along the river in this section.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Dam 5, one of the dams used to route water from the river to the canal.Then it was back on the towpath.

Lunchtime was in Williamsport, MD. We crossed over the Conococheague Aqueduct to take the road into town.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

We took a short break at Fallingwater.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

We had to take shelter during a short rainstorm.

There was another short stop at McMahon’s mill.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

We encountered this turtle who must have been surprised by all the attention.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

A stop at Dam 4 on the river.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

We had to climb from the towpath to the Rumsey bridge to get over to Shepherdstown where we had dinner and then proceeded to our hotel for the night.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Tomorrow is our final day of riding.

Laziness or Perseverance, what will it be?

It is very easy for me to fall prey to laziness. I need to train for my bike ride but I had been finding excuses to put my rides off earlier this week, as I had often done in the past.

The latest excuse that threatened to do the most damage to my training regimen was rain. While I have not been caught outside on my bike in a heavy thunderstorm thus far, we have experienced a few spectacular episodes in the evenings recently because of the extremely warm and muggy weather. (One such storm even sent water into the kitchen and I had to get some emergency work done fixing and cleaning the gutters.) Anyway, I had decided to finally bike on Thursday after the usual excuses earlier on in the week, when heavy thunderstorms struck on Wednesday evening. This was about to be my excuse to skip training on Thursday also. There was going to be mud on the trails, and even though I had tackled mud before, I was not in a mood for this kind of an experience.

When asked about why I could not find a location where I could ride on a surface without mud, I responded that I would have to drive a long way off to get to said location. But the thought stuck. Instead of dropping the whole idea of riding, I motivated myself to wake up early and drive an hour to the start of the WMRT near Hancock. The WMRT, which runs roughly parallel to the towpath, is covered with asphalt and runs about 22 miles to Pearre in Maryland, with Hancock roughly at the mid-point. So off I went!

Not only was the ride on the WMRT clean, but the surface was so smooth that I was zipping along very fast and making good time. Also, all of the reluctance that I had felt earlier on to training that day went out the door the moment I started riding!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — The Licking Creek Aqueduct on the C&O Canal from the WMRT

I reached Pearre, the other end pf the WMRT, in record time! There was the temptation at that point to turn back and return to where I had started, since my only option to extend the ride was to get on the towpath which would have been impacted by the rain. But what little I had seen of the towpath from the vantage point of the WMRT on which I was riding was a dry trail. So I decided to continue further on the towpath.

The trail in that section was in a terrible condition! I found myself negotiating puddles of mud constantly. The trail for the most past consisted to two tracks with thick grass growing in-between. I tried to avoid the mud by switching tracks to avoid puddles if they were only on one side, or rode between the tracks over the grass where the puddles covered both tracks. All of this tended to slow me down considerably, especially the attempts to ride on the grass. But I was in no hurry. After about 9 or 10 miles of the trail, after crossing the old and unused Western Maryland Railroad bridge over the Potomac, I stopped to eat something and start the return trip.

I stopped occasionally to take more pictures on the way back.

My original thought was to get back to the WMRT at Pearre when returning so that I could avoid the challenges of the towpath. But as I kept riding my outlook began to change. I got more comfortable with the thought of riding through puddles. I should let this riding experience be more in line with the more challenging aspects of what I might experience during the long Pittsburgh to Gaithersburg ride, I thought. At Pearre, I stopped to take the picture below, and then continued on the towpath, with the thought that I would switch back to the WMRT a little later at Hancock.

It was a good decision. The puddles became less of an issue since trail was drier than I had expected. But, in addition to the bumpy surface, I had to deal with limbs from the trees that seemed to have fallen all over the trail. I had to stop a couple of times to remove branches that got caught in the frame of bike. Fortunately, there was no damage to the wheels. But I was also making good time, and there were also more interesting things to see from the towpath.

I switched back from the towpath to the WMRT at Hancock and took a short break, but then also changed my mind after the break about the trail I wanted to continue back on. I decided that I should really put myself to the test with the riding conditions, and got back to the towpath for the rest of the ride! The good thing was that this section of the trail had a surface of freshly compressed crushed stone. It was pretty comfortable, and the surface was dry. I made it back in good shape, but because of my adventures earlier that day, contrary to my original goal of having a clean ride, there was mud all over me and the bike at the end of the ride.

I wonder how much of rain and mud we will experience during the Pittsburgh ride. Since I have not had to ride in the rain so far I do not know how that is going to feel, but I am ready to take on muddy trails after the rains any time. And I am glad I got over my laziness on Thursday!

Training in the Summer Heat

The practice rides for the Pittsburgh to DC biking event continue. Since it could be quite hot at the time of the ride at the end of August, I thought it appropriate to not try to go out of my way to avoid the heat while training. We were notified of a heat advisory by the National Weather Service last Thursday, with predicted heat index values between 100 and 105 degrees. Since there was work being done in the house in the morning I could only get on the trail around 11:00AM. This was perfect for training! This being the first time I was subjecting myself to such conditions, I decided to be more cautious than usual, carrying extra water, and splitting the ride into two parts, with the ability to shorten the ride easily if I wanted to.

It was not too bad riding under the trees, but the heat did take its toll on me over the long run, and I was struggling towards the end. Even though I was hydrated and had eaten enough, I was tired and dragging. I was glad that I had decided to shorten the ride. The ride did have its interesting moments. I encountered some suicidal Canada geese parked right across the trail who refused to get out the way of the speeding bike. They just stood and stared. I am actually scared of these birds when they are with their young ones, as was the case here. They hiss and chase after you. Fortunately, no goosicide ensued. Then there was the squirrel that decided to take off across the trail as the bike was approaching, misjudged the speed of the vehicle, and unexpectedly made contact with the bike. It was fortunate for all involved that it did not get caught in the spokes. The crazy animal continued its mad dash across the trail. I did not stop to see if it was hurt. I saw an unexpectedly large number of great blue heron in the sections of the canal that were watered. I suspect that they were fishing. I could actually see reasonably sized fish swimming in the waters when I stopped to have a snack.

Friday promised to be less humid and I set out very early in the morning to do a complete ride starting at Williamsport, MD, biking past Hancock, MD. I was going out of my way to ride a new section of the trail. I had covered these sections of the trail on foot previously, but that was a very long time ago.

I had been hesitating to start rides far away from home for a while because I do not have a good bike rack for transporting the bike on the back of the car. The bike rack I am using is very old, designed well before the Prius with its broad spoiler came into existence. (Even today the options for getting a newer and more suitable bike rack that is capable of transporting the woman’s bike (that is another story) on the Prius are limited.) I finally ended up using the simplest solution, something that I should have thought of in the first place, which was to fold the back seats of the car and push the bike all the way into it from the back. This is possible because the Prius is a hatchback with a wide rear opening. The new strategy allowed me to drive further out from home, and on the highway, without having to worry about something untoward happening with the bike and/or the car during transportation. I will have to deal with the dust from the trail that collects in the vehicle later.

It felt especially thrilling to set out out this part of the trail on a still cool morning, remembering how it used to feel in times past, but this time making much better speed and covering more distance than I used to in the past.

In no time I had reached Dam 5 on the Potomac river. This is the point at which the canal ended for a short distance before starting up once again further northwest. Canal boats used to be pulled along the side of the river in this section.

Beyond that I passed McCoy’s Ferry and then Big Pool. Soon after I got to the spot where I could have taken an alternate route using the smoother WMRT that parallels the C&O canal for the next twenty miles or so. Instead, I stayed on the towpath thinking that the ride had not been too bad until that point. But it was about to get worse! A few miles out I came to Little Pool and a section of the towpath where they had just laid a thick layer of crushed stone on the trail. Unfortunately, the stone was new and had not been compressed enough to set into place. Previous riders had not yet created a track clear of loose stones. The ride became much rougher and uncomfortable.

As the trail passed the town of Hancock, I transferred to the WMRT for the rest of the ride. I rode the smooth asphalt into a mountainous section of the trail, passing though the Roundtop State Park. Looking down the hill through the vegetation, I could sometimes see the the towpath running beside the Potomac well below me. The trail itself ran through some very beautiful surroundings. It all felt awesome, but I was missing some of the sights on the towpath like the Round Top Cement mill because the WMRT ran above the ruins.

I turned back after riding for a little while longer, and after having lunch. This time I stayed on the WMRT till its very beginning before shifting back to the towpath. Got back to the start of the ride in good shape.