WashingtonDC
By
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
August 29, 2005
The focus today was on getting to Washington DC for a day of rest. All I could think about was sleeping in and being off the bike. I'm hoping for a massage, time in a whirlpool, and taking it easy.
It looks like we're going to escape much of the wrath of Hurricane Katrina. We might get rained on when we head for Fredericksburg VA but then will be south of the storm remnants and into good weather again.
Sometimes you ride a bike and come across things that produce wonderment. I came across this rabbit in someones front yard in Dayton MD. What can I say about this rabbit?
The scenery today was similar to that we had seen in the previous days. Farmland, forests, and green fields. We went across Brighton Dam. Built to provide water to an area fast mobilizing for World War II, the dam was dedicated by the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission in 1944.
And a movie of Karen Woods coming across Brighton 
Dam. Remember not to try this movie without high speed internet access. Karen was a bit embarrased that she was not pedaling while I was filming.
We went through the quaint town of Brookeville. Brookville was the United States Capital for day on August 26, 1814. President James Madison came here while Washington DC was burning during the War of 1812. http://www.townofbrookevillemd.org/history.html
Lunch stop today was next to the Oakley Cabin - a pre Civil War slave cabin or post Civil War tennant cabin.
http://www.mc-mncppc.org/parks/facilities/oakley_cabin.shtm
At mile 56 (of an 81 mile day) we entered the Rock Creek Bike Path which we took to within a few blocks of the hotel. It was a typical metropolitan bike path, twisting, small ups and downs, with tree routes and narrow at spots. I was alone when I entered the path. Eventually I came across Dave and Sandy, puzzled as to where to go next. Our trip leader, Mike Munk says "follow your nose". We got back on the main path and slowly wound our way south. We discovered Rose coming from another direction and hooked up with her. Sandy declared that we needed to stay together in order to be successful. Sandy was desparate for a root beer float but there were no services along the path. A local cyclist stopped to give us some directions. At one confusing direction, - "Leave over the bridge to the R, then L into Park - follow the Bike Sign - You will see Picnic Grove #2 - Pick up the trail again", we ran into Dave coming from another direction. He wasn't sure which way he had come from. Now there were 5 of us. At one point the trail seemed to end and then take a sharp right turn over the creek. We stopped and Rose crashed. She is ok but her front wheel was destroyed. While trying to get cell phone connection to get help for her, John, Karen, Pat, Bill, and Judy showed up behind us. Now there were 10 of us. John stayed with Rose until help arrived as he is familiar with the area. The rest of us took off, eventually finding a couple of local cyclists to point out the trail exit onto Pennsylvania Avenue. Once around Washington Circle we spotted our hotel. It turns out Rose had been wandering about lost for 3 hours. I suppose the trail kept us off busy streets, but I would have preferred traffic and better directions.
Had dinner with Frank before he heads back to Las Cruces NM and the real world. Tuesday is a day off - Hooray.
We've climbed nearly 36000 feet so far and travelled nearly 700 miles. We have 2 more segments of 7 days each. While each day is long, the overall ride is going quickly from my perspective.
