Tidewater Potomac - Days 2-4

Day 4, in which I emerge from the wilderness, ride past a Starbucks and a Five Guys, and reconnect with the internet.

I have got to get much better at finding internet connections and charging the cell phone while on the road. Well, maybe not so much charging the cell phone. Before I left I told people they could call me on the cell phone if they needed anything - I didn't expect them to take me up on it. Two and a half days of intense family drama. On the one hand I'm glad I was in touch and able to participate; on the other hand it can sure scrape the icing off the cake of a relaxing "get away". Apart from that the ride has been great so far.

Sunday

Sunday was another great day for riding, mild, breezy with a bright blue sky dotted with lots of clouds. I headed away from Fredericksburg on Route 3 which, for the first part of the day was four lanes with a nice wide shoulder. I was treated to mile after mile of beautiful rural scenery. Fields of corn framed by distant treelines, farm houses. wildflowers everywhere. still four lanes and fairly light traffic, so it wasn't too bad, but it caused the anxiety level to rise slightly and I had to pay more attention to the road and less to the scenery.

Port Conway Road (Route 607) was a simple two-lane road with very light traffic, the kind I spent a lot of time riding on my way to Richmond and back. After crossing 301 though, the road got even narrower and, if possible even more scenic than before. I wanted to stop and take pictures every hundred yards. I came across a patch of tall daisy-like flowers, rolled past tall trees angled over the road and dirt roads that felt as if they led back in time. This was definitely the highlight of the day.

When I merged back with Route 3 it was a high-speed two-lane with no shoulder and the anxiety level ramped back up again. Definitely very scenic still, but I was focused on staying as far to the right as possible, looking out for broken pavement and loose gravel and occasionally pulling over to let traffic pass. If I hadn't gotten started so late in the morning (curse my excellent procrastination and dawdling skills) I'd have taken the Leedstown Alternate and no doubt had a much more pleasurable ride.

I stopped in Oak Grove for a late lunch/early dinner at Bowies Restaurant, a rustic country diner where I enjoyed some down-home cooking and friendly country service.

I was too late to see Washington's Birthplace Monument, which closed at 5 pm, but did ride down to their picnic area overlooking the Potomac River. The grounds were teeming with deer, many of which stopped to watch me ride by. It was also my first sight of the Potomac river this trip. I was hoping to spend more time riding within sight of the Potomac, but the route is well inland.

From there it was a relatively short ride down to Westmoreland State Park for the night. I checked in to a nearly deserted campground. Racing the impending nightfall I quickly pitched my tent (having practiced this in my living room at home) then rode down a very steep hill to the river to enjoy the sunset and wade into the Potomac while making calls on the cell phone.

54 Miles

Monday

Monday the plan was to ride down to Burgess and get a ride across the Chesapeake Bay to Maryland. I "broke camp" (I'll have to spend some time writing about camping) and rode out to a very overcast and cool day. A few miles down the road in Montross I found a great coffee shop/art gallery called The Art of Coffee. They had Wi-Fi but I was unable to connect all the way through to the internet, so contented myself to make a few notes and nursing a coffee along while recharging my cellphone.

I was preoccupied with family issues and didn't do a very good job taking pictures or paying a lot of attention to the scenery. My big goal for the day was to rendezvous with Captain Danny Crabbe for a charter ride across the Chesapeake Bay to Point Lookout, Maryland. I called Danny before leaving home after discovering that the cruise to from Smith island to Point Lookout referenced in the Adventure Cycling route ran only on weekends. Danny Crabbe runs his own charter fishing operation and is listed as an alternate. I was concerned about getting to my destination in plenty of time for Danny to take me across and return before dark (and get me across to Maryland with enough daylight to set up camp.

I rode up to Danny's home late afternoon and was warmly greeted by his wife Bonnie who offered me ice water and asked a lot of questions about my trip. I met Danny a few minutes later and with little delay I was lifting my bike down into his boat and we were off. It was a surreal ride across the bay. The water was a steely gray and the sun only shining through occasional breaks in the gray overcast sky. We saw a number of sea birds but not another boat anywhere. It was if we had the entire bay to ourselves.

I'm not sure how long the ride took, less than an hour I think. We pulled up to a dock at Point Lookout State Park and I nearly dropped the bike in the water while trying to hang one of the panniers. Danny warned me that a storm was forming up over the bay and I might encounter rain, and then was off. I rode up through the parking lot and tried to decide whether to turn right or left at the main road.

After going the wrong way, twice, I found a closed camp office and checked myself into a camp site. I completely had the place to myself and didn't see or hear another person the entire time I was there. Very eerie. And can I tell you it was hot and humid! My bike computer said it was 81 degrees, and it must have been near 100% humidity. It was a long and uncomfortable night.

61 Miles

Tuesday

Fortunately the weather turned cooler sometime in the wee hours of the morning. I got up, dawdled, and finally broke camp and packed it up. As I was riding away from my camp site I remembered that I'd forgotten to take a picture of my camp when it was set up. A couple of miles outside the state park I remembered that I'd forgotten to tour the Point Lookout civil war POW camp. I could have gone back, but always seem to be driven by an urgency to get down the road. I pedaled on, into gray skies and cool headwinds.

I think today more than any other I felt out of energy my day just felt like work. I'd planned to maybe stop in Leonardtown or maybe go on further. By the time I hit Leonardtown I was ready to stop for the day. I rode into town only to discover the only hotel was under renovation and that the next nearest hotels were eight miles back up the road along Route 235. It was an effort, but eight miles wasn't a killer. As I approached the intersection with Route 235 I saw the Target store logo on a sign, quickly followed by miles of "civilization", Starbucks, Best Buy, Five Guys. It was like a consumer oasis. I checked into the Super 8, wolfed down a Five Guys burger, charged the electronics, washed clothes and watched part of the Democratic Convention.

And now, all I have to do is turn off this computer, pack my bags and roll down the road.

52 Miles

What can you say?

You know I love the smiley face

The beach and cliffs at Westmoreland State Park

Riding through walls of corn

Heading out from Point Lookout State Park

Lawn art just outside St. Mary's College

Entrance to the Washington Birthplace Memorial

My first sight of the Potomac from Washington Birthplace Memorial