From Facebook to Blogger!

I started on Facebook intending to use it as a blog of my local biking jaunts on Maryland's Eastern Shore and related wildlife and mushroom sightings. It worked for a while, but now Facebook is enforcing a 420 character limit on posting. Ergo, here I am.

I'm planning to back-fill the blog with ride reports from emails and FB postings. Is that legit?

Half Moon in the Dark

Did the regular 15 mile ride that includes Blackwater's wildlife drive. I felt good and strong, but I have no idea about my pace as I completely forgot to set the bike's computer. It was entirely in the dark. The half moon was already high in the sky when I pushed off, but was mostly obscured by gathering clouds. The ride is almost entirely within you when riding on a dark night. My field is only as far as the reach of my headlight and I hear only the wind in my ears.

Below is a picture of the bike I'm currently riding, with it's new battery pack and retrofit headlight. I was hoping to capture the beam in the picture, but the flash mostly blew that out. Check out the duct tape covering my helmet—the height of cold weather riding fashion.

Golden Moment

It's been a whole week since I last rode—rain, no headlight, cold, rain, sometimes lightheaded, still no headlight.

Today was a routine 15 miler including Blackwater's wildlife drive. The water and the sky were uniform and distinguishable only at the horizon. As I was looking towards the sunset I watched a heron rise from the water. It wasn't until I looked up a bit that I realized that I'd been watching the reflection on the still, glassy water.

Below is a shot of a heron along the way (map link). It was one of those golden moments of light that only happen early or better late in the day. I had to push the digital zoom to get the bird, but I like the colors.

Old Church, Old House

Rode a 15 mile loop including Blackwater's wildlife drive. It's gotten chilly. Thankfully I have plenty of cold weather biking gear to choose from. Everything was warm but my nose. A runny nose seems to be part of cold weather biking.

The wildlife was fairly unremarkable. The migratory waterfowl still haven't shown up in any appreciable numbers. The first duck season starts this weekend.

I startled a pair of Canada geese and they took off in directly opposite directions. It was kind of cool. On the way home I scared an immature bald eagle off of something dead. It's always impressive to see them up close.

Below is a picture of a church along my route (map link). Though in need of serious repair, it's not abandoned as so many others in the area are.

Also below is a house on the site of the planned Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park (map link). I understand that it's free for the taking, if you can remove it from the site. I didn't look in any windows, but folks who have been inside say it has some wonderful features.

32 Miles to Chicken Chesapeake

Had a long-time biking friend come out to ride with me. We used to ride home together to Bethesda along the Capital Crescent Trail. He was always a bit stronger of a rider than I was and he still is. Nonetheless, we rode well together at a good pace over a 32 mile loop.

There was really nothing exceptional about the ride except the company. Migratory waterfowl continue to gather on the Blackwater, but slowly. We stopped at Slaughter Creek Marina for a cold drink and it was dark when we pushed off for home.

The battery pack for my headlight will no longer take a charge. I had to follow my friend with his new powerful headlight attached to his new very expensive bike. I was glad to see that he treated himself to something that nice. If it gets used, money spent on quality bike gear is never poorly spent.

We finished the evening in town at the Portside enjoying some "Chicken Chesapeake" sandwiches, grilled chicken breast topped with Crab Imperial, on a deck overlooking Cambridge harbor (map link). We followed that with a pair of beers at a different bar where we talked too long and drank too little. When we were done, it was too late to push off for Assateague Island and pitch camp as we had planned.

I'd intended to ride the "metric" portion of the Sea Gull Century this morning, Saturday, but the logistics got complicated when we didn't get out to the island last night. Rain clouds are closing in also. I've bagged the Sea Gull this year. I had been looking forward to riding with a large group again, but it's not to be. I'll be joining friends on the island later this morning for our annual fall beach camping session.

Below is a picture of boats at Slaughter Creek Marina (map link), mostly sport and pleasure boats, where we enjoyed our drinks. Also below is a shot of sportsmen's lodging out on our loop (map link).

Dead Battery from Taylors

Another ride down to Taylor's Island this evening, 20 miles out and back with an average speed of 16.9 mph. The scenery isn't as nice as most of my loops, but the shoulders are very wide and well paved. It's good for sustained cadence.

The sun was setting as I pushed off and it was almost dark when I made the turn for home. The headlight was dead when I hit the switch. Why? I've got a smart charger for the battery, but a not so smart operator. The lesson of the day: Check the charge before pushing off on an evening ride. Luckily, I have a small backup light permanently attached to each of my bikes. It was enough to get me home safely.

The shot below is of some of the working boats down on Taylor's (map link).

Nause-Waiwash Band of Indians

Rode 27 miles into the marsh this evening with a running average speed of 15.7. It probably would have been faster if I hadn't needed to deal with water across the road for an extended stretch. Ultimately, it was too much and I turned back. This piece of road is underwater more often than it isn't. Too bad. It's a beautiful way through the marsh.

Wildlife was good this evening. It started out as a squashed snake ride with about half a dozen along the way. I'm guessing that the cooler weather has the snakes seeking the warmth of the asphalt, not so good. At the point where I turned back because of the water, I saw two adult bald eagles perched in adjacent trees, pictured below (map link). It's unusual to see adults together when not nesting. Later, on the top of Blackwater's wildlife drive, I came upon a pair of sika deer. I very nearly hit one. They wouldn't move and seemed completely unafraid. I could have touched them. It took some effort to get them to scamper off the pavement into the woods. Further on, I saw another eagle perched alone in an isolated tree. There were the usual herons and egrets as well, but almost no migratory waterfowl of any kind.

I also rode past the Nause-Waiwash Band of Indians' Longhouse (map link). It seems to be used mostly for storage. A picture is posted above.

It was an unexpectedly satisfying ride, after the disappointment of having to turn back at the water.

Battle of The Ice Mound

Took a tourist-paced ride down to Taylors Island with a detour into the fishing community of Madison (map link), a total of just more than 20 miles with an average speed of 14.3. Nothing special about the ride, except that I should have dressed more warmly. I just don’t want to pull out the cold weather gear quite yet. The historic marker for the War of 1812's Battle of The Ice Mound, pictured below (map link), is just over the bridge on Taylors. I wonder about the fate of Becca, the cook that was captured along with the cannon, recalling that this was a slave-owning area at the time.