So, it’s been a minute! Here I was blogging along and then COVID-19 hit. My plan was to chronicle cycling through my travels but then COVID-19 took over our world. Travel? There was no travel. It was stay at home orders and just stay at home. What does an outside cyclist do during a stay at home order? You wait for the order to be lifted and then you hop back on your bike.

Or you get a Peloton. I did both. Let’s talk about cycling outdoors during Covid. (That Peloton Post is coming soon!).

I live in Maryland. One of the first things to be lifted during the stay at home order was the ability to go outside, socially distancing. It is hard to describe that feeling the first time back on the road, no correction, outside…during a pandemic.

It bears explaining because this was not a normal time for me or anyone in the world.

People were dying. Every. Single. Day.

I think I yearned for something to be the same again. There was no normal anymore, that much I knew. But if I could just feel something familiar. There’s a trail that I ride with my husband, Anacostia River trail, quite often. It goes from College Park, Maryland to Washington DC. I remember the first time we rode that trail, about five years ago, I asked my husband, a DC native, why had he never brought me to this area before. I know you’re thinking Maryland to DC, how exciting can it be?

The streams with water rushing over rocks are some of the most beautiful areas in Maryland that I have ever seen. The lotus at the Aquatic Gardens, on the trail after you pass underneath the Kenilworth Avenue overpass are breathtaking.  There is an annual festival that is worth the trip.

The ride on the Maryland side is great because it is flat with some hills where you will earn your stripes. Your first hill is as right after you pass through the park in Hyattsville. Not bad at all. The next hill is as you approach the continuation of the trail. Again, spicy but not bad. Downshift properly and it’s not bad at all. Once you get into DC you will go through a quiet neighborhood where the trail looks like it ends, but follow the signs for the trail to pick up again. Just past the elementary school, the trail picks up again. The ride is leisurely and flat and then the hill that everyone hates is in front of you. Be careful because you will see folks walking up the hill with their bikes. Yeah, it’s that kind of hill. Downshift and keep up your cadence. It is doable. Remember if I can do it, you can too.  That core work that I hate, is the savior to ascending the hills either in or out of the saddle. The picture of me on the bridge is the bridge as you reach the Washington waterfront. There is a ramp to ascend to the top of the bridge, but it is like butter. Could not be smoother.

The ride is about 13.5 miles from Maryland to the end in Washington, DC, which is directly across from National’s Park.

We usually ride with two other couples. Our first outing during the pandemic was no different. We did our usual ride and then brought chairs to socially distance and chat about life during COVID.

The familiar felt great and provided some peace.