An Urban Boychick Takes on the Outdoors

Cycling was one of the things that we were really looking forward to on our trip. We had read about the carriage roads in Acadia National Park and, truth be told, half the reason we chose to drive rather than fly the 700+ miles to Maine was so we could bring our bikes - in particular, Valeries' recumbent trike, which is something you can't easily find as a rental. So, on our first full day in Maine we decided to hit the Eagle Lake trail, which had been recommended to us as being both pretty and fairly flat. We drove into the park just after breakfast (the parking lots fill quickly in summer) and headed for the trail head. Recumbent trikes are pretty unusual, so when we crossed from the parking lot to the trail head we were surprised to spot a park bike volunteer on a Catrike recumbent trike very similar to Valerie's. This turned out to be Greenburg the bike volunteer. Remember Arnold Horshak from Welcome Back Kotter? Well picture him in his late 60's, bearded, and t...

Our Maine vacation wasn't planned as a paddling trip, but it was pretty well assumed that in a week of being around water I was going to sneak in some kayaking. I hadn't brought a boat along and so was at the mercy of rentals. Trip 1: Long Pond, Acadia As soon as we got to Bar Harbor I started jonesing to go kayaking. So much water, so much beauty! We were staying at a lovely B&B right on Frenchman Bay and got to see groups of paddlers passing by. When we went into town I inquired at one of the tour companies, but they offered only doubles, and I just didn't want to pay someone a bunch of money so I could do some wimpy paddle stuck in a double with a know-nothing stranger. Instead I went for the only solo rental I could find - a recreational kayak (rec boat) on Long Pond. Again, this wasn't perfect, but at least it got me out on the water, and it got me out on the water solo. In my groovy rec boat The kayak rental shop is at the far north end of the pond, a...

Got up this morning and hopped on my bike to go have my morning coffee at the Green Lizard Cycling and Coffee shop in Herndon. Actually, before I left I had my pre-coffee coffee and stretched. I knew the round trip was 30+ miles, which is a long ride for me, and so I wanted to be stretched and warmed up to ward off any knee problems. The good news is that it all went without a hitch. I made it to the Green Lizard (coffee! bikes! lizards!) pretty easily. Sat and had coffee and a muffin while I read the paper, then headed home Total distance was 31.6 miles. I had no IT band (knee) issues at all. I was a little wobbly after the ride - I went to the Westover Farmers Market and was staggering around like I was drunk - but no pain. I saw deer alongside the trail at Vienna, and of course the usual collection of bad behavior, mishaps, and odd things: - Almost got hit by a car where the trail crosses Great Falls Street. Event though the streets technically have the right of way over the...

Mason Neck is one of my perennial favorites for kayaking. It's a low stress launch - easy carry, plenty of parking, real bathrooms. The scenery is beautiful and varied, and there's always wildlife - eagles in particular. I launched there Saturday with the intention of doing a ten mile paddle out into the river. There was no disappointment when it came to bird life - ospreys, herons, and probably half a dozen eagles. I got to watch a pair of eagles arguing with an osprey. Good stuff overall. After a bit of paddling I decided to take a break. I paddled up to the beach and pulled out my phone to see how far I had gone (I was running Strava). Well, at 4.1 miles I was short of my five mile target. I noticed that I had a new voice mail from an area code I didn't recognize - ahh, it was a call back from a kayaking outfitter in Maine I had called about renting during my upcoming trip. "Hey, this is Dan at Duck Trap Kayak ... let me know how many days you need and d...

OK, the title of this entry is a Pokemon reference and the entry is about the Pocomoke, not Pokemon, and so maybe the title isn't 100% appropriate, but the area of the Eastern Shore around Snow Hill does offer a wide collection of outings to "catch". Patriotic Paddling The CPA July 4th weekend camping trip to Pocomoke State Park is a long-established annual event, but I've never gone because I've always preferred to spend the holiday with family. With time, though, things change, and this year the family was scattered far and wide - Valerie to NY to visit her mom, David to Pittsburgh, Teddy to Scout Camp with his old troop. Orphaned for the weekend, I joined the CPA trip. The trip down Friday afternoon was pleasant: not much traffic, a stop for a pretzel at WaWa, good weather. Well, good weather until around the time I got to Snow Hill. It started to thunder and spatter rain about the time I arrived. I got my tent up and we got a pop-up shelter up as well ...