Seeing the Cherry Blossoms, again and again

 Just a quick note regarding seeing the cherry blossoms this year. These days COVID is affecting everything, even blossom viewing. The National PArk Service is strongly discouraging people from mobbing the Tidal Basin, and they've even closed off some roads. Still, I managed to make four trips to see cherry blossoms, without once visiting the Tidal Basin.

First, when the blossoms started to hit peak I did a solo kayak trip out of Columbia Island. The water was still cold, so it was a full drysuit kind of affair. Also, because I was by myself I kept it pretty safge. I paddled along the DC shore up to Georgetown, then headed back via the Boundary Channel (navigable an hour past high tide thanks to a full moon tide). 

Second, Valerie and I went to the National Arboretum, where there are lots of lovely flowwring trees, including cherry trees - and few crowds. The arboretum's buildings were closed, but the place was otherwise wide open.

Third, I did a group paddle with Chesapeake Paddler's Association. Ralph led about half a dozen people. We crossed the Potomac to the Tidal Gates, then headed down around Haines Point to National Harbor. On the way back the wind kicked up (not forecast!), resulting in rough and confused waters. Wind-driven waves, including clapotis reflections off of the Haines Point seawall, plus boat wakes made for a challenging paddling environment. No waves were over 2 ft., but the fact that they saeemed to be coming from every which direction kept me on my toes. 

Finally, I led a bike trip for the Arlington 55+ bike group. Thirteen of us met at Barcroft Community Center, and took trails to the 14th St. bridge. We went over the bridge and did a loop around Haines Point. Unfortunately, by this point the blossoms were well past peak - but then again, so were the riders.

Even in a pandemic, it's possible to see the blossoms if you do it right!

Cherry Blossoms

We wouldn't let a little plague get in the way of a cherry blossom paddle, are we??

This year planning a cherry blossom paddle was complicated by the fact that right about peak blossom time the nation was spiraling down into the coronavirus pandemic. Restrictions were changing every day and we were all a little nervous about paddling. This being the DC area, we had to watch what three different jurisdictions were mandating, as some of us come from Virginia, others from Maryland, and we paddle in DC. In the end, while Stay At Home orders weren't yet in place, Suzanne (rightly, I think) decided that it wasn't cricket for her to drive all the way from Baltimore to paddle. Tom, who is leading the global crisis response from his basement*, wasn't available to break away and go paddling. That left Rob, Jim and me (two retirees and one guy who's not particularly motivated about his job) to do a nice Thursday afternoon paddle.

We were of course diligent about personal distancing (née social distancing). Suzanne had warned us that there was a Meetup outing at Columbia Island earlier that same day and sure enough, we ran into them on their way back. Personally, in a time of pandemic I wouldn't have organized a big Meetup group outing of any kind, but y'know, vive la différence. To tell you the truth, it's a little much to be calling them a "group", as they seemed to have been paddling in a pretty dispersed way, with kayakers straggling back in ones and twos over a long period of time. When we arrived there were a few people already on shore, and when we launched 45 minutes later there were still people coming in. It made it a little hard to maintain personal distance at the boat ramp - I spent a bunch of time sitting at a picnic table away from the ramp just to stay out of the way of close contact with returning paddlers.

The three of us set out into what had been forecast to be calm conditions, but as we headed south under the 14th St. bridge the wind and waves started to pick up. This made me a little nervous as I had worn my wet suit rather than dry suit and the water was still a little cool for a wet suit. Under benign conditions it wouldn't have been an issue at all, but we soon found ourselves paddling into waves tall enough to roll up over our decks and land in our laps. We really weren't at any significant risk - conditions like we encountered are not a challenge for us, but of course in my head I was thinking about the 0.1% chance that a wave might catch me and capsize me, in which case I would have wound up pretty cold! By the way, COVID-19 was the reason I didn't wear my dry suit. My suit has an unusual configuration. It zips across the back, and it really takes a partner to zip it for you - and with 6 ft. social distancing in force, I didn't want to ask anyone to stand right next to me and zip me in and out of the thing.

Anyway, we strained our way down the river, checking out the pretty blossoms along the way. When we reached Hains Point we took a short break then started back. I had been in the rear the whole way downriver (into the wind/waves) but on the way back the waves were coming from behind us and I started to catch some nice rides surfing the waves. I like to think that at least part of that was based on skill - on knowing how to stay on top of a wave and ride it - though Jim later attributed it to the hull shape of my boat. In any case, I wound up far out in front. I had to keep moving at least somewhat to stay stable, and as slowly as I tried to paddle I kept staying way out in front (I did keep checking behind me to keep an eye on where I was relative to Rob and Jim).

Finally, just below the 14th Street Bridge Jim caught up with me. He and I started chatting (that was when he complemented my kayak's ability to surf). Per our plan, we crossed under the bridge and then prepared to cross the river paralleling the bridge. We stopped to let Rob catch up with us and suddenly realized that he was no longer in sight. Where the heck was Rob?

We turned around and paddled back a little bit looking to see if we could find him, but didn't see anything. Then Jim noticed what looked to be someone clinging to the Hains Point fence a ways down the river. Whuh oh. We took off back downriver towards whatever/whoever that was - Jim damn near gave himself a heart attack, he was paddling so hard. When we approached we realized this was not, in fact, Rob. Rather, it was some guy launching some tiny motorized skiff over the fence. How he got there, how he got the boat into the water, and why he thought that was a good place to launch were all beyond me, but as soon as we realized it wasn't Rob it was no longer my problem. What was my problem was that there was still no sign of Rob anywhere.

I know from long experience that Rob likes to break off and check out things that interest him, and he's a fast paddler so he has the speed to go off exploring and then get back to a group. So at that point we figured that most likely Rob had gone off on his own and we'd find him at the marina, and if not it would be time to call 911. There also would have been a lot of explaining to do to Rob's wife, who had accompanied him as a chance to go for a walk and get a change of scenery from being trapped in the house.

The 14th St. bridge is actually five different spans, and with all the different supporting piers the sight lines in the area of the bridge(s) are pretty poor. Rob had indeed broken off early to cross the river and at the point when we first realized we couldn't see him he probably wasn't all that far from us but we couldn't see him with all the obstructions from the bridge spans. Likewise, he had seen us cross under the bridge, but then from his perspective we disappeared as well (likely when we went back to look for him) and so he then turned around to go look for us (on the other side of the river, though). Eventually we all spotted each other and we made it back to the marina without further incident.

Rob, not invisible after all!

Lessons-learned:

1) We should have had our radios on. I had mine with me and eventually turned it on. When Rob lost track of us he tried to hail us on the radio, but that was before I turned mine on, and Jim didn't have his.

2) Stay with the f*cking group.

3) Always maintain situational awareness of the others in your group.

4) Even under the worst of circumstances, cherry blossoms are beautiful!

We all made it back safe and sound. We each loaded our own boats (no touching each others' gear), said our six foot distant goodbyes, and vowed to paddle again the following week. Alas, by a week later the Stay At Home orders were in effect and all of our usual launches were closed. I'm glad we got out when we did - who knows when we'll be able to paddle again?


*OK, "leading" is an exaggeration, but it's safe to say he's contributing more to the response than many members of the Administration 

Cherry blossom outings

First Trip: Friday (by kayak)

Ask me to name something I associate with the cherry blossoms and I certainly won't come up with the KC-130 aerial refueling tanker as an answer. But my first cherry blossom trip of the year started with a close encounter with the big plane.

The KC-130 is the tanker variant of the C-130 (but you already knew that, didn't you?). It's a big airplane - about the same wingspan as a 757. As I unloaded my kayak at Columbia Island Marina (adjacent to the Pentagon and near Arlington Cemetery) a KC-130 with its refueling drogues deployed made a low pass over the Pentagon. Just a few thousand feet in altitude, I'd guess, which is pretty low for plane that size. I imagine that it was some sort of ceremony at the Pentagon - a change of command, or whatever - or maybe a display to influence visiting Congress members to fund acquisition of more airplanes. Or maybe a funeral at Arlington Cemetery. You get used to these odd sorts of occurrences in Washington.

I didn't get my camera out in time for the low pass. Here it is on its way out

It was a little pre-peak, but I had Friday off and paddling conditions were great - warm air temp, no wind. April is borderline dry suit season, but for this paddle I leaned a little more towards comfort and went in dry pants and a Hydroskin top. I crossed the river, got the obligatory photos, then headed upriver to do the normal "PoG paddle" (that is, our most common Thursday night route.

This hat says "Hecho en Brooklyn" on the front. It is not a MAGA hat

 On the way back I put ashore and had lunch at a quiet little spot near the southeast corner of Roosevelt Island. Expired peanut butter, crackers, dried bananas and a Coke Zero - all with a view of the monuments. An awesome lunch!

Lunch break

Second Trip: Sunday (by kayak)
Tall Tom put out a call for folks to paddle out and see the cherry blossoms on Sunday. Deke and I took him up on it. By Sunday the weather had changed. It was about 20 degrees colder than Friday, and it was windy. Really windy. Due to conditions, drysuit was once again the uniform of the day.

Have I mentioned it was windy? Weather Underground says the winds were about 25 MPH sustained, with gusts above thirty-five. Plus, the fetch of the river tends to channel the wind, making it even stronger than on land. As we fought our way across the river, the wind was directly from our left, which mean constant beaming waves - waves from the side, which really want to knock you over. It was a struggle, but we made it across and took shelter in the slightly calmer cove where the Tidal Basin meets the river. We got our pictures, then decided to try heading upriver.

Me

Tom in his newly refurbished kayak

We didn't make it very far. I am actually not bothered by paddling into the wind. It's hard work, but the waves only want to slow you down; waves from the front don't want to tip you over or spin you around. I was willing to work my way up to Roosevelt Island, but conditions were getting borderline dangerous and so we decided to turn around and head back. Unfortunately, crossing back meant dealing with beaming waves and quartering waves. Quartering waves are waves from, let's say, 4 or 8 o'clock. They're maybe the worst because they want to both knock you over and spin you around. I was happy when we made it far enough across that I could turn left and be aligned with the waves so they were coming from behind me. Following waves can be tricky too, but if you know how to control your kayak you can effectively surf the kayak down the waves. I definitely caught some good rides: according to the GPS my top speed was 8.5 MPH, more than double the typical calm water paddling speed of 3-4 MPH. Even if you don't trust the instantaneous 8.5 MPH peak (GPS doesn't measure speed; it's derived from other measurements and so can be inaccurate), I sustained upward of 6 MPH for some time - and that's for real.

Splashy water, even in the cove

We were happy to have gotten a chance to see the blossoms, and also happy to get back to the marina safe and sound.

Third Trip: Monday (by foot)
As part of our rolling 30th anniversary celebration Valerie and I took the day off (well, Valerie had a "teacher work day", which is somewhat hard to distinguish from a day off, and I'm checked out enough about my job that I didn't mind not showing up for a day) and went down to see the blossoms. We timed it just right! Sure, the day was chilly, but it was bright and sunny and the blossoms were perfectly at peak. In fact, I can't remember ever seeing them look more spectacular than they did Monday. Maybe it was the love in the air.

The lovebirds at the blossoms

You don't want to try to drive anywhere near the blossoms, as the traffic is horrendous. We parked at Columbia Island Marina and walked across the 14th Street Bridge. As I mentioned above, the river tends to channel the wind and so we were unhappy and super cold as we made our way across to DC. Once across we were more sheltered from the wind and so warmed up.

Blossoms

Tidal Basin

Valerie

As usual, we walked all the way around the Tidal Basin, stopping along the way to take pictures. At one point we got a snack - just hot cocoa for me, and a muffin for Valerie. The blossoms are beautiful. The people-watching is fun too - everything from Asian women posing in kimonos to tourists to young lovers like ourselves.

I am always taken aback when I run into locals who say they've never been to the cherry blossoms. By land or by water, for me it's a highlight of the Washington year.

Adventures by Trike

Regular readers of this blog know that this year’s adventure is cycling. I biked through the winter as a participant in the Washington Area Bicyclist Association’s “Freezing Saddles” cchallenge. I even won a prize in the contest: some green coffee beans as part of “Bruno’s Coffee Challenge”, one of the “Side Bets and Pointless Prizes”. I thought I had a shot at the prize for most states biked in during the contest, but my achievement of nine states was outdone by someone else’s thirteen L.

Now Valerie has joined the cycling adventure! She recently gritted her teeth and bought herself a recumbent trike. Valerie has a big hesitation about spending money on herself for this sort of thing, a feeling I do not share for either her or myself. Recumbent bikes are a cool option for people who don’t want or can’t tolerate the pressure of sitting on a traditional bike seat, or who just like riding something unusual and different. Recumbent trikes are kind of the ultimate in unusual and different (well, other than maybe unicycles or velocipedes). They’re also very easy on aging bodies. Along those lines, I have noticed that the magazine ad for a local “active adult” community prominently features a silver-haired guy on a trike very similar to Valerie’s. They also happen to be a blast to ride. They’re kind of the Miata of bicycles. Miatas aren’t super fast, but being small and low to the ground and, they feel fast and are fun to drive hard and throw around. Likewise, the ‘bent trike feels fast even sitting still and has such a low center of gravity (and three wheels!) that you can be ride in a pretty nuts fashion with it. Unfortunately for me, Valerie has hers set for her height, which means I probably couldn’t even pedal it, let alone go berserk with it.

We’ve done a few rides so far – limited by an unusually cold spring and busy schedules. For a first ride we started at Bluemont Park and rode the connector trail to the Wilson Boulevard/George Mason McDonald’s, where we took a break for coffee and iced tea – and took our place among the geezers who hand out there and socialize (we were the only geezers with bikes). On our second ride we went to the same destination, but started from home. Valerie even muscled her way up the hill from the W&OD trail to our house!

Our third ride was something more special – we parked at Columbia Island and biked across the 14^th St. Bridge to see the Cherry Blossoms. We set out early and were at the Tidal Basin a little before 8 AM, at which point it was already teeming with people and getting more crowded by the minute. Valerie’s preference was to ride her bike all the way around rather than locking up the bikes and walking. It turned out to be quite a feat to get all the way around the Tidal Basin by bike. It certainly helped to have a trike, on which you can stand still. It was too crowded for me to ride; I walked my bike all the way around. Valerie impressively bulldozed her way through the crowd, using her “teacher voice” to essentially order people out of her way and persisting in making continuous, if very slow, progress. I lost her in the crowd at one point, but we eventually met up near the Roosevelt Memorial. From there we stayed together back to Columbia Island.

When we arrived back at the marina the place was teeming with kayakers. Two Meetup groups were having their Cherry Blossom paddle.  I felt a little pang of jealously, even though I had done a Cherry Blossom paddle just two days earlier and had just biked to the blossoms.

The best part of the outing  is that Valerie submitted a photo of her on her trike in front of the blossoms to the trike manufacturer’s web site and  won a t-shirt!

More adventures to come …

5K & Cherry Blossom Paddle

I had a busy day on Saturday - running a race and then kayaking. At 8:30 AM I participated in the Fairlington 5K, our monthly 5K race. I told myself I was going to take it really easy since I knew I was going kayaking right afterward, but we were there with our friends Gail and Chris and I guess competitiveness got the better of me and I wound up pushing it a little bit. I wound up running the race in 29:30, which is actually my best time of our monthly 5K series. I still finished three minutes behind Chris :( Valerie turned in a personal best as well of 47:57. It wasn't that long ago that she had a goal of breaking an hour - I'm quite proud of the times she's turning in these days!

At the completion of the race I headed over to Columbia Island Marina, where I was leading a Cherry Blossom trip for Chesapeake Paddlers Association. The marina was quite busy. There were three groups launching around the same time: us, Deke's Meetup, and a canoe club from Harrisburg, PA. Another Meetup had headed out earlier and Rita's Sugarloaf group was out there too doing their own trip. I threw on my dry suit over my running clothes and got down to business organizing the group.

The main challenge of the day was wind. It was a beautiful, sunny day but the wind was blowing hard, with gusts over 25 MPH, kicking up some pretty good waves on the river - even some whitecaps. My group of nine headed directly across the river to the blossoms, bumping into Rita's group along the way. The blossoms were right at peak and were quite gorgeous. Because of the river conditions we didn't get to linger and take pictures for as long as we ordinarily would have. When we were done peeping at the blossoms we prepared to head upriver. Two of my group didn't want to paddle any further in the wind and so they headed straight back. The rest of us headed up the DC side to check out more blossoms. Most of us were quite comfortable in the conditions, but we had a couple of people we shepherded a little bit.

We paddled up the DC side to Roosevelt Island, crossed over and followed the Roosevelt Island shoreline around the top and down the channel, then ducked into the shelter of the Boundary Channel (fortunately it was high tide) for the final miles. A pretty, club classic trip.

Checking out turtles in the Boundary Channel