Bridges - Connecting Neighborhoods

I had a great ride yesterday that was relaxing, challenging and scenic. I was asked by Bert at Griffin Cycle to go mountain-biking with himself as well as another Griffin employee, Alex and an employee of Silver Cycles, Tim. To get to the meetup point I had to ride to the shop in Bethesda from my house in Silver Spring. This was a ride I was used to doing.

Before January of this year, I commuted by bicycle from Silver Spring MD to Bethesda MD everyday. It is a 6.5 mile ride that consists of many types of infrastructure. When I commuted I didn't blog yet, so I took this opportunity to share some of these wonderful paths and structures connecting these beautiful Maryland towns.

The first path I took leaving my neighborhood is Sligo Creek Path. In one of my first blog posts, I wrote about this trail system. It is a quaint park setting that straddles the Sligo Creek with soccer fields, playgrounds, golf courses and baseball diamonds. In many places one side of the creek has an unpaved path and the other has a paved path. These two paths are connected by a series of steel and wood foot bridges. The particular path I take on my route also includes a series of graphic rails that discuss information about the watershed duties of the creek.

After the park, I enter into a quiet neighborhood and climb a huge hill that crosses a couple of major streets. To get to the next path I need to cross an old wooden bridge over the train tracks that carry DCs Metro, the MARC train and Amtrack. This bridge can be quite slippery when it rains, but it is one way and the local streets speed bumps keep car speeds respectable and safe. This bridge drops you into a neighborhood that borders an industrial area with a lot of little manufacturing businesses. They make canolli, custom furniture, tire installation, marble countertops, etc.

The next path, the georgetown branch trail (or Capital Crescent) is a rail bed conversion. Being gravel and nearly flat it is deceiving how tiring it can be. This is the path that makes commuting between these two areas difficult. Fat tires make it smooth but add resistance, skinny tires reduce resistance but increase vibration. I was never comfortable with this portion of the ride, but it is beautiful. As you pass neighborhoods which are across the woods lining the path in the distance, you come upon little discoveries. One of those discoveries is a long high RR bridge that has been converted for pedestrian use. I stopped and took a few pictures here because the sun was setting and the colors were beautiful.

After I left the bridge I met a guy that I used to see everyday on my commute. He was a die-hard commuter like me, riding in all weather and loving every minute of it. We had a nice chat and I hope to do an interview with him soon about his experiences on the bike.

Finally I arrived a Griffin and the 4 of us packed up the car and headed to the trail-head. We did a 10 mile ride in Cabin John Park that was a rocky rooty technical challenge. Once again the others I rode with had way more endurance then I. All in all it was a great ride; I really enjoyed the challenge; and I look forward to the next one.

Keep riding everyone.

Words and Photos by Ray Heinsman