Other than once, a few years ago, I have not biked at all in Southern Maryland. So, when Jeff elected today to play in a bridge tournament, rather than hop on the bike for a second day in a row, I decided to go do my own thing, and ride the Oxon Hill Bike Club's Indian Head Hundred. I had only vaguely heard of this ride, although I learned today that it's been going on for, oh, 20 years or so.
After yesterday's Civil War half-century, I was of two minds regarding today's ride. I had originally hoped to do another 50 miles today, but the ride choices were: 30, 63 (metric) and 100. What to do, what to do? I've never before done more than 80 miles in a weekend, and I've never followed one long ride with an even longer ride the next day.
So, the burning question of the day was: did I have it in me to do a metric, after a hilly 50-miler? Jeff said I should just do the 30. As I drove down to the ride start, in Indian Head, I wondered if I might be able to delay my decision . . . sometimes, rides of differing lengths diverge after some distance, giving one the option of taking a shorter or longer route.
I was in luck, as it turned out. All three rides were the same for the first 21 miles -- to the first rest stop. I asked how hilly the routes were (the OH Bike Club web page said the terrain was "gently rolling"), in light of some of the steep rollers I'd just driven on. I was told that the 30 and 63 were essentially the same difficulty, and that the hundred was actually the flattest of the 3. Hmmm . . . not gonna do a hundred, not today.
I took both cue sheets -- the 30 and the 63 -- and figured I'd see how I felt at the first rest stop.
The first 20 miles or so were pretty spectactular, overall. I started out from Indian Head and soon found myself on MD 225. A busy road, but one with a wide shoulder (and with considerable glass: I saw a couple of riders fixing flats as I rode by). Once the ride left 225, though, things got really pretty. There was one steep hill (on which I slipped my chain . . . did you know that wet grass does a decent job of removing chain grease from your hands?), but most of the rest was either flat-ish, or fast rollers. One road -- Smallwood Church Road -- was gorgeous. Newly-paved (could have been done yesterday, it was so fresh), shady, and pretty gentle. I think there was one car in 5 miles.
Once I reached the first rest stop, I grabbed a bite to eat (they were making egg-mcmuffin clones) and went over to study the map. A couple of riders I quizzed allowed as how there were a couple of really bad hills on the 63, but that overall, it was a nice ride.
I was having enough fun that I didn't want the ride to end in 10 more miles. I changed cue sheets, switched from blue to green street arrows, and set off to do the metric.
One thing about Southern Maryland: it's steeped in history. Two wars, two centuries. I ran across a number of intriguing historical markers during the ride, some of which are pictured below (not bad for a camera phone, eh?).
The second rest stop was at a site overlooking the Port Tobacco river, at St. Ignatius Catholic Church:
We had to climb a short but extremely nasty hill to get to the church. A group of teens who were helping with rest stop support, cheered every biker arriving, querying, "How was the hill?" The most common response was, "What hill?" (I said, "nothing like having to work for food . . .")
The view from the top of the hill, though, was pretty nice. These were taken from the rear of St. Ignatius, overlooking the church's historic graveyard:
Though it's hard to tell from such small pictures, the Potomac and Port Tobacco rivers are in the far distance.
A general view of the graveyard:
The land upon which St. Ignatius now stands was originally St. Thomas Manor, part of a land grant to one Thomas Matthews, Esq.:
Seems I hung around the second rest stop long enough to be noticeable; one of the ride volunteers asked if I'd brought my tent and sleeping bag. I figured it was time to leave, anyway, as my legs were getting way too used to just walking, rather than pedaling. I was facing an additional 30 miles or so with no more rest stops, so I stocked up on water and grabbed a granola bar to complement the m&m's I was already carrying in my jersey.
You may or may not know that John Wilkes Booth, President Lincoln's assassin, escaped into Southern Maryland after shooting Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, laying low there for a piece (aided by more than one Southern sympathizer) before his capture in Port Royal, VA. (Though Maryland was a union state, Southern Maryland was a land of plantations, and so the region felt more of a bond to the Confederate States, than to the North.) Today's route took me past the scene of one of Booth's hiding places, near the present-day intersection of Wills Road and Bel Alton Newtown Road:
Later in the ride, the metric route took me up the beautifully-named but brutally steep Rose Hill Road. After finally snacking on my m&m's, I snapped pictures of two side-by-side historical markers. The first commemorates the nearby resting place of Dr. Gustavus Richard Brown, a physician and friend of George Washington:
The second marker notes that Rose Hill was also the home, in the next century, of Miss Olivia Floyd, a confederate agent (who, coincidentally, is buried in St. Ignatius' churchyard).
By the way, that "two miles south" is as the crow flies. I biked about 13 miles from St. Ignatius Church to the top of Rose Hill.
During the ride, I managed to pick up a map of bike routes in Southern Maryland. I see some fun riding ahead . . .
By the time I'd finished the metric, I'd climbed not only Rose Hill, but another rather nasty hill on Bumpy Oak Road (which was not bumpy, but might have been lined with oaks, tho' I was too busy climbing to notice). Right before the end, there were two short-but-steep surprises, as well. Overall, though, it was a nice ride, and one I would definitely do again. Once I got back to the ride start (my legs were fine but my butt had had enough), I changed clothes, decided to pass on the hot dog picnic, and headed for a gas station to fuel up and get a post-ride recovery drink (chocolate milk).
On the way back to the Beltway, I happened to pass a joint called B&J Carryout, featuring Dixie Style Barbecue. Yum . . . bet that could be good. I turned, went inside, ordered a "Dixie" style barbecue sandwich without slaw. It was good, indeed -- finely minced pork with a vinegary sauce, very much like Rocky Mount (NC) style barbecue. I polished it off in rather quick fashion, then headed back home. After a stop at Whole Foods, I went home and roasted a chicken for dinner. After Jeff got home from his bridge tourney, I regaled him with details of my day's ride.
110 miles in 2 days. Dang. That's a new record for me. (My butt thinks so, too . . . )
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