Cycling Again!
In the two months since I posted to this blog Ive moved and done lots of shopping and planning for my new home and garden. Ill share about that soon enough but for now, 
I want to write about cycling again after at least 15 years. My former neighborhood was terrible for cycling hilly and dangerous but my new one is fabulous, with trails and parks and even farmland. So I took my old bike to a funky local bike shop (now owned by a 50-something woman I bonded with instantly) to get it ready for action again. And here it is my Nishiki Colorado vintage early 90s, takings its first-ever trip on the subway to D.C.
Which makes me wonder why Ive never done this before, taken a bike on the subway. It cost nothing extra and is the absolute best way to see the memorials in the touristy part of town, where parking spaces are nonexistent.
Seeing the Monuments by Bike
My first stop and the main reason for the outing was to see the new MLK Memorial along the Tidal Basin, which I reviewed here. Its right next door to the FDR, my favorite, so I checked in there, and then for contrast, the World War II Memorial, which may be my least favorite of them all.
Two wars. Two completely opposite memorials.
By chance I spied the new Albert Einstein statue, which Id never seen in person. A tour guide there pointed out that his nose has been wiped shiny by visitors rubbing it, and his lap gets a lot of sitting on, too. Im hoping to see some of that action the next time I visit. Love the statue its by the same sculptor who did the JFK bust in the Kennedy Center.
Cycling past Lakes and Farms
Much closer to home in fact about a half-mile from my house are the 6,500 acres of the Beltsville Ag Research Center (the largest in the world). With the smell of fresh manure in the air and roads with names like Poultry, Dairy and Animal Husbandry, it seems like the real deal farmland. Ive cycled there a few times already, and always stop at this stream to look for eagles returning to their nest, which you can see in this photo along the treeline, on the left.
And closest of all to my house is Greenbelt Lake, which I ride or walk around often. I recently heard from someone who grew up here that it was dug by hand during the 30s, to give work to the unemployed. So thank you, New Deal Socialism!
Back in the Saddle at a Certain Age
I can certainly confirm the old adage that you never forget how to ride a bike. Forgetting how to use the gears is something else, but it wasnt hard to relearn. My cycling now wont be quite the same as it was in the 90s, though. I got rid of my fast(er) road bike and kept just the slower all-terrain bike. No need to pretend to be a racer anymore. Also? No need to ride with cycling groups that go way too fast for me, just because the cool guys are in the faster group. IF I ride with groups again, itll be with the mostly female slow-poke groups, right where I belong. And I sure as hell wont be signing up for those killer cycling tours of Vermont like I once did with a former husband. No more pretending to be like serious bikers, the ones who profess to liking hills. Oy.
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