A Perfect Group Ebike Ride, a Perfect Day, and New Friends and Memories
How 5 intrepid, excited, and well heeled ebikers came to be arriving at my farm on Wednesday morning, parked, unloaded (individually) 5 very capable and quite experienced ebikes, and then, after much time chatting and getting acquainted, or reacquainted as the case may be, gathered together around yours truly, all ready and eager for an 18+ mile bike ride along the colorful early autumn dressed roads of western Loudoun County...well, it is an interesting story. And it all started with this forum.
Several months back, in the Spring I believe it was,
@Adventum, upon reading and enjoying my tales of my rides through the local countryside, decided my area - which was only a short hop across the Potomac River from Maryland to Virginia - would be the perfect local for a group ebike ride. As the group leader for his "Friday Riders" bike club, a lively mixed group of non-assisted and assisted bikes, he was always looking for fresh new places to host rides. And my stories sparked an interest in him to contact me. We chatted digitally for several months about the possibility of a group ride, but Covid always found a way to sneak into the discussion and delay any advance beyond just the talking points. Even his Friday Riders group had been put on hiatus this season because of mandated restrictions and "at risk" riders. The change of season from Spring, to Summer, and then into Autumn finally set the stage for actually hosting a ride at my place. Governmental restrictions had eased (somewhat), and any more delay, hoping the virus wouldn't push back, meant a pure ebike ride wouldn't take place at all this year if we didn't make it a "go" now. We decided the opening weeks of October would be our target date. I was given a set of instructions - length to be about 20 miles, relatively flat avoiding any killer hills. I happily had just the perfect loop, too, to match those requirements.
@Adventum and an ebike friend came out the week before the final selected ride date to get a first hand view of the roads and terrain from the saddle, so to speak. A "spin around the block" on their own was all that was needed for the both to arrive back at my place with big smiles and two thumbs up for the gorgeous scenery and outstanding roads.
The official ebike ride was a go.
@Adventum extended an invitation to a select number of ebikers in his Friday Riders group, giving date, time, and place (my farm) to meet. How he also managed to arrange probably one of the prettiest, most perfect days of the entire year as the time for the ride is just...well, just astounding. Sunny, bright, clear, just the right temperature, just the right amount of gentle breezes. You name it. It was THE perfect day. I honesty want to know who he knows to pull that off!
And so that is how this intrepid group of e-cyclists, 7 in all counting me and my cycling neighbor who was thrilled to join in, ended up setting out to enjoy a splendid day of touring historic gravel roads, sharing in the history of the area, enjoying delicious bits of trivia and gossip of the estates, the peoples (some still living but most gone but never forgotten) who helped shape and retain the exquisite gravel roads and landscape for what It is today, and taking in the extraordinary scenic views.
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Yours truly was not only the ride leader, but also the effervescent, well versed, and quite loquacious tour guide. I think we spent more time in the first 5 miles stopping for me to point out things of interest and share juicy bit of little known (or forgotten) history, much to the amusement, and obvious enjoyment, of the group. My "...and if you look over there.." pointer finger certainly got a workout, if the photos are any judge.
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Applause to my appreciative audience - they seemed to be really enjoying the trivia was well as the views.
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Of course it wasn't all just chatter. The roads had put on their best show; the gravel roads hard packed and (for the most part) appreciatively smooth, the paved roads fast and never lacking in offering some stunning long distance views of the mountains marching southway in gradual shades of purple and softening blues. The local trees, freshly washed from the rains two days prior, mixed intensely green summer leaves with colorful orange and gold autumn leaves. It was still a touch too early for the full explosion of autumn colors, but this advance preview was still quite delightful nonetheless.
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Lunch was held on the front lawn of an abandoned house alongside a peaceful gravel road that had no problem sharing its unique history when I divulged its secrets, and those of the surrounding lands. Conversation was lively and fun, even when discussing the current global scourge. Viral topics notwithstanding, our lunchtime conversation was otherwise bright and carefree.
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Then it was time to step up the pace and just cycle to enjoy our bikes and the quiet roads until our next bit of excitement which involved an expert lecture and demonstration on how to properly change a flat tire - courtesy of one of the group's ebikes which flatted at a crossroads, 3 miles from the meet on a shortcut home, but 8 miles from the end of the full ride. It was an on-the-spot repair, capabibly and swiftly rendered by one of the group's most expert flat-tire-fixer. I will admit to being properly awed. It certaintly inspired me to get practicing on doing on-the-road repairs myself instead of always calling hubby for SAG support and handing my bike over to my mechanic to fix the flat. One day I might not have that luxury.
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Flat repaired, with applause to our expert in the group, and we were under again. Nobody wanted, or desired, the shortcut home, so we set foot to pedal and cuised the remaining 8 miles home, pausing just once more for a slight detour through an old graveyard.
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In this graveyard, unknown except for a small handful of people, lies the remains of a 2 year old toddler buried in an unmarked grave. A child who was an unwitting key player in a well publicized cessation of Russian adoptions to the US a number of years back. It's a very sad, very tragic story that had far reaching implications, ones that still resonate today. I wasn't surprised that pretty much everyone in the group knew the story as it had made almost global headlines. They all were astonished, however, that the little boy was buried here. No headstone, no markers to tell his name, to tell his birth and death. Just a small stone angel marks the site now, an angel that had been a fixture in my garden once until I was told by a lady visiting her deceased husband a few graves over who it was that lay unnamed under that patch of grass in that old graveyard. The little angel now rests above the little boy, a reminder he has not been forgotten by the few that know.
We all left the graveyard to ride the final 2 miles back, I'm sure each of us contemplating how, even in the most out of the way places, one can find bits of history that have had consequences well beyond the local, sometimes even right onto the global stage.
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The return to my farm was accompanied by smiles and delight over the day, the ride, the tour, and the company, plus the earnest wishes to do it again. I promised more roads, more views, more breathtaking vistas, and longer miles next time. All were delightfully received and hope to be reality. We shall hope for another perfect day for a return engagement, and another ebike ride down our local roads once the stranglehold of the virus is broken. It may take a while, but it will happen.
I can't wait!
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