Back in the Saddle

I don't think fierce pedaling would be enough to escape that fellow... 

With the return of Spring (which is now official, if specious) comes the return of cycling. While I have been riding to work intermittently since the end of January, this weekend marked my first ride longer than that. That ride served as a reminder of just how awesome it is to live in the DC suburbs and own a bike capable of handling varied terrain. My route took me through urban streets in Silver Spring, down Beach Drive (closed to motorists on weekends), past (and into) the National Zoo, onto the National Mall, along the C&O Canal Towpath, and back to Silver Spring on a paved bike trail. All of this was less than a 30-mile ride.

Boulder Bridge in Rock Creek Park is one of my favorite cycling landmarks.

 
So what does a new season of cycling mean? Well, I'm doing another century ride, or the same one over again if you prefer something that sounds more zen. The CASA River Century was a lot of fun and training for it was good for me, good for the environment, and good for traffic between Silver Spring and Rockville. Dustin and I will be joined by a third rider this year, and hopefully this time it serves as a prelude to the Sea Gull Century. Other life events might make this difficult, but I think I'll be able to make it happen.

The new season also means a new Naturalism on Speed challenge for me, which may bore the bajeezus out of my readers. Even if it does, it will at the very least hone my knowledge and skills, which in turn will make me better at this*. I'm aiming for fifty new species to add to last year's final total (which will make 153 the magic number). Sunday's ride netted me five or six to get started with. A quick recap of the rules:

1. I have to ID each species positively.
2. I can't stop for a better look, but I can count what I see when I'm already stopped.
3. I must know what I'm seeing when I see it - research can only help for next time.
4. Domesticated animals and people don't count, nor do plants in planters/gardens.
5. I can't count specimens I see all the time and thus have the chance to study thoroughly.
   
   

The sights in DC are iconic and worthwhile - and with a bike you can take in a huge number of them in just a few hours.

I'll close by reminding everyone how bike-friendly the Washington, DC area is. The Capital Bikeshare program is awesome, and there is an extensive network of trail systems. I could conceivably ride (about 90 miles) from my apartment to my parents' house just outside of Martinsbug, WV. The Metro makes it easy to close little gaps in your ride by hopping a train for a stop or two (except during weekday rush hour). The buses are theoretically all equipped to handle your bicycle.








*That's my polite way of saying "deal with it."

New Old Camera!

This is a little bit of a cheating post. I do have a mushroom to share, but I don't yet know what it is. I'm cheating because my new camera arrived today. It's the same model I'd been using, so I won't be able to snap the kind of insect and other small being photos I dream of, but at least I will have current photos to choose from here. I paused along Beach Drive on the way home from work today - I needed a mushrooming fix, and I have heard tell that morels are out in force (though I may have missed the window).

This afternoon I encountered several RAPs (Random Anonymous Polypores) and several specimens of THAT mushroom. "THAT" mushroom is one that I have been encountering since I began the hobby...it appears early in the season and lasts for several months. It has absolutely generic features, and it completely defies identification. I also found the interesting Boletinoid mushroom I will show below (which eerily resembles THAT mushroom except that it has pores instead of gills).

Enjoy this obligatory new-camera closeup of Franklin. "Lookit that punum" says the stereotypical zany aunt.

The underside of the mushroom I brought home. It has white pores which run down the stem, and it grows from rotting wood.

It has a mottled brown cap, and its patterning is reminiscent of dryad's saddle...though this is certainly not the usual form one would expect of that particular fungus.

It has white flesh which does not stain upon bruising upon exposure. There is also an indentation at the center of the cap, the term for which escapes me. It's called an "umbo" if it's convex instead of concave...

There is no annulus present, and it seems to have no veils either. I now need to wait for a spore print and consult my guides. If I ID this thing, I will update.

This is one of the first photos I took with the new camera. I didn't know what I was doing with all the settings, so it came out in this odd aspect ratio because of my zoom.  In any case, the photo is meant to display the distinctive marbled, flaky bark of the American sycamore. There wasn't a whole lot going on this evening around my apartment, so I had to look to the trees. Fitting, I suppose, since tomorrow is Arbor Day.

Well, like I said, this is a bit of a cheat. G'night folks!