Another Day, Another Trail

WB&A Trail Ride with Closed Area Marked
Odenton, MD
May 18, 2023

 I took off to explore another biking trail yesterday. It is part of the Washington, Baltimore & Annapolis (WB&A or WBA) trail network. The trail runs very close to where we are staying and looking at my biking app, which has the trail clearly marked, I was expecting a nice long ride. 

View from the End Point of my Ride
WB&A Trail
May 18, 2023

The trail, which mostly follows and old rail line, does not have severe hills but generally gradual and long grades. I picked up the trail up where it crosses Waugh Chapel Road in Odenton and followed it south, towards Annapolis. I had an enjoyable ride for about 4.5 miles until I came, abruptly, to an area where the trail is closed for both rerouting away from the railed and construction of a pedestrian bridge over the Patuxent River. I was bummed because the trail goes on for a great distance beyond the closed area, but I could not figure a route around the closed section.

In the end, I posted an easy 9-mile ride. It was an out and back ride, rather than the loop rides that I enjoy doing. The scenery along the way varied from forest and open fields to housing communities. At one point, I was perched on a small hill overlooking what seemed like rolling fields of houses. It made me sad to think about how the area used to be used for farming, but now was filled with houses placed too close together. 

-- Bob Doan, Odenton, MD