Leader:   Ron Altemus

Members:   Len Wilkinson, Susan Altemus, Gene Villiva, Fran Jezisek



Route:   Mason Neck trail from Pohick Bay Park to the golf course, then retrace back to High Point Road to the state park visitor's center.  Return included a stop at Gunston Hall

Weather:  plenty of sunshine; temps rising from the upper 60s to mid 70s; pesky winds out of the south

AMS:   11ish

Mechanicals/Mishaps:   none

Report:   a leisurely route for trail riders with only the one hill on the return after High Point Rd.  We rode as a group for the entire trip; surprisingly, we did not see any other cyclists on the trail but there was a steady stream going both ways on High Point Rd.  Three plus ospreys were active near the visitor's center and over Belmont Bay.  When we went behind the visitor's center at Gunston Hall for the view of the house, we encountered club members Joan Oppel and Jessica Hirschhorn.  They were riding the full 28 mile Mason Neck route.

Rest stop at the Clover Hill Dairy

Leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Catherine Ade, Ron Altemus, Sherwood Byers, Luis Dall'Orso, GloJean Gladden, Karen McMillan, Joan Oppel, Deborah Reynolds, David VanAmayden and Pat Walthers.

Guests: none

Route: 32 mile route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/32015569 and the 38 mile extended version, https://ridewithgps.com/routes/50091140.  My Garmin recorded 1028' elevation gain on the 32 mile route.

Weather: Overcast, mid-60s at the start rising to a sunny, humid 82 with 10-12 mph breezes.  The forecast suggested the possibility of light rain but no rain was seen on the ride.

AMS: 13.1

Mechanicals/Mishaps: Leading the fast contingent, Sherwood encountered some aggressive dogs on Ryceville Rd.  He reports that it appeared for a moment as though he was going to get bitten, but he drove the dog off. 

Later in the ride, after the 2nd break (when he'd unfortunately been left behind because his riding companion failed to hear he was going into the Gents to remove his base layer) Sherwood took the long route and got a flat on the debris-laden shoulder of Golden Beach Rd.

Leaving Gilbert Run Park after the 2nd break, my foot slipped out of the pedal on my first start-up stroke, and came down onto the roadway.  I was off balance and was unable to regain my balance, and eventually I went down.  I got a few scrapes on my knee and elbow. 

Traffic instantly stopped on MD-6 in both directions, and passers-by (including a passing police officer) offered to call an ambulance, but Joan and Pat quickly bandaged me up.

A note in passing: superficial scrapes like that -- the ones we not-so-lovingly refer to as "road rash" -- sting well out of proportion to their seriousness.  Modern bandages like the CVS Advanced Care series transparent dressings and BandAid ProHeal with hydrocolloidal gel pads do a wonderful job removing the pain and eliminating scabbing.

Report: There was a bad crash on MD-5 at Cedarville/McKendree that brought southbound traffic to a crawl this morning.  I didn't arrive at the Northern Senior Center until around 11 am. Early arrivals who'd been fortunate enough to take alternate routes that avoided MD-5 through Waldorf found a parking lot full of cars belonging to participants in a 5K race and a Senior Center building open so they could use the rest rooms.

It was chilly and overcast when we got started, warming enough to require a clothing change by the time we got to Woodburn Hill Rd.  It was scenic there, as always, but hopes for views of bald eagles were disappointed; perhaps we were too early in the season.

We stopped for a rest break at the Clover Hill Dairy.  I was in line behind a couple of customers as I waited to purchase a drink.  When the second customer at length finally had the contents of her shopping basket (mainly large foot-long blocks of cheese, two shopping bags all told) rung up, she was given a bill for $961 and some change.  She presented around $80 cash in 10s and 20s.  "It's nine hundred and sixty one dollars."  She presents another $20, up to $100 now.  "It's nine hundred and sixty one dollars."

At that point I thought better of my purchase and put my drink back in the cooler, went the loo and then rejoined the group waiting outside.  Either someone made a big mistake ringing up the order, or at $3-10/lb .those foot-long blocks of cheese are a lot heavier than I would have guessed. (I mean, like who buys almost a thousand dollars worth of cheese?)

We continued through Amish farm country on Dixie Lyon and Ryceville, where Sherwood had his dog encounter, but didn't see any dogs, then rode on Olde Mill and Plater, I believe to be old alignments that at one time were the route of Budds Creek Rd, before taking Bowling to Trinity Church and MD-6 to our second rest stop at Gilbert Run Park.

After our break and my fall, we took Keech to Oaks to the Three Notch Trail back to Northern Senior Center.   Aside from the massive delays in getting started, and of course the mess that happened leaving Gilbert Run Park, it was a very enjoyable day.

Leader:   Ron Altemus

Members:   Susan Altemus, Donaro Gardner, Gene Villiva, Robin Garnett, Leesha Saunders



Route:  Indian Head Rail Trail, Livingston Rd parking lot east to White Plains.  Return to start after a rest stop.

Weather:   mostly cloudy>partly cloudy>mostly cloudy; mid 50s to upper 60s temp range; 5-7 mph SW airs

AMS:  varied by individual

Mechanicals/Mishaps:  none

Report:  as pictured above, we started off somewhat bundled up but by the time we returned, it was quite nice.  The number of other trail users rose along with the temperatures.  Wildlife sightings included several bald eagles, turtles, crows and numerous smaller birds.  Heard but not seen was a noisy woodpecker.

Robin and I had a lovely ride to view the cherry blossoms.  We rode around Hains Point, past the Tidal Basin and the Washington Monument, stopping for photo ops.  Unfortunately, the bright sunrise I saw on the way to the ride at 7 AM didn't last, so we had overcast skies. The blossoms look like they are near peak, so you still have time to see them. 

Leader:   Ron Altemus

Members:   (not as fast group at Walters Landing)  Pat Walthers, Denny Miller, Sue Gunter, Donaro Gardner, Joan Oppel, Jackie Schoch

(the fast guys at Nanjemoy Store)  Sherwood Byers, (onlooker Joan), Luis Dall'Orso

Route:   https://ridewithgps.com/routes/41956882    From Friendship Farm, Ironsides.MD-6 to Tayloes Neck for an out and back including Bluff Point and Walters Landing.   Retrace back to King James Church for a bio stop.  Hancock Run>Adams Willet to a rest stop at Nanjemoy Store.  Jacksontown, Poseytown, Bowie, and Baptist Church back to the start point.  35.8 miles, 1215' elevation change.

Weather:  blue skies giving way to mostly cloudy by ride's end; temp range mid 50s to mid 60s; 8 mph NW winds

AMS:   ride leader swept 11ish, the fast guys were around 18 mph

Mechanicals/Mishaps:   none

Report:  a very delightful and leisurely tour of Tayloes Neck followed by some fav Nanjemoy routing.  We split into two groups on Ironside and redistributed numbers near the end of Tayloes Neck with some of the group out ahead slowing while the fast guys did their thing.  With the exceptions of Ironsides and MD-6, roads had little to no traffic, which is why the Nanjemoy area is so great for cycling.

The visit to Walters Landing was memorable.  On Friendship Acres Rd, there is a boggy area that has growing on it a large number of wild magnolia trees (pictured below).  When we stopped at Walters Landing, resident Loretta came out and talked with us and we queried her about the magnolias.  She described the site was "boggy" which is what magnolia trees prefer and she mentioned another boggish area near the intersection of MD-224/225.  Both sites are of interest and concern for State of Maryland Wildlife Conservationists as these types of tracts are disappearing rapidly.   The site below is the only one your faithful correspondent has ever seen with WILD magnolias growing on it.

Leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Ron Altemus

Guests: None

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/39819531

Weather: Partly cloudy, mid 50s at the start, rising to the high 60s.  Breezy, with 10-12 mph winds.

AMS: 11.9

Mechanicals/Mishaps: none (Well, none on my route.  Lou Dall'Orso had a flat which was repaired at the Nanjemoy store, but he was with Joan's group)

Report:  Not much sign of spring in Nanjemoy yet, unlike Alexandria and the District, but it definitely felt like a spring day, especially towards the end when the temps got up to almost 70. 

This was my first chance for a weekend ride in weeks, and I could definitely feel it.  The 30 mile route was easy by design: it's been a long hard winter with few opportunities to ride.  Surely others must be feeling as rusty as I do and would appreciate an easy start to the season.

Joan was up for a longer route and posted a 35 mile variation.  9 others joined her, several actually on their first rides of the season.  Ron and I did the 30 version.  The two groups rode together for the first 20 miles, separating at the 2nd rest stop at the Nanjemoy Store as the long route went down to the end of Liverpool Point Rd. while Ron and I took a break at the store before returning to Friendship Farm Park.

It was a lovely day, and it was wonderful seeing riders I haven't seen in a year or longer - in one case, not since the Pandemic.  And it was a fine reminder of why this is such a great activity.  

Leader: Joan Oppel

Members: Chantal Briere, Lou Dall'Orso, Lois Lightfoot, Ray Luchenbach, Karen McMillan, Jackie Schoch, Tom Short, Bob Thompson

Route: The longer version of the ride Steve posted - https://ridewithgps.com/routes/50032848

Weather: Some clouds, some sun - Partly cloudy, high 50's to start rising into mid 60's, a west wind that was rarely felt due to (I think) the wind shielding effect of the forests. Some outstanding cloud formations, like painting in the sky.

Mechanicals/Mishaps: Lou Dall'Orso found a slow leak in a tire, pumped a few times, then checked out at first Nanjemoy store stop and a small piece of glass discovered. Tire/tube quickly changed and on our way.

Report: We gathered with Steve P and Ron A at the start and more or less rode as a group the first 11 miles to the Nanjemoy Store. At that point, everyone split up into small groups. Three's, two's, even one who set out to do his own thing. After the second visit to the Nanjemoy Store (we didn't really stop) at mile 20, Lois, Ray, Jackie, Karen and I rode down to the end of Liverpool Point. We could not reach the beach area due to a massive mud puddle. After we turned right to loop around Riverside Road to Maryland Point, Ray and Lois took off on Riverside and Jackie, Karen and I rode the final 13 or 14 miles together. 

It was a beautiful, warm day, low traffic, good company.

Leader:   Ron Altemus  Members: Donaro Gardner, Denny Miloler



Route:   Indian Head Rail Trail - Livingston Rd parking lot east to White Plains and return after a brief rest stop

Weather:   sunny with temps starting in the mid 40s rising to 50; 12-15 mph NW winds with gusts in the 20s

AMS:   11ish

Mechanicals/Mishaps:   none

Report:   actually not too bad with a tailwind outbound and only a few of the aforementioned gusts coming back (actually, average speed was faster on the return into the wind!).  Until we got to Middletown heading east, we were the only ones on the trail.  The eastern end saw some walkers and joggers and only one other cyclist.

Scored a cold-blooded trifecta as we saw turtles, a couple of snakes, and heard frogs at various points along the trail.  Bird sighting included two Great Blue Herons at different locations, a red-shouldered hawk overhead, plenty of robins, and numerous other brown birds of various sizes.

If anyone had been registered, I would have canceled due to the weather (cold and windy). But I was the only sign-up, so I rode.  The sun was in my eyes for half the ride and the wind was in my face for the other half.  It is delightful to visit tourist attractions when there are no tourists there -- Washington Monument, for example.  The cherry blossoms were just peeking out.  I'll repeat this ride next week, hopeful with more people, better weather, and some cherry blossoms. 

Alan Kurzweil, Sue Gunter, Robin Garnett, and Donaro Gardner joined me on my weekly maintenance ride starting from Jones Point to Falls Church.  This loop continues from the Mt. Vernon, Custis, W and OD, Falls Church, and Four Mile Run trails along with some off-trail usage of roads.  After a stop in Falls Church at the local Starbucks we continued the loop to return.  Alan started his ride with us from his house and met us at the ride start thus peeling off in Alexandria to finish his loop.

The ride was a casual pace so not to leave anyone behind.  Pace was about 12 AMS.  No "Mishaps/Mechanical" issues were reported to me during this ride.

All reported to me that they enjoyed this ride.

Thank you to all who joined...Sherwood