Todays riders:  Peggy Alfonso, Jim Cavanaugh, Andrea Clayville (rode from Bethesda and back) Jessica Hirschhorn (also rode from home and back), Cindy Malvicini, Joseph McKenzie, Nancy Paul, Allan Rogers, Lynn Schoenfelder, Kurt VanGelder

Today's ride was a bit of "hither, thither, and yon" on a warmer and more humid day than we expected. 

The Anacostia River Trail, Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, Lake Artemesia, The Douglass Bridge, and Bladensburg Water Park are local gems that should not be missed!  

We started at the Golf Course, winding around in front of the Wharf, past the Titanic Memorial , Audi Soccer stadium, then over the stunning Douglass Bridge. The Anacostia River Trail was a treat for newbies as well as Veterans.  At Kenilworth Gardens, most of us rode the 1/4 mile dirt trail for a brief look at the water lilies and lotuses , still in full bloom.  Lynn S, Kurt VanG and Alan Rogers decided to skedaddle ahead to Lake Artemesia. 

We all met up for iced coffee and treats at Vigilante Coffee in Hyattsville. 

Then Lynn, Kurt, Alan, and Jim headed back while Cindy, Andrea, Peggy, Nancy and I went ahead to Lake Artemesia. 

We hit Heritage/Kingman Island, the Soccer Plex, and The Navy Yard ("watch the cracks!"), passing Nats Stadium and the Wharf again before heading back to the golf course.  

ROUTE: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/34370131

Andrea and I headed back up the CCT.  I finished up with 60 miles for the day. 

It was a great adventure enjoyed by all. 

Thanks to Joe McK for the lotus photo. 

Leader:  Joan Oppel

Member: Ron Altemus

Weather: Another lovely day in July, temperatures hovering in the high 70s

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/40798783

Report: Two others had signed up to join in this ride but were not able to attend. So Ron and I had a leisurely tour of Belmont Boulevard, the trail, the park entrance road and the Visitor Center and beyond. Belmont Bay (which is the body of water we view from the back of the Visitor Center) looked like glass today, it was so still and calm.

As we were leaving the Visitor Center, a rider came in -- Barb Haney! (riding from home) and she continued on with us through Hallowing Point, chatting and catching up. A real treat.

Leader: Debby Bowman 

Girl  power: Carol Linden, Barbara Butcher, Joan Oppel, Patricia Sanders, Marg Draper-Harris, Peggy Alfonso, Caresse Bullock, Deb Reynolds, Pat Walthers, Mary Ann Owsley

Route: 41 miles, 1500 ft elevation gain, https://ridewithgps.com/routes/50833754. North from Utica Park, past Loys Station, as far east as Sixes Bridge and Sixes Rds en route to a stop at the Mount St Mary's athletic center. Then down to Thurmont and a return to the park.

Weather: A July unicorn. Temperatures topped out in the mid-80s with low humidity,  no wind, no risk of rain, no worries!

Mishaps: forgot to take some group photos.

AMS: 12ish mph

Many thanks to Steve Palincsar for creating this scenic tour of historic bridges. We crossed numerous covered and metal truss bridges while enjoining views of rolling farmland, creeks and rivers, and the Catoctin Mountains. Animal sightings included donkeys, ostriches, emus, horses, goats, sheep, chickens, cows and... a heron. 

Thanks to everyone for joining me for a great ride on a great day! 

Leader/Co-leader: Diane Harris, Sherwood Byers

Members: Theresa R, Sherwood B, Sue Gunter, Randez H, Karl M, Morris H, John S, Linda B, Larry M, Eric N, Jerry R, Liam H

Guests: Kevin A, Derrick B, Raymond J, Michael L, Melvin S, Mark T, Claudette W, Paul D

Route: Deale-North Beach-Chesapeake Beach RR Trail. This ride covers  roads in 2 Southern Maryland Counties, Anne Arundel and Calvert. 

Weather: A cool morning with temperature in the high 60s, increasing to the low 80s, overcast at the start that turned into sunshine before the first rest stop. The reported  humidity at ride start was 92% according to Strava but it felt much more comfortable that that.

AMS: Ride leader Diane, 13.9. The faster group led by Sherwood averaged approximately 16.7

Mechanicals/mishaps: One rider had issues with his chain (repeatedly dropping) but was able to complete the ride. The group split at Chesapeake Beach, with one sticking to the route, and the other taking another way to get to the Chesapeake Beach Railroad Trail. Both groups would eventually reconnect in the parking lot at the end of the ride.

Report: An unexpectedly large group resulted in me asking Sherwood (another experienced ride leader) if he would be willing to lead the A riders while I led the B group. He graciously accepted the task and both groups rode mostly together for the first 3 miles, after which the faster group increased the speed to what was comfortable for them. This part of Anne Arundel county has backroads bordering farmland, horse pastures, lots with large houses (The Inn at Tacaro Estate), houses that have seen better days, and undeveloped land. It's very pretty. Most of the roads with more and faster traffic had nice wide shoulders which offered a degree of safety. Two rest stops, the South County Cafe and the Chesapeake Market and Deli offered places for us to replenish food and fluids, use the restrooms, and areas for us to sit, relax, and refuel for the rest of the ride. Points of interest on this ride included the pier at Chesapeake Beach, travel on the Chesapeake Beach Railroad Trail, and an elevated wooden boardwalk over a tidal marsh which included a short section of gravel ending at the paved road of a neighborhood. All in all, this was a perfect weather day to spend on the bike visiting Anne Arundel and Calvert Counties. Thanks go out to Sherwood for making this a successful and enjoyable ride for everyone who came out and to those who decided to join us.

Leader:  Ron Altemus

Members:  Gene V, Yacoub E, Jackie S, Oswald M, Peter S, Maureen F, Paul A, Mark G, Bob R, Connie Q, Carl H.  Not pictured:  Denny M (who rode from home)



Route:  Indian Head Rail Trail, heading east from Livingston Rd parking lot to rest stop at White Plains trailhead, and then returning westward to ride start.

Weather:  early September weather in the later part of July.  What's not to like?  Mostly sunny skies; temps starting in the low 70s rising to the low 80s; dew point a pleasant mid 50s; 5-7 mph air supposedly out of the east but seemed like it was out of the west

AMS:   12ish for most riders

Mechanicals/Mishaps:  none  

Report:  nice weather = nice turnout.   Yacoub joined us for the first time in awhile with a new bike.  Nice to have him out riding again.    

Herons where the major wildlife sightings of the day.  Great Blue, white, and green were all observed.  Also seen was an eagle on the nest near the parking lot, turtles basking on logs in the various ponds, a beaver (see below), and a woodchuck (or groundhog, depending on your cultural/regional preference). 

Pictured below in the small pond just west of the parking lot is a Great Blue ready to strike should prey venture by.  It was intent on capturing something and didn't seem to notice a few of us riding along the trail prior to the actual ride.  Your faithful correspondent actually turned around hoping to get a picture.  Almost immediately after taking this one, the heron did successfully strike and came up swallowing something down its gullet. 

After venturing a hundred yards or so down the trail to return with Carl, we saw the heron in the same place, though not the same pose, and a beaver swimming l-r in the small channel behind it.

On the "items of note" front:  the water fountain at White Plains hasn't worked for a couple of years.  The club had offered to help with repairs but Charles County maintenance staff spent some time working on it and then determined that the water line from the restrooms building had a leak under umpteen feet of concrete.  so they decided to put in a water bottle refill station on the building.  Today it was in place and operational (not there Saturday past when we started from White Plains).

We were so happy that the temp dropped and the air quality cleared, for another great Monday ride, "The Octopus Ride" on Kent Island. 

I changed the route a bit, and after the first two out 'n backs, we headed NORTH to go to the very beautiful and empty Matapeake pier.   After the pier we headed SOUTH to complete the ride.  Everyone stayed together and we enjoyed the cloudy day and beautiful water views. 

RIDERS: Eugene Grumby, Barbara Heffernan (riding her snazzy new E Gravel bike, Specialized Creo), Jessica Hirschhorn, Renee McCullough, Joseph McKenzie, Allan Rogers, and Anne Wittenberg. 

We enjoyed the usual Silver Swan beach, the fishing pier, the golf course, and the lighthouse/ crabbing marina. 

We found a dropped iPhone on the road, and were able to see only the persons name, but that did not help us much.  On the way home I dropped the phone at the Prince Anne's Sheriff's office. 

No one lost, no missed turns, no mechanicals.  A great group! 

36.72 miles

192' climbing

Average Speed 11.7 

Leader: Joan Oppel - Substituting for Ron Altemus

Members: Patricia Sanders, Janell Saunders, Jackie Schoch, Tom Short, Bernard Stewart, Dave Van Ameyden, Pat Walthers

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54133983  Today's route provided a fair amount of shade and the discovery of occasional new pavement on Adams Willett and Hancock Run - which raised the question: why don't the road crews pave both lanes when the old surface next to the new appears and feels just as worn out? Parts of Route 6 have nice new pavement, extending across the shoulder - nice.

Weather: About 80 to start, 90 at the end. A nice breeze.

Report:  Ron was not feeling well and asked me to subsitute - we missed him! The weather was noticeably niceer than the past few days - almost cool comparatively. Riders spread out quite a bit on the road, but we did meet up at the Nanjemoy Store and enjoyed the shade of the picnic tables. The store owner was running the store this morning and I took the opportunity to again thank her for her hospitality to allow cyclists to use the bathroom.

We spread out again on the return but those of us at the back were happy Ron listed this route and enjoyed the ride.

Leader:  Ron Altemus

Members:  Bob Rourke, Gene Villiva, Joan Oppel, Paul Adams



Route: west from White Plains trailhead to Mattingly Rd trailhead and return. A couple of us added mileage by visiting the boat launch at the end of Mattingly.

Weather:  Gray shrouded smoke filled skies w/Code Orange air quality; temp range 80-90; humidity/dew point in the unpleasant range; 7-9 mph winds supposedly out of the SW but the flags at White Plains indicated NE

AMS:  mid 11s

Mechanicals/Mishaps:  nothing worth mentioning

Report:  in place of Friday's cancelled ride due to Code Purple air quality, your friendly neighborhood ride leader posted a Saturday ride starting at White Plains to ride the entire trail.  As noted above, the air quality still wasn't optimal, but with masks for some of us and the basically flat terrain, it wasn't bad at all.

Both ends of the trail had lots of walkers but few, if any joggers.  Numerous other cyclists, including a pass by from club member Bob Moye. The section between Blair and Woodland has a number of red Crepe Myrtle trees,  The one pictured below was very intense in its coloring.

Even on a Saturday, there are wildlife sightings, particularly near the Livingston Rd parking lot.  A Great Blue Heron and a Green Heron were observed in different ponds along with numerous turtles.  There was an eagle on the nest just east of the parking lot.  A cyclist passing in the opposite direction alerted us to a snake on the trail but we never saw it, probably due to the disparity in speeds between the announcer and us.  

Leader: Joan Oppel

Members: Chantal Briere, Connie Quickstad, Pat Walthers

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/56115420

Weather: About 80 to start, 90 at the end. Some mild breeze to help while riding. 

Report:  Everyone said they enjoyed the route and the ride! A quick route put together to get to Nanjemoy from Livingston Road parking lot. We took Chicamuxen and Pisgah Marbury to Mason Springs, which becomes Ironsides. Then a right on Baptist Church - the longhorn cattle were out, including (look carefully at least one very young calf). 

Baptist Church becomes Liverpool Point directly to the Nanjemoy Store. It was very pleasant in the shade at the picnic tables.

Return was Gilroy/Bowie and then on Smallwood Church to Chicamuxen, including Marbury Run. 

Wildlife (not) sighting: We almost got fooled but even a quick passing look revealed the truth: colors all wrong, not moving feet. Definitely a wooden non mallard.

Photo credits to Connie.