Randy, Jackie and Norm at Mallows Bay. Pat waited at the entrance, not wishing to ride gravel.
Leader: Steve Palincsar
Members: Randy & Jackie Schoch, Norm Lisy, Pat Walthers
Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/33413908 33 miles on the back roads of Nanjemoy, with 1170' of elevation gain.
Weather: Overcast, breezy, 62 degrees at the start rising to 69 and occasionally clearing by early afternoon, to say nothing of the occasional feeling of rain drops blowing in the wind and the ominous dark clouds visible to the northeast.
AMS: One of these days I'll have instrumentation on the Alchemy eRonin, but for now I won't even hazard a guess.
Mechanicals/Mishaps: None
Report: Going by the long range forecast, today was the last chance for a ride before the rain sets in. In stark contrast to the clear sunny skies of the past two days, today was overcast, breezy and chilly feeling. It was a day for layers and a great day to have storage to put away those layers as it gradually cleared and warmed up.
It was the first time back to Nanjemoy since the pandemic for me, and this was one of several routes I'd devised during the pandemic for informal rides while the club's calendar was shut down.
It's a bit farther to Friendship Farm Park than to most of our ride starts, but it's an excellent location with ample parking and clean portolets. But the real reason to start here is that you can get to the Nanjemoy back roads while still keeping ride distances in the 30s, something I'm very much appreciating right now.
Today's route took Baptist Church to Bowie, Gilroy and the seldom-seen southern end of Chicamuxen to Riverside and a rest stop at Mallows Bay. After the break we took Liverpool Point to MD-6, then went down Hancock Run and up to Adams Willet back to a second rest stop at the Nanjemoy Store, a very cyclist-friendly stopping point under its current management.
Leaving the Nanjemoy store, we went up Jacksontown, back down MD-6 to Poseytown, then took Bowie and Baptist Church back to Friendship Farm Park.
In all, it was a great day to ride. Thanks to Pat, Norm, Randy and Jackie for coming along today.
