Leader: Steve Palincsar
Members: Joan Oppel, Steve Perakis, Ellen Goodwin, Sabine Hentrich, Rick Hagen, Lisa Petersen, Paul Hamilton, Walt Roscello and Ron Altemus
Guests: none
Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42828112 51 miles, 2166' elevation gain for the main group; around 45 miles for Joan, Ellen and Ron, who modified the route to shorten it.
Weather: Sunny, 40 at the start rising to the high 50s through the course of the day, with 3-6 mph winds from the north.
AMS: 13.1
Mechanicals/Mishaps: None
Report: It was an interesting drive getting to Friendship Farm Park: fog, quite dense at times, in all the low-lying areas on Indian Head Highway, followed by a spectacular autumn leaf display on Mason Spring between Pisgah Park and MD-6.
It felt quite cold to me at the start, cold enough to trigger a small winter asthma attack until I started breathing through my balaclava, and an excellent opportunity to take out my winter gear and re-learn exactly how it all works. I haven't adapted to the cold yet, set to late-late summer; a few more rides like this and I'll be adapted and temperatures like today's will feel balmy.
But that's me. Others in the group seemed just fine with summer riding gloves while I started out with warmest winter gloves, and there was a mix of headgear ranging from nothing to ear bands to wool caps to wool cap plus balaclava. One of the secrets to late season riding is finding out what works for you. Everybody's different: when it's 60 degrees I wear summer gloves with light weight glove liners, while others will be happy with just summer gloves and still others will be wearing lobster mitts.
Joan, Ellen and Ron were riding a route modified to shave off a half dozen miles, and their first shortcut came at mile 3.5 so most of the time we were two independent groups, one of three and one of seven. We met briefly at the first rest stop at King James Church, Joan's group leaving as mine was arriving.
We saw them again on MD-6 just before we reached the end of the road. I couldn't quite make out what Joan said as she passed, but it sounded like "disappointing." When we arrived at the end it was indeed a disappointment. There was a barricade up around 100 yards from the
end of the road, bracketed with "No Trespassing" signs. I poked my camera above the barrier and took a picture of the Forbidden Zone. It was sad for those of us who remember being able to ride all the way down to the end with its view of the Potomac and the Osprey nest.
We went on down Riverside, up Holly Springs, back down Maryland Point, and then onto Smith Point which was just spectacular. The trees made a lovely display, reds and oranges interspersed with splashes of green and the narrowness of the road, trees all around us and above us, making it feel as though we were riding on a narrow track through the forest.
We found Joan's group taking a break on Smith Point and joined them, staying after they departed, then rode the rollers on Riverside through Purse State Park to the second official rest stop at the Nanjemoy Store. Once again, we lingered at the store after Joan's group left but caught up with them and passed them on Jacksontown. We turned on Sandy Point and then on Riverside, continuing on MD-224 as it turned onto Chicamuxen.
On the descent down to Reeder Run we passed a police car and a passenger car in the ditch that had a blown out tire, then continued on to Smallwood Park.
Sabine got separated when we made the turn into the Park and her GPS directed her onto old Sweden Point Road down to the barrier, where her GPS lost the plot entirely. Eventually she made her way back to Smallwood Church and from there back to the park on her own, arriving a few minutes before the rest of us.
We don't usually have spectacular autumn leaf displays in the DMV, certainly nothing like the Berkshires or the Shenandoah Valley, but what we saw today on the ride and on Mason Springs on the way to the ride was exceptional. It was a beautiful day, and a great ride.
