Leader: Ron Altemus
Members: Darrell Meyer, Donaro Gardner, Sherwood Byers, Sr, Jackie Schoch
Route: Indian Head Rail Trail (IHRT) - Livingston Road parking lot east to White Plains trailhead for a rest stop and then return eastward to the start
Weather: Sunny and bright to start with temperature about 43 degrees but by the time we reached White Plains, it had become mostly cloudy. Wind was out of the east initially around 6-7 mph so a head wind outbound, tailwind on the return. A few of us retraced to Hawthorne and the short ride back east alerted us to the winds increasing to 10 mph.
AMS: varied significantly by rider
Mechanicals/Mishaps: none
Report: Another fairly pleasant day for mid-January though we encountered only one other cyclist and just a few walkers/runners, most of which were between Middletown and White Plains.
Unlike Thursday's 3NT ride where the trail was covered in small branches, gum balls, pine cones, and other debris, the IHRT was it's usual spotless self. All of the rain for the past couple of weeks had caused Mattowoman Creek to overflow its banks. There were stretches alongside of the trail approaching Bumpy Oak where water was pooling, either from the creek or runoff from the surrounding hills.
We encountered Parks staffer Juliana near MM 4 as she was clearing culverts to make sure the next couple of forecasted storms don't impact the trail with flooding waters. She had earlier in the day breached the beaver pond west of the parking lot to insure water wouldn't engulf the trail. Given prior history of such man-made breaches, the beavers will have it repaired quickly though water levels will have dropped to a lower level protecting the trail.
In talking with Juliana, we made sure to extend our appreciations to Charles County Parks, in general, and her in particular, for keeping the trail so nicely maintained. The refrain on Thursday's 3NT ride had been "we aren't on the IHRT anymore, Toto!"
