Leader: Steve Palincsar
Members: (L to R) Donaro Gardner, Rita Z, Patricia Sanders, Harold Datz, Oswald Martin, Janet Shipko, Pat Walthers, Anonymous User
Guests: none
Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/43783609 36.5 mi, 1672' elevation gain.
Weather: Sunny, breezy (8-13 mph with gusts up to 22 mph), 53 at the start, predicted to rise to 68 but it actually 75.
AMS: 12.7
Mechanicals/Mishaps: Harold flatted on some debris on the shoulder of Chicamuxen Rd just at Lackey HS. Others were luckier and avoided it. One rider missed the turn from Ironsides onto Baptist Church (one of many who've made that same mistake over the years) but we waited and he caught up.
Report: A terrific day for March, and fabulous to be riding in weather over 70 degrees, although dressing for the day was a challenge, with a greater than 20 degree difference in temperature between ride start and ride end. The start was a bit delayed because Anonymous User ran into heavy traffic, but that gave time for Harold and Rita, who decided to join us at the very last minute, to get ready.
It was a breezy ride up Chicamuxen, Bicknell and Pisgah Marbury to the Stuckeys and Poorhouse, south on Annapolis Woods, west on 6 and up Durham Church. We regrouped (a convenient excuse for clothing adjustments, one of the percs of being a ride leader) on Pisgah Marbury, Annapolis Woods, Durham Church and Baptist Church but after the rest stop at the Nanjemoy Community Center (an SRO crowd today watching a presentation, we never did find out what the subject was) we evened out the pace.
We stopped at Smallwood Park for a photo op and a rest (this ride was fairly long and challenging for this early in the season) then went down to the shores of the Mattawoman Creek before riding the final miles back to Livingston Rd.
