Leader: Ron Altemus
Members: (not as fast group at Walters Landing) Pat Walthers, Denny Miller, Sue Gunter, Donaro Gardner, Joan Oppel, Jackie Schoch
(the fast guys at Nanjemoy Store) Sherwood Byers, (onlooker Joan), Luis Dall'Orso
Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/41956882 From Friendship Farm, Ironsides.MD-6 to Tayloes Neck for an out and back including Bluff Point and Walters Landing. Retrace back to King James Church for a bio stop. Hancock Run>Adams Willet to a rest stop at Nanjemoy Store. Jacksontown, Poseytown, Bowie, and Baptist Church back to the start point. 35.8 miles, 1215' elevation change.
Weather: blue skies giving way to mostly cloudy by ride's end; temp range mid 50s to mid 60s; 8 mph NW winds
AMS: ride leader swept 11ish, the fast guys were around 18 mph
Mechanicals/Mishaps: none
Report: a very delightful and leisurely tour of Tayloes Neck followed by some fav Nanjemoy routing. We split into two groups on Ironside and redistributed numbers near the end of Tayloes Neck with some of the group out ahead slowing while the fast guys did their thing. With the exceptions of Ironsides and MD-6, roads had little to no traffic, which is why the Nanjemoy area is so great for cycling.
The visit to Walters Landing was memorable. On Friendship Acres Rd, there is a boggy area that has growing on it a large number of wild magnolia trees (pictured below). When we stopped at Walters Landing, resident Loretta came out and talked with us and we queried her about the magnolias. She described the site was "boggy" which is what magnolia trees prefer and she mentioned another boggish area near the intersection of MD-224/225. Both sites are of interest and concern for State of Maryland Wildlife Conservationists as these types of tracts are disappearing rapidly. The site below is the only one your faithful correspondent has ever seen with WILD magnolias growing on it.
