The Willing
Leader: Steve Palincsar
Members: Denny Miller, Lois Lightfoot, Lou Dall'Orso, Lisa Oken, Dave VanAmayden, Linda Bankerd, Sherwood Byers, Ray Luckenbach, Sue Gunter, Len Wilkinson, Joan Oppel, Patricia Sanders, Pat Walthers, Catherine Ade
Guests: none
Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/50570353 A new 40 mile variation that visits some of my favorite roads (Pindell, Lower Pindell, Nutwell) you'll see often on Waysons routes to Deale, along with some new twists and perhaps surprises (Swamp Circle to Plantation Drive to Chalk Point) and a first ever stop at the new Royal Farms at the corner of Shadyside and Deale Churchtown (very successful, we'll definitely be back). After the break at Royal Farms we went down to the Bay at Franklin Manor before the main lunch stop at South County Cafe, which more than half the group skipped. The route back to Waysons typically either follows Bay Front, with its seemingly interminable long, gentle grades, or takes the Sudleys to Harwood then down Sands or Polling House to Sands. This route tried something different: Deale Rd over the bridge and past Happy Harbor all the way up to Franklin Gibson, but instead of zooming down Franklin Gibson to Bay Front and its interminable grades, stayed on Deale Rd to MD-2. We took MD-2 to Bay Front, but soon turned onto Brooks Woods and then onto Little back to Bay Front for a short distance before the final return on So. MD Blvd. 40.5 mi, 1490' elevation gain per RWGPS.
Weather: Sunny, low 70s at the start rising to a very, very summer-like 84 by early afternoon, accompanied by 12-15 mph winds with gusts up to 22. The forecast had been threatening rain in the early afternoon for days, but we had none.
AMS: 12.8
Mechanicals/Mishaps: none I'm aware of.
Report: It's always fun to visit Deale, the West River and the Chesapeake Bay, but it's especially fun when you've got a great group, some of whom I haven't seen in quite some time.
