Ride Leader: Debby Bowman
Members: Steve Palincsar, Sherwood Byers, Linda Bankerd
Guests: none
Route: 46 miles as cued plus a couple extra in Emmitsburg, 2200 feet of climbing, http://ridewithgps.com/routes/11180387
Average speed: somewhere in the CC range.
Weather: Darn near perfect fall day. Sunshine, temps in the 50s. Perfect blue skies.
Mishaps and mechanicals: Ride leader started to head in the wrong direction when she left home, then got stuck in roadwork on the 270 spur. Also a finicky Ride with GPS app on Linda's phone.
Bovine variety level: High. Longhorns, Belted Galloways (Oreo cows), Black Angus, plus various brown and/or white breeds.
Canine encounters: a chocolate lab playing in Owens Creek near the Loys Station bridge, a Saint Bernard in a car barking out the window, a dog running out to greet and/or frighten us on Taneytown Pike.
Animal rollcall, non-bovine and non-canine: horses, sheep, ostriches, goats, a cat running across the road.
One big disappointment: The Holy Grounds Cafe has closed!!
We had a wonderful bike ride today. We started a few minutes late, as a certain ride leader went on auto-pilot and headed for the Wilson Bridge (southern Maryland) instead of the American Legion Bridge (northern Maryland). Luckily I realized my error quickly, but the damage was done as I ended up stuck in traffic caused by roadwork on the 270 spur. My three companions had passed through that area before the work started, so there were six eyes on me as I drove into the park. I guess I need to start writing notes to myself to remind me where today's bike ride will start!
The good news was that we had plenty of sunshine and a beautiful blue sky throughout the day. Although it had dropped into the 30s overnight in Frederick County, it was 50 as I drove out of the metro area and a respectable 46 as we rolled out of Utica District Park. Thanks to the elevation changes early in the ride on Ramsburg Rd, we warmed up quickly and were able to remove some extra layers by the time we reached our first rest stop at Loys Station Park. This first part of our ride included two crossings of the Monacacy River, one over Links Bridge and one over the more scenic Legore Bridge. After our break we crossed our first covered bridge of the day, then crossed the Monacacy twice more, on Mumma Ford Rd and on Sixes Bridge Rd. This was the exploratory part of the ride, as I'd never been on that part of Sixes Bridge Rd before. We continued on "unexplored territory" riding north on Sixes Rd up to Simmons Rd at Toms Creek Church, a familiar intersection normally approached from a different direction. I liked Sixes Rd a lot, so we will be back.
Linda and Sherwood were a bit ahead of me and Steve at this point, so they reached the site of our next rest stop first. But -- the Holy Grounds Cafe has closed!! A tattoo parlor has taken over the space formerly occupied by the friendly folks who ran the cafe and the St. Philomena Bookstore. Sadly we backtracked to Silo Hill Rd and made our second stop at Subway. The man working there was very friendly, too, but it just wasn't the same.
After leaving Subway we rode out of Emmitsburg, cut through the Mount St. Mary's campus and headed toward Thurmont on Kelbaugh Rd. The climbs on this road are well worth the effort, as the view to the south is impressive. Once in Thurmont we made a final stop at High's, then enjoyed a scenic ride on Blue Mountain, Layman and Wilhide Rds and crossed the Utica Covered Bridge just before returning to the park.
Many thanks to Steve, Linda and Sherwood for joining me today. We will have to do this ride again!
scenery from Sixes Rd and Kelbaugh Rd
