Leader: Mia Haynes
Members: Melissa Watson, Jerry Watson, Randy Schoch, Jackie Schoch, Paul Bankerd, Polly Choute, and Rod Barnes
Guest: Gay Rogers and Woody Rogers
Mechanicals/Mishaps: Paul became a little lightheaded on the return route.
Today, although it was cloudy and chilly, turned out to be a great day for a ride. I find that the club event rides are like a family reunion, you get to see people you haven’t seen in a while and it makes for a happy occasion. So of course when I saw Randy and Jackie we had to go in for a group hug, and it was good to see Paul again as well. The Oxon Hill Bike and Trail Club is like family, another reason I like riding with this club.
The ride was going along smoothly until we came upon an accident on Surratts Rd. past the hospital - an ambulance rode into the ditch towards the bottom of the hill. We contemplated taking Poplar Hill Drive but quickly discovered that we would be allowed to walk our bikes down the hill thus staying on the original path. When we passed the accident, I soon realized Rod and Paul were not with us, so Polly and the others decided to go ahead and we would regroup at the Nottingham Store - our rest stop. It didn’t take long for the guys to catch up, and we trekked forward. Rod and I decided to ride, but wait for Paul at the turns as we noticed he was not riding as strong as he usually does.
When Rod and I made it to the rest stop, the rest of the group was there. Paul was bringing up the rear and arrived roughly 5 minutes later. Polly and her guest pulled out, Randy and Jackie soon followed suite, then Melissa and Jerry left. Paul assured Rod and I that he was okay and said he knew a short cut so we didn’t have to wait – the three of us pulled out together.
As we were going along, Rod said it’s time to get your summer legs and we rode the ride like we do. We caught up with and passed Jerry and Melissa; then we caught up with and passed Randy and Jackie. As we were scaling one of the many hills, we noticed Randy and Jackie up ahead – they knew a short cut. Rod and I made it back to the start point; Polly, Gay, and Woody were there packing up; Randy and Jackie returned soon thereafter; then Jerry and Melissa arrived. I hung around to make sure Paul made it back.
As Melissa was packing up a group of us started talking and Mike and Regina Saizan pulled up and informed us that Paul was having trouble and that Sam was with him. Mike went to retrieve the pair and Regina stayed with us. We quickly learned that Mike and Sam were following Paul as he did not want to be sagged, he wanted to finish the ride - they were 2 miles out. We were happy to hear Paul was being feisty.
Thank you ladies and gentlemen for coming out to another Oxon Hill Bike & Trail Club ride.
