March 20 Southern Exposure: Goose Bay via Hawthorne & Burch Leader: Steve Palincsar
It was a good day to be riding in the Mattawoman Watershed rather than Southern Maryland. The night's rain had moved east by 9 am, while radar showed heavy rain moving from Brandywine down to Leonardtown all morning. It was cool and cloudy with not much wind: 63 at 10, rising to 71 and clearing by 1 pm, and humid enough for cue sheets to get soggy by the time we arrived at the first rest stop at Goose Bay.
We were a fairly small group today: Richard Harrington, Jimmy Bartlett, Randy Schoch, Darryl Lowery, Linda and Paul Bankerd, Jim Hudnall, Michie Sidwell and Dave VanAmayden.
The 37 mile route went down Livingston, up Hawthorne to Ripley, Poorhouse to Burch, right on 6 to Blossom Point Rd and down to Goose Bay for a rest stop. After the break we took Mill Swamp back to 6, headed west to Welcome, Fire Tower to Annapolis Woods and Poorhouse to a second rest stop at the Pisgah store; then Mason Springs and Chicamuxen back to Hawthorne, returning on Indian Head Highway.
In all, a very pleasant day for riding, a relief to not have the strong winds of the past week, and the pace showed it, everyone finishing at 14.5 and above, having held over 15 mph for most of the ride.
