Leader:  Lou Dall'Orso

Members:  none

Guests:  none

Route:  https://ridewithgps.com/routes/51730263

Weather:  Mid 70s and overcast to start, 80s with a mix of sun and clouds mid ride through the finish with rising humidity.

AMS: Right about 15 mph

Mechanicals/Mishaps: none

Report:  Had 3 riders signed up for the ride, but they fell out before the start, so I decided to add a few miles and meet the CCs who were scheduled to start at the same time from Indian Head coming my way via the Rail Trail, and were sharing the first part of the ride for the first few miles. Did that, and chatted with a couple of them until they turned off on Stuckey from Poorhouse, and I continued to a left on Mason Springs for the loop. Made the rest stop at the King James Church for the first time, as as had skipped it on previous versions, continued on to a rest stop at Mallows Bay Park, and then a final push to Chickamuxen and the car. Ended up with maybe 55 miles or so.

Leader:  Jackie Schoch

Members:  Sonja Newman, Ron and Susan Altemus, Donaro Gardner, Vicki Garlock, Robin Garnett, Stephen Palincsar, and Connie Quickstad.

Route:   http://ridewithgps.com/routes47419189

Weather:  Cloudy, 76 degrees Feels like 78 degree Humidituy 88% Wind 3.0 mi/h from South

AMS:   varied significantly by rider

Mechanicals/Mishaps:  None

Report:  What a wonderful day for a bike ride.  It was great having Susan Altemus on a club ride beside Fridays.  It was Vicki Garlock first road trip with her new electric bike.  Connie Quickstad is getting stronger with her bicycle riding.  We took a little side trip and saw a Fairy House.  It was really nice to see what someone did to a stump.

The rest stop at Smallwood State Park was really nice.  The park has put out more chairs which made it nice for everyone.

Leader: Deb Reynolds, substitute for Steve P. 

Members: 12 members were present: Joan, Lou, Carol, Susan, Bob, Chantel, Tom, Ray, Pat, Ron, Lois, and Deb

Only some are in the photo

https://www.flickr.com/photos/154500031@N05/54712764066/in/dateposted-public/#

Guests: 

Route: 43 miles from Wayson's Corner.  Sands, Chalkpoint and Deale

Weather: fantastic day!  Clear, not too hot.  Started about 70° F and ended about 86° F.

AMS: varied significantly 

Mechanicals/Mishaps: a near miss at a turn between 2 cyclists, but no one fell and all were good.

Report: today was a great day for riding. Nice route, a few hills nothing too bad and really nice views of the bay.  A good time was had by all.

https://flic.kr/ps/3mwwLt

Leader:  Ron Altemus

Members & Guest:  Susan Altemus, Fran Jezisek, Howard Wilson (guest), Robin Garnett, Jackie Schoch, Donaro Gardner, Connie Quikstad, Vicki Garlock, Mark Garrison, Leesha Saunders, Carl Hattery.  Not pictured (late arrivals):  Pat Colvin, Darryl Meyer   

 
Route:   Friday's fav - Indian Head Rail Trail from Livingston Rd parking lot east to White Plains trail head for a rest stop.  Return retraced the IHRT back to the start.

Weather:   another most excellent day.  Partly sunny giving way to mostly sunny w/temp range of 70-78 degrees, very low humidity, and 5-7 mph air out of the east

AMS:   varied significantly by rider

Mechanicals/Mishaps:  none

Report:  a big turnout matched by high numbers of other cyclists on the trail today, especially between Bensville and White Plains.   There were quite a few groups, ranging from 3 to 5+ riders.  Of course, our group spread out considerably, so maybe to others, we also looked like small groups of riders.  Usual number of walkers and/or joggers.  

We welcomed Vicki back to our Friday rides.  She has a new Urtopia ebike that she really enjoys.  Howard was a guest and also enjoyed today's ride.  Minimal wildlife sightings as only a couple of deer were seen on the western part of the trail.

Leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Tom Short, Sonja Newman, Lou Dall'Orso, Harry Kidd, Sam Perry

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/52083886  Newly drafted for the occasion, but the sort of route we used to do very often in the past: Candy Hill from Molly Berry to Nottingham, Tanyard across Croom to Baden Naylor, Baden Westwood and Horsehead to the Five Points at Malcolm, then Mt Pleasant and Woodville to a rest stop at the Moreland Market.   After the break we continued on Woodville to Dr Mudd, Poplar Hill and St Peters Church, across Bee Oak onto Dent and onto Cedarville.  Going left at the Cedarville Deli we took Ashbox to Brandywine and Gibbons Church to North Keys back to the park.  32 miles, 1189' elevation gain.

Weather: Sunny and windy.  A chill-feeling 72 at the start rose to the low 80s, seemingly during our rest stop at the (newly repaved and featuring a newly installed set of Marathon gas pumps) Moreland Market.  Wind held constant at 8-9 mph, although it felt a lot stronger when we were riding on Brandywine Rd.

Mishaps & mechanicals: During the break at Morelands Sonja came in with a loose Speedplay cleat: loose because she had lost one of the four screws that hold the cleat to the shoe.  I carry Sidi cleat screws, but they didn't fit, being too large in diameter; but I also carry a Phillips and a Torx screwdriver, and with them we tightened down the remaining screws so she could finish (and unclip from the cleat) safely.

AMS: 13.2

Report: a pleasant ride on a nostalgic route.  Some leaders have in recent years avoided riding on Cedarville Rd out of fear for dump trucks; we saw half a dozen going in the opposite direction, but none going in our direction and none passed us today. Some sections of Brandywine Rd have new pavement and newly-paved shoulders as well, which was a treat.

Leader:  Lou Dall'Orso

Members:  none

Guests:  none

Route:  https://ridewithgps.com/routes/51730263

Weather:  Overcast high 60s low 70s, no humidity to speak of,  just about a perfect day for a longish ride. 

AMS: I dunno

Mechanicals/Mishaps: Yeah, see below. 

Report:  "Of mice and cyclists".  Had planned on doing the Nanjemoy loop again today, and looking at the CC ride starting at the same time and place, I noticed that the first 7 miles or so, consisting of Hawthorne, and Ripley were the same at which point I'd go right on Poorhouse for a left on Mason Springs and the CCs would go left on Poorhouse for the remainder of their ride, so I decided an easy spin along with them would be a good way to get the ride started, so I just spun around in a really tiny gear, planning on a quick stop and a wave goodbye before setting on a tempo pace for the remaining 40 miles or so. Well, that didn't happen, after a bit on Ripley there was a work crew, and as I approached, and slowed while nearing the stop signal person, I sat down after a quick stretch, and heard a pop and felt my saddle fold under me. At first I thought the seat post mast had cracked, but no, the clamp binder bolt sheered. A big thank you to Joan, Ron, and the rest of the CCs, who helped collect the pieces and offered assistance. I ended up making the right on Poorhouse, then a right on Mason Springs for a nearly straight shot back to the start while standing on the pedals. 

Leader: Joan Oppel

Members: Ron Altemus, Anonymous, Robin Garnett, Sue Gunter, Beth Handler, Sonya Newman,Patricia Sanders, Pat Walthers

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/41975840  Looping around the Pisgah and Ironsides area - 35 miles

Report:  A lovely ride on a very cloudy day (no one complained) in mid-70's temperatures for the entire time. It was an enjoyable day out, with a nice rest stop at the picnic tables in Pisgah Park. And I forgot to take a picture.

Mechanicals/Mishaps: Well, Lou D was riding his own posted ride, but started with us for the first 5 or 6 miles. We went up Mt Pisgah/Hawthorne, turned on Ripley and about half way along Ripley, we started to hear metal bits hitting the tarmac. Lou's seat clamp bolt broke and scattered his saddle and parts. We all stopped to pick up pieces. The second time on an Oxon Hill ride I have seen this happen. Lou rode back to the start, standing all the way. (The first time it happened we manage to affix the saddle well enough with zip ties and duct tape that the rider could sit to ride back to the start. Lou decined the offer of zip ties and duct tape.)

Leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Anonymous User, Bob Thompson, Suzanne Brown, Joan Oppel, Chantal Briere, Linda Bankerd, Patricia Walthers, Patricia Sanders

Guests: none

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/51963635  41.8 mi, 1523' elevation gain.

Weather: 71 and sunny at the start, eventually rising to a surprisingly warm 83 (oh, how quickly they forget!) with 6-8 mph winds.

AMS: 13.3

Mechanicals/Mishaps: Suzanne's DI2 battery was low, and went into power-conservation mode at the Chaptico Market.  She thought she could make it the whole way by carefully managing her shifts, conserving the little charge she had left, and she was right.

Report: It was a lovely sunny morning, and quite comfortable in the 70s as we rode through the Amish landscape on Dixie Lyon Rd and then Thompson Corner Rd, carefully steering around the copious piles of fresh horse droppings (I sure hope it was more than one horse that left all that) on the side of the road.  In the recent past there have still been a few farms growing tobacco in the old traditional area on Dixie Lyon, but this year there was none to be seen.

It was a busy day on the pier at Wicomico Shores Landing.  Usually when we've ridden there we've been by ourselves, but today there were many people out on the dock fishing, and someone was preparing to cook lunch at the pavilion.

A couple of the riders were new to Wicomico Shores Landing.  Getting there on Aviation Yacht Club Rd you go down a long, steep hill by the golf course, and there was some fearful anticipation of the return climb -- quite justified, if indeed you retrace the route, as Pat Walthers and I can attest, having misread the cue sheet once; but fortunately that's not how the route goes: the return passes the turn onto Aviation Yacht Club and takes the easy way up Army Navy Drive, turning onto Aviation Yacht Club only after you've reached the summit.

Passing the Chaptico store we went up the long, slight climb on Maddox and then up the first of the big stairsteps and then turned onto Manor.  It's been a while since I've been here, too; sadly, no sunflowers this year. 

We took a nice break at the Chaptico store, where Bob was finally able to satisfy his desire for hot dogs with some kind of sausage dish.  We'd been discussing the famous Chaptico fried chicken earlier in the ride, and when we arrived at the benches around the corner from the ice cream window there was a family that had come down from DC just to enjoy the Chaptico fried chicken.

It's funny how different your experiences can be on the same stretch of road.  After we'd taken the Three Notch Trail to Clearview Ct, crossed MD-5 onto Flora Corner and then headed west on MD-6, Suzanne and I stopped at the turn onto All Faith Church to regroup.  As we were waiting, a driver stopped and inquired if we were all right, offering to help if anyone was having trouble.  At more or less the same time perhaps a mile behind us, Patricia and Anonymous were being harassed by drivers who were leaning on their horns while passing and screaming the usual abuse as they passed.

One other observation: there are a few stretches on the Three Notch Trail, one between Oaks Rd and MD-6, and the other at the opposite end near Baptist Church Rd, where the trail has gotten some sharp and nasty root heaves.  If you're riding there, pay attention: if you're lollygagging and daydreaming when you hit them, those root heaves could really spoil your ride.

Leader:   Ron Altemus

Members:  Esther Stewart, Robin Garnett, Sue Gunter, Connie Quickstad, Mark Garrison, Susan Altemus, Pat Colvin



Route:   Outbound via Ironside, Baptist Church, GIlroy/Chickamuxen, RIverside, and Liverpool Point to a rest stop at Nanjemoy Store.  Return took us back to Riverside, then Smith Point, Maryland Point and MD-6 to a second rest stop at King James Church.  Final leg was MD-6 and Ironside to Friendship Landing and the park.

Weather:   delightful - sunny, temp range of 70-77,  some air out of the SW, and NO humidity!

AMS:   mid 12s

Mechanicals/Mishaps:   nothing notable

Report:  more like an early September ride than one in August, especially coming after a couple of weeks of oppressive heat and humidity.  For two riders, their first time enjoying the quiet roads and rural splendor of Nanjemoy. 

At the corner of Baptist Church and Bowie, unfortunately there were no longhorn cattle to view but that provides a reason to come back and ride again in this area.  As we got to our turn onto Gilroy, we had a quick glimpse of the 50 miles A/B riders going past in the other direction.   Gilroy itself was almost completely sans traffic.  Crossing MD-6 onto Chickamuxen, a few cars passed us but once on Riverside, we rode for long stretches without any vehicular traffic.  Riverside's rollers looked daunting to some but were successfully ridden by all members of our group.

The Nanjemoy store parking lot was empty when we arrived and we enjoyed a relaxing break under the roofed picnic area.  As we were leaving, the parking lot quickly filled.   Maybe word had gotten out that bicyclists were in the area.  Back on Riverside, the rest of the rollers were met with the same results as those before - everyone kept rolling down and up.  Smith Point provided a bit of excitement with a couple of loose smallish dogs but fortunately they seemed to only want to run alongside us and bark.

At the King James Church rest stop (pictured below), we found water, Fritos and potato chips delivered earlier by Steve Palinscar.  A nice setting in the shade, of course, affording another chance to socialize before the last 4 miles back to the ride start.  Our C/CC rides tend to be a bit leisurely, social with lots of conversation.  Today's was no exception making if a very fun ride.

OMG, what a wonderful day to ride!  

On this great weather day, 14 Oxon Hill Bike & Trail Club (OHBTC) members joined in the All Class Ride of 50 miles around the shaded and quiet roads of Nanjemoy, Maryland.  The pace was fast as advertised.  I observed AMS's from 16 to 18 mph and some  at about "MACH".  No incidents were reported unless a missed turn by the ride leader counts. LMAO!