Leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Donaro Gardner, Ron Altemus, Harry Kidd, Tom Shoret, Lou Dall'Orso, Linda Bankerd, Chantal Briere, Patricia Sanders

Guests: none

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/39997093  33.6 mi, 1200' elevation gain

Weather: Partly cloudy, around 67 at the start rising to 80 degrees.  The forecast called for 2-3 mph winds, but that was nonsense: wind was easily 8-10 mph.

AMS: 13.6

Mechanicals/Mishaps: none

Report: It was delightful riding in summer jerseys and shorts. The route has some thrilling descents (Rose Hill, Rt 6 from La Plata down to Valley, Pisgah Marbury from the culvert up to Bicknell) and some good hills (Bumpy Oak, Locust Grove, Glen Albin, Valley and Hawthorne up to Marshall Corner, Pisgah Marbury down to the culvert). 

We had several chances to really stretch our legs and the average shows it, but when we weren't flying downhill or doing our best on the climbs we relaxed, regrouped, took our time at the rest stops (Port Tobacco River Park, the Dash-In in La Plata and the Pisgah Store) and kept up our hydration in the astonishing warmth.

What a wonderful start to Spring riding!

Leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Janell Saunders,  Catherine Ade, Linda Bankerd, Pat Walthers

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/39929626  37 mi, 1575'elevation gain.

Weather: Sunny skies with fluffy white clouds; 53 at the start rising to 64 by the end of the ride, but the thing we noticed the most was the wind: 9 mph winds from the northwest with gusts up to 15 mph. 

AMS: 12.1

Mechanicals/Mishaps: none

Report: What a beautiful day!  After the chilly, very windy, uncertain weather of the past couple of days, today was a relief.  A very picturesque ride on a pretty day, but considerably more difficult than a mere reading of the elevation gain would have indicated thanks to the ever-present wind. 

For all but a few miles we were riding across the wind -- which can be a tricky proposition if it's gusty, but today it was continuous, no pushing and shoving, just a steady headwind vector and enough breeze to make it seem much cooler than it actually was.

The route goes up Dubois and down Old Sycamore, then up Bowling and Trinity Church to Gilbert Run Park. We had a rest stop at the Lakeside Pavilion.

There's a zip line in the playground now, and we heard delighted shrieks as we passed by in both directions. 

After the break we climbed back up Rt 6 and went down Penns Hill.  I'd warned of cars coming up Penns Hill running wide on the turn, but today a motorist tried to pass on the curve only to discover a car coming up.  A few sharp words were exchanged, I'm told, but no harm was done.  Otherwise, it was a thrilling descent.

It was so much fun going up Dubois amd coming down Old Sycamore I thought it would also be fun climbing Old Sycamore and going down Dubois.  I fear some without e-assist might not have enjoyed the ascent as much as I hoped they would, and we all found the descent on Dubois a bit trickier than the climb due to potholes in the pavement. All clearly outlined with white paint, but sometimes there wasn't much of a clear lane, and when you're hitting close to 30 mph finding a 6" wide clear spot between the potholes brings back distant echoes of Luke Skywaker and the Death Star. 

But those are mere quibbles.  We all had a great time outdoors in lovely weather on a very scenic ride.

Leader:  Ron Altemus

Members:   Leesha Saunders, Randy Schoch, Robin Garnett, Gene Villiva.  Not pictured:  Donaro Gardner and Carolyn Graves


Route:   The Friday standard:  Indian Head Rail Trail heading east from the Livingston Road parking lot to White Plains trailhead.  After a short rest stop, return westward back to the ride start.

Weather: Partly cloudy skies giving way to mostly cloudy as the ride progressed; temp range of 47-52 degrees; 8-12 mph COLD air out of the western quadrant.  In the sun, protected from the wind, it was quite pleasant.  Otherwise, it felt way too cold for early April.

AMS:  ride leader swept at 12.3 mph so everyone else was as fast or faster.

Mechanicals/Mishaps:   none

Report: As mentioned previously, this was a chilly ride.  We didn't see too many other cyclists and just a fair number of walkers.  Water levels were up, especially in Mattawoman Creek.  Wildlife sightings were limited to a bald eagle near the nest just east of the Livingston Road parking lot and plenty of turtles in the various trail side ponds. 

Donaro and Carolyn were delayed a bit to the ride start and we didn't see them we were headed back from White Plains.  Glad to see Carolyn out riding and hope she'll be joining us again as the weather warms.

Leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Anonymous User

Guests: none

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/19259827 -- at least, that was the plan, but when we saw the sky at Merkle and felt the fine almost misty raindrops we decided to go to Plan B, in this case Fenno back to Nottingham, Croom to Candy Hill and Martin to North Keys back to the park for a total of 23.8 mi and 1149' elevation gain.

Weather: There sure was some.  As forecast, 48 degrees rising to 55, with 7-10 mph winds gusting up to 16 mph and a 15% chance of rain.  Not quite how it turned out, though.

AMS: 12.5

Mechanicals/Mishaps: A loose fender mounting screw, quickly fixed because we stopped to check what that rattling was just in time before the screw fell out.

Report: At 10, sunny and 56 in the parking lot, according to my Garmin, with a variable breeze that went from almost zero at the car to a stiff breeze riding against it doing a half-mile loop around the park. 

By 10:30 the breeze picked up, and by the time we got to Merkle the sun was hidden by ominous dark clouds and we even got some fine misty rain.

The Capital Weather Gang had said "The morning is almost mild but the afternoon is a little wild. Showers pop with downpours and ice chunks to drop," and "chilly afternoon showers could produce some graupel."  According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, "The meaning of GRAUPEL is granular snow pellets —called also soft hail. Did you know?"  

Leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Janet Shipko, Catherine Ade, Harry Kidd, Walt Roscello and Randy Sim

Guests: none

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/40762819  39 mi, 1890' elevation gain, basically the traditional 3 Covered Bridges route with a long loop to the northeast that visits Mt St Marys College while enjoying the scenery and the wonderful rollers on the way to the College.

Weather: Most of the time, heavily overcast, temperature around 53 at the start rising to 65 by the end of the ride (once the clouds lifted and the sun came out, which began when we were riding through Thurmont). 5-10 mph winds. 

AMS: 12.6

Mechanicals/Mishaps: Immediately out of Utica Park Randy's bike wouldn't upshift properly - not a problem that could be solved on the road, so he turned back.

Report: When we pulled into Utica Park, the parking area we usually use was filled with cars and people, with soccer games or practice going on.  Down by the pavilion that lot was filled with cars too: cars with bikes with fat knobby tires.  We'd happened on the last day of Dirty Kitten Gravel's Cat Camp.  OHBike member Sabine Hentrich was among the group, having spent four arduous days of riding and training in the Catoctins. 

Our route intersected with theirs at Loy Station Park, and we had a chance to observe their colorful team kit and helmets with cat ears. I wish I'd photographed them instead of taking pictures of the bridge and the playground.

Leaving Loys Station Park we continued on, stopping to regroup and take pictures at the Fourpoints Bridge on Keysville Rd.

Harry continued on his own when we went into Mt St Mary's College.  The McGowan Center was closed (who'd have thought they'd close the student center on Easter Sunday at a Catholic college, eh?) but we four had a nice break, albeit without restroom stop, there anyway.  We had the restroom stop at Roddy Bridge Park a few miles later,

then stopped at the High's in Thurmont for snacks.  We stopped at the Utica Bridge for another photo op (and, to tell the truth, we were getting a bit tired at this point) before tackling the final half-mile climb back to Utica Park.

Leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Tom Short, Patricia Sanders, Rick Hagen, Lisa Petersen, Ron Altemus, Linda Bankerd

Guests: none

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42130944 36 mi, 1750' elevation gain

Weather: The forecast was overcast skies, the low 50s at the start rising to the low 60s by mid-afternoon and 10 mph winds.  The ground truth was a bit different: 55 and sunny at the start, windy when you were riding into the wind but quite comfortable, until we arrived at the Chesapeake Market.  Sometime during lunch the clouds closed in and the temperature dropped enough we were cold until we climbed 5th St and got thoroughly warmed up.  By 2:30 it started looking as though it was going to rain (as they said on the radio) although it did not do so.

AMS: 13.3

Mechanicals/Mishaps: none

Report: We were met in the parking lot by Harold Datz and Rita Z who were doing our ride with bonus miles on their own.  They left before we did, but we met them at the Chesapeake Market; they left there before us, too, but we met them in the parking lot at the end of the ride.

It was a lovely day for cycling, and we met three, perhaps four organized rides and a few cyclists out on their own including several we met at the Market.  North Beach is a very popular cycling destination, and we were on several of the region's premier cycling roads so this was no surprise, but as usual it was very gratifying to see.

At Chesapeake Market, Ron informed me that Lisa scored a turtle rescue, perhaps the first of the season.  We had a leisurely lunch at the Market, so enjoying the day and each other's company we didn't notice the sky clouding over and the temperature dropping until it was time to leave.  We felt quite cold until we started climbing, but by the time we reached Boyd's Turn we'd gained 215' and had warmed up and were comfortable once more.

This route is a bit unusual, putting us on roads we seldom if ever use (well, except for Rick and Lisa, who live down here and ride these roads all the time) riding in directions we seldom go. 

Leader - Jackie Schoch (Randy teaching)

Members - Ron Altemus, Gene Villiva, Linda Bankerd, Donaro Gardner, and  Oswald Martin.

Guests - None

Route - IHRT

Weather - Partly cloudy, 49 degrees, (but felt like 46), 

AMS - Varied per/rider

Mechanicals/Mishaps - None

Report - We saw more walkers than bikers, Gene saw two eagles. High water and running all along the path. 

Leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Ron Altemus, Pat Walthers, Anonymous User

Guests: none

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/40649260

Weather: The forecast was 40s at the start rising to low 50s, but that was way off: it was almost 60 by the time we finished.  It was cloudy with lots of warm sun, with a light breeze of 6-7 mph that to us felt like a lot more.  In all, a very nice day for riding.

AMS: 12.1

Mechanicals/Mishaps: none

Report: It's always fun riding to Goose Bay, and we enjoy exploring all the different ways you can get there and back.  Today, we took Bicknell to Poorhouse, down Annapolis Woods and Fire Tower to MD-6, then up Mill Swamp.  After a very pleasant break at Goose Bay we went up Blossom Point and took 6 to Burch, then Poorhouse to Ripley, Ripley to Hawthorne, Hawthorne to Bumpy Oak and the IHRT back. 

An interesting factoid: Randoplan predicted we would arrive at Goose Bay at 12:04.  We arrived at 12:02.  Randoplan is an excellent planning tool, and gives you a whole lot more than just a weather forecast. Read my article on Randoplan in the March newsletter for more about it.

The most important wildlife sighting was the two whitetail deer that ran across Brentland Rd right in front of us on the way back from Goose Bay.  Here the old adage proved its value: if you see on deer crossing the road in front of you, expect more.  Today, just one more and far enough ahead of us as to present no risk.

"Eagles!"

Wicomico River at Wicomico Shores Landing

Leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Janell Saunders, Ron Altemus, Janet Shipko, Dave VanAmayden

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/45896776

Weather: Sunny and clear with a brisk 15 mph wind with gusts up to 20 mph.  40 at the start (which felt like the mid-30s) rising to 50 (which barely felt like 40, except for when we were sitting out of the wind at Chaptico).

AMS: 12.3

Mechanicals/Mishaps: none

Report: Let's hope today was Winter's curtain call.  The sun was plenty warm, but oh that wind. 

We rode down Woodburn Hill Rd hoping to see eagles (you often do in the Spring, thanks to Amish Meat on  Westham Ln) and our hopes were fulfilled.  We were all alone on Woodburn Hill Rd, except for a number of curious horses and sheep, and of course the eagles.  After a while they flew overhead to check us out.

We fought a headwind backtracking on Woodburn Hill, and continued fighting it on Dixie Lyon.  There were only a few cars on Thompson Corner, but traffic picked up quite a bit on Budd's Creek.  It was quit pretty at Wicomico Shores Landing, but there was no sheltering from the wind that brought us the engine sounds from Potomac Speedway.

With the wind at our back we fairly flew down to Chaptico.  It was only six miles from our previous stop, but we rested there out of the wind, basking in the sun, talking about ice cream and cold days until it was time to leave. Baptist Church was almost empty, as was the Three Notch Trail.  We were happy to arrive back at Northern Senior Center feeling as though we'd ridden far more than 33.5 miles, and climbed more than the 931 feet recorded by my Garmin.

This is a very pretty route, and on a mild day would have been a fine introduction to Spring. 

Leader:   Ron Altemus

Members:   Gene Villiva and Leesha Saunders



Route:   Indian Head Rail Trail, round trip from Livingston Rd parking lot eastbound to White Plains trailhead.

Weather:   chilly with temps only in the mid 40s; a bit of sun at the start giving way to cloudy conditions; 8+ mph air out of the eastern quadrant

AMS:   varied by rider but mostly in the 11s

Mechanicals/Mishaps:   a brief period of balky shifting outbound that seemed to cure itself on the return

Report:   a small contingent, not surprising given the weather conditions.  We basically rode as a moderately spaced out trio with the usual amount of lively conversation.  Other trail users included walkers and cyclists though not in large numbers.

Wildlife sightings included an eagle on the nest just east of the Livingston Road parking lot, a bluebird, a Great Blue Heron, and lots of unidentifiable brown something birds.  We also saw a cow closer to Livingston Road than the Bumpy Oak farm where is should normally be grazing.