Leader:  Ron Altemus

Members:  John Riconda, Steve Palincsar, Susan Altemus, Michael Dong, Belinda Acre, and arriving after we departed so not signing in, Jane and Jim Hudnall.

Route:  the one, the only, Indian Head Rail Trail from the Village Green to White Plains and back.

Weather:  temps ranging from low to upper 70s, mostly overcast, an occasional drop or two of rain
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Report:  a typical Friday ride on the IHRT.  Some riders were fast to White Plains (John, Steve, Michael), some sedate (Belinda, Ron), and some enjoyed the wildlife and scenery (Susan).  The return trip saw different combinations and the Hudnalls passed in the opposite direction at the 11 mile marker, Beverly White a short time later.  Wildlife sightings included the usual turtles, birds, and butterflies plus two separate occurrences where deer continued feeding mere yards off the path as we cycled by.  Susan also had the opportunity to practice her Florence Nightingale skills - early on we came upon a father walking with his two young daughters, one of whom had fallen and skinned her knee.  A bandage was all that was needed to dry eyes and make everything good with the world again.  

Leader: Lisha Peacock

Members: Barbara Haney, Ron Haney, Holly Carr, David Schmidt, Darrell Meyer, Bob Howell, Sam Perry, Ron Leak, Linda Bankerd, (Tom Roberts and Jim and Jane Hudnall signed up with CC but swept the A/B group most of the route)

Guests: none

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/22019013

Weather: beautiful June day! Low to mid-70's, partly cloudy with just enough wind to keep us cool.

AMS: 16.5~ish up front, 14.3 from the sweep group.

Mechanicals/Mishaps: none (Jim dropped a granola bar as we left WaWa, but was able to recover it without any problems)

Report: Tom said it best, 'all days are ride days, but not all ride days are great!'.  Today was truly a great ride day!  Upon arriving at North Keys Park we learned from the Haney's and Sam Perry that Floral Park was undergoing re-surfacing, with very fresh asphalt on one lane and an abrupt edge and very long traffic stops in the other lane.  After some spirited debate, the tentative decision to re-route along Piscataway was made and was confirmed by the group at the Cosca Park rest stop.  Piscataway turned out to be pleasantly shady, and traffic was light and fairly respectful.  The unanticipated climb up Danville gave us all a chance to build some bonus incline endurance!  We were able to reconnect with the route without any construction hassles, and riders did a great job staying in groups to make sure no one was lost during the brief off-route mileage.  Once we got to Brandywine, a few riders decided to turn immediately to the park instead of continuing on to Gibbons Church while the rest decided to keep with the route and end the day with a couple of bonus miles under our belts (due to the detour).  Thanks to Steve and the Haney's for coming up with the re-route save, and to the group for looking out for each other, staying positive, and making this a great ride day!

Ride leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Joan Oppel, Patricia Sanders, Norm Lisy, Barry Winkleman, others who rode with the A/B

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/22019013/  with a detour on Tippet and Piscataway to route around repaving on Floral Park

Weather: summer but not as oppressive as the past two days.  70s to 80s, partly cloudy.

Mishaps & mechanicals: none

AMS: 12.8

Barb Haney told me last week Floral Park had been milled between Windbrook and Danville.  No problem, I thought: the last milled road we were on over Memorial Day (Rock Hall Rd on the way to Cobb Island) wasn't bad at all, and if anything this would probably be an improvement over the status quo ante.  And if they were going to actually repave, well more power to 'em and it'll probably be done by the time we do the ride.  I was half right; it was half repaved, the rest being done today.  As reported, some discussion ensued.  The detour on Piscataway was obvious and required only 4 cue changes. 

Any fears about the potential dangers of travelling on Piscataway began to be relieved when we saw the bike route signs and noted the occasional small shoulders.  Traffic also was quite accommodating - a good thing, because there was plenty of it.   It also helped that we were going in the mostly downhill direction on Piscataway.

We rejoined the route once we turned onto Danville.  The lower third, nearest Floral Park, had been repaved last year, but the repaving of the middle third, near the ongoing construction in The Preserve was new and much appreciated.  The remaining third, closest to Accokeek Road, has not been done but it is in much better shape than the other sections had been.

It was a pleasure to visit the WaWa across 301 from Cedarville Rd again.  The famous red ice and ice water machine certainly was a hit with me.  After backtracking on McKendree we went down South Springfield -- our first time there since the bridge washout lo these many years ago -- and the plunging 200' descent -- 0.2 mi, 12.1% at its steepest, according to RWGPS -- down the southern slope of the gorge at Burch Branch was as thrilling as ever, made better by the wonderfully smooth pavement.  First-timers might be fooled by the speed -- 45 was my max today, and it's hard to see where else that could have come from -- into thinking they could easily roll up the other side, but those of us who've been there before were ready for the rapid transition from highest to lowest gear and the surge needed to win back those 200' up the 10% grade leading to Floral Park.

Floral Park back to Cherry Tree Crossing was easy - we'd gone around the hardest part of Floral Park and only the easy slope was left - and when we got to Old Indian Head we were pleasantly surprised to discover it has been repaved from Cherry Tree Crossing all the way to Tower Road.  The old Indian Head is no more, it's all smooth going now.  

What they say is true: you should be careful what you wish for because you might get it.  And it seems as though we've wished for Floral Park to be repaved for decades.  But it was worth it.  What's an extra three mile detour compared to all that?

Leader: Tim Murphy

Members: Sharon Miller, Michael Fowlkes, Sheryl Romeo, Matt Schwaller, Jane Hudnall, Jim Hudnall and Diane Coontz.

Guests: None

Route: Tour de Accokeek

Weather: Great day for a bike ride - see ride report

AMS: 13.6 mph for the CC riders and I'm sure 15-17 for the B riders.

Mechanicals/Mishaps: None.

Report: As I was leaving my office in La Plata, MD to go home and get ready for the ride. The temps were in the 80s, and felt cool (as compared to the hot, humid 90s). I was packing my car and it started to rain and I heard thunder. I thought to myself it's only 4:30 in La Plata and the ride is at 5:30 in Accokeek, so I hoped for better weather for our ride. And I was not disappointed. As we were getting ready for the ride at the Accokeek Firehouse I talked to Sharon who stated that there was rain in Accokeek around 3:00pm, but you couldn't see any signs of the rain as it was hot and humid in Accokeek and any evidence of the rain was gone. Diane reiterated the same weather report. Jim and Jane said they had no rain in Oxon Hill. That's Southern Maryland for you.

It was a little hot and humid waiting in the parking lot, but nice weather once we got our wheels rolling. Diane spotted one turtle on the road. Luckily, the turtle was already across the road and headed to the woods or at least we hope. 

The CC group of Tim and Diane practiced a beginner pace line. Tim pulled Diane to the river as Diane drafted off Tim and worked on getting comfortable riding behind someone and not running into their back wheel and Diane did a great job and said that she wasn't as tired as her other Tour de Accokeek rides and that we should do this every week. I quickly stated that once she is a stronger rider that we will take turns doing the pulling.

The group met at the river for our rest stop and sometimes we had a nice cool breeze off the river - which felt good. We took a few selfies at the river rest stop and had a passer by took several group shots as well. I and I'm sure the group echoes my thoughts - We want to thank Jim Hudnall for being a great photographer and taking photos of our ride and posting them to Facebook.

The ride back to the Firehouse was a nice scenic and shady. Everyone is getting stronger as the season goes on and are doing their best to tame Barry's Hill.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and can get out and ride. I will be at St. Mary's College in Southern Maryland for a Sprint Triathlon.

Our next ride is on Wednesday June 21, 2017 and this might be a good time to hit B&J's for some ice cream after the ride and celebrate The First Day of Summer.

Come on out next Wednesday for our ride and maybe some ice cream.

Thanks
Tim Murphy

Ride Leader:  Blake Altman (Substituting for Scott Walker)

Date: June 14, 2017

Ride Name:  Casey Jones Express

Ride Distance:  25 Miles

Average Speed of the Ride:  20.4

Ride Class:  AA/2 Express

Mechanical Issues: None

Mishaps: None

Weather: Upper 80’s, sunny with a few thunderstorms floating around

Guest Riders:  Eric Williams, Mike Mallinaff, Joe Owens, Gordon Schrader

Member Riders:  Darin King, Robert Smith, Ken Lemmert, Charles Sidwell

Ride Report:

As I drove home from work it started to rain and it was raining pretty hard once I got home; things weren’t looking too good for the ride.  I checked the weather radar and it showed a single storm cell tracking over La Plata from north to south so the ride was a go.  By the time we started the ride the roads were drying-out; it turned-out to be a nice night for a ride.

We stuck together for longer than usual this time; we maintained most of the group until the hill on route 6.  After the hill the front group was caught at the light at Penn’s Hill Road by some of the folks dropped on the hill.  Robert caught the front group on Bowling road – a good effort that.  By the time we hit the hill on Budd’s Creek Road some folks started to run out of gas and the ride split-up again.  Charles and I were first up the hill and I decided to wait for the group while Charles continued.  I was pretty sure we would catch him with the group but we never did and in fact we started losing riders from the chase group as we went.  In the end we all finished fairly close together.

It was another fun ride.

Leader: Barbara Haney

Members: Ron Haney, Tom Short, Tom Roberts, Jan Tucker, George Chiamulera, Larry Peed, Darryl Lowery, Chantal Briere, Jim Hudnall, Sam Perry, Mike Saizan, Chris Fairhall, Pete Czapiewski

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/21871966, a route created by Ron Altemus to take us on some much less-familiar roads than our usual Tuesday fare, but then back into our comfort zone for the return. Thanks for the nice route, Ron!

Weather: full-bore summer heat blanket today; too hot even at ride start to stand around in the sun. Mid-to 80s climbing into 90s and high humidity made for a heat index over 100 by the end. 

AMS: 17.4 for front riders

Mechanicals/Mishaps: Jim had to return home to retrieve a forgotten critical piece of equipment, but he rejoined us before Pisgah Store. Flat tire (see below)

Report: The heat was the #1 topic before ride start, but we all knew that sooner or later we'd have to get acclimated, and today got us off to a good start. Thanks to Ron A, we had some nice distractions: a descent of Farmington, (not too bad since we were forewarned of the potholes), and the seldom-ridden climbs of Chatsworth (reaching 11%!) and Bensville (two climbs), all worthy of regular use. We stopped briefly at Bensville Park, preferring to spend more time at Pisgah Store. Once there, we took our usual places on the shady steps and no one seemed to want to leave. But we had to, although since it was getting pretty ridiculously hot by then, various shortcuts were made, and we all got back without incident. 

A special word of thanks to Mike Saizan, who served as an ultra-good shepherd today: not only did he offer once again to sweep the B group, but he also changed a flat for a non-club member on Hawthorne before Lower Wharf, about mile 32. She was out for a solo ride, and was about to call someone to come get her, when he stopped and not only changed it, but gave her an inner tube, as his B riders waited further on in the shade. Of course, the help also came with a bit of advice for next time, as well as a pitch to join the club. Thanks again for the good deed, Mike, it's people like you that give our club the great reputation it has. And thanks to all who came out to enjoy the first day of truly summer-like conditions!

More photos on Facebook

Leader:  Ron Altemus

Members:  Steve Palincsar, Joan Oppel

Route:   Too much sun and not enough shade!  Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/21871966  North to Accokeek, descend Farmington, climb Chatsworth over to Berry Rd and then travel down Bensville. Onwards via Marshall Corner/Hawthorne/Ripley/Poorhouse to Pisgah Store. Return on Pisgah Marbury/Chicamuxen/Chapman's Landing. 1083' elevation.

Weather:  Too darn hot!  Already a scorcher at the Bryan's Road parking lot with temps in the low 80s, climbing to the low 90s by ride's end.  And the humidity was definitely felt by some.

AMS:  swept at a leisurely 12.2

Report:  The smaller CC contingent rode at a much more relaxed pace while taking advantage of all the rest stops and adding a couple.  We stopped at the Pomfret store on Marshall Corner, Steve bought a cold gallon jug of water, and it quickly was consumed.  Joan didn't stop at Pisgah store due to time constraints.  Did I mention that the route had too much sun and not enough shade?

Leader: Barbara Haney

Members: Ron Haney, Janell Saunders, Tom Short, Laura Clauser, Tom Reitter, Diane Harris, Jay Lewis, Claire Chiamulera, Darrell Meyer, Kirk Saunders, Tom Roberts, John Hartsfield, Lou Dallorso

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/21927432 a route that let us enjoy the entire length of beautifully-paved and almost car-free Riverside Rd, as well as some other very pleasant places, and some welcome shade on many stretches

Weather: Approaching typical DC summer conditions: 80s to near-90, humidity beginning to creep up, but clear and cloudless and not particularly windy

AMS: 16. 1 for leader, 18.6 reported by a member of the advance team

Report: We had a broad spectrum of riders today, including some club members who we rarely see, and some who rode Rural Legacy but wanted more. We started out each of the three segments as one group, but shortly split up, each going their own pace, then regrouping at Nanjemoy Store, the site of both stops. The store was closed when the first riders got there, scheduled to open at 11, but fortunately it opened about 1/2 hour early, so they didn't have to wait that long. There were two opportunities to use the facilities at Mallows Bay, but no one needed to. An optional water pump stop at the top of Durham Church came in handy today, also. We shed several riders along the way, off to pursue their own agendas: Jay L at Durham Church, Janell S after the first rest stop, Tom S, Darrell M and Tom R after the second stop. All reported in and were accounted for. This was the debut of this exact route; it was well-received and will return. Thanks to all for the good turnout and for being great (although unknowing) "guinea pigs" for the route. 

 

Ride leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Norm Lisy

At the park in Galesville

Weather: a sunny summer day, 70s at the start, 95 by early afternoon.

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/21901552   A new twist on the classic ride to Galesville, with the ride start relocated to Harwood (Southern HS) and all of Polling House and Nutwell added.  45 miles, 1952' of elevation gain.

Mishaps & mechanicals: Norm had a flat on Rutland going through the underpass beneath Rt 50.  The tire proved rather recalcitrant, fighting us all the way.  At least there was plenty of shade in the tunnel.

AMS: 13.1

Years ago, we used to ride to Galesville a lot, starting from either Allen Pond Park in Bowie or from the Davidsonville Park & Ride.  I don't recall actually leading a ride to Galesville more than once or twice, and it's been a few years since I was there.  Things happened. 

They changed the roads around Allen Pond Park and I never really liked going through the new neighborhood, and after the hit and run on the Central Avenue bridge a lot of the fun went out of that route. 

There was George Schneider's "Death Ride," when Ken Bess died of a heart attack on St George Barber Road.  For years afterwards I'd get creeped out every time I rode on it or even heard the name.  (George did too: he quit leading rides for years afterwards.)

Going over the garbage-strewn bank at Davidsonville to find a tree to serve as an al fresco rest room lost its charms too; and there was that cyclist run down on Riva Road.  And finally the West River Market closed and the routes stopped at the Highs on Muddy Creek & Owensville Rd and didn't even go down to Galesville anymore, and that took much of the point out of it for me. 

So little by little the details faded as I rode elsewhere, leaving only a few scenic snippets that I could no longer name in my memory.  But they were very attractive snippets, and I thought perhaps if I started at a better location, one easier to get to with no need to go all the way to Rt 50, one with an actual rest room nearby, it might be possible to revive this destination.  So I started plotting.

Getting to Davidsonville was easy, the route used to go right down Harwood Road until it became Patuxent River Rd.  I'm not really fond of descending Harwood, so I routed down Polling House and Bayard to Sands as I often do on routes to Deale and Chesapeake Beach.

Finding Rutland, St George Barber and the connecting roads to Muddy Creek were all right there, easy to see.   But even adding a trip down to Galesville after the break at the Highs and noodling around on a back road I found paralleling Galesville Rd left us with a route in the 30 mile range, and at this point in the season that's not enough for me.  So instead of taking the traditional right turn off Owensville onto Owensville Sudley and back to Rt 2 and the school, I routed left on Sudley down to Nutwell and over to Rt 2 and South Polling House, as my Shadyside routes go.

I mentioned the idea to Norm at the Rural Legacy and he was game for a Sunday ride.  I posted it, but with no advance notice and full bore summer heat flopping on us the day after the 64 mile Rural Legacy, I wasn't expecting many takers - and not surprisingly, other than Norm there were none.

We were pleasantly surprised to find most of the first 25 miles cool and shady.  That changed on Muddy Creek, of course, and by then it was well into the 90s.  We bought a gallon of water at the Highs and between the two of us disposed of all but a cup full.  The tour of Galesville was a delight, although it was sad seeing the boarded-up ruin of what had been the West River Market, one of the best rest stops ever.  Norm had never seen the park just down from Pirate's Cove.  We stopped there, admiring the view of the West River and Shadyside across the water, and Norm asked another park visitor to take our photo.

Owensville Road was hot, but once we turned onto Sudley we were back in the shade.  Norm had never been down Nutwell or up South Polling House, and it was a treat to introduce him to these wonderful roads.  In all, it was an excellent ride, and one I'll definitely lead again - although it would have been nice to have a little cooler weather!  But, summer is here and we might as well get acclimated now: a little suffering today will make Bike Virginia much more pleasant.