Ride leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Joan Oppel, Ron Altemus, Holly Carr, Darrell Meyer

Weather: at times mostly overcast, at other times partly cloudy/partly sunny, temperatures firmly and fixedly in the upper 30s ("feels like" the high 20s/low 30s) with strong (17-20 mph) winds from the West-Northwest.  

Route: I'd originally planned for a 40 mile route to Eagle Harbor, but the prospect of over 10 miles back from Eagle Harbor on Aquasco Road headed north by northwest into a 20 mph wind from the west northwest didn't bear thinking about.  As it turned out, the alternative ( https://ridewithgps.com/routes/19025447 a route Joan Oppel put together ) although shorter by five to six miles and missing the out-and-back-down-and-up to Eagle Harbor, still put us well downwind to the south and east facing a tough slog directly into a fierce headwind for the second half of the ride as well as replacing the wide open flats of Aquasco and Brandywine Road with the rollers of Croom, Baden Naylor and Molly Berry.  At times it took hard effort to go as fast as 7 mph into the wind.  As Ron said, "Any day you're riding is better than a day you aren't;" but I've done centuries that were easier than today's ride.

Mishaps & mechanicals: thankfully, none.

AMS: 11.3 at the back.

Ride leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Ron Altemus, Larry Peed, Mike Bivens, Ron Haney, Lou Dallorso

Weather: Overcast hazy skies, temperatures that stayed firmly in the 40s, rising a few degrees when the sun came out - more or less between 10:30 and noon - and falling again when it clouded back over after noon.

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/18897861  40 miles, 1170' of elevation gain  Bumpy Oak uphill in both directions.  Livingston and the IHRT to Bumpy Oak, down Rose Hill and over to Chapel Point, up Locust Grove and down St Mary's Ave to a rest stop at Wills Memorial Park, where we saw the fast group leaving the park.  From there we took Glen Albin and Sprinhill Newtown southeast to Bel Alton Newtown, then back north on MD-6, La Plata and Radio Station over to Rosewick (with a brief stop at the intersection to fix a flat tire); then Rosewick to Washington to Hawthorne and across US-301 to a rest stop at the Dash In, which was closed due to renovations (but they let us use the rest room anyway, and it'll be open again by the weekend).  Hawthorne to Marshall Corner to Pomfret, then a zig on the IHRT back to Bumpy Oak for the big climb.

Mishaps & mechanicals: a flat tire at Radio Station and Rosewick.

AMS: 12.8

Although it was Valentine's Day, with no women on the ride no mention was made of the holiday.  No springtime interlude today (that's coming on the weekend, or so they say) but a fine day for riding nonetheless.  Thanks to Ron for the help fixing the flat tire.

Class: AA/3
Category: Sport
Description: An espresso and a spin from Accokeek around Northern Charles.
Speed Limit Imposed: None
Colors: None
Start: 11:30
Location: Manokeek Village Center

 The Course

Distance: 35.8 mi
Gain: 944ft
Rest Stops: None
Max Grade: 5.8%

The Ride

Riders:  10 –Blake Altman, Rob Golding, Alexander Rapavi (guest), Steve Koegle, George Valenzuela, Jill Patterson, Pete Czapiewski, John Wilson (guest), Tom Roberts, Scott Walker (welcome to guests Alex and John, nice to have you both with us)
Weather: Overcast but clearing, 49 degrees and wet roads at the start, warming to 56 w/winds building from the WNW at 10
Moving Time: 1:37:27
AMS: 21.9 mph (Sweep:18.3)
Mechanicals: Pete flatted on Middletown and then unfortunately pinched his spare tube while installing; with that he elected to patch his spare and head back to Manokeek.
Mishaps: None
Report:  After I arrived at the Manokeek Village, I sent an email to OHBike a little before 11:00 cancelling the ride due to rain.  Shortly after, everyone started arriving; “cancelled, what do you mean? The ride’s not cancelled [big smiles]; the ride is on!”  So you guessed it, my cancellation was summarily overturned and the ride deemed, “De-cancelled.” (You’d think I’d have learned by now –after not successfully cancelling a ride in years –unless there’s a torrential downpour with lightning, hail, fire and brimstone, if these folks show up for a ride "It’s On Baby)!"  ...It turned out to be a great ride (save Pete’s flat and pinched tube).  By the time we returned to the Manokeek Village, the sun was out and the roads were dry. Thanks for coming out folks, good times!

Leaders: Jane Hudnall

Members: Jim Hudnall, Larry Peed, Tom Short, Mike Bivens, Alan Kurzweil, Ken Meredith, Pano Gianniotis, Dave Schnirel, Bob Howell, Ron Haney, Lou Dall'Orso, Chris Fairhall and Holly Carr

Guests: none

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/18928510. From the Accokeek Firehouse, we headed east on Accokeek Road to Dyson, Old Indian Head and Brandywine Road to a rest stop at the Baden Store. That was a fairly flat and fast 17 miles. Then came the hills of Baden Naylor, Molly Berry and Martin before back on North Keys, Old Indian Head, Dyson, Brandywine, Floral Park, Livingston, Berry and Accokeek.

Weather: Cool and cloudy, in the 50's and not the mid 60's promised by the weather forecasters. All in all, a pleasant winter day for riding.

AMS: 14.9 at the back;  16+ up front

Mechanicals/Mishaps: None

Report: We looked at this route as an alternative to the Watermelon Ride route to avoid Cedarville Road that is closed where a bridge is being replaced.  It was great to have so many riders come out and enjoy the ride and make comments on this possible route for the Watermelon Ride in July. The Saturday traffic was not too much of a problem except when we crossed MD-301 on Brandywine Road and then turned left onto Floral Park. Other routes will be explored before July. If you have suggestions, let us know.

Photos at www.facebook.com/ohbike. 

Ride leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Sarah Clement, Ron Altemus, Melissa Watson

Guests: Jenn, Alicia, Robin & Tom from Arlington Babes & Babe Magnets on Bikes

Weather: The hoped for 60s didn't materialize.  Instead, what we had was cloudy skies, temperatures that began at the high 40s and rose to the mid 50s but thanks to the humidity and the breeze felt like the high 40s or at most 50.  On the other hand, 50 degrees in February really isn't that bad, even with overcast skies.  With the right clothing, it was a fine day for riding.

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/18914346  40 miles and 1136' of elevation gain, with almost all the elevation gain happening in the southern half of the ride between Bishop Rd and Baptist Church.

Mishaps & mechanicals: One of the Babes had DI2 electronic shifting.  She couldn't remember when the last time was that she charged her battery, and she ran out of juice today and had to ration her shifts so as to avoid a total failure.  I always knew that was a theoretical possibility, but I've never been there when this actually happened before.

AMS: 13.0

I invited the Arlington Babes to today's ride and four came.  Most had never been in St Mary's County, and they enjoyed the quiet roads and the rural scenes. 

Guess the temperature roller coaster we currently are experiencing gave all other riders incentive to skip today and enjoy the 60+ degree weekend forecast by riding then.  Today saw a balmy 28 at ride start rising to 32 with the completion of going to White Plains and back.  Unlike Wednesday's ride on Riverside, no turtles spotted sunning at the Bumpy Oak pond though a very large wild turkey did share the trail with me there on the return.  Aside from the turkey, only one jogger/running using the trail between White Plains and Middletown. 

Ride leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Alan Kurzweil, Ron Altemus, Darrell Meyer, Joan Oppel, Jessica Hirschhorn, Larry Peed

Weather: another gorgeous Spring-like day.  Temps in the low 60s at the start rising to 72 by 1:30, with a claimed 78 degrees in the sun and out of the wind at the second rest stop at Nanjemoy Community Center.  Thin high clouds with a lower layer of marshmallow & cotton puff clouds with blue skies, bright warm-feeling sun and a brisk breeze made for a magnificent day for riding.

Route: 42 miles, 1400' of elevation gain  https://ridewithgps.com/routes/18882091  The route went down Poorhouse to Annapolis Woods, up Durham Church, and Ironsides, Baptist Church and Poseytown to a first rest stop at the Nanjemoy Community Center.  After the break we took MD-6 to Holly Springs and Riverside, then up Maryland Point and back down on Smith Point to Riverside, Liverpool Point and a second rest stop at the Community Center.  We returned on Baptist Church, Bowie and Mason Springs.

Mishaps and mechanicals: none

AMS: 13.3

Ride Leader: Tom Short

Members: Lou, Ron Haney, Diane Harris, Tom Roberts

Nice day. Comfortable temperature right at the start and with the knowledge it would get even better. My first "uh-oh" moment came when after just 1/10 mile from start we turned south on MD-210 and were met by a headwind but we persevered and all seemed OK. Until we turned south on Chixamungen. Then for 9 or maybe 100 miles the dreaded face-on headwind reappeared. By this time Diane Harris had peeled off to take care of some things at home. We stopped briefly at the Nanjemoy Store at mile 21.5 so I could remove my windbreaker (too warm) and continued on. At mile 24 I saw in my rear view mirror a bike rider rapidly approaching. It was Tom "The Phenom" Roberts. He had arrived late at the start but easily caught us AND after riding 105 miles the previous day. We continued on to the Pisgah Store for another very short break. Shortly after this rest stop Ron, Lou, and The Phenom easily out paced me back to the start.

Elevation gain: 1680 feet but RWGPS says 1212  (don't believe RWGPS)

Mechanicals, flats, etc.  None

AMS:  15.6 (for me, theirs was faster)

Leader: Ron Altemus

Members:  Steve Palincsar, Mike Bivens, Joan Oppel, Sam Perry, Bob Howell, Jim Hudnall, Holly Carr

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/10485663  Marshall Hall Rd over to Barry Hill and then through Accokeek, Berry Road and up Mill Hill, cross Lexington to Middletown and out Billingsley to a rest stop at the WaWa.  Planned return was Demarr over to Marshall Corner and Bumpy Oak/Livingston back to the start.

Weather:  Record high temps today.  For those riding, we departed in the low 60s and finished at 70 or better under mostly cloudy skies.  A stronger than expected southerly wind (which was bringing in the warmth) proved nettlesome whenever we were headed into it.

AMS: Swept at a tad more than 13; everyone else was faster.

Mechanicals/Mishaps: Holly rode with us as she had rear tire concerns and opted to be along with veteran tire doctors Joan and Steve.  Nothing really happened in that regard but a quartet (Holly, Steve, Jim, Mike) did the original "Three Bumps" and used the IHRT from White Plains to Bumpy Oak to minimize the opportunity for disaster.

Report:  As already noted, warm temps with stiff breezes but still a most delightful day for bicycling in beautiful Southern Maryland.  The exploration of the northwest parts of Charles County happened quickly - halfway up Barry Hill we entered Prince George's County.  All the same, for those so inclined, an opportunity to strike another item from their cycling bucket list.  Also of note:  Bob Howell had never climbed Bumpy Oak so he has now obtained that distinction.

Ride leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Pat Walthers, Ron Altemus, Tom Roberts

Weather: another amazing fabulous gorgeous springtime in February day.  The forecasters got the sun right, but instead of the 52-55 degrees predicted, by noon it was nearing 60.  They got the wind wrong, too: the anticipated 3-6 mph winds seemed more like 10-15 mph, especially down along the shores of the Potomac and going around Hains Point.  But just plain wonderful.

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/18867464  Starting from Jones Point Park, we took the long and scenic way to Shirlington via Alexandria's Old Town, Rosemont and North Ridge neighborhoods, then did the "Arlington Loop" on the W&OD, Custis and Mount Vernon trails, passing through the infamous Intersection of Doom without difficulty. 

Mishaps & mechanicals: none.

AMS: 11.something

Tom rode to the ride start from Waldorf, making his grand total something in the 80s.  We met member Steve Forman on the W&OD just after our first rest stop at noon, and passed member Karen McMillan going the other way on the Custis trail.  It was a fabulous, wonderful day for riding - spring weather without a doubt.  A bit cool at first, it quickly warmed up - much warmer feeling than predicted, but far windier.  We were saved from overheating only by the relatively chilly shade and the headwinds on the Custis trail.