This ride was posted late Christmas afternoon when the leader's Monday schedule suddenly opened up. 10 riders turned out! Jim Hudnall did a quick overnight cue sheet and while it turned out to be a multi-class ride, the group wasn't really too stretched out.  32 miles with a climb of the Marshall Hall hill and a group picture at the White Plains Indian Head trailhead, which you can see on Facebook. 

The most notable event of the day: a bird pooped on Barb Haney's jacket. Larry had hand wipes which made a gross situation tolerable enough for Barb to finish the ride.

Riders today: Jim Hudnall, Jane Hudnall, Holly Carr, Larry Peed, Pat Walthers, Barb Haney, Pat Sanders, Steve Palincsar, Janell Saunders, Robert Golding.

Leader: Barbara Haney

Ron Haney, Alan Kurzweil and Tom Roberts joined me on this holiday morning to do a standard Manokeek Jaunt. Temps were in the 40s, but with little wind and some sun it didn't feel very wintery. The route, https://ridewithgps.com/routes/16355590, headed past St. Charles and White Plains, where we took a little break at the trailhead. After a few miles on the IHRT and a climb up Bumpy Oak, Alan suggested adding a couple of miles after crossing 210 to descend Marshall Hall and climb Barry's Hill, so we had an extra little tour of Accokeek also. All along the route we wished passersby Merry Christmas and admired the holiday lights on many houses. We rode at a relaxing conversational pace, finishing with an average of 14.7 for 34 miles, On this festive morning, it was a pleasant ride in good company.

Leader:  Ron Altemus

Members:  Belinda Acre, Dan Zavorak, Holly Carr, Jim Hudnall, Linda and Paul Bankerd, Steve Palincsar

Route:  Standard Friday IHRT - Village Green to White Plains and return

Weather:   Starting temp of 37 but sunny outbound to White Plains; return had overcast skies with westerly breezes (somewhat of a headwind) and temp rising to 45.

Report:  A good turnout for perhaps the last "official" ride before Christmas.  It was nice to see both Dan and Paul cycling again with the club.  Of special interest were the bald eagles spotted at the Bumpy Oak pond.  Jim has posted pix on the club's Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/ohbike/

Jane Hudnall and Steve Palincsar came out on a balmy winter day, each doing a first road ride after extended recovery from an accident. It was a wonderful day to ride with lots of sun and temperatures in the 50s. Both Jane and Steve had reserved the option to shortcut the miles but both rode the entire 37 mile distance. Our route was Sam's Gallant Green, specially designed to favor flat recovery roads, with a nice long stop at the Moreland store.

Riding together today with the CC group: Ron Altemus, Jane Hudnall, Jim Hudnall, Steve Palincsar, and Tom Roberson.

What a beautiful day for a ride!

Thanks so much Bob Howell, Alan Kurzweil, Ken Meredith, Lou Dalloro, Diane Harris, Tom Roberts, Tom Short, and Holly Carr for coming out to make this a fantastic A/B group ride!

After a somewhat cloudy early morning cleared up to a wonderfully sunny day, many riders shed layers at the first stop at Moreland Market, as the December day warmed up to about 57 degrees and seemed more like a day in May.

There was a bit of wind off and on after the first stop, so the group stayed together, taking turns with pulls, thanks Ken for taking extra turns!

We finished the day with a great A/B AMS between 15.5 and 16.5.

Thanks to Joan for picking a great route and leading the charge to keep us motivated and out pedaling!

Even with temperatures never above 31 or 32, eleven riders took advantage of this annual excursion in the neighborhoods between Belle Haven park area and Ft Hunt to see the magic of Christmas Lights by bike in the dark.

We rode a little over 12 miles, we were pretty chilled by the end but we saw some terrific displays - and even got a lesson in how to hang lights on a 100 foot tree by the homeowner himself (hint: ropes, pulleys and harnesses for the climber).  

Thanks to all who came out: Lois Lightfoot, Steve Forman, Althea , Melissa Watson, George Sexton, Tom Niedbala, Ron Altemus, Jacob Altemus, Cindy Malisch, Leslie Tierstein.

Joan

Leader:  Ron Altemus

Members:  Bob Howell, Jim Hudnall, Linda Bankerd, Joan Oppel, Tom Roberts

Route:  https://ridewithgps.com/routes/18125735  To summarize:  somewhat short, somewhat flat, and traversed a few of my favorite roads. Outbound via Chapman's Landing, Chicamuxen, Smallwood Church; heading back via Mason Springs, a zig and a zag to go down mighty Mt Pisgah, and then up Livingston.

Weather:  Another balmy day in beautiful SW Charles County.  Plenty of sun with light easterly breezes; ride start was below freezing (31 degrees) rising to a toasty 34 at the end of our escapade.

AMS:  Swept at 13.2; assume it was a bit more for those riding ahead.

Report:  The first ride of the 2016-17 winter season with starting temps below freezing saw only a handful of intrepid cyclists attending.  As there was no A/B leader, we surprisingly stayed close together until at some point on Smallwood Church, Linda/Bob/Tom got ahead of the rest of us while we discussed important matters which always necessitates a reduction in speed.  Rendezvousing at the Pisgah store, we rode as a group almost the entire way back, only getting significant space between us from Bumpy Oak to the end.  Milestones to note:  Linda has now lowered her minimum ride temp to 31 degrees and Bob is closing in on 3000 miles for the year (and also discovering the joys of riding cold!).

We held our Sunday morning mountain bike ride at cedarville, we decided to move the ride to 2pm. The weather started our good, and as the cold front moved in the temps dropped and the rain started. In true mountain bike form we completed the ride. Everyone had a blast, riders included Randy, and Barry.

Barry Howard

Ride Leader

Class: AA/3
Category: Training
Description: Team-ride; smooth endurance miles
Speed Limit Imposed: 21 on the flats
Colors: None specified
Start: Rescheduled from 11:30 to 7:30 to beat the rain and falling temps
Location: Pisgah Firehouse

The Course

Distance: 35.7 miles
Gain: 1209 ft
Rest Stops: None scheduled
Max Grade: 5.0%

The Ride

Riders:  Blake Altman, Jill Patterson, Steve Koegle, Pete Czapiewski, Michael Blain, David Kemp, Scott Walker
Weather: Overcast w/wet roads, 58 degrees warming to 62, winds from the SW at 14 calming to less than 3
Moving Time: 1:48:18
AMS: 19.6
Mishaps/Mechanicals: We all stop on Riverside for what Blake believes is a flat rear tire.  But, when he checks he discovers it’s fine.  So, we restart only to have Blake announce a second stop “it’s actually my front tire that’s flat.”  So, we stop again and, of course, give Blake a hard time (for not knowing which tire is flat) while he pulls a new tube from his bag.  But, the new tube is split at the valve and unusable (for which he’s savagely abused again). The second tube he pulls from his bag, however, is good and quickly installed...   ...and we're off once more.  As we make the left onto Chicamuxen, Blake needs to stop again for a twig caught in his spokes…   … poor guy, this one's remedied in a few seconds --but thanks for the rest stops and all the laughs and smiles, Blake!
Report: Beautiful ride.  While there's still a lot of road-spray to go around, rescheduling for an earlier depart otherwise works well in terms of avoiding additional rain and falling temps (although in hindsight, the rain doesn't make it into the area until hours after its forecast and long after the time the ride was originally posted).  After we return, Blake immediately asks if anyone wants to do some more miles.  No takers, but he sets out on his own for a bit more.  David and Michael, who rode from home, set out for their return.  Someone asks Jill if the ride was what she expected; “I guess I was expecting more attacks…” (btw, welcome to you again, Jill, nice to have you with us).   With her response I’m not sure she could have paid the team a finer compliment.  Pete puts it best; “as Century-Team rides go, this was a smooth one.”  Yes it was; everyone light on cranks and sync’d.  Very enjoyable!  See the Clip

The weather prediction for Thursday is high of 25 degrees, with wind speeds of 22-25 mph or higher. So a small group of riders responded to my email requesting a show of interest in a "Wednesday instead" ride.  Sunny, temperatures in mid-40s, occasional moderate wind - one great day for riding.  We did a Cross Road, Molly Berry, Baden Naylor, Croom, Nottingham, Fenno & St Tom, return on Duley Station to Van Brady etc.  

The only real adventure was coming to the Brooks Church & Baden Naylor intersection, we discovered a large number of trucks and workmen repaving Baden Naylor.  In fact, one lane was freshly - very freshly - repaved.  We surprised the work crew, I think because they were monitoring Baden Naylor but not Brooks Church.  We rode the new lane's somewhat sticky surface and got through that short section.  Everyone wiped down tires at the Nottingham store.  

Thanks to Linda Bankerd, Alan Kurzweil, Pat Sanders and Pat Walthers for coming out to join me today.