Leader: Tim Murphy

Weather: Awesome! I hope everyone was able to get out and ride on this perfect day.

4 people enjoyed the IHRT. We met at the Livingston Road parking lot. On the way towards White Plains we went at different speeds. I went the farthest and turned around and as I met riders on the way back we all road back together to enjoy the scenery, trial, wildlife, etc. One person didn't have enough air in their tires. I got out my hand pump and they were full of hot air in not time. I wasn't a Boy Scout but I always try to "Be Prepared".

 

The weather did turn out as predicted, in fact better than predicted.  It was warm and bright.  We all left together, short and long people.  There were 8 in our group.  Chris made a wrong turn but rejoined us at the Starbucks rest stop.  The majority of our group rode ahead.  There were no mechanical issues, but the cue sheet instructions were confusing at the intersection of Indian head and Marshall Hall.  Unfortunately, two would be riders were made aware of the necessity of pedals.

Well, great weather, great area to ride in and great company to ride with, came all together and made for a great ride!

I was joined by members John Kadyszewski, Cathy Wilson, Richard Edelman and Nancy Avitabile. We started from the Pisgah Firehouse and rode down to Nanjemoy, over to Riverside then back up to Ironsides and Pisgah. Riding down Riverside Rd over to Smith Point Rd and Holly Springs Rd was a treat. The rollers work out the climbs, the scenery is pretty and the notable absence of cars make the experience very enjoyable. Worth every minute of the one hr driving time it took Cathy, John and myself to reach Pisgah. At around mile 20 we crossed paths with Steve's CC troop coming up the opposite way; looked at my watch and it showed 12:20 so yesterday's estimate was in the ballpark as our group chose not to stop at the first rest stop at mile 13.

The group stayed very close together for the entire ride and rode as one troop, often separated from one another by no more than two wheels worth. My Garmin at the end of the ride showed an AMS of 16.9 mph. We'll blame the great weather and great company for that overage but if you dont tell anyone I wont either....

The Nanjemoy area has never failed to satisfy so we will repeat this ride again in the future.

Ride leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Harry Kidd & Walt Roscello - both on recumbents

Guests: I sent an invitation to the Babes & Babe Magnets on Bikes, and they showed up in force, with Jenn, Robin, Lynn, Lenn, Saul and Russ joining us for the ride.

Weather: Suddenly it's summer - or was it back to February? - but don't worry, tomorrow will be more "seasonable," whatever that means.  Sunny, breezy-to-windy, 65 at the start but feeling cooler due to the wind, rising to 79 or 80 degrees by early afternoon.  Are we confused yet?

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/11259181  44 miles, 1428' of elevation gain.  A route that went in the opposite direction from Pano's 11 am B ride, leading us to pass each other going in opposite directions on Maryland Point Road about 20 miles into the ride.

Mishaps & mechanicals: Harry had some work done on his electric recumbent, including a new chain, new cassette and new battery, which came unplugged somewhere before the base of the climb up Durham Church Road.  A minor inconvenience at worst, especially compared to the increase in range from 10-20 miles on the old, tired and sad battery to more than 100 miles per charge with the new one.  No more range anxiety for "The Electric Kidd."   One other mishap, in this case trivial: I collided with some kind of flying insect, and it stung me on the arm.   Had it happened to the wrong person it could have been a big deal indeed.

AMS: 13.1 at the back, probably over 14 in the Babes on Bikes group.

“For the love of the people and the ride” - Michael Blaine

Class: AA/3
Category: Express
Description: Graceful aggression for the year's initial; the resolute instinctively preserving close formation for the course, determination synchronized and unwavering against a cruel adversary --rain or even snow of no equal.
Speed Limit Imposed: None
Colors: CJE kits always welcome
Start Time & Location: 5:30 pm, Casey Jones Restaurant, La Plata, MD

The Course

Location: Charles
Distance: 25.8mi (TT segment is 25.1mi and used for CJE records and PRs)
Gain: 701ft
Rest Stops: None
Max Grade: 5.1%

The Ride

Honors • R.Golding • D.Hearn • M.Biffel • D.Kemp • D.Hoefert • A.Harris • M.Blaine • C.Chiamulera

KOM • Robert Golding (Oct 12, 2016 –59:48, 25.2 mph)
QOM • Claire Chiamulera (Aug 22, 2012 – 1:07:56, 22.2 mph)
Founders • Benny Budd and Joni King
Host • Paul Bales/Casey Jones Restaurant

Riders: Four – Michael Blaine, Paul Bales, Blake Altman, Scott Walker
Weather: Sunny, 48 degrees cooling to 42 with strong winds from the NW at 18 gusting to 25
AMS: 18.6 mph
Mishaps & Mechanicals: We stopped for a moment at the bottom of St Mary’s just long enough for Paul to quickly adjust his rear brakes.
Report: Thank you gentlemen for a beautiful ride.  The savage winds and temps on our return up the unsheltered 301 corridor made for a tough, but oddly fitting opener especially considering the camaraderie and teamwork always demonstrated on these rides under these conditions.  I'm confident a wonderful season is to follow.

Ride leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Joan Oppel, Linda Bankerd, Mike Bivens, Tom Roberts, Ron Haney and Darryl Lowery.  Tom Short was also there at 10:00, but he rode a different route by himself.

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/10783637  41 miles, 1060' of elevation.  The route goes up 'the back way' to Accokeek, then down Farmington and across 210 to Livingston and into The Preserve.  Entering on Medinah Ridge and exiting on Danville, the route then continues to Accokeek Rd and as originally cued, stops at the Accokeek East Community Park.  However, the portolets (like the swallows) haven't returned Accokeek for Spring yet, so we skipped it and had a rest stop at the WaWa on Western Parkway instead. 

That detour was not without incident: my bad, I erroneously told the riders to go left to Gardner to skip the park, forgetting that in fact Gardner was to the right, just not as far down the road as Accokeek Park.  That gave the B group (which by now was missing Darryl, who turned back because he felt cold) some bonus miles and allowed Joan and me to catch up, so it was not without benefit.

After the rest stop and my flat tire we visited the Circles of Fur and Feathers (no fish course today, due to mileage restrictions) then took the Indian Head Rail Trail across Bumpy Oak (where Mike turned right because he was under time pressure) to Hawthorne and took Chapmans Landing back to Bryans Road.

Weather: Spring weather finally arrived, but not until we were done with the ride.  At the start it was  heavily overcast gray, damp and chilly - high 40s but felt more like the low 40s.  Ever so gradually it warmed up, and by the time we crossed Bumpy Oak it had brightened up.  As we arrived at Bryans Road the skies cleared, the sun came out and it warmed up to almost 60 degrees.

Mishaps & mechanicals: As I was getting ready to leave the rest stop at the WaWa I discovered my back tire had softened during the break.  While checking the back tire for the source, I picked out enough glass and flint shards for five flats. 

AMS: 12.8 in the CC group, obviously higher for the B group.

Today we played "Ten Little Indians [And Then There Were None]".  We lost Tom Short before we left the parking lot, and then before the first rest stop Darryl turned back because he felt cold.  We stayed more or less together until we passed by the second rest stop at the 7-Eleven, but shortly after making the turn on Middletown Tom and Ron went off on their own.  Here came Tom headed back towards White Plains, and then Mike turned off at Bumpy Oak; Joan, Linda and I finished together.  It was a winter day in the morning and a spring day when we finished.

Photo

Ride leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Barb & Ron Haney, Desiree Holkon, Lou Dallorso, Mike Bivens, Bob Howell, Larry Peed, Karen McMillan

Guests: None

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/19665361 40 miles, 991' of elevation gain

Weather: a beautiful first day of spring.  Blue skies (until well after 2 pm, anyway, at which point it became overcast) bright warm sun, breezy to at times downright windy - into Seagull Training by the end of the ride - with temperatures in the 40s at ride start, rising to the high 50s by afternoon.

Mishaps & mechanicals: none

AMS: 13.1 in the CC group, a bit higher for the five Bs.

An unexpectedly large turn-out this beautiful morning.  Barb Haney was back from Europe, Karen McMillan had just returned from a Caribbean cruise, and it's been what, a year or more since Desiree has ridden us.  After heading right from the park we followed Oaks Rd to the Three Notch Trail and rode it all the way to its end at Laurel Grove Park, safely navigating the dreaded Mantraps of Polska with the help of a little Marco - Polo to focus the attention.  After a break in the park we took Laurel Grove and Kavanaugh to Loveville, its flat, wide shoulders strewn here and there with Mennonite Horse Leavings to Busy Corner.    The usually tricky crossing of MD-5 was easy and traffic-free this morning.  From there we took Colton Point (more wide shoulders) to Dr Johnson past the tractor at Friendly Hall Farm to Chaptico Rd (lovely and smooth since the re-paving, no more thump-thump-thump every few

yards down to a second rest stop at the Chaptico Store.  We stayed a while at the store enjoying the lovely day, then headed north on Mechanicsville Rd (more lovely flat shoulders) back to the Three Notch Trail.  We turned west on MD-6 into the wind, our Seagull Training Session interrupted briefly by a small diversion on Roundhill Rd providing a welcome relief from the wind, then followed Keech and Oaks back to the park.  In all, a splendid welcome to spring!

Leader:  Pete Czapiewski

Members:  Blake Altman, Cynthia Anderson, Jessica Livingston, John Wilson, Scott Walker, Steve Koegle

Guests: John Schiavo

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/19641092 . 47.5 miles, 2190 feet elevation gain. Out and back from Fort Hunt Park to Hallowing Point and Mason Neck Park.

Weather:  Sunny, 45-50 degrees F. Breezy with NNW winds at 14 mph.

AMS:  17.0 mph

Mechanicals/Mishaps: Stuck Speedplay pedal cleat.

Report:

    After a cold and grim morning with drizzle and snow flurries, the sun came out and quickly warmed the air and dried the pavement in time for this ride. John S., John W., Steve, and Cynthia all rode to and from the ride start. Our group of eight enjoyed an early season aerobic effort, with no one dropped. We rode together well in pace lines, with very minor regrouping on the biggest hills. We followed the March 5th AA ride route, but added a five mile flat loop to the end of Gunston Road. This extension took us past some nice, upscale homes featuring tennis courts and private boat docks along the Potomac before the rest stop in Mason Neck Park.

    On the return trip, John S. turned off on Colchester Road to take the long way back, for 75 miles total. At the top of Colchester, Jessica realized that both her cleats were jammed and that she couldn’t release her feet. The pedals and cleats were apparently contaminated with mud. Fortunately, Jessica didn’t crash, and was able to stop next to a post, where she had to pull her feet out of her shoes. The other riders stopped and helped release the shoes then clean out the cleats and pedals with a stream of bottle water.

    Thanks to everyone for coming out and working so well together. 

https://www.facebook.com/pg/ohbike/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1680400461975943

A cloudy day turned bright sunny and temperatures hovered in the 50's. It was a terrific biking day, and the riders who joined in thanked me for the late Friday, nearly last-minute decision to post this ride.  We took a 17 mile route through Chesapeake Beach to the Herrington Harbor market - where nearly everyone had the usual snacks - PBJ sandwich, Clif Bar, nuts, trail mix. One rider however ordered a hot dog and french fries for a true mid-ride boost.

Thanks to Linda Bankerd, Chantal Briere, Pano Gianniotis, Steve Palincsar and Bob Thompson for being great riding companions today.

Class: AA/3
Category: Sport
Description: DST AA-Opener with the Polar Bears
Speed Limit Imposed: None
Colors: None
Start: 11:30 at the Manokeek Village Center

The Course

County: PG (start) and Charles
Distance: 42.0 miles
Gain: 1112 ft
Max Grade: 5.9%
Rest Stops: Ollie’s

The Ride

Riders:  Thirteen – Blake Altman, Steve Koegle, John Hartsfield, Robert Golding, Matthew Lewandowski, John Wilson, Jill Patterson, Michael Blaine, Pete Czapiewski, Cynthia Anderson, Anthony Carter, Tom Roberts, Scott Walker
Weather: Sunny, 32 degrees "warming" to 38 w/winds from the WNW at 9
Moving Time: 2:02:41
AMS: Seven in the first group at 20.6 mph
Mishaps/Mechanicals: None
Report: Brisk today with temps in the 30’s and strong winds at times.  But everyone enjoyed the sunny outing, despite the cool temps and wind, and especially with Stella’s arrival looming.  The riders split into two groups over the first half of the course and then joined back up at Ollie’s for a quick snack and a few laughs.  For the return, three groups saw everyone back smiling –with a sweep from Blake, Matthew, and me over the remainder of the course resulting in a very pleasant 18.4 average.  Thanks to all for coming out and making this a fantastic ride!