Ride Leader:   Calvin Conyers (co) and Mia Hayes (primary)

Participants:  A lot, see Mia's detail report

Additional Highlights:  see Mia's excellent description.  We all had a ball enjoying the ride and getting first hand information  on the club from our active leaders, Sam Perry, Mia Hayes, and Sherwood Byers.  They were all introduced at some point of the ride.  This was the first time Megan, Michelle, and Fernando completed the entire trail.  It was great to have Sherwood dialing it back  to offer encouragement to newer riders.  Thanks Mia for posting.

Leader:  Mia Haynes

Co-Leader:  Calvin Conyers

Members:  Rod Barnes, Ken Meredith, Rodney Palmer, Lester and Joan Jackson, Fernando Lujan, Sherwood Byers, and Sam Perry

Guest:  Hans ???, Meagan Croan, and Michelle Croan

Mechanicals/Mishaps:  None.

Another beautiful day to ride the trail.  Plenty of fun to be had and plenty of activity.  As you can see I had a couple of special guests on my ride today:  Sherwood, the club’s road captain; and Sam, the club president.  It was nice having them there, and with my being the club VP – we had a few cabinet members present - Cool.  It was also nice seeing Lester and Joan.   

The first leg of the ride, to the Indian Head side, we kept a really good pace.  We saw two wild turkey, squirrels, dogs walking their owners, and plenty of people either riding; walking; or running.  As we approached the ascent, we noticed Meagan and Michelle were stretching on the side of the rode – so Calvin yelled out, “Come on ladies, only a little way to go to the end”.  They followed along and soon realized they had make it to the true end of the trail. 

They joined us on the return trip and completed the trail for the first time, excellent job ladies and glad you joined us.  I think we made members out of them; I hope so, they were fun.

Thanks to everyone for coming out, it was a wonderful ride as always.

Ride Leaders: Jackie & Randy Schoch 

Members: Ron Altemus, Jim and Jane Hudnall, Bev White, Judy Mutty, Robin Garnett, and Larry Peed.

Guests: Harold Johnson and Belinda Acre

Weather: Clear and low 60's!

Route: IHRT 

Mishaps & Mechanicals: None

AMS: 12 mph (leaders)

A large group of regulars came to ride this morning. There were many trail users including bikers, walkers, joggers, and many dogs taking their humans for a walk. We didn't see a lot wildlife out and about today (a  wild turkey, a box turtle, and squirrels). Member Bob Moye was riding the trail again today. It was a good day to be on a bike ride. Most of the group rode ahead at a faster pace. Jackie and I rode sweep. At the White Plains rest stop, Jackie and I with the rest of the riders met up with Bev and Judy. It was a fast return trip back to Indian Head. Jackie and I had a dentist app. so we didn't do lunch with the rest of the group.

Ride leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Ron Altemus, Pat Walthers, Joan Oppel, Rita Z

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/13839010  A mostly flat 40 mile route that took Cedarville and Dr Mudd to a rest stop at the Moreland Market, then went down Young, Celestial and Dr Bowen to Eagle Harbor and a second rest stop at the Cedar Haven Fishing Area.  Returning on Dr Bowen to the Five Points, the route then took Horsehead to Brandywine and Gibbons Church back to the park.  1316' of total elevation gain, most of it along Dr Bowen and returning from Eagle Harbor.

Weather: Checking the hourly forecast on weather.com I was led to expect a foggy, cool morning followed by a rise to the mid-60s.  It didn't look that way out on my front porch, but as I learned many years ago my front porch, with its sunny southern exposure is about the warmest place in all of Metro DC, leading to some horrible shocks in remote places like Poolesville and Marshall.  Still, I added a lycra jersey to the kit as I was loading the bike, just in case.  Arriving at North Keys Park -- about the coldest, windiest place in all of Brandywine, there was no fog and I quickly discovered it was just as warm as on my front porch.  When Joan arrived, she explained weather.com was having a technical problem and was displaying the previous day's weather forecast.  It turned out, as Barb said, to be very nice, partly cloudy, mid 60s to start, warming up to about 70s and a bit breezy.

Mishaps & mechanicals: Pat had a flat on Ash Trail in Eagle Harbor.  We spent quite a bit of time fixing it, trying without success to find the foreign object that had caused it.  Still, the remaining 15 miles were uneventful so hopefully it had gone.  [Edit: patching the tube revealed a classic snakebite pinch flat, so no foreign object was involved.]

AMS: 13.1

When we set out, Rita took off with the B group and it was just Ron, Joan, Pat and me for the first 8 or 9 miles.  We saw a rider in the distance on Poplar Hill, and when we finally caught up with her it turned out to be Rita.  She rode with us from that point on.  After the weeks of research that went into the project, it was a pleasure to finally see her new bike post-drivetrain modifications with its 11-speed DynaSys MTB rear derailleur, 11-40 cassette and Wolftooth TanPan making it all possible.  It was one of those "It's alive!" moments...

Leader: Barbara Haney

Members: Ron Haney, Bob Howell, Alan Kurzweil, Larry Peed, Diane Harris, Holly Carr, Jim and Jane Hudnall, Karen Morgan

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/13839010 (planned route, whch we did most of)

Weather: very nice, partly cloudy, mid 60s to start, warming up to about 70s, a bit breezy. It didn't feel cold at all!

AMS: 16.3 for leader, some variance faster/slower

Report: We had a good turnout on this day that felt at times more like spring or summer than fall. The route was a mix of flats and rollers, nothing extreme, and we rode together for much of the time. We took a pretty long rest stop at Moreland Market and then set off to our next objective, Cedar Haven at Eagle Harbor. There we had some interesting conversation about current events before returning back up to 381, where we decided that since it was getting late due to our leisurely rest stops, we'd skip the jog to 5 Points/ Malcolm and just stick with 381 Aquasco/Brandywine to Gibbons Church. It cut off about a mile and a few hills, and hopefully we all got home before rush hour. It was a very pleasant day to ride!

Class: AA/3

Category: Express

Description: Hammerfest

Speed Limit Imposed: None

Gain: 701ft

Distance: 25.8mi (TT segment 25.1mi used for CJE records and PRs)

Max Grade: 5.1%

Rest Stops: None

Founders: Benny Budd and Joni King

Support: OHBTC and Paul Bales/Casey Jones Restaurant

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

Course KOM: Robert Golding (Oct 12, 2016 –59:48, 25.2 mph)

Course QOM: Claire Chiamulera (Aug 22, 2012 – 1:07:56, 22.2 mph)

Course Honors: R.Golding, D.Hearn, M.Biffel, D.Kemp, D.Hoefert, A.Harris, M.Blaine, C.Chiamulera
(Men: Course PRs => 24.5mph / Women: Course PRs => 21mps)

Ride Leader: Scott Walker

Riders: Robert Golding, Douglas Carter, Blake Altman, Mike Wilson, Paul Bales, Michael Blaine, Travis Proctor, Chris Zabriskie, Mike Levesque, Holden Hudson, Robert Golding, Curtis Alia, Davey Hearn, Mike Biffel, Mike Isbill

Weather: Sunny, 67 degrees with winds from the SW at 3.

AMS: Leaders 25.2 / Sweep 19.2

Mishaps & Mechanicals: Mike L. flatted towards the bottom of Bolling, but no one heard him drop off the back.  After fixing he returned directly to the CJR parking lot w/23mi completed.  Sorry we missed you drop off Mike, but glad you made it back ok.

Report: Nice turnout for the last 2016 Express and some serious power in the lot tonight; the Golding, Hearn, Biffel trio, who last toppled the course record with a 24.8 average, backed by riders Blaine, Carter, Proctor, Zabriskie, and Isbill –all also capable of 24’s on this course.  As you might expect the lead pace-line immediately tore into tonight’s ride, and with nearly perfect weather conditions, the Golding trio cracked the 25mph ams / one-hour barrier setting a new record of 25.2 mph at 59:48.  Nicely done gents, especially for the last CJE of the season!

I enjoyed riding with you all this year and I’m looking forward to a fun season again in 2017.  Please stay safe and I’ll see you soon.

Leaders: Jim and Jane Hudnall

Members: just us

Guests: none

Route: The usual 16-mile tour from the Accokeek Fire Station to Bryans Road, down to the river and them back up Barry's Hill to the fire station.

Weather: Beautiful fall weather - with temperatures starting at 70 degrees and dropping to 66 when we finished.

AMS: 14.6

Mechanicals/Mishaps: None

Report: We enjoyed this familiar route through Accokeek and down to the Potomac for a break. The low traffic roads and wide shoulders on Marshall Hall Road make this a great tour for cyclists. The tide was coming in and the flow was very noticeable as the water in the Potomac headed north up the river.

Leader: Barbara Haney

Members: Ron Haney, Larry Peed, Tom Roberts, Randy and Jackie Schoch

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/13330039 (planned route)

Weather: Chilly to start, mid 50s, warmed up to mid 60s, sunny

AMS: 16.2

Report: With a small group today, we had the freedom to improvise. Randy and Jackie signed in with us, but left first, and did their own ride. We remaining four stuck to the plan for the first half, heading down to Port Tobacco, up Locust Grove/Old Stagecoach to cross 301 and scale the Beast of Bel Alton, to the rest stop at St. Ignatius Church, where we learned a bit of local history from Larry and greeted the Cardboard Pope. After that we went off-script, deciding by consensus to bypass Locust Grove x2 and La Plata, and to return via Valley Rd and Hawthorne, just because we like them, and then up Livingston. We ended up with pretty much the same mileage and elevation gain as the original plan, and had a very nice ride. 

Good turnout for the B version, but nobody came for the CC.

Ride leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Joan Oppel

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/5201396  You could think of it as a mini-Rural Legacy route, only starting at North Keys Community Park.  We modified the route slightly today, taking the second rest stop at the Patuxent River Park Pavilion rather than at the Jug Bay Visitors Center (and what a good thing it was, too - see "Mishaps & Mechanicals") and skipping Duvall and Mt Carmel due to concerns about possible tree debris on the road.  End result: 44.0 miles

Weather: 50s and heavily overcast at the start and windy.  By 11:30 blue skies were breaking through and the solid gray had given way to ragged bands of white, silver, gray and deep blue clouds.  An hour later we saw cloudless blue skies and bright sun.  The wind continued unabated.   But as we've learned from experience, on the tree-lined "Legacy" roads even fairly strong winds as we had today turn into frothy disturbed air with little serious directional push.  Speed isn't possible (or desirable, considering how much debris had come down from the trees, particularly on Fenno near the Merkle Sanctuary) but there's no danger of being pushed off the road or into traffic.

Mishaps & mechanicals: Getting ready to leave the Patuxent River Park Pavilion I was unable to clip in.  I checked my shoe and no cleat.  I remembered that clipping out had felt odd - too much travel - so I backtracked my steps and eventually found the cleat, the attachment plate and one of the screws on the concrete walkway under the roofed area.  Joan had a spare cleat attachment screw among her tools and spares, so replacing the cleat only took a minute.  Had we taken our break at Jug Bay as originally planned, chances of finding the missing cleat and attachment hardware on the grass or the dirt would have been miniscule; the only alternatives would have been to wait for a ride at the park or tape my shoe to the pedal with duct tape.

AMS: 11.5