Ride Leader: Randy Schoch 

Members: Jim Hudnall, Steve Palincsar, and Larry Peed.

Guests: None

Weather: Clear, very windy, raw and low 50's!

Route: IHRT 

Mishaps & Mechanicals: None

AMS: 12 mph (leaders)

Few riders and very few tail users on the unfavorable morning for a bike ride. This ride should have been cancelled. After the ride, Larry and I went to the local Episcopal Church for fried fish dinners to take home for our wives. Excellent fish dinners.

Ride leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Joan Oppel, Holly Carr, Jim Hudnall

Weather: cloudy/overcast, breezy, cool - high 50s at the start rising to 62 or so until the rain started, at which point it fell to the high 50s.

Route: We set out on a 40 mile route to Magruders Ferry, Croom, Celestial and Truman Manor https://ridewithgps.com/routes/17336517 but a weather check at Magruders showed the predicted window of clear weather narrowing, and as we got to Celestial I decided to shorten, so we skipped Truman Manor and Gallant Green and went up Young to the Moreland Market.  After the break we cut some more, taking the direct way back to the Five Points.  The clouds were clearing and sun was breaking through as we rode through Charles County, but once across the PG County line the sky grew dark and ominous.  Just past Baden we rode through a storm cell with lightning and thunder in the distance and a fine mist that suddenly became a hard rain that lasted until we got to Lena's.  We sheltered for a few minutes as the rain cleared, then continued on.  The final route was 33.6 miles.

Mishaps & mechanicals: none

AMS: 12.6

Only a few braved the weather forecast today, but we had a good ride.   Although the forecast said the rain would hold off until at least 2 pm, we ran into the edges of a small isolated storm cell and so encountered a few minutes of rain.

Leader: Barbara Haney

Members: Rob Haney, Alan Kurzweil, Jan Tucker, Daryl Lowery, Tom Roberts, Chris Fairhall, Sam Perry (Karen Morgan rode with us but signed in with CC, as did Mike Bivens in the second half)

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/16683183, a counter clockwise loop to Goose Bay via Hawthorne/Ripley/Poorhouse, return via Rose Hill/Pomfret

Weather: quite cool, low to mid 50s, possible reaching 60 by the end, breezy (up to about 12 mph from the NW), sunny

AMS: 16.1 for leader

Mechanicals/Mishaps: just one dropped chain leaving Goose Bay on the little hill onto Brentland

Report: It was a pretty good turnout, considering the forecast for a 10-20 mph wind, which fortunately stayed in the lower end of the range. Most of us had on some level of winter gear, since it was chilly to start, but we warmed up somewhat, especially whenever we were in the sun. With the NW wind, though, it never really felt very warm. The CC group led out, and they and a small contingent of A/Bs made the light to cross 210; they rode together until the rest caught up and then the A/Bs rode on ahead, breaking into smaller groups on Mt. Pisgah (Hawthorne) but all reaching Goose Bay with minutes of each other. Unfortunately it was not a great day to sit on the porch in the shade, and the store was closed for the day. Daryl had to leave immediately to get to work, and the rest stood in the sun for a bit, then continued on our way, knowing we still had Rose Hill and Pomfret to climb. The second half proceeded pretty much the same as the first, but with a more noticeable headwind, and we all returned safely to Bryans Road, where it still felt chilly. Probably we just aren't acclimated yet, as it was just last week that it was feeling like summer. Thanks to all those who rode today!

Ride leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Pat Walthers  (Karen Morgan and Mike Bivens signed on the CC list but rode with the AB group)

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/16683183

Weather: sunny, breezy, 50s at the start rising to the low 60s (but it never felt like it, due to the wind)

Mishaps & mechanicals: none (thankfully, because the last time we rode this route I had 3 flats during the course of the ride, and I couldn't shake the feeling that trouble was just around the corner) other than a dropped chain.

AMS: 12-something

An uneventful ride much as Barbara described, but for one thing: I gained a lot of distance on Pat on the descent on Rt 6 approaching Rose Hill, as I go down hills a bit like a piano pushed off the top of the Chrysler Building.  My last ride up Rose Hill ended with a flat 3/4 of the way up it, and this time I was determined to see it through.  At the top I stopped and waited for Pat, and after a long time thought my previous bad luck might have rubbed off on her so I went back to look for her.  I got all the way down the hill before she came into sight, saying she'd dropped her chain earlier and had trouble getting it back on.  So, I got to do Rose Hill twice - again, uneventfully.  The "curse" appears to have followed the tire: into the trash and gone.

We held our Sunday morning Mountain bike ride at Cedarville state park starting at 9:30am.  The temperature started out very cool, but a few miles into the course and everyone was warming up. We followed the course clockwise to the lake trail, at the lake trail we picked up the course and followed the trail clockwise. After the lake trail, we took a short break, then picked up the trail and finished up the ride around 11:45. Everyone have a great time, riders included Randy, Travis, Stephen, and Barry.

Barry Howard

Ride Leader

Ride leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Sherwood Byers, Linda Bankerd, Lynne Blade-Hedges, Chris Fairhall, Karen McMillan

Weather: Sunny, very windy, 50s at the start rising to the mid-60s. 

Route: It was supposed to be an 82 mile route - https://ridewithgps.com/routes/17028872 - but that went by the boards before we left the parking lot.  We settled on a 60-something route that checked out a mile or so of the Easton Rails-to-trails (ho hum) and then headed across Rt 50 via Dutchman's Lane, cutting 20 miles of the northern loop.  Fighting our way across and into the wind, with the occasional shift in direction that had us flying along at close to 20 mph with little effort wondering where the wind went, we eventually found our way to the rest stop at Trappe.  Group consensus was mileage didn't matter, but everyone wanted to get back by 3:00 - 3:30, and that meant more cuts.  We cut the South Side Island Creek/Chloras Point loop and headed for the ferry.  Once across the Tred Avon it became clear that there wasn't enough time to get to St Michaels and still make the time window, so the out-and-back to Justine's went by the boards as well.  We finished with exactly 50 miles at 2:55. 

Mishaps & mechanicals: none

AMS: 12.8 -- considering the conditions, not bad at all!

It was a windy weekend, for sure.  Chilly in the morning both Saturday and Sunday, with strong gusty winds that made many skip or cut short their rides at the Crop Hop, and that caused us to to chop over 30 miles from our planned route.  You usually see plenty of cyclists on the way to Oxford, but until we got to the ferry and encountered an Annapolis Meet-Up group more than twice our size doing a 20 mile ride, we saw only one other rider.  The sail boats at Oxford were taking advantage of the wind:

Waiting for the ferry:

Ride Leader:  Blake Altman

Date: October 23, 2016

Ride Name:  Hidden Amish

Ride Distance:  46 Miles

Average Speed of the Ride:  18.5

Ride Class:  AA/3 Sport

Mechanical Issues: None

Mishaps: None

Weather:  Upper 50’s to upper 60’s, mostly sunny, breezy

Guest Riders:  None

Member Riders:  Brad Francisco

Ride Report:

Fortunately Brad showed up for this ride otherwise I would have been all alone.  As you would expect for a ride with only two people, we stayed together throughout the ride.  There were no issues or really anything to note on the ride; however, it was an enjoyable ride.

It was a windy day but not as windy as the day before.  The wind was definitely a factor on some sections of the ride but it really wasn’t too big of a deal in my opinion.  Other than the wind the weather was very nice for a fall weekend.

I guess everyone else was scared away by the wind?

Thanks for joining me Brad!

Leader: Vicki Garlock

Members: Larry Peed, Ron Altemus, Belinda Arce, and  Steve Palincsar

Weather: upper 70's 

AMS: 13.5

Mechanicals/Mishaps:  thumb shut in car door 

It was a beautiful day for a ride. I just wish I hasn't started it out by shutting my thumb in the car door. Thanks Larry for hanging out with me for most of the ride too! 

Leader: Barbara Haney

Members: Ron Haney, Jan Tucker, Sam Perry, Chris Fairhall. Holly Carr signed CC and rode with us, and Rita Zeidner rode with us after the second rest stop.

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/17210875, a clockwise route through the Northwest Territories designed and posted by Steve P.

Weather: Summer weather continues, mid 70s to mid 80s and sunny

AMS: 15 for leader
 
Report: I wanted to wait and see if anyone else would come forward to lead the ride today; the result was no A/B ride was posted. Of course, we would have been welcome to sign with CC and do the route with our own cue sheets, but since I just happened to have a spare signup sheet in the car, we decided to go ahead and have an A/B group. It was a beautiful day for riding and to take advantage of what may be the last really warm day of the season. The route took us on familiar roads but in the less-traveled direction, enjoying the rural landscapes and the changing foliage. Our small group rode together, regrouping whenever necessary, and we took our time at the rest stops, both at the Safeway and at the Patuxent Park Pavilion (a departure from the usual Visitors Center). Thanks to Steve for creating and posting the route and to all who came out this morning.

Ride leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Ron Altemus, Pat Walthers, Rita Z

Guests: none

Weather: summer back again: sunny, humid, breezy, high 70s quickly rising to the mid to high 80s.  If we'd had days like this in July and August, people would have been happy.  Since it's late October, some thought it stultifyingly hot.

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/17210875  39.6 miles, 1846' of elevation gain  Today we explored a bit of Marlton north of Heathermore Blvd on Woodstock and Old Colony circling the Marlton Swim and Recreation Club we've never visited before, in the process discovering yet another previously unknown hill.  (Not that that bothered Rita today: with that 40 tooth low gear sprocket, hills just don't rate with her anymore.)  After a brief trip through the Alternate Reality Distortion Field down ****** Hill and a rest stop at the Safeway in the South Osborne shopping center, we went clockwise (i.e., backwards) up South Osborne and William Beanes and down Croom Station, up Croom and down Mt Calvert and Croom Airport to a second rest stop at the Pavilion at Patuxent River Park (except for those who misread the cue sheet and went to Jug Bay first and then joined us down at the foot of Croom Airport).  The final leg went down St Thomas Church and up Fenno to Nottingham and Candy Hill back to North Keys and the park.

Mishaps and mechanicals: none

AMS: 12.7

What a strange day.  The Washington Post featured a story about the complete closure of the Wilson Bridge on the Outer Loop of the Beltway and seven mile backups all the way up to the Mixing Bowl at I95 -- to the point that I sent out an email warning that I might be late -- but when I got to the bridge traffic on the Outer Loop was as light as I've ever seen it on a Thursday morning, and the drive to the park took 15 minutes less than usual. 

There was no AB ride until a bunch of AB riders showed up and then there was one complete with a leader.  Holly was involved with a work-related phone call and couldn't leave on time, so As,Bs and CC all left together while Barb & Ron waited for Holly.  They all caught up as we got onto the 301 shoulder and we stayed together until we entered Marlton.  We rejoined at the Safeway until the ABs left several minutes before us, then rejoined again at the Park Pavilion.  Leaving the Pavilion, Rita went with the ABs while Sam took her place with the CCs.