Ride leader: Tim Copeland

Members: Letitia Pinkney (Sherwood's daughter), Sherwood Byers, Jerry Reynolds, Andrea Noseck

Route: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/5737887  Planned to be 83 miles, 2300' of elevation gain at a CC pace.  Ride was 83 miles at an average speed of 15.5MPH.  This was the longest ride for both Letitia and Andrea.

Weather:  As with Steve's report, hourly forecasts for the riding area were calling for a 30% chance of showers beginning at 13:00.  The temperature was perfect, although a bit humid. 

Mishaps & mechanicals: no issues

Ride report: Everyone showed up before 07:00.  After talking for a bit and going over the safety briefing, we left at  07:15 and started pedaling down Livingston.  The plan was to stick together, waiting at the top of the hills for the rest of the group to catch up.  I was the first one up the hills and took some pictures of the others coming up.  We stopped at St Ignatius Church and took a group picture.  We also stopped at Johnny Boys at around 1245 for lunch, thinking the rain would pass over.  We were wrong.  That stop came at the perfect time, as everyone was getting tired.  Although it was raining, it wasn't too bad, until after we finished.  We conquered Rose Hill, Chapel Point, Popes Creek, Mt. Victoria, Bumpy Oak and the few others.  Although we were shooting for a CC pace, everyone felt good and were sticking together at a quicker speed.  We did 62 miles in 4 hours, which is pretty good B pace.  It was an incredible ride and well worth me driving from Herndon...although driving back took me over 2 hours due to the weather.  It was great to be back in the Southern Maryland area and ride some of the roads I loved to ride when I lived in Waldorf.  I really do miss them and am ready for the IH Century on September 7... and hopefully ride with some of those that I rode with today.   

Photos

Ride leader: Jackie and Randy Schoch

Members: Beverly White, Vicki Garlock, Mia Hayes, Toya Mitchell, Celeste & Calvin Conyers, Jim Hudnall, Mayra Cora, and Vernon Daley.

Guests: Timothy Wood

Weather: a lovely summer day, 70 at the start to mid 80's by early afternoon with showers forecast by 3pm.

Route: IHRT Combo (http://ridewithgps.com/routes/5678943)

Mishaps & mechanicals: Two flats as we took a break at the IHRT & Livingston Road (RT 224) parking lot.

AMS: 11.9 mph

It's a great and moderately easy route with one long climb up Mt. Pisgah on Hawthorne Rt. 225. Hawthorne has a wide shoulder that is marked as a bike route and the rest of the ride is on lightly traveled roads. Calvin was almost on time for the start and after Jim got photos of our group of riders we set off. Calvin led the riders astray by making an erroneous right turn onto Rt.225 too soon and thus cutting off 1/2 mile from the total mileage. We had a large and very social (chatty) group pretty much staying together. Our rest stop was at the Pisgah store which gave a couple of us a chance to buy numbers for the Mega-million drawing this evening and Jim to take more photos. With the Pisgah store at the half way distance on our ride (on top of MT. Pisgah - the highest point in Charles County), the last leg of the ride back was a breeze. Other than the two flats (previously noted), it was great fun and we ate at George's BBQ after.

Photos

Leader: Norm Lisy

Members: Ron Altemus, Steve Palincsar, Ruddy Elly

Guests: 0

Route: 38 miles from Jones Point (Alexandria) to Fort Hunt to Fort Belvoir through Springfield and back to Alexandria via Cameron Run and Eisenhower Avenue

Weather: Cloudy, some sun and spritzy rain

AMS: 11 mph 

Mechanicals/Mishaps:

Report:  We had a easy ride at a conversational pace for nearly 40 miles and about 1400 feet of climb.  Fort Belvoir provides a clean, polite biking environment and welcome break during an urban/suburban ride.  The route emphasized longer straightaways and avoided most of the loops that characterize rides on this side of the river.

We also took time to explore options for improving the route.  Thanks to Ron, Steve, and Rudy for your ideas.

Leader: Brian Raines

Members: Eric Welch, Gunnar Rempel

Guests: Tom, John, Rob, Jean, Chris, Brad, Wes

Route: 18 miles departing from the Patuxent Adventure Center parking lot in Solomons, MD.  AMS at the back was 15.4. http://ridewithgps.com/trips/3267569

Weather: Cloudy and overcast

Mechanicals/Mishaps: None

Report: Mixed weather reports had the chance of rain tonight in Solomons all over the map.  In the end the rain held and we ended up having a great ride.  We cut out Olivet Rd. plus the final loop around the island from the planned route to be certain we didn't get caught in any rain. With the overcast skies the sunset would have been absent anyway and everyone was happy with the decision. We kept a nice pace on the shouldered roads while relaxing it along the smaller roads within Drum Pt. and socializing.

Group Photo

Ride Photo

Route: Mt Calvert & Patuxent River Park 36 miles

Weather: Partly cloudy, humid in high Seventies at ride start

Riders: Sonja Newman, Jan & Ron Tucker, George Chiamulai, Robert Smith, Larry Peed, Jim Hudnall, Karl Kindel, John Shares, Vernon Daley.

Another great day for cycling, although a little more humid than in recent weeks.  About 1700 feet in climbing today, via my Garmin & Endomondo.  With the CC class riders we had a large turnout of close to twenty riders on today's route.

The Ride Leader had a pressing phone call on Martin Rd, and was dropped by the B and CC group.  I took a short cut with Jim Hudnall and we caught up with the CC group at Mattaponi Rd. On Croom Rd I caught up with Richard Harrington, and we took the shortcut at Mt. Calvert and Duvall Rd. We arrived at the rest stop in Jug Bay about seven minutes ahead of the A/B riders. 

On the route back, at North Keys Rd, Ron Tucker received an injury to his leg when a branch lying on the ground got caught up in his frame and rear wheel. Ron, Jan and Sonja decided to remain on North Keys Rd and rode back to the start. Cross Road Trail wasn't too bad (Steve's way). Must be getting used to it.  The shortcuts I took shaved off two miles, so a total of 34 miles for the Ride Leader on the sweep with a 14.5 average speed.

Ride leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Alan Kurzweil, Bob Howell, Jay Lewis, Pat Walthers, Ron Altemus, Tom Roberson, Norm Lisy

Guest: Karen Zucker

Route: Same as the Bs.  We went all the way down to Mount Calvert on the gravel road and enjoyed the view; not sure if the Bs did or not, as we encountered them leaving as we were descending Mount Calvert Road.

Weather: A fine day, as Sam described it.

Mishaps & mechanicals: none

AMS: 12.8 at the back

When we got back to the parking lot, we found that someone had left notes on my car and Ron's.  Both have VA tags, not sure if that's why our cars were chosen.  The longer note read as follows:

Bikers: You are being very inconsiderate.  There are no spaces left to park for those of us that want to use the park.  Consider follow the gravel road and parking in the back, or Lions Club on Cherry Tree Crossing Rd w/hundreds of spaces.

As Sam noted, there were quite a few of us.  I'm not really sure whether there were any spaces left, or whether had we parked more closely together there might have been enough to satisfy the note-leaver.  For that matter, I'm not sure if we would actually be allowed to follow the gravel road to park "in back," and if so, why that was an acceptable solution for us, but not for the note-leaver himself.  Obviously, Cosca Park is entirely inappropriate; it's a fine place to start a ride and a very nice place to go for a rest stop, but it's more than 10 miles away from Brandywine.  Once again, I wish we had a coordinator for the Tuesday and Thursday rides, who could sort this issue out.  One thing's for sure, though: we can't go on angering people this way, or we might find ourselves banned from the park. 

Ride Leader: Mike Bivens

Class: B

Members: Larry Peed, Jay Lewis, Sam Perry, Vernon Daley, Jim Hudnall, Robert Smith, Alan Kurzweil, Ken Meredith, Steve Palinscar, and Joan Oppel

Ride Name: Southern Exposure (Goosing the Hills)

Distance: 35.1 miles (except for Ken who added about 10 miles by starting and ending at the Accokeek Fire Station).  AMS ranged from lower 16s to upper 15s.  Ride leader, sweeping the group from the rear, averaged 15.3. 

Weather: Another great day for bicycling. Temperatures in the low to high 70s; high humidity; cloud cover for most of the ride; and light breezes. Forecast predicted a 51% chance of showers at 11:00, but other times were 30% or less.  Since we had to cancel last week, 49% chance of nothing looked good.  A few drops on the return after climbing Rose Hill, provided a little relief.

Ride Report:  Todays route included a rest stop at Goose Bay, with climbs on Mason Springs, Rose Hill and Bumpy Oak.  As is the Tuesday norm, we broke up into three groups – fast, less fast and Joan and Steve riding at a CC pace.  After going down Livingston to Hawthorne, we turned on Chickamuxen and then climbed Masons Springs to Poorhouse, Burch, Port Tobacco, and Mill Swamp to get to Goose Bay.  Everyone regrouped in the comfortable chairs on the covered porch, before starting the return on Blossom Point, Port Tobacco, Rose Hill and Bumpy Oak. he short sprinkle at the top of Rose Hill, led to speculation about how nice a "mister" would be at that location for those returning on the Indian Head 100 (unless its 40 degrees that day).

School starts in Charles County on August 25, but it was decided not to change to "winter" hours (ride start at 10:00 to avoid school buses), until September 2.     

Mechanicals/Incidents: None.

Group photo

Ride Leader:  Blake Altman

Date August 17, 2014

Ride Name:  Hidden Amish

Ride Distance:  46 miles

Average Speed of the Ride:  18.7 and up

Ride Class:  AA

Mechanical Issues: None

Mishaps: Detour

Weather: Cloudy to partly cloudy

Guest Riders: None

Member Riders: Brad Francisco, Jean Wright, Matthew Lewandowski, Steve Koegle, Claire Chiamulera

Ride Report:

It was a nice ride and a good group.  We stayed together about half of the time and about half the time we had a front group and a slightly slower group following up.  We continued to re-group and separate through-out the ride.

It turns-out that Dr. Johnson road is closed.  Claire was aware of this but I wasn’t.  Anyway, Claire knew the work-around.  We just continued straight on Route 238 then turned right on Route 5 and then turned left on Morganza Turner road and continued on the normal route.

Congratulations to Jean for completing her first long AA ride; she did great.  We hope to see you on more of our rides soon!

We held our Sunday morning Mountain Bike Ride at Cosca. After riding the existing trains, we decided to check out the new proposed section. While this turned into a "hike a bike", we found the new course very exciting, and can not wait until funding comes thru to finish up the trail. Riders included Barry and Randy

Barry 

Leader: Sylvia Pope

Members: Ken Meredith, Jay Lewis, Steve Perakis, and Lou D. 

Guests: 

Route: New route that circled around the Brandywine area crossing rte. 301 at the WAWA. This route included some of my favorite serene roads. 

Weather: Nice temps and overcast. 

AMS: ~16

Mechanicals/Mishaps: None

Report: Enjoyable ride once again with the "shakers and movers" that don't mind getting up at the crack of dawn on a Sunday morning to get some miles in! Thank goodness for Ken who doesn't seem to need a bike navigator because he is able to glance at one of my cue sheets and quickly map it in his head, and keep everyone (even Lou) from getting lost. I am also comforted on these rides by Steve's backpack that he never leaves without. I have no idea what is in it, but, I imagine there is enough food for all of us, some bike wheels, and maybe a tent or two, in case we get stranded. Thanks for coming out! 

NOTE: When we arrived at the FH there was a tape barrier across the parking lot where we usually park. Someone at the firehouse said they were setting up for an event. When I passed about two and a half hours later - there was nothing going on. The billboard said there was a car show starting at 2:30 pm. If there was no earlier event, I find this a bit extreme. I find it interesting that someone made it a point to put up that tape so early in the morning(or maybe the day before) as if anticipating our arrival. Does anyone know if the FH has an issue with us parking on their property? The person this morning was not very accommodating. I am thinking about just switching to Brandywine Elementary school as a starting point. Does anyone have any information on this?