It was another beautiful day on the trail. Glad you all came out to ride.  We had a special guest today Teeny who rode front basket with Nancy for the 26 mile ride. Ride leaders JulieAnn and Calvin Were passed on the trail buy John who rides a bike with fat tires. How did that happen. New member of two months Will joined us today and rode the trail at the B pace. Broderick was on his first ever ride with OH. Reggie he was great, we did the Reggie says hill and now I have some competition. We had such a great time we lost track of time and were on the trail after dark. We had no idea what was learking in the woods to ruin our ride. all eyes searching the woods as darkness fell over the land. When out of no where a huge 600 lm light magically appeared.  Michie to rescue. Michie came back after his ride to find us and bring us in. Thanks Michie. If it was December, I would say he looked like  Rudolf. Thanks for the save.. 

It was a gorgeous Indian Summer day, 60 at ride start rising to 80 by the time we returned to Bryans Road.  The route was a forest tour, for the most part, and there was an abundance of glorious fall foliage.  The best views were on Bowie, Poseytown, Riverside and Chapman's Landing; not Vermont, the Berkshires or Old Rag, of course, but a marvelous day nonetheless.

In the group were Jackie and Randy Schoch, Larry Peed, Darryl Lowery, Sonja Newman, Vicki Garlock, Alan Kurzweil, Tom Short, Joan Oppel, Sam Perry, Richard Harrington and Jim Hudnall.  Much less drama than my last ride, but still more than usual: if you're going to have a flat on a Southern Exposure ride it's almost always on one of three roads: Rt 6, Hawthorne and Chicamuxen.  Today we had two flats, both on Chicamuxen; the unlucky victims were Tom Short and Sonja Newman.  Helpers with the flats were Jim Hudnall and Joan Oppel, respectively. 

38 miles, one rest stop at the Nanjemoy Community Center, 1500 feet of climbing and everyone finished with a B average.  Route details are here:  http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1814921

I saw only the A ride posted by Blake and knew we needed another ride to enjoy the lovely weather and great roads.  It was about 45 degrees at the start, so it was a good test run of winter clothing options. I was joined by Jan Tucker, Mike and Regina Saizan and Steve Palincsar. 

Members Chuck Coe and Ken Meredith joined me for the Doncaster & Nanjemoy ride.  We were joined within a few miles by (Super) Dave Kemp.  We had beautiful weather for the ride.  The leaves are starting to turn so the scenery was great.  We all rode together though out the ride and had a good 18.0 average.  We enjoyed having the B ride starting at the same time and we met up with some of them at the rest stop.

What a beautiful day for Class CC/C to do a 32 mi. ride. We left just after 10:00 AM from Accokeek Firehouse. New comer Martine joined us for her first ride with the club. As we began our ride, Pat C. drove up. John R., Bill B, Martine P., Catharine R and Ride Leader JulieAnn K. went in the first wave of riders. Co-ride leader Reggie S. took charge of the second wave: Polly C, Pat S., Pat C., Calvin and Kevin C. 

Saturday was a splendid day for cycling: cool but not cold at the start, around 52 and sunny, rising to almost 70 by the time the ride finished at 3 pm. Breezy but not horribly windy, and although the forecast was for cloudy skies, it was bright and sunny most of the day, the clouds finally rolling in as we were on the home stretch on Bumpy Oak Road.

The group consisted of members Jan Tucker, Larry Greene, Mike Bivens, Linda Bankerd, Michelle Williams, Jane and Jim Hudnall, Lou Dall'Orso and, joining us at Johnny Boy's in La Plata, Charles Sidwell. Also in the group were Guests Michele Coleman, Lyle Cromwell, Bernard Jones and Cynthia and Rene Smith.

Normally, there isn't much drama on one of my rides: no attacks, breakaways or aggression; and surprises generally come from scenic views and riding seldom-used roads in unexpected directions. There was a bit of that today, to be sure: Locust Grove, Cooksey, Newport Church and Pope's Creek all in the "wrong" direction, but there was genuine drama as well. It started before the second mile. Jan had a flat tire, one of those mystery flats with no obvious hole in the tube, and Michelle fell (lesson learned: don't try to adjust your computer pickup when the bike's in motion).

We regrouped at the self-storage and went on, hoping we'd had our quota of mishaps, and for a long time that was true. By the rest stop at Cooksey's store at mile 33, it became clear that Michelle had injured her knee in the fall, and she abandoned the ride, and three of the guest riders decided they wanted to cut the ride short in order to attend a youth football game and stayed on 6 heading for La Plata, while the main body headed down Kentucky and Bowling for a big loop along Allen's Fresh and Pope's Creek.

After the climb up from Capt' Billy's (it's a good thing we know for a fact there are no hills in Southern Maryland, because other wise we might well have mistaken that little rise for one) we regrouped at the Red Top Liquor store at Faulkner on 301. 

When we got to St. Ignatius, more drama. Lou forgot we were turning into the church driveway for a rest stop, but the rider to his right didn't; he turned and Lou went down and stayed down for a while. In the end, not much damage done: torn tights, fresh blacktop marks all over the back of that yellow Century jersey (and forget about that collar, it's finished) and a few small scrapes, and although the helmet got a hard clonk, it seems to have done it's job.

As we left St. Ignatius, one of the guests who'd taken the La Plata shortcut joined us at the cemetery, and we learned that one of the shortcut riders' rear derailleur had overshifted into the spokes in his back wheel while climbing a hill, which locked up and twisted and pretzeled the derailleur.

6 hrs total time, and an AMS of 14.2. 

Leader was Jackie Schoch and riders were, Randy Schoch, Vicki Garlock, Janell Saunders (she had the day off and just wanted to see how it was to ride on a Friday Afternoon), Jan Tucker, Jack Hammond and Calvin Conyers.  What a great day for a ride.  It was just plain wonderful.  Jack Hammond parked at White Plains and rode his bike to meet us at the starting time.  On his way to Indian Head he was the "Breakfast Club".  He said there was probably 15 or more turkeys.  I told him it was the younger group just being shown what the Breakfast Club is all about.  The Men's Group.  We saw a Eagle at Bumpy Oak Rd at the pond.

Today's ride fell on my birthday and what a great day it was.  Nice weather, good friends, and a fun route to ride it in.  A total of fourteen people joined me at the ride's start.  Mike Bivens, Tom Short, Steve Palincsar, Roger Cubbage, Phil Greer, Regina & Mike Saizan, Calvin Conyers, Richard Harrington, Sharon Miller, Michele Williams, Jim & Jane Hudnall and Lou Dall'Orso.  Everyone stayed together the first ten miles then the faster riders separated.  This was my first attempt in developing a route in a while. Although the total mileage of 37 was correct, the individual mile directions were off the first half by a mile and a half.  We were met at the second rest stop by John Early who accompanied us the remainder of the route. Calvin Conyers came in with a 14.1 avs and the ride leader swept the rear.  Thanks to everyone for the birthday cards and sentiments. It was an enjoyable day.  Looking forward to the movie.

Six OHBTC riders came out on a beautiful evening to heed a last minute call for the Wednesday evening Tour de Accokeek.  Joining ride leader Shane LaBrake were Kirsten Watts, Jim Hudnall, Jane Hudnall, and Fred Telleria.  Ron Leak rode his bike from home and missed the start.  Undaunted, he took a short cut thinking he would catch us, but instead actually got ahead of us.  We eventually met at the Potomac River rest stop at Marshall Hall.

The group rode at a steady 14.5 and enjoyed the beautiful fall colors along the way.  There were no mechanical mishaps or dog issues. 

Fred has asked if I intend to do it again next week.  Stay tuned.  Weather and work schedule permitting, I may post it again for 4:30 next week.  Watch the website.

I would Like to thank All the riders that came out for the WEDNESDAY ON THE INDIAN HEAD RAIL TRAIL RIDE.   I would like to thank Kim W. She is new to biking and came out for her 3rd ride of the year.  Ride leaders JulieAnn K. and Calvin C, made sure she did great. We were joined by Reggie,  who did the Sea Gull Century just a week or so ago. John R rode down from Indian Head to join us before heading off to work. Dan D. came and gave some pointers and took of with John at record speed. There were only 6 of us, but in that short time we were able too see the wild life on the trail.