It had warmed up to the mid 40s when we left Bryans Road at 10:00.  A quick stop on Bumpy Oak to remove a layer, and by the time we stopped at Scott's Store on Welcome Rd at mi 14.7 it had warmed up to the low 50s, where it stayed for the rest of the day.  Sunny, breezy and crisp all day.

It was a joint PPTC/Oxon Hill ride, and I was pleasantly surprised to have 15 besides myself in the group.  After Saturday's ride, I anticipated 5, prepared for 16.  In the group were Patricia Sanders, Linda and Paul Bankerd, Mike Bivens, Holly Carr, Joan Oppel, Rita Bell, Loretta Troen, Joni Forman and PPTC members Bruce Rolfsten, Jill Thompson-Riese, Pano Giannioto, Jeff Mason, Stephen Cohen, Brodi Kemp and Sara Thrall.

The pace, as is common for this sort of ride, varied: a fast group doing what they do off the front but regrouping at the rest stops, and a "borderline B" group a bit strung out at the back, ranging from the low 14s to the high 13s.

The route was very rural and featured a few surprises: Smith Point Rd. from Maryland Point Rd to Riverside (if people ride it at all, it's always from Riverside towards 6 as a shortcut); a water stop at the Nanjemoy Community Center, skipping the Nanjemoy store (which, as you may recall, made it clear earlier this year that they really didn't appreciate our presence or our business); and Greenleek Hill from Rt. 6 to Jacksontown, which I doubt has ever been on a club ride before.

One minor mishap to report: Linda Bankerd had a flat tire somewhere along Livingston Rd. almost at the end of the ride.  We'd gotten pretty well strung out after the second rest stop, and the end of the trailing group passed her somewhere near the intersection with Hungerford, walking.  It didn't seem worth doing a roadside tire repair so close to the end. [Edit: just learned, Jill had a flat too, about 5 miles from the end, which puts it on Chicamuxen just before Lackey HS]

Stats from the back of the pack: recorded AMS of 0.0 (it's quit working on this computer) but the Pace Arrow seemed to think 13.7 was below the average and 14.0 was above.  54 miles, 2162 feet of climbing, and just under 5 hours total elapsed time.

This route -- http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1799509 --  is a keeper; I'll definitely lead it again.

Cool temperatures at ride start had us all well layered anticipating it would warm up and we'd start shedding clothes.  And that's exactly what happened.  John Giglio, Blake Altman, Ken Meredith, Jesse Tampio, Jack Gardner, and another cyclist who wishes to remain anonymous, joined me for this 46 mile ride through southern Prince Georges County.  We warmed up quickly especially after Jesse was chased by one of 3 pit bull-looking dogs shortly after the ride started.  Other than that the ride was uneventful.  17.1 ams with 1615 feet of climbing (it felt like more than that!) over 46 miles.

This was a "Surrats Backwards" route that started at Louise Cosca Park. Distance, start time and ride start all were picked to make it possible to do the ride, change clothes and drive the five or six miles to the volunteer party arriving right at 3. (The plan worked fine for me, but as far as I can tell, no one else who come on the ride also attended the volunteer party.)

It was a beautiful sunny day, crisp with a bit of wind. Since we started at 10:30, the day had warmed up a bit compared to an hour earlier: 46 or 47 degrees as we left Cosca Park. In the group were Pat Walthers, Janell Saunders, Rita Zeidner, Sarah Clement, Walter Meardey and leader Steve Palincsar. Janell took off as we left the park. She was there at the Visitors Center when we pulled into the Merkle Sanctuary, talking to some folks from PBS who were filming a documentary. They asked us to sit at the picnic table and act natural (which we were doing anyway) and who knows, if we don't end up on the cutting room floor, you may see us sometime in a show about Merkle.

It was a twofer for me and the media today: Rita Z's story about roof racks in today's Travel section mentioned me (my Evil Twin PalinSCar, actually) and the time someone stole the roof rack off the top of my car when it was parked in front of my house. Lots of good info in the article for roof rack users. A fine day, no mishaps, great scenery seen from an unusual perspective, and an AMS of 12.4.

Ride leader: Nancy Avitabile

Ride Leader: Blake Altman

Rider: David Kemp

That’s it, no one else showed up.  This is somewhat surprising given the nice weather.  Temperatures were in the low to mid 40’s at the start of the ride but it soon got warmer with temperatures in the low 50’s by the end of the ride.  It was somewhat breezy but not too bad.  Dave and I rode pretty much without stopping since Dave had to get back home to prepare dinner for guests later in the day.  We had a nice ride with no issues.  Dave split-off about 6 miles from the end to get back home.  The ride leader had a 17.7 MPH average.  Thanks Dave for coming out and slowing down so I could keep up!

Rider Leader John Gorman was joined by members, Kenny Statom, Deb Reynolds, and Jim & Jane Hudnall, on a brilliant sunshine day w/ low winds, and temps just over 40 @ the ride start.

The route was truly a looping experience: Cedarville/St Peter's Church/ (nicely paved)-Poplar Hill, L onto Malcolm/Horsehead back to Brandywine Rd (Baden Store) for break @ mile 18.5. After the break I tweaked the route (leaving out Croom Rd), & using another loop w/ a retrace of Baden Westwood/Bald Eagle School/Baden Naylor back to Baden Westwood and homeward bound on Brandywine. We followed the standard "W" side roads, and Kenny and I extended some using the Old Ind Head/Cherry Tree Xing back to Brandywine Firehouse lot.

Today's ride was just what a " true-B" ride is all about, each rider took turns pulling within the B-Pace cruising speed listing, and we were able to all stay together the entire ride. The ride had flats, rollers, and doable elvation changes to give a good mixture.

Final Stats by ride leader: 15 ams, riding time of 2:24, 36 miles. Others miles were 33.1. 

Great ride prior to the afternoon's Volunteer Dinner. 

 

 

Leaders: Jim and Jane Hudnall

Leaders:  Mike and Regina Saizan

Riders:  Darin King, Linda Bankerd, Steve Palincsar, Phil Greer, Jim Hudnall, Loretta Troen, Ken Meredith, Joan Oppel, Richard Harrington and Sam Perry.

It was chilly and cloudy so Mike announced before we started the 35-mile ride that we would be doing a “winter” B pace; meaning the weather conditions would slow us down and prevent us from riding at our normal warm weather pace.  When we reached the rest stop 17 miles out at the Safeway on Route 301 and Croom Rd, some went to Bojangels’ to grab a cup of hot coffee and a warm biscuit to refuel.  Hopefully, we burned off some calories riding in the chilly conditions.  Other than Steve having a flat caused by a piece of glass in his tire, we had a good ride. 

The forecast called for clearing weather by 10:30, and indeed it did clear up. Unfortunately, nobody else believed the forecast and nobody came. Oh well...

In celebration of Veterans Day we met at the Brandywine parking lot to ride 46 miles around Horsehead, North Keys, Molly Berry and back down Brandywine road.  I was joined by Mike and Regina Saizan, J&J Hudnall, Darin King, L&P Bankerd, Scott Walker, Jim McPhearson, and Ken Meridith.