Club members Rod Barnes, Bernice Cannings, Robin Garnett, and guest Yoku Shaw-Taylor joined ride leader Judy Mutty on an exquisite day in College Park. You could tell it was so because the trail was jam-packed with fellow bikers, running teams, walkers and strollers (with babies!). We added an extra mile as we investigated the College Park Airport flightline. A trip to the farmer’s market rounded out the ride. Great morning!

Leader Jackie Schoch and riders were, Randy Schoch, Jimmy Bartlett, John Riconda, Steve Palincsar, Jack Hammond, Ruddy Eixy, Calvin Conyers, Richard Harrington, Debi Jiggits, Robert Golding, Brookey Givens and Brookey Givens Jr., Denise Kronlar and Pete and Jeannie Ulrich met us later on the trail.  What a great day for a ride.  I have to say since the shelter for rain as been built it has not rain on the trail on a Friday ride. 
 

A break from last weekend's heat: temperatures in the 70s and low 80s, partly cloudy (dark gray clouds that made you think of rain) alternating with bright sun, with what felt like a strong cross wind at times.

We had a large turnout today, 21 including Holly Carr, Larry Peed, Jay Lewis, Ruddy Elly on his first Thursday ride, Jane Hudnall, Barry Winkleman, Jim McDermott, Alan Kurzweil, Mike Bivens, Regina and Mike Saizan, Ken Meredith, Joan Oppel, Dave VanAmayden, Tom Short, Norm Lisy, John Early, Sonia Young, Sam Perry, Richard Harrington and leader Steve Palincsar.

The route, Truman Manor the Easy Way, was chosen partly to be surprising (it hasn't been led in 2012 and it's flat, 797 feet of climbing, according to ridewithgps, not what anyone was expecting) and partly to avoid overlap with this coming weekend's Rural Legacy ride. The surprising part was definitely a success.   It proved to be a fast ride as well: Sam Perry set a personal best with an average well over 16 mph, and the slowest rider (me) finished with a 15.4 mph average.

Another surprise: nobody's shift cable broke today, although Sonia's shifting was exhibiting all the signs of an impending failure.  That, however, wasn't her only problem: having successfully changed a back tire the night before, she forgot to close the quick releases on both brake and hub, leading to some odd noises as the back wheel flopped around.  Dave VanAmayden's sharp eyes spotted the problem at the rest stop.

Twenty people came to ride on a beautiful June evening.  Clear skies, pleasant dry air, temperatures only in the 70s, and a bit of a breeze close to the river made for excellent riding weather.  Joining the ride leader were Calvin and Celeste Conyers, Kirsten Watts, Randy Schoch, Azalia Butler, Jack Hammond, La'Tasha Banks, Janelle Saunders, Holly Carr, Ruddy Elly, Darryl Lowery, Richard Harrington, Jane Hudnall, Jennie Ann Swartz, Gary Swartz, Sam Perry, Ron Leak, and Peter and Jeanne Ulrich.   Everyone made it up "the hill," and there no mechanical or other issues.  The large group made for a very social ride indeed.   

ani hartini on her fast new bike, azalia and mike butler an son hank the newest oh member, diana donahue, ruthanne, larry portotis, latasha banks, herman young, calvin conyers and ride leadet Jimmy Bartlett braved  the 90 degree heat to enjoy the ride.  Watermelon was provided by the Butlers, and then a trip to BJ'ss bbq to conclude the fun.

Six people came to ride with Paul and me.  Paul, Janell and Dana rode the shorter version; Dana a little shorter.  Pat, Jan, Steve, Jon and I rode the longer version. It was a familiar route up to Bryans Road SC, past the community college on Mitchell, on up to St. Ignatius, past Johnny Boy's BBQ, Rose Hill and Bumpy Oak.  At the beginning of the dreaded Bumpy Oak ascent we varied the usual route by turning onto the IHRT and going back to the firehouse via Bensville etc.  I thought that maybe this would prove to be the flattish way back.  Of course it was not; but Jan's suggestion to use the parallel bike path on Bensville avoided the no shoulder part and the rest was pretty decent.  It was hot and humid, but we had no mechanical issues..pretty good ride all in all.

Steven McCandless(guest), Diane Harris, Jay Lewis, Al Manley, Wesley Meredith and Ken Meredith enjoyed a great ride before the humidity and sun became intense. 

A lovely day for riding: 70s at 9, high 80s at 2:30, sunny, breezy (at times downright windy and in the wrong direction) and thankfully not humid.  I wasn't expecting many Oxon Hill members to drive up to Thurmont, and was pleasantly surprised to meet Roscoe William, Linda and Paul Bankerd and guest Andres Valencia, Joan Oppel, Deborah Bowman and Loretta Troen in Thurmont Community Park.  We made a nice group of 8 that stayed together most of the day.

The route was a combination of new bits (getting out of Thurmont via Apple's Church over to Mud College and crossing the covered bridge on Waterworks) familiar bits from a 3 Covered Bridges ride I used to lead (until I got tired of always being dropped in the first mile) and roads dimly remembered in the Gettysburg Battlefield from rides done many years ago. 

I tried to add the Gettysburg section to that 3 Covered Bridges ride for years, but never got it done.  For several years, the route was impassible because Red Rock Rd. was closed.  I think the new-looking bridge we crossed explains that closure.  Once, we had to abandon the effort because 40 mph winds had left everyone too exhausted to add 10 more to a 50 mile ride.

Today's foray was not without adventure.  We crossed the covered bridge on Waterworks Rd. in style, taking a break to snap some photos - even had a visiting photographer take pictures of the group on at least three of our cameras.  Then we dealt with Paul's broken right hand STI shift cable. 

That makes 3 for 3: Jay on Tuesday, Jim on Thursday, and now Paul today.  Can anyone see a pattern here?  Have you changed your right hand STI shift cable lately?  And do you know "the trick" for dealing with a broken cable on the road? 

At least, Paul had a triple.  When you tie the rear cable down, you still have the front shifter, and with a triple that gives you three gears to work with.  Those three were enough to get Paul up the most significant hill on today's route (indeed, one of the most significant hills in American history), Little Round Top.  Some claim a compact double will give you the same low gear as a road triple, but when it comes to disaster recovery mode, I think the triple is the hands down winner.

The adventures didn't stop there.  As we went on down Waterworks, photos securely captured and Paul clicking away on his newly-minted three speed, the road narrowed, we passed three bollards in the road -- OK, no problem, the covered bridge is closed to automobile traffic -- and then came to the iron bridge just before Red Rock Road.  That bridge has been closed to automobile traffic for years, too, but not for bikes -- but today they had plastic mesh netting up blocking both ends of the bridge. 

It was easy lifting the bikes over on the near end, it was half collapsed, but it was Joan-high on the far end.  Not so easy getting the bikes up over that, especially not mine, loaded as it was with three water bottles, lunch, camera and the rest of the usual gear. 

Energized by our successful portage, we climbed the observation tower on SE Confederate Ave. for a sweeping panoramic view of the battlefield, and then went on in search of the Comfort Station cue'd as a rest stop.  Didn't find the one we were looking for, but did find the next one at the Devil's Den -- where we ran into Loretta's husband, who had driven up with her and was touring the battlefield on his own while she rode with us. 

After the break, it was up Round Top (not nearly as tough as I remembered from 30 years ago) then left on what we finally did establish was Wheatfield.  Navigation in the battlefield is challenging: often there are no signs, and when there are signs, they're usually 200 feet down from the corner.  This time, we had to ask.   We then went around the Wheatfield, past the Peach Orchard, and out of the battlefield on Millerstown, Red Rock back to Pumping Station, then Middle Creek, Wenschoff and Tract to Emmitsburg.

The group stayed together, more or less (some suffering more from headwinds than others) until the rest stop in Emmitsburg, five deciding to have a sit-down lunch in a restaurant while the remaining three ate their snacks and went on after a few minutes, stopping again for a little A/C, water and a bathroom stop at Mount St. Mary's, entering Thurmont over the Roddy covered bridge.

We set no records - in fact, some of us didn't quite make an Oxon Hill B pace today - but we did have a very enjoyable ride.  Here are a few photos from the ride:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/97916047@N00/sets/72157630090228452/show/
and Joan's photos:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/30856149@N04/sets/72157630028575067/show/

As you can see from the previous post, this is a Steve Palinscar route provided to RuthAnne for BikeVa prep.  RuthAnne and I were joined by April and Herb Pruitt, Jon Agazzi, Eric Petersen, Jay Lewis, and Harold and Rita from PPTC.  Jay got a call  a few miles in and had to split off.  The ride did not disappoint, plenty of rollers and enough ups to get the hill workout intended.  Some great stretches of just speed and then some work. A dropped chain here and there but no problems until, at the very end, as April was pulling into the Brandywine VFD parking lot, she slipped on the gravel and went down, very nicely however.  No scrapes, etc. but, by the end of the ride, I could tell she didn't want to have to get back up.  Nice spot (not) for a lie down? A few of us from both this and the CC ride reconvened at the Italian Deli for sandwiches and conversation in their outdoor dining area in the back of the building.  A great place to talk over the ride and how we loved it.  Thanks Steve!

Co-Ride Leaders Calvin Conyers and Herman Young were very pleased to be joined by 10 members in the CC/C group with a shared start from the Brandywine Fire House with the B group led by Janell and Ruth Ann. Under  weather perfect for riding, the route delivered on it's promise of "lot's of flats, rollers, and only reasonable hills"  we also had plenty ofnice scenary and shaded road covers.  All riders completed the ride with no mechanical problems and at or above expected times/speeds.

Thanks to Jimmy Bartlet, Ani Hortini, Bill Blankenship, Laquinia and William Beale, Valerie Love, Brooky Givens, Diana Donahue, Latasha Banks, and Celeste Conyers for coming. Also special thanks to Diana who  (while even nursing a sore foot) rode ahead and marked turns to make certain no rider missed one.