Ride Leader Holly Carr:

Had a GREAT ride today on the Indian Head Trail. Thanks to my nephew Jonathan Berry. Heading toward White Plains I was keeping up with Jonathan but the head wind was too much. I have to say I kept it at 14 to 15 miles an hour. On the way back the wind was at our back and when that happens you can go fast. We were going any where from 21 to 18 miles an hour. It was great. Thanks again Jonathan for being in front and pulling us a long.
Jackie Schoch was the leader and the riders were Jack Hammond (Jack started the ride at White Plains), Jimmy Butlett, Calvin Conyers, Jeanne Ulrich (who started at her regular place) and my nephew Jonathan Berry (Guest, also started the ride at White Plains).
Even through Jack and Jonathan started the ride at White Plains they met us at Indian Head before the ride started.  Jack went home when we got to White Plains, but we talked Jonathan to ride back with us and it was nice.  His good old Aunt Jackie drove him back to his car as a way of saying "THANK YOU" for the ride back.

Leaders Jim and Jane Hudnall with Larry Peed, Jan Tucker, Randy Schoch, Janell Saunders, Ruth Anne Cumberland, Mike Bivens, Bernard Hill and Ruddy Elly rode from the Oxon Hill Park and Ride Lot on Oxon Hill Road to DC. Janell, Ruth Anne and Bernard were going to work and the rest of us rode along enjoying the beautiful weather, free tee shirts and snacks provided by WABA and local businesses.

Along the way, the group visited the Oxon Hill “pit stop” on the trail to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and another “pit stop” in old town Alexandria.  Jane and Ruddy missed a turn and crossed the Potomac on the Memorial Bridge; the others crossed on the 14^th Street Bridge. We met at the Ronald Reagan Building courtyard “pit stop” for bike commuters  

The non-working riders returned to Oxon Hill by way of the South Capitol Street Bridge and along the Oxon Cove Trail, using a route both Randy and Jim had used for commuting  to work. 

When Ruth Anne and Janell were riding home after work, the seat bolt on Janell’s bike broke near National Airport. Ruth Anne phoned Chris, who picked them up and took them to Big Wheel Bikes in Alexandria to get the bike repaired. Thanks for the rescue, Chris!

Ride Leader Diane Harris:

Nineteen of us took advantage of being off, retired, playing hooky, unemployed, slick, and all else, to enjoy a nice ride on a beautiful day.  We all understood the ride would break up into the various groups, and it did, but we kept track of each other and everyone got back uneventfully.  What can I say?  I spent the majority of the ride smiling at my good fortune...being off, a beautiful route, and having a great group to ride with! Thanks Jackie and Randy Schock, Jan Tucker, Ken Meredith, Sharon Miller, David Van Amermen, Tom Short, Pat Sanders, Lou Dall'Orso, Jimmy Bartlett, Jim McDermott, A. Kurzweil, Linda Bankerd, Dana Middleton, Sam Perry, Jane Hudnall (Jim, sorry you missed it!), Fred Warwick, and Richard Harrington.

Fifteen of us left from the Accokeek Firehouse on our weekly ride through Accokeek and down to Marshall Hall on the Potomac. Riders included Jackie Schoch, Jimmy Bartlett, Janell Saunders, Holly Carr, Calvin Conyers, La Tasha Banks, Jennie Ann and Gary Swartz, Ruth Ann Cumberland, Jim and Jane Hudnall, Jeanne and Pete Ulrich, and Ron Leak. La Tasha had a mechanical issue at Marshall Hall and I rode back to pick up the “sag” wagon to drive her back to the firehouse. A good time was had by all. A few of us enjoyed ice cream at B&J’s after the ride.

This is a no drop ride and all are welcome. Come out and join us!

It's Mothers' Day and Chuck Coe, Al Manley, Drayton Reese, Blake Altman, John Choate, Chantal Briere, Bob Thompson and Jack Gardner (recovering from pneumonia!!) joined me at the start of this ride, with Ken and Wesley Meredith joining us along the route.  Sunshine stayed with us throughout this ride in spite of the weathermen predicting a cloudy day.  We stayed together during the 7 mile warmup, crossed 301, then eventually split up into the fast and faster groups.  Everyone was back by 12:05, in time to prepare for any special activities planned for Mothers' Day, this ride having been mine!!  Ride Leader's average - 16.9.  I was surprised no one from the B or CC groups came out to do the ride (or a shorter version) at their pace. [Group photo]

Diane

Five of us headed downtown from the Oxon Hill Park and Ride to join a few thousand others for a ride through downtown DC and Arlington Va. Riders were Janell Saunders, John Early, Mike Bivens, Richard Harrington, and Jimmy Bartlett. Once downtown, we started from 3rd and Madison in front of the Capitol building.  The route included portions on Rock Creek Parkway, over bridges into Arlington, GW Parkway, Jefferson Davis Highway, a stop at the Air Force Memorial and a ride by the Iwo Jima Memorial, the Carillion and past Arlington Cemetery, before coming back into DC to Walt Whitman Park.  We got seperated a few times but everyone made it back to the Park and Ride in one piece. [Photos]

I went down to Richmond to ride from Richmond to near Williamsburg and back today.  The ride supports the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation.  The routes were 100, 50, 25, 15 (Williamsburg only) but the nice thing about this ride is you can start from either Richmond or Williamsburg.  All total there were around 2000 people riding.

It was a perfect day - 70 in the parking lot just before the 10:00 am departure, rising to a comfortable 80 during the ride. Sunny, blue skies, gentle breeze increasing as we approached Breezy Point (guess that shouldn't have been much of a surprise), in all a perfect day for cycling.

In the "wake at a reasonable hour" group joining leader Steve Palincsar were Ken Tucker, Kenny Statom, Chantal Briere, Bob Thompson, Herb Pruitt, Linda and Paul Bankerd, Al Manley, Tom Short, Deborah Bowman, Tracy Krulik, Tom Dillickrath, Mike Bivens, Teddy Macauley and Danny Lewis.

Today was another one of those "Vanishing Peloton Syndrome" days, where the group motors off, getting smaller and smaller and finally vanishing from sight until the next rest stop where they would be waiting.

The route was a reversal of Annapolis Bike Club's Labor Day Bay Country Half-Century, modified to add some roads not usually included. The terrain is rolling (although some might call it "hilly") featuring 13 "peaks" mostly going from 50 to 150' elevation and back over a 4-5 mile distance, but with an unending stream of small 10-20 foot spikes; a total of 3,000 feet of climbing in the 53 miles, but nothing that would qualify as a "hill" by the standards of the Piedmont (or Bike Virginia 2011).  In a way, a bit like 53 miles of Croom Road with seashore and sea breezes.

Rest stops were at North Beach -- alas, no link-up with John's Dawn Patrol, they must have come through before us -- and at Bowen's Grocery in Huntingtown. Bowen's was once famous as a rest stop for the ice cream, hand scooped from those large cylindrical containers (just how big are those, anyway? 3 gal? 5 gal?) but no one had ice cream today.

"Lanterne Rouge and DB Straggler" finished with 13.7 mph averages, returning to a nearly empty parking lot after a pleasant, uneventful ride. How'd it go up at the front of the peloton?

What a beautiful day for a ride!  Temps were in the low 70s for the 10 a.m. start from Accokeek Firehouse.  Ten B riders joined Herman's CC group: Richard Harrington; J. Lewis; Jim Hudnall; Jane Hudnall; Chris Sega; Kelvin Lewis; Holly Carr; Janell Saunders; Darla Brown(guest); and one other (whose handwriting I could not read). 

Everyone apparently had fresh legs, because the pace was a good bit higher than the intended 14 mph.  I led from the rear in order to pace anyone who wanted to go slower.  The roads were in fine shape, the route was realtively flat, and we had an uneventful ride with no mechanical issues, flats, or accidents.  We finished in 2:06 for an average speed of 15.16.  [Photo album]