Ride leader - John Gorman, was joined by members Diane Gorman, Pat Walthers, John Riconda, and guest Lisa Oken.  This route goes south from the school located on MD-214 E/(962) Central Ave, down Queen Anne Bridge Rd thru Harwood on slightly rolling rual well paved Anne Arundel County roads into Deale's dock area that looks onto the  Cheasapeake Bay. The return route takes you thru  additional rual wide-open horse farms, with much more climbing to get back to to Queen Anne Bridge Rd to finish. Lisa and John R. rode together to/fm at a faster pace, I swept from the rear. We had sunny skies, getting up to the mid-50s, w/ more of a  breeze than originally forecast, a nice riding day was had by all, with no incidents to report.

Leader was Jackie Schoch, Riders were Randy Schoch, Steve Palincsar, John Riconda, Jeanne Ulrich, Rudy Elly, Pat Myers, Delane Rouse, Jane and Jim Hudnall, Larry Peed, Sam Perry (who started the ride 15 minutes late but caught up with us). Randy had to turned around at Old Woman Run so he could get back for a meeting downtown by 6 pm.  It was a great ride going toward White Plains since the wind was at our back.  BUT going back the wind was hitting our faces which made it a little harder, but in all it all was a great ride. A group of us had  late lunch/early dinner at Calo Jero's Deli that was a great time for everyone.   Next week hopefully the weather will be nice, so if you come for the ride please wear your Oxon Hill Jersey, because a newspaper reporter will meet us in White Plains for a photo shoot.  I jokingly said to Jim, "What my ride is getting so popular that a reporter is coming."  The reporter is doing an article on the trail, so come out with your colors. 

Another terrific "winter" (so-called on the calendar) day for riding.  Comfortable temperatures the entire morning, some clouds early, then some lovely sun, low winds.  Lots of road work crews out but only minimal hold ups.  Linda Bankerd, Mike Bivens (Grandpa!!), Darryl Lowery, Steve Palincsar and Tom Roberson joined the ride leader for a pleasant jaunt around and to Pisgah.  Then a little side trip down the Indian Head Trail and back to the shopping center.  And we all had a real good time.

The ride leader was Jackie Schoch and riders were Randy Schoch, John Riconda, Paris Watson, Brian Riley, Yvonne and Henry Hoyle, Steve Palincsar, Larry Peed, Jan Tucker, Ruddy Elly, Jeanne Ulrich. The ride started out great but toward the end the temperature really dropped.  We had 2 guests, Parris and Brian, and hopefully we will see them again on a ride.  They learned about us from Bike Dr.  Thanks Bike Dr. for spreading the word. Jackie, Randy and Ruddy had dinner at CaloJero's and of course it was great.

Feb 9 Best of Brandywine: Surratts Backwards, S. Springfield.  Leader: Steve Palincsar.

Although the sky was clear and the sun was bright, it was back to balaclavas and booties, windbreakers and winter gloves today.  Any other February, we'd be raving about what a lovely mild day, but by current standards it was blustery and chilly, at least until well past noon. 

It was just me, Mike Bivens and Tom Roberson on a 36 mile route that went east on N. Keys to Molly Berry, up Van Brady to Cheltenham and west on Surratts Road to a rest stop at Louise Cosca Park.   After the break we went down Thrift Hill to Piscataway, up Berry Rd. to Accokeek, east to South Springfield back to Floral Park and Dyson, etc. back to the Firehouse.  

Jim, Jane, Holly and John are en route to Florida today.  I wonder where everyone else was.

Thursday Feb. 9th. John and Holly met at Jim & Jane’s house at 6am and the four of us started heading south in the van. We arrived in north Florida, not far from Jacksonville later that evening, and spent the night in a motel.

Friday Feb. 10th. In the morning we drove to Jacksonville, unloaded our boxed bikes and camping gear at the Greyhound Bus Station, parked our van in a garage, then boarded a 9:30am bus to Tallahassee. The warm sunny morning started clouding and occasional drops of rain landed on the bus windshield as we headed west. When the bus arrived in Tallahassee, the terminal was very busy, and some of the waiting passengers watched the four of us assemble our bikes and occasionally asked us questions as we worked. It was near 2pm when we started biking east toward the KOA campground. The terrain was rolling hills and we rode through a light shower, which stopped shortly before getting to our destination. After setting up our tents and starting a fire, we got more light rain. For dinner we cooked noodle soup, and added salmon. 1127 feet of climbing, 27miles.

Saturday Feb. 11th. It was a little chilly leaving the campground. We rode about seven miles to Monticello where Bob Bencic came to join us. By this time it had warmed up and become a beautiful sunny day. The five of us then rode 16 miles to Greenville, where we visited the Ray Charles Memorial Park. Along the way we had a strong westerly tailwind. Leaving Greenville, Bob headed back to Monticello and the four of us continued to ride east toward the Suwannee River State Park Campground. Arriving there, we were told there were no more campsites or cabins available and they recommended a motel 12 miles further east in Live Oak. Before leaving the Suwannee River, we took a pleasurable tour of the park and then rode to the Sunshine Inn. 66miles.

Sunday Feb. 12th.  The strong westerly winds had blown all night and it was 25 degrees around daybreak. We cooked oatmeal and chili in the motel room while waiting until ten o’clock before the temps got above freezing. We then layered our clothes, and started riding, but the wind was not as favorable as it had been. Another cold night was predicted, so after having lunch in Lake City we continued riding to a town called Macclenny where we spent another motel night. 60miles.

Monday Feb. 13th. Another cold morning, 23degrees at daybreak, but this time the temperatures started rising faster and we were able to get started at 9:30 am. We biked nine miles on the road shoulder before reaching the Jacksonville/Baldwin trail. It was a very nice trail and a pleasure to ride on. After riding the trail for fifteen miles we reached the west edge of Jacksonville. By this time it was much warmer as we rode through the back streets and side streets of Jacksonville working our way to the center of the city. Arriving at the parking garage we rode our bikes through the car entrance and up to the second level where our van was parked. 31miles.

Leader Steve Palincsar -  What a magnificient day! So good, superlatives fail to satisfy. High 40s when we left Bryans Road at 10, mid 50s when we returned at 1:30 after riding 38 miles, bright sun, cloudless blue sky, and a wind that must have been easily twice the 7 mph predicted -- but, due to the warm sun and mild temperatures, a wind with lots of push but no bite. Joining me were many familiar mid-week faces: Darryl Lowery, Linda Bankerd, Richard Harrington, Regina and Mike Saizan, Jim Hudnall, Alan Kurzweil, Mike Bivens and Sharon Miller; and doing their own thing as usual, Randy and Jackie Schoch. The route, as is often the case, was new just for the occasion. I've been trying to lead a Tuesday ride that pushed the boundaries of Southern Exposure over towards Nanjemoy for quite some time, but something's always intervened: canceled on account of weather, displaced in favor of a short route to give us time to paint the century route, just too cold for a 38 mile ride. But with a day that would have been perfect in April, never mind early February, it was time to follow up on Mike's push to Nanjemoy last week. The old route I'd designed (but never led) wouldn't work any more: the Ironside store is closed now. But there's a store we haven't used much on Welcome Road just off Rt 6 at Fire Tower that turned out to be ideal with a convenience store, a small restaurant and rest rooms. By going left off Chicamuxen going up the hill on Mason Springs (which turned out to be much easier than it looks) we reached that store at 13.8 miles. From there it was down 6, up Durham Church (always surprising how much easier that hill becomes the more you do it) and left on Ironsides over to Baptist Church (and once again, someone missed the turn in all the excitement, which seems to happen every time we go that way) and right on Bowie back to 6 to Ironside, and Mason Springs to a second rest stop at Pisgah. That section is very rural, mostly forest and farms, and would have been pretty at any time; but today, the lighting was so spectacular that even a ride through a landfill would have been scenic. I think we'll see this route, and variations on it, again.

Ride leader Dan Donahue; Rider—Diana Donahue. This impromptu lap around Leonardtown was advertised by e-mail to the ohbike Yahoo group. It occurred prior to a St. Mary’s Co. Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) Public Forum. My “early warning” network had alerted me to a high probability that Three Notch Trail Phase VI opponents might appear in large numbers. 

Leader John Early with Ken Meredith, Carol Harris and Delane Rouse on today's Super Bowl Sunday ride. The clouds did part and the sun did shine, off and on. The roads were dry even though it rained in the morning. The four of us rode as a group staying together. We kept a good pace riding non-stop in slightly under 29 miles. We returned to the starting point at the parking lot in two hours. Awesome!

Ride Leader John Gorman, was joined by members Diane Gorman, John Riconda, Tom Roland, Nancy Ruth, and her guest Tony Ingelido. The day started out partly cloudy and immediately stayed cloudy and the chill of 40 degrees remained all day with an increasing breeze as the ride continued.  As a group we left the IHRT onto MD-224 towards the Park, Nancy and Tony decided to head back to the Trail for a shorter option.  Diane, John, Tom ,and John continued and stopped for a rest at the Marina taking in the beautiful winter views. We left the Park, retracing our route to the Trail, Tom and John headed south to White Plains for a 30mile outing.  Diane and John continued north on the Trail for a lunch stop at Calerjo's in Indian Head before returning south to White Plains for 36miles.  These casual paced rides allowed for conversations and meeting of new members. All enjoyed the nice overall flat and well paved conditions of this route from the White Plains end up north.  There were no incidents or mechanical matters to report.