Ride leader Holly Carr: I just can't wait for my off Thursday, which I get to take every other week.  Better yet, this Thursday was the maiden voyage for my "new bike" which now has a Sram, Rival, Apex group installed by Benny at Bike Doctor.  I was happy to be joined by Steve Palincsar, J&J Hudnall, J&R Schoch, Richard Harrington, Ken Williams, Tom Roberson, Ken Meredith, Joan Oppel, Dana Middleton, Sam Perry, Sharon Miller and Robert Golding.  Starting out it was windy, but the sun warmed us up before we reached Eagle Harbor.  After 3 weeks in the Netherlands, J&J Hudnall did not miss a pedal stroke.  We all had a good time and went to lunch at the Italian Deli afterwards.

I was joined by Jon Agazzi, Michie Sidwell, Holden Hudson, Ken Meredith, Reginald Smith, and David King on a stroll to Indian Head from White Plains.  This was a nice peaceful ride on the trail.  Dave did the hill on 225 while the rest of us stuck to the trail.  For the end of April, I am going to add something a little different to the ride, and it should be fun.

Tues, April 17  Southern Exposure: Goose Bay & Chapman's Landing   Leader: Steve Palincsar 

Another spin on the seasonal merry-go-round, and after a weekend in the 80s and a Monday in the 90s, Tuesday's windy 70 degrees seemed very cold indeed. 

I arrived early at Accokeek for the ride down to Bryans Road, so I went the "back way" - Old Marshall Hall Rd. to Barry's Hill, even stayed on Old Marshall Hall as far as Cactus Hill.  When I turned around at Cactus Hill the road was backlighted and I could see pollen flying in the breeze like fine snow, and I arrived at the ride start with eyes  burning as if they'd been sandblasted.

As we gathered in the parking lot at Bryans Road, someone asked whether I had any advice about things to watch out for on the road.  Thinking of that flying pollen, I said 'what we had to watch out for was in the air, not on the road.'  A moment later, over the Safeway there was the Shuttle Discovery, en route to Washington DC!

Present today were Jimmy Bartlett and Randy Schoch, doing their own thing as usual; and in the B group, Darryl Lowery, Paul and Linda Bankerd, Richard Harrington, Loretta Troen, Regina and Mike Saizan, Dave VanAmayden, Sam Perry, Dana Middleton and Stan Hayes.

The route went down Livingston and up the long easy grade on Hawthorne to Ripley, Poorhouse, Burch and Rt 6 to Blossom Point Rd to the first rest stop at Goose Bay Marina.  The wind was at our back all the way, and even I arrived at the Marina with a 16 mph average.  We had a nice break chatting about seasonal allergies and then headed north and west -- into the wind -- to a second rest stop at Pisgah (except Sam, suffering from the pollen enough to seek out Rose Hill as a shortcut back).  If I had thought my average at Goose Bay was due to the new, fast tires I put on my bike the day before, the eye-stinging slog into the wind on the way to Pisgah would have cured me of the notion, even before I noticed that my average had fallen from 16 to the high 14s.

The last part of the route went from Pisgah to Chicamuxen on Mason Spring, and then Hawthorne to Chapman's Landing and back.  There was some grumbling at Pisgah about duplications with Saturday's ride and some might have taken an alternate route back (sorry, folks, I was riding in the Shenandoah Valley on Sat. and was trying to avoid duplications with Linda's Sunday ride from Mikeyland to Friendship Landing!).  The rump group finished with a 14.4 mph average.

Bare arms and legs today....I even got a sunburn!  A good group presented for this ride with a couple folks we haven't seen since last year and a couple new ones: Dawn Zoerner, Jimmy Bartlett, John Gorman, Rodrick Barnes, Herman Young, RuthAnne Cumberland, Randy Schock, Elizabeth Willis, Jeanne Ulrich, Latasha Banks, Walt Roscello, Holly Carr and Kirsten Watts.  We started out in two groups, with myself and RuthAnne hanging back with the slower group. At Marshall Hall Rd, John, Jimmy and Herman made a left to take a longer route that John worked out.  The rest of us headed down to the rest stop, giving Latasha some lessons on shifting and working the gears.  Coming back up Barry's Hill, we had a couple walkers, no worries, just more incentive to make it up that hill next time! All riders made it back and some of us headed to BJs for ice cream and conversation.  We found Randy's other half, Jackie there as well and talked about his upcoming birthday celebration.

Suddenly summer, but without the wicked humidity. We had a great group on this park-to-park to ride. Joining in the fun were Nancy Avitabile, Richard Edelman, Al Manley, Cathy Wilson, John Kady, Ken Meredith, Chris Zabriskie, Keith Blackmon, Jan Tucker and Blake Altman. We started together, then split into two groups: fast and faster. The faster group was comprised mostly of triathletes on a mission. The fast group just rode fast and admired an azalea or two. We had one flat that was quickly fixed with a team effort.  We rested briefly at Friendship Farm before Nancy got the itch and rounded us up. On the return, a few riders stopped at Scott’s Store in Welcome to replenish water bottles; as others have said, we found it cyclist-friendly with a real restroom. Jan and Blake guessed my favorite Charles County road: Durham Church, a fun, tree-lined descent near Nanjemoy. Faster group: 18.3 ams. Fast group: 17.2 ams. [Group photo] [Photo album]

Claire had this listed as an A ride.  Being more of a B and wanting to do the ride, I added the second level.  The roads were all pretty familiar with the exception of friendship Farm Park, which I had passed often, but never gone into.  Steve Palinscar and Pat Sanders joined me. We had an uneventful, leisurely ride in ideal weather conditions.

Although we were unable to add this ride to the on-line schedule due to technical problems, we still had a good turn out  of riders on this day of perfect weather.  The ride leader--Calvin Conyers-- was pleased to be joined  by Sam, Joseline, Paul, Jon, Belinda, Walter, Laquinia, Celeste, and William.  After the shared start with Holly's B Group,  our group essentually divided into 2 groups based on speeds, however the lead group made certain to wait for all riders at specified regroup spots.  Thanks all for making this an enjoyable ride, in spite of the challenging "hills on Rte 6".  Special note, Laquinia Beale, who is new to group rides of this length, successfully mae it up all climbs even while fighting leg cramps.  Way to go.

Beautiful sunshine on an 8:15 am "early bird catches the asphalt" day. Joining today's ride were members: Ruddy Elly, Joyce & Kenny Statom, Diane Gorman, and Jeannie Ann Swartz,  guests: Sara Sackville(?), Doug Gritz, and Mike Johnson, led by ride leader John Gorman. The ride left from the end of the B/A Trail (Boulters Way Rd), immediately travels onto road conditions to Sandy Pt State Park for 7miles (with views of the Bay Bridge). After leaving the park you travel along College Pkwy cossing Ritchie Hwy back to the B/A Trail for 9miles. Once back to the Trail, riders could opt for a short option back for a total of 25miles or continue north to the end and retrace the Trail back to Boulters Way for a 40mile total.  Several riders took the short option back, others grouped  together to do a longer option, some continued further north to ride on the BWI Loop and back. Rider leader stats: (hybrid bike) 37mis, 2:53 mins, 12.66 ams. No mechanical or rider problems encountered. 

Hopefully you got a chance to see our photo on facebook.  What a crowd we had on that beautiful sunny day. We were joined by Calvin and his team of C/CC riders.  There was a long train down Marshall hall road. The ride leader managed to stay in front of the pack all the way down Bumpy Oak Road and was then overtaken by the A/AA/AAAA riders.  The Ironsides Store is closed...In the future we can remember there is a store about 2 miles before Ironsides,,,so we can stop there instead.  The climbs up Rt 6 are memorable.  All in all it was a great day

Ride leader Diane Harris: This was my first time as a Thursday morning Brandywine Firehouse ride leader and I chose the Gallant Green as my inaugural ride.  Darryl Lowery, Tom Roberson, Jay Lewis, Tom Short, Linda and Paul Bankerd, Mike and Regina Saizan joined me on a sunny, cool, and windy morning.  Before starting we had a discussion on the importance of carrying not only personal identification but information on whom to notify in case of emergency.  Keep in mind that whatever you use, it has to be quickly and easily accessible to those that need it.  Then off we went, pushed by a tailwind, with very few hills until after the rest stop.  From that point the wind picked up and there was more climbing, nothing steep or long, but with the wind made for a challenging ride.  Uneventful until a wild turkey ran across our path followed by a car that decided to pass us as we were about to make a left turn.  Fortunately no mishaps.  Ride leader's ams, 14.5.