Ride leader: Steve Palincsar
Members: Peggy Alfonso
Route as ridden: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/335679981  46.7 mi, 1963' elevation.
Weather: high 60s at the start rising to the high 70s by mid-day.  Overcast, actually sprinkled rain during the drive to Waysons, but the forecast said there was but a single-digit chance of rain, and in spite of appearances that proved to be the case.
AMS: 13.3

Although we had a few other riders registered, in the end it was just Peggy and me.  We rode out from Waysons together with Diane's A/B group but by the time we made the first turn onto Greenock they were long gone. 

We caught up with them at South County Cafe, but once we rolled out from there we didn't see them again; that wasn't surprising since by the time we left South County I really didn't feel like doing the climb on Franklin Gibson  southbound to Leitch, and persuaded Peggy to join me in a detour that came to Leitch northbound at the cost of a couple of extra miles.

We didn't see Diane's group at Chesapeake Market: a phone call revealed they'd skipped Chesapeake Market and were having their break in North Beach.  Peggy and I had a break at North Beach too, and then to take back some of our extra miles we just went straight up 5th St to Friendship, where we took the Official McKendree Detour on MD-2 to Bay Front rather than doing Diane's journey to Fisher Station.  Doing so won back some extra mileage, so we took the scenic route back from Lothian on Pindell and the MD-4 Service Road rather than coming straight back on So MD Blvd.

It was a nice ride in spite of a gloomy, overcast day.

Leader:  Ron & Susan Altemus

Members:   Denny Miller, Mark Garrison, Leesha Saunders, Vicki Garlock, Co-RL Susan Altemus, Dan Donahue, Jackie Schoch, Robin Garnett, Carl Hattery, Fran Jezisek.  Not pictured:  Pat Colvin



Route:   Indian Head Rail Trail - Livingston Rd parking lot to White Plains r/t

Weather:   Under clear skies with plenty of sun, it was a bit warm for the middle of September but thankfully, humidity wasn't too bad.  Temp range of mid 70s to low 80s with not much happening in the way of air movement.

AMS:  varied by rider

Mechanicals/Mishaps:  none

Report:   We had a good turnout but the trail didn't seem to have as many users as the past several Fridays.  

Nonetheless, wildlife sightings were up:  numerous deer, a green snake, a couple of turtles, and a grayish Great Blue Heron in Pages Swamp, as pictured below:

Vicki photographed one of the turtles:

Later, she captured two different pairs of riders near the Bumpy Oak Pond:  (left)  Robin & Leesha; (right) Mark & Carl

Leader:  Joan Oppel 

Members:  Anonymous User, Ron Altemus, Steve Palincsar, Connie Quickstad, Walt Roscello, Peter Stelman, Pat Walthers

Route:  https://ridewithgps.com/routes/45332053 Today we did a quick visit to circle Merkle, then on to Mt Calvert for the view. Next to the Patuxent River Park Pavilion for our rest stop and we returned via Duley Station, Van Brady and North Keys. 

Weather:  Excellent - lots of clouds, some bursts of sun, temperatures ranged from about 66 to 75.

Mechanicals/Mishaps: None

Report: Two fast riders went off the front for most of the ride, but waited for us often and joined us at all the stops. They (Walt and Anonny) even cleared debris in Merkle before we got there. The rest of us more or less stayed together. We weren't sure we'd be able to go all the way to Mt Calvert due to the previous rainy day possibly making the gravel unrideable. But, we found that a bunch of cars had packed the road well enough for all of us to make it to the house and overlook area. 

From the Pavilion, we added an extra mile before leaving Patuxent River Park by going down to Selby's Landing to check out the area.

The abundance of clouds made for an interesting sky, the group made for great riding company, the roads had (for the most part) low traffic (even the two sections of Croom seemed calmer today than when we last rode there) .

A terrific day on the bike! 

Ron and his new bike

View over the Patuxent from Mt Calvert

Leader:  Joan Oppel 

Members:  Ron Altemus, Debbie Bowman, Chantal Briere, Ray Luckenback, Sonja Newman, Connie Quickstad, Bob Thompson, Pat Walthers

Route:  https://ridewithgps.com/routes/33263481  From Pisgah Park around Smallwood Church to Mason Springs, Ironsides, Rt 6, Hancock Run & Adams Willett to the Nanjemoy Store for a rest stop. Then Jacksontown, Riverside, Chicamuxen to Smallwood State Park. A tour of the campground and General Smallwood's Retreat area, then Sweetman, Bicknell, Mason Springs back to the park

Weather:  Outstanding - sunny, white clouds, temperature 78-80, very light wind.

Mechanicals/Mishaps:  None

Report:  The group decided at the start to skip the stop at Friendship Landing and make the Nanjemoy Store the first rest stop. We separated into two groups within the first 4 miles and stayed that way until the store. Traffic was very very light for the 5 of us at the back, a couple of cars on Smallwood Church, a couple on Route 6, Hancock Run, Adams Willett and Liverpool Point to the store.

Regrouping, splitting up, regrouping was the pattern of the day.  At Smallwood State Park,  everyone took an impromptu break at one of the tables. On the fence near the bathrooms, Debbie and I saw this amazing insect - the Green Darner dragonfly (very common, it turns out but pretty special to see it up close).

We then rode the campground loop/General Smallwood's Retreat loop to make up the mileage missed by skipping Friendship Farm - and to experience a couple more hills.

Note - Connie Quickstad rode her longest ride today on her new bike! Congratulations, Connie.

And i substituted for Steve as leader, since he had a last minute issue (he's fine).

Rest stop at Clover Hill Dairy

Leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Ron Altemus, Walt Roscello, Chantal Briere, Catherine Ade, Joan Oppel, Lois Lightfoot, Bob Thompson, Joshua Garrison and Dan Donahue

Guests: None

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/52612708

Weather: How perfect can you get?  Sunny, breezy, around 70 when we got going rising to the low 80s when we finished.

AMS: 13.4

Mechanicals/Mishaps: One of the riders developed cramps near the end of the ride.  Ron rode with him, and then drove back with his car to rescue him, while Joan stayed in the park to watch Ron's bike.  In addition to the good company and the fabulous routes, this is one of the reasons we ride in a group. I myself was rescued earlier this month when my battery ran out of charge.

Report: Oak Ridge Park was jam-packed with people this morning.  Evidently, a baseball tournament was going on, and there were many more people than I've ever seen in the park.  It was hard to find a space, except well into the park by the rest rooms -- the area beyond the gate, which we learned would be locked at 2 pm.  We regrouped at the parking lot at the park entrance and were rolling by ten past.

Down shady Oaks Road, up the hill and right onto the Three Notch Trail to MD-6, where we went right, following 6 down to Flora Corner and across MD-5 to Old Village, Mechanicsville, and the Three Notch Trail.

Locke's Crossing took us to Thompson Corner and Woodburn Hill, where we (thanks to an error I made compiling the route) took a rest stop at the Clover Hill Dairy on the way in rather than on the way back.  After the break we rode in small groups down Woodburn Hill  seeing the sights, especially a large group of eagles flying over what we believe to be Amish Meat John Wye on Westham Lane.

Regrouping at Thompson Corner we followed Dixie Lyon and Ryceville to Budds Creek and up Old Sycamore and down Dubois to 6 and Keech and up the final hill on Oaks back to the park -- as it turns out, with 15 minutes to spare before they locked the gate.

38 miles, 1400' elevation gain, and an absolutely marvelous, beautiful late summer day.

Leader:   Ron & Susan Altemus

Members & guest:   Lester Jackson, Jr., Jackie Schoch, Susan Altemus, Maureen Flynn, Peter Stelman, Anonymous user (hidden by Peter), Gene Villiva, Conine Quickstad, Mark Garrison, Denny Miller, Leesha Saunders, Lou Avenilla (guest), Donaro Gardner.  Not pictured:  Dan Donahue, Pat Colvin



Route:   where else to ride on a Friday morning but the Indian Head Rail Trail?  Start at the Livingston Road parking lot, head east to the White Plains trailhead.  After a conversational rest stop, westward ho back to the ride start.

Weather:   Fantastic continues - sunshine w/resultant blue skies, temps in the low 70s, mild air movement, very low humidity.

AMS:   varied by rider.  Leader swept in mid 11s so everyone was faster.

Mechanicals/Mishaps:   none

Report:  big turnout thanks to the weather and the continuing commitment by a number of club members to having a great social ride on Friday mornings.  We had one guest (Lou, as noted above) and several Friday newbies joining us, swelling the total to 16 riders.

Additional trail users consisted of the usual contingent of other cyclists, walkers, and joggers.  We encountered the mom's group just east of White Plains on the return.  It was encouraging to see so many young'uns on their bicycles having a great time. 

Wildlife sightings were limited to a deer immediately alongside the trail and several turtles, one of which was successfully transported from one side to another by Jackie.  Fall colors are beginning to appear as evidenced by some leaves turning and the profusion of yellow seasonal flowers including sneezeweed, daisy fleabane, tickseed, and goldenrod.

Leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Tom Short, Chantal Briere, Peter Stelman, Pat Walthers, Joan Oppel, Ron Altemus, Linda Bankerd

Guests: none

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/52580316

Weather: Sunny, 67 at the start rising to 76 by early afternoon, and windy (14-15 mph breezes that always seemed to be headwinds)

AMS: 12.5

Mechanicals/Mishaps: Nothing worse than Garmin glitchiness

Report: It really feels as though sweltering summer is over, and fall is just around the corner.  For most riders, this is the best time of the year, and it was a very enjoyable day for us.  Goose Bay was lovely, as always, and the riding to it and back from it were pleasant and uneventful.

Ron was quite excited to have found a crawfish on the Indian Head Rail Trail.  Is this the kind people eat, I wonder?

Leader:  Lou Dall'Orso

Members:  Rita Z

Guests:  none

Route:  ridewithgps.com/routes/12378617

Weather:  low 70s mostly cloudy at the start, clearing mid ride, high 60s by the end

AMS: Almost 16 mph

Mechanicals/Mishaps:  none

Report:   Got up early as I usually do these days, planning to sign up for Steve P's ride from Wayson's Corner, and found it was canceled due to the rain, bummer. Looked at the forecast, and pulled up the radar, and yeah, it was going to end early afternoon. So decided to do this ride again but this time in the afternoon, giving the roads a chance to dry. Submitted it last minute via email. (A big thank you to the ride posting folks who do a great job of turning these around.) Met Rita at the start, and headed off down 228 to Middleton, luckily she had the route on her device, so I didn't need to pull out my cue sheet, and having the route fresh from the previous day, I sort of not missed any turns. Almost perfect riding weather, and good fresh pavement on most of the roads made for a quick trip to the rest stop at the Pisgah store. Got back underway, wound our way back to 210 and finished ahead of the impending sunset. I think Rita enjoyed the ride, and it was nice having some company. 

Leader: Walt Roscello

Members: Deb Reynolds, Steve Palincsar, Karl Moritz, Mark Garrison, Ron Altemus

Route:  From Cedar Lane in Vienna to Carolina Bros BBQ in Ashburn and return, via the rally at the Vienna Town Green

Weather: Pleasant and a bit hot.  Highs near 90 but we had partial clouds for the majority of the time.

AMS: Around 14.5 for most

Mechanicals/Mishaps: None

Report: We assembled at the church-owned parking lot on Cedar Lane in Vienna and rode to the town park less than 2 miles away.  (This is a great place to start a ride near Vienna - but remember it's not available on Sunday.)  

We joined around 100 people in rallying to pressure Dominion Power to abandon plans to do powerline maintenance along the W&OD by clearcutting trees and brush to bare ground, and return to less severe trimming practices.  In addition to the support of The Sierra Club and WABA, there was good representation among the speakers from the town of Vienna, county, and state rep levels.  In addition to the loss of shade and habitat, the clearcutting allows invasive species to take hold in the newly cleared land.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/4fAeuKTmDkicne8b7

https://photos.app.goo.gl/PJuv9mx447q4gUVh6

After the rally, we headed west on the trail through Reston, Herndon, and to Ashburn.  (Except Ron, who had ridden from DC and was already getting his miles to and from the rally.)  The trail was well-used on a Saturday and the riders expressed varying levels of comfort with the amount of traffic - we rarely had to slow to pass pedestrians, but they were frequent so attention was required.  Given our medium pace, very few cyclists passed us although we passed many casual riders.

We enjoyed BBQ sandwiches, side dishes and pie, or PB&J sandwiches according to rider preference - and reloaded on ice water - and then returned on the trail a little faster (light wind from the west) with a rest at Herndon.  Four of us stayed close with one taking it slower, but all were confirmed back at the parking lot.

Leader:  Lou Dall'Orso

Members:  Denny M, Sam P, 

Guests:  Anonymous

Route:  ridewithgps.com/routes/12378617

Weather:  70s at the start, 80s mid ride to the end, sunny and a bit humid

AMS: Maybe a tad over 14 mph?

Mechanicals/Mishaps:  none

Report:   Upon leaving the Livingston IHRT parking lot on Thursday after the Clockwise Nanjemoy Loop, I was flagged down by one of the returning CC riders, who asked if I would like to do a long ride on Saturday. I told him I was doing a 62 miler with another club, but decided to take him up on it when he said maybe 70 miles or so. I agreed, and told him I would look at a possible route and reach out to him. I looked through the club Library, and found this ride, which I proposed we do twice. So posted it as the 38 thinking a better chance of getting more riders, well we had one other rider, but she backed out, and thinking it was just us two, found a member at the Manokeek parking lot who was there to do a solo ride, so I went into full bike floor sales mode, and soon he agreed to come along. So we headed off down 228 to a right on Middleton, and then wound around to a nearly straight shot to our rest stop at the Pisgah store. Kept everyone in sight with just some slight stretching out on some of the humps. After a brief stop, we continued on working our way to Chicamuxen and Livingston to 210 and back to the start, again keeping everyone nearly together.  Back at the start said our goodbyes to Sam and anonymous, and after talking with Denny, he suggested we do down to Indian Head and back, or 210 to Marshall Hall and back, as it was nearing the warmest part of the day, and it was already 85ish. So we wrapped around to 210 and headed south. Stopped at the Brians Road McDonalds for a nature break, and a snack, but the line was crazy long, so skipped the vittles. We decided to make the right and head down to the water and back, and on the return we took a left on Barry Hill, making the route essentially the old Wednesday night favorite from the firehouse. It made for a shadier ride back, and we continued on past 210 to a right on Dusty to a straight shot across 228 back to the parking lot. I think Denny got all his miles in, and I ended up with 72 having ridden in from home and back to the start. I think everyone enjoyed the ride.