Leader: Janell Saunders

Members: I was joined by Dana Trevas, Tim Murphy, Sherwood Byers, Jr. and Bernard Stewart.

Route: the standard TDA 16

Weather: 70ish

Mishaps: none.

We had a fine evening for an early season ride to get the legs back on track and brush off the cobwebs on the bike and get it ready to go.

We stuck with the standard 16 mile route, enjoying catching up on our past exploits and plans for future ones. 

Some of us zoomed down the hill to the boat ramp rest stop, and on our return realized why we were at Mach speed....a headwind going back, ugh.

A slow ascent on Barrys Hill and an easy ride back to the start.  No ice cream yet as the window at BJs doesn't open till April.

Leaders: Rick Hagen & Lisa Petersen

Members: Ron Altemus, Chantal Briere, Barbara Butcher, Sherwood Byers, Susan Golonka, Joan Oppel, Walt Roscello, Anonymous User, Pat Walthers

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/49051680

Weather: Sunny with temps in the 60s. Seemed cooler the first half of the ride. Winds were 8 mph out of the southeast.

AMS: 11.6 for the sweep

Mechanicals/Mishaps: None.

Report: This ride took us from Waysons Corner Park & Ride southeastward on mostly country roads to North Beach, then back on different roads to the start. The parking lot at Waysons is busy now, next time we’ll park at the southeast end. In this area, the country roads are nice, and luckily most of the busy roads have a wide shoulder that we ride on. Just before Fairhaven, we got chased by a dog, the first time I’ve had that happen in years. We stopped at the site of a 1949 plane crash near Fairhaven, gathered for a group photo at the cliffs at Fairhaven, and stopped for lunch at Chesapeake Market & Deli. Then we wandered along the North Beach waterfront and trudged up the hill on Route 260. Country roads in southern Anne Arundel took us to the lovely Pindells area (so-called because of roads named Upper Pindell, Lower Pindell and Pindell). Some stopped at Glendenning Nature Preserve to use the restroom before riding the final 2 miles back to the Park & Ride.

Wildlife: ducks, 2 turtles on a log, 1 smashed eastern box turtle

Leader:  Joan Oppel

Members: Chantal Briere, Lou Dall'Orso, Donaro Gardner, Oswald Martin, Patricia Sanders, Tom Short, Patricia Walthers, Rita Zeidner

Route:  https://ridewithgps.com/routes/49990778
Route uses part of a Rural Legacy route, substituting North Keys as the ride start for a shorter drive. The revised route still covered about 97% of the actual route. 

Weather: Lots of sunshine, temperatures started in the high 40s and were in the mid 50s for most of the ride.

Mechanicals/Mishaps:   none 

Report:  As usual, the coldest place on the entire ride was at the start in the parking lot with a chill wind. After leaving the parking lot, temperatures were pleasant. Riders split up into singles or small groups but all gathered at each rest stop. It was a beautiful day, traffic was quiet on most, but not all, of the roads. It was also a hilly ride for this early in the season but, all in all, it was enjoyable due to the sunshine, pretty scenery and good camaraderie. .

Leader:   Ron Altemus

Members:  Donaro Gardner, Darrell Meyer, Gene Villiva



Route:   Indian Head Rail Trail (IHRT) - Livingston Rd parking to White Plains and return

Weather:  raw chilly grey day, narrow temp range 44-46. minimal ENE air movement

AMS:  12ish

Mechanicals/Mishaps:   none

Report:  big difference in "feels like" temperature from the last time we rode from the Livingston Rd parking lot.  Our Tuesday, March 11 ride had an almost identical start temp of 46 but under brilliantly sunny skies, the "feels like" listed as 55!   Seemed like one never warmed up today - a sentiment shared by all of us.

As usual, not a lot of other trail users until we got to Bensville and then a good number of walkers, some cyclists, and several families with children on bikes or scooters.  The latter didn't seem to be as cold as we were moving a little faster on our bikes.

Trees continue to leaf out with splashes of red and green vying to be the most observed color.  An eagle was seen both outbound/inbound on the nest near Livingston Road.  Heading towards White Plains, Gene was ahead prior to Bensville where he had several deer saunter across the trail as he approached.  The rest of us behind didn't see the deer but we did see either a big fox or smallish coyote cross the trail behind Gene.  Spring peepers were doing their peeper thing, mainly near Pomfret in the overflow areas of Mattawoman Creek.

Leaders:   Ron Altemus and Joan Oppel

Members: Donaro Gardner, Tom Short, Pat Walthers, Gene Villiva, Jackie Schoch, Luis Dall'Orso, RL Joan, Steve Palincsar, Rita Zeidner, Pat Colvin

Route:  Short - https://ridewithgps.com/routes/49881783 - 29.5 miles, 842' elevation change; long - https://ridewithgps.com/routes/49928662 - 37.3 miles. 1,138' elevation change

Both routes started at the Indian Head Village Green, used the Indian Head Rail Trail to Hawthorne and Chicamuxen to a rest stop at Smallwood Park.  Leaving the park, Sweetman, Bicknell/Poorhouse (with a snack break at Pisgah Store) to Ripley where we broke into 2 groups.  The long route continued on Poorhouse to Burch, MD-6, and back on Poorhouse.  Both routes traveled Ripley and Hawthorne to Marshall Corner, then Preston/Pomfret as the return to the IHRT and back to the start. 

Weather:  plenty of warm sunshine, temps climbing from the upper 40s to mid 60s, advertised winds of 2-5 mph though they increased to 8-9 mph from the south, definitely not as advertised for the middle of the ride.

AMS:  swept for the shorter route in the mid 11s

Mechanicals/Mishaps:   none noted for the short ride

Report:  with the day feeling more like early May, it brought out several riders for their first ride of the year.  Those that have been out occasionally saso warmly welcomed the delightful weather.

We had a longish rest stop at Smallwood and then soon after another stop at Pisgah Store to lay in provisions.  At Ripley, 5 members accompanied RL Joan on Poorhouse, while the other five of us took Ripley to Hawthorne.  A couple of riders, not having gotten in a lot of miles this year, used Bumpy Oak as their return to the IHRT.  Maybe it was the time of day, or maybe the time of man, but vehicular traffic wasn't too bad for the shorter route. 

The longer group also got to experience a notable sign of spring: the calls of spring peeper frogs. These frogs are only an inch to an inch and a half in size (think postage stamp) but together they make a loud chorus that always heralds spring.

https://youtu.be/UwVEI5M-948

Leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: Ron Altemus, Sarah Clement, Rick Hagen, Lisa Petersen, Patricia Sanders and Janell Saunders

Guests: none

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/49889805

Weather: Sunny, low 40s at the start rising to the high 50s by early afternoon.  Windy - 10-12 mph per the forecast, but by the shores of the Chesapeake Bay it felt like a lot more.

AMS: 10.8

Mechanicals/Mishaps: none

Report: A beautiful day to brush off the cobwebs, recharge the e-bike for the first time in months, find the water bottles, figure out what to wear and remember how to load a route into the GPS.  And for me, to also remember how to post a route and how to write a ride report.

We ride by Bayside communities, taking our time as we cruised through a maze of backstreets, stopping to take pictures of swans on the water and piers damaged by winter storms, exploring one community we've never visited before (and missing the turns for a couple of the out-and-backs).  We stopped for lunch at Christopher's Fine Foods before heading out to Chalk Point, and then stopped at South County Cafe almost at the end.  It was wonderful being out in the sun and the breeze with friends, enjoying the day and having fun. 

Leader:   Ron Altemus  Members:  Leesha Saunders, Oswald Martin  (not pictured:  Denny Miller)



Route:   Indian Head Rail Trail, Livingston Rd parking lot east to White Plains and return

Weather:   better than forecast with plenty of sunshine; temp range 43-49; 12-14 mph westerly air with just an occasional gust higher

AMS:  >mid 11s mph

Mechanicals/Mishaps:  none

Report:   small contingent today, with Denny not tumbling to the 10 am start time.  Arriving before 11 at Livingston Rd and encountering cars sans club members, he rode fast and hard eastward, encountering us between Bensville/Middletown and then got back to Livingston Rd shortly after we did.  Only one other cyclist (Wes) and a handful of walkers/joggers were using the trail today.

Trees are beginning to leaf out - maples showing red between Livingston and Bensville, oaks sporting green growth Middletown to White Plains.  Also, frogs were heard between Bumpy Oak and Pomfret in those stretches where the creek overflows.  Spring is approaching.

Leader:   Ron Altemus

Members:   Patricia Sanders, Steve Palincsar



Route:   advertised as https://ridewithgps.com/routes/40798783  27.6 miles, 738' elevation change but we shortened a bit by cutting out the final 4 spurs (Gunston Manor, Gunston Hall, Pohick Bay park, Pohick Bay golf course) to end up with 23.6 miles, approx the same elevation change.

Weather:  Sunny under pale blue skies due to high overcast; temp range 52-59; 12-13 mph air out of the WSW, gusting at times to over 20

AMS:   mid 10s

Mechanicals/Mishaps:  none

Report:  another nice day to be outdoors and riding one's bicycle.  Very leisurely pedaling as part of the acclimatization of riding again after a prolonged absence.  Varied conversation for the length of the ride.  Vehicular traffic on Gunston Road was light and we did see other cyclists, both on the path and on the roads.  (Item of note:  we used the Meadowoods Mt Bike parking lot due to school being in session at Gunston Elementary.  There were 15+ cars there at ride start - assuming they belonged to riders using the mountain bike paths.)

Two notable observations in the Hallowing Point neighborhood:  1) with the leaves off the trees, Mt Aventine at Chapman State Park was visible across the river; 2) we  continued on River Rd to its southern terminus to see if the tundra swans were still wintering over in the Great Marsh.  They were as lots of these large white birds were visible on the far shore.  It had been told to your faithful correspondent that there were "thousands" at the marsh - seems like a big number but maybe so!

Leader: Joan Oppel

Members: Darrell Meyer, Pat Walthers

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/49860335  A roundabout way to go to La Plata and back. 

Weather: Mostly sunny, temperatures between 53 and 63 while riding. The wind was between 7 and 12 mph but was noticeable at times and felt a little chilly.

Mechanicals/Mishaps: None.

Report: This route was a pleasant way to end up in La Plata without going up St Ignatius. We took Chicamuxen, Marbury Run, Bicknell, Pisgah Marbury, the Stuckeys, Poorhouse, Annapolis Woods and Hawthorne to reach Rose Hill. Then to Chapel Point and Locust Grove to Springhill Newton, Glen Albin and the Dash In. We sat on some steps in the sun at the back of the Dash In, rather than stand around snacking. Return was on Quailwood with a stop to check out the dragon and its many companions. 

Excellent day to get out and we all enjoyed the ride!

Leader:   Ron Altemus

Member:  Steve Palincsar

Route:  Regular TdeA routing to Bryan's Road and then exploration of the Timber Ridge subdivisions working our way back to Marshall Hall Road.  A left, then right on Arbor to loop through Strawberry Hills Estates, retrace back to Bryan's Road.  After a rest stop at the MacDonalds, continued retracing to Old Marshall Hall Rd.  We planned an out and back to Poplar Hill before retracing back to Accokeek Rd/Livingston Rd to return to the start.  Advertised as 20.3 miles, 489' elevation change. 

Weather:  Sunny, temps staying basically at 60-61 degrees, shifting 15-17 mph winds out of the entire western quadrant, with gusts up to 30 mph.

AMS:   maybe ten

Mechanicals/Mishaps:   a couple but nothing serious - 1) ride leader forgot to load the course to his Garmin but fortunately Steve had loaded it to his, plus he had a cue sheet; 2) ride leader's bike got blown over which caused the rear fender to loosen producing tire squeal which was corrected with a bit of stay bending.

Report:  route was advertised as being considerably different then the usual TdeA/BR ride at 20 miles, very flat., and NO down Marshall Hall Road and NO up Barry's Hill.  It was aimed at the casual rider who hadn't been on the bike much at all in 2025, or anyone else who fit that category.  

Traffic on the beltway and 210 was heavy but our route was surprisingly vehicle free until the final stretch on Livingston Rd back to the firehouse.  The firehouse parking lot seemed to be very windy and we had several stretches with strong headwinds and a few unsteadying gusts.  After turning onto Old Marshall Hall Rd, we encountered an unrelenting fierce wind and the decision was made to shorten by simply turning onto Accokeek Rd instead of out and back to Poplar Hill.  Even with the shorter distance (only 16 miles), it was nice to be out riding, getting in some miles, and plenty of fresh air.