Ride Reports

Leader: Christopher Roell

Members: Tom Roberson

Guests: Peter Blagrove (PPTC Member), Daniel Curry, Maree Eiseni, Alvaro Espitia, Lou Hansen (PPTC Member), Joe Morey (PPTC Member) Tom Revesz (PPTC Member), Bennett Roth

Route: https://goo.gl/WqpYPT

Weather: High 40's to low 50's. Sunny with fall like blue skies. 

AMS: 12 mph

Mechanicals/Mishaps: Front derailleur on Joe Morey's bike froze and became stuck in middle ring on climb up the Oxon Hill Farm hill. Joe rode rest of the ride in middle ring. 

Report:  What can one say? A beautiful Fall ride out to the American Civil War Earthwork of Fort Foote located in Fort Washington, MD, to see the Big Cannons there! Rode 30 miles in total from the BicycleSPACE Downtown shop in DC through the Southern route out of DC into the Oxon Hill Farm taking us out to Fort Foote. Nice route with ample bike lanes and it is always fun to ride on the forgotten and bumpy Oxon Hill Bike Trail. Important Trail that connects DC, MD and VA. On way back from Fort we took the Woodrow Wilson bridge and the Potomac Yards Trail, and headed over the 14th Street bridge back into DC. Cruised down the National Mall and Chinatown as we made our way back to the shop. Only change we did to the original route is that we did not make it to Fort Stevens to see the small cannons there. Group thought it would be more fun to spend more time at the Fort with the Big Cannons! Good choice... 

Ride leader: Debby Bowman

Members: Steve Palincsar, Janell Saunders, Jay Lewis, Pat Walters

Guests: none

Route: 37 miles, https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28942086?beta=false. As the title says, a variation on the Hidden Amish route, going in the opposite direction and cutting a few miles. We turned right out of the park and stayed on Oaks Rd all the way to Charlotte Hall Rd, which we took to Golden Beach. Crossing Route 5, we rode on Golden Beach,  All Faith Church Rd and New Market Turner Rd, then crossed Three Notch Rd and took the trail to a rest stop at Laurel Grove Park. After the break we rode the trail north for a while, then took Locke's Crossing, Dixie Lyon and Ryceville to a second stop at the Amish school house. Our final stint took Trinity Church, Meredith and Dubois up to Rt 6, and finished up on Keech and Oaks Rd.

Weather: A nice fall day! The forecast called for cloud cover in the afternoon, but they were high clouds that never blocked out the sun. Temps were in the high 40s to low 50s. Several of us traded jackets for vests for much of the ride.

Average speed: 12.6 mph at the back.

Mishaps and mechanicals: None

Signs of winter: the rest room at Laurel Grove Park is closed for the season. There is a portolet available, but no opportunity to refill water bottles. 

Farm animals: Goats, sheep, a few cows, lots of horses, including a very friendly one across the road from the Amish school house.

We had a great bike ride today. I thought we might see Blake's group somewhere on Golden Beach or All Faith Church Rds, and sure enough we passed him and Brad on the latter. Our group was somewhat spread out on the road but not too far apart to regroup several times and enjoy the rest stops together.  Steve opted to shorten things a bit by starting at Northern Senior Center and riding the trail to meet us at Laurel Grove Park, then splitting off from our route at the turn from Dubois to Rt 6 to head back to his car. Janell and Jay left the Amish school house ahead of me, Steve and Pat, and their cars were gone when Pat and I returned to Oak Ridge Park.

While packing up our gear after the ride we met a woman who was walking a fluffy dog while her grandson played nearby. She asked where she could get a hitch rack like the one on Pat's car, and we recommended REI and Bike Doctor. Having recently moved to Hughesville, she was also interested in learning about the Three Notch Trail as a place to ride bikes with her grandson.

Thanks to everyone for joining me today, and thanks to Blake for posting the ride that inspired our route!

Date: November 18, 2018

Ride Name: 46 Mile Hidden Amish

Ride Distance: 46 Miles

Average Speed of the Ride: 18.0 MPH

Ride Class: AA/3 Sport

Mechanical Issues: None

Mishaps: None

Weather: 36 degrees and no wind at the start, 52 degrees at the end, partly cloudy

Guest Riders: None

Member Riders: Brad Francisco

Ride Report:

It was pretty cold at the start and we dressed warmly.  I was comfortable at the start and later got hot and had to unzip some stuff.  Brad said his hands were cold at the start but that they warmed up later.

I drove to the start on Keech Road and it was pretty wet.  We avoided it by taking Oliver's Shop Road which I usually try to avoid due to traffic; it wasn't too bad this morning.  We decided to skip the first rest stop so we got on the bike trail at the end of Locke's Crossing Road and took it to Baptist Church Road.  The first detour added miles and the second shortened the ride; all-in-all we ended with an extra mile.

We saw Debbie and company going the opposite way on All Faith Church Road.  They were just starting down the hill that we were cresting so we didn't see them for long; we waved and they waved and then they were gone from sight.

This is my second ride in a row with just one other rider but any ride with someone else is a win in my book.  Thanks for joining me Brad.

Leader:  Ron Altemus

Members:   Steve Palincsar, Robin Garnett, Jane & Jim Hudnall; and riding in the opposite direction, Clay Hashimoto

Route:   Indian Head Rail Trail from Livingston Rd parking lot to White Plains and return.

Weather:   better than expected!  Temps warmer/WNW breezers  less than forecast making for a enjoyable ride.

Report:  yesterday's snow probably frightened some riders away from venturing out to the IHRT today, but their fears were groundless.  No evidence of ice or snow though the Mattawoman was flooding it banks, thankfully nowhere's near as bad as last month.  The first three of us were returning and encountered Jane & Jim at Middletown - they turned and rode with us back to Livingston.  We didn't see any other cyclists until getting back to the parking lot at Livingston where there was a solitary rider doing only a mile or so.   No wildlife encountered on the trail but there had been a huge flock of blackbirds at Livingston when I arrived there before the ride start.  The birds were a bit to far away to easily identify:  smaller than crows, bigger than starlings, I assume they were common grackles though they might have been migrating rusty blackbirds.

Leader: Joan Oppel

Members: Jay Lewis and Mike Saizan

Route: Roundabout Pomfret/Bensville to the IRT, then Mitchell to Mt Carmel, Rt 6 to Shirley Blvd and climb! Then Burch, Poorhouse, Pisgah Marbury etc to Chix, Livingston back to the parking lot

Weather: Cloudy, with a clouded over orb that was probably the sun, about 38 for the entire duration, occasionally noticeable wind

AMS: we all stayed together

Mishaps/Mechanicals: None

Report: As usual, it was colder in the parking lot at the start than on the entire rest of the ride.  A very nice route with some flat, some hills and one bear of a hill up Carol Road from Shirley Blvd, a tenth of a mile in "that's really steep" category. It was great to get out, said Mike and Jay and I concur.

Leader:  Tom Roberson

Members in attendance:  Clay Hashimoto, Ron Altemus

Guests:  None

Weather: Beautiful seasonal day.

I was pleased to welcome new member Clay Hashimoto on his first club ride, and was pleased that veteran member and ride leader Ron Altemus came. The ride went smoothly without any mechanical mishaps, and the visit to Fort Ward was appreciated by all. Ron couldn't stay for lunch, but Clay and I were joined by my SO Patrice Coss for a fine lunch,. I went to the concert alone only to discover that I had glitched the date and the concert happened on Saturday, the day before. 

It's Veterans Day!!  A good day for a ride even though it's cold (low 40's at ride start).  First, to all Veterans,  a very sincere Thank You for your service and sacrifice.  There were 2 Marine Corp veterans on today's ride, Barb and Ron Haney.  Others that joined me were Kirk Saunders, Alan Kurzweil, Ken Meredith, Sam Perry, Pete Czapiewski, and Theresa Rowell.  Michael Dong met us early on the ride, having ridden from home. As usual, the faster riders formed their group and went ahead.  The rest of us caught up to them as they were stopped at roadside to wait for Ron to take care of a rear flat.  We knew they would have no problems catching us, so my group of 5 continued on.  Only to be passed by the faster group as we were stopped at roadside to repair Theresa's rear flat!  We continued on, catching up to the faster group as they were leaving the rest stop.  The rest of the ride was uneventful with Michael turning off early at Livingston Rd to head home.  Everyone returned to the start location where some of us enjoyed hot drinks at Starbucks before going home to enjoy the rest of the day.  Ride leader's ams was 14.3 miles while the faster group was > 16 ams.

Leader: Christopher Roell

Members: None

Guests: Lou Hansen (Potomac Pedalers Member)

Route: https://goo.gl/itHcA3

Weather: 40's. Sunny with clear blue skies. Mild breeze that required light full fingered gloves

AMS: 10-12 mph

Mechanicals/Mishaps: None

Report: A Veterans Day ride to the American Civil War Forts of Stanton and Reno in honor of the Veterans from the Civil War who maintained the Forts that protected Washington, DC during the War. We rode in a big 40 mile counter clock-wise loop to one end of DC to the other. Rode took us along the Marvin Gayle, Anaocostia Riverwalk, Northwestern, and Sligo Creek Trails. With the weather being mild and a holiday weekend in DC, we had the trails pretty much to ourselves. Many leaves on the trail, but they were dry to ride over, and it was nice to see the new bridges and up keep that is currently being done on the Sligo Creek Trail. One of the best things about the ride was the various views of DC we saw as each Fort is on the high ground. We decided to deviate from the planned route by taking Wisconsin Ave down from Fort Reno through Georgetown to Q St bike lane which took us a straight shot back to the start of the ride at the BicycleSPACE shop. Overall, ride came in around 4 hours, but it felt a lot shorter in time if only for the fact that the ride had to eventually end!

Members: Pat Sanders, Steve Palincsar, Jay Lewis, Barbara Butcher, Susan Golonka

Guests: none

New bikes: 2 - Barbara was riding a new Domane, and I was taking my new Checkpoint gravel bike out for its first real road ride. 

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/26760642 - 35 miles from N Keys Park to Merkle and the picnic area at Jug Bay. We began by heading south down Martin, Molly Berry, Baden Naylor and Nelson Perrie, then turned east on Bald Eagle School. After one big hill on Croom Rd we took Tanyard, Nottingham and Fenno to a rest stop at the Merkle visitors' center. Then we climbed St Thomas Church, took Croom to Mount Calvert Rd, and headed down Duvall and Croom Airport all the way to the picnic area for another break. The final stint went up Croom Airport Rd and down Croom to the Duley Station-Cheltenham-Van Brady loop (with an ad hoc diversion on Bellefield), then took Molly Berry and N Keys Rd back to the park. 

Average speed: 11ish at the back

Weather: A very pleasant fall day. Cloudless blue skies, sunshine and no wind with temps in the high 40s. We needed a few layers, but didn't have to bundle up too much to be comfortable.

Mishaps and mechanicals: A missed turn, a misbehaving cycle computer and a flat tire a few miles from the end.

Wildlife: A deer ran across the road in front of us as we rode through Merkle, reminding us to be more alert for them this time of year.

We enjoyed a nice bike ride on this Veterans Day. Jay and Pat were in the breakaway for much of the day, while the rest of us rode closer together, with several stops to regroup. We were never too far apart and were all together at the rest stops. Topics of conversation were wide-ranging and included bike bags, disc brakes, tire pressure and activities with Washington Women Outdoors. When Jay had a flat tire at the turn from Molly Berry to N Keys Rd, we all stopped for the repair. Pat provided a fresh tube and Steve shared his tip for lining up the tire logo with the stem in order to make it easier to find any sharp object remaining in the tire after locating the hole in the tube.

The start time of 11 am  on November 11th was a nod to the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I. My grandmother's birthday was on November 11th, and she always referred to the date as Armistice Day. Many thanks to all who have served in our armed forces and to those whose family members have served.

Ride leader: Steve Palincsar

Members: None

Guests: None

Weather: Sunny, 45 degrees with 15 mph winds resulting in wind chill temps in the mid 30s evidently deterred all riders.  Disappointing but not surprising.

Mishaps & mechanicals: none

AMS: 0