Ride Reports July 2006

Waterford
May 27th, 2006 by Stephen Walter

Between the weather gods smiling on us and Waterford as the destination we wound up with twelve people on this ride. This was a record turnout for me and I was a little overwhelmed, consequently I do not remember everyone's name. Everyone seemed to enjoy the lovely weather and scenery. We had a couple minor events, first your ride leader broke the law by running a red light (which I usually do not do) but at the time it seemed like the safest thing to do with so many riders on a narrow road. Anyway I proved my lack of skill at leading a large group. To make matters worse we got caught by the Loudoun County Sheriff, who did not give us a ticket but did lecture us. Shortly, thereafter Mary clipped someone's back wheel and fell. Nothing serious fortunately, only a skinned knee. The only other challenge was the restroom stop at the Purcellville train station was out of order so we had to make due with a port-a-potty. Despite the lack of quality leadership everyone made it safely back to the start and seemed to have a good time. (Editor's note—Steve’s ride leading skills are far, far superior than he states here.)

Almost a Straight Shot to Emmitsburg
May 28th, 2006 by John Munns

Dan Bernazani, Brian and Alice King, Amanda Lane, Betsy LaPadula, and George Ruszat joined leader John Munns in the 9th consecutive year, and possibly the last year, of the "Almost a Straight Shot to Emmitsburg" ride held on Sunday, May 28. We arrived in Emmitsburg at 10:30 am and learned a simple fact of life that the only restaurants in Emmitsburg opened at 10:30 are the Subway and McDonald’s. The ride stuck together until the last two-miles of the ride where a spread opened up. John trailed; just finished first due to home field advantage. John took a new road that the developer opened at the top of Whittier that is a straight shot down the hill to Whittier Elementary School.

Laura's Suprise Ride
June 3rd, 2006 by Laura Chaffiotte

Only Bill Preston was 'surprised' enough to show up at Monocacy Middle School at 6:00 AM as the weather was a bit iffy for today's ride. Bill and the ride leader were glad the rain held off and did not experience one drop of rain the whole day. A 'shaved-leg-type' from Whittier named Mike joined the ride about 55 or 60 miles in and stayed with the group despite the fact he could have dusted them at any time and also despite the ride leader's belief she was having a spirited conversation with herself when he rode up on the group from behind. His company and conversation were welcome as the group rode for home.

Three Unions and a Windsor
June 10th, 2006 by Martha Bush and Mark Anderson

Twelve riders came out on June 10 to Libertytown Park meeting Martha & Mark Anderson for the famous Three Unions and a Windsor ride. Four riders decided to ride the 41 mile route - Regina, Colleen, Leslie and Tamara, a recent Austin, Texas transplant who informed us that the drivers in Maryland are much more accommodating to cyclists than Texans (!).

The other eight - Joyce, Frank, George, Jeff, Mike, Rick, Martha & Mark rode the 52-miler. Mike from the Tuesday Glade Group, swooped in, snatched up a cue sheet and was off with the wind, Jeff blew out a tire in his attempt to reel him in. There were no takers for the 62-mile route. It's a rolling route and you know it's windy when you have to pedal to get down the hills. Thanks to PPTC's Dan Lehman's brilliant map skills, the two groups crossed paths a few times during their respective rides and everybody ended up back at the ride start at the same time, despite varying distances.

Loopy for Lewsitown
June 11th, 2006 by Brian King

Apparently my tractor story had the desired impact as four sympathetic cyclists came out for the June 2006 edition of Loopy for Lewistown. We learned that the nearby Lewistown firehouse was in fact an all-volunteer outfit when one cyclist in our group attempted to make a pre-ride stop and found no one home.

We headed out Fish Hatchery Road and before even reaching Leatherman Road we were violently assaulted by the overpowering smell of barbeque. The Lewistown Ruritan had their summertime-monthly event in full swing and it was very tough to ride by without stopping. Look for a future Lewistown ride to take advantage of this culinary feast in July or August.


Peggy Parker and Dahlem Smith cruising along Layman Road

We rode cautiously down Blacks Mill Road as there had been a multi-skunk sighting there the previous Wednesday and even though they were babies, they were likely still able to open an unwanted can o’ stink if we spooked them. Fortunately they had moved on and were not spotted on this trip.

Our regular stop at the Market Basket on Catoctin Furnace Road was bittersweet as the day was not quite hot enough to partake of their wonderful ice cream treats however the good news is that we discovered they now have a public restroom!

17.5 miles of Loopiness were enjoyed by all.