Ride Reports January/February 2007

Adams Fall Orchard Ride
November 4, 2006 by Lynne Rosenbusch & John Fauerby

When ride leaders Lynne Rosenbusch and John Fauerby arrived at the ride start, they found Jeff Johnson waiting patiently.

The day was sunny, cool, and calm. We were all bundled up and all agreed that we couldn't have had a nicer day. Lynne led the ride while Jeff and John hung back talking about a bunch of topics ranging from placing windmills into the troposphere to time travel. The most beautiful part of the ride was Aspers North Road. When we turned left onto this road, there was a wonderful view of the valley we were entering complete with a pond, orchards, and mountains that we do not climb in the distance. The scene looks remote and from another time. Aspers North Road is generally downhill until we arrive at Aspers where we have a short steep uphill, so we can go down again. John warned Jeff of the bumpy railroad tracks on the downhill into the main part of Aspers, only to find a wonderfully smooth crossing of the tracks.

We had a mid ride snack at the Getty in Arendtsville where plenty of entertainment is always available. On this particular day, there was an endless stream of cars coming into their parking lot from two sides and heading straight for the gas pumps. Out of four pumps, only two worked. The cars moved from one line to the other hoping to get to a pump in the shortest amount of time. The really smart drivers would back in to one of the empty pumps, get all set to pump their gas, only to notice at that point the large sign that clearly stated the pump was not working. The really mysterious thing was that the price of gas at these pumps seemed to be on the high side.

While all this commotion was happening and while the temperature was in the 40s, we watched three boys all of whom had no shirt, shoes, or socks on in front of their home across the street take turns riding a bicycle up and down the sidewalk. Apparently, the solar heating reflecting off of their home kept them warm. While the trees in most people's yards seemed to have lost most of their leaves, we found that half of the trees in the orchards still had green leaves while the other half were beautifully colored.

The ride continued, then while leaving Cashtown, we saw a time machine in the front yard of a residential home. It was six feet wide, three feet deep, ten feet tall, and had a front door. It was in the middle of the yard, completely separate from any other buildings. We were thinking that if a curious neighbor child entered this contraption, not knowing it was a time machine, but getting it to operate, how would they ever get back to the present? Also, when traveling in a time machine, what would happen if the time traveler found the conditions to be hostile, such as being in the bottom of a lake?

These questions and many others kept us occupied for miles. We also saw migrant workers picking apples in the orchards. Finally, we arrived at the Mid Atlantic Soaring Center just in time to watch a soar plane silently descend, make its final turn, and land smoothly on the grass next to the paved runway. We arrived back at our cars around 3 pm and all were happy to have spent a wonderful day on this beautiful ride.

Loopy for Lewistown
November 19, 2006 by Terry Eskuchen

Six of us showed up for the Lewistown Loopy D ride today. Ray and Jenny Gable, George Ruszat, Mike Procario, Betsy LaPadula and I enjoyed the 19.4 mile ride looping around Lewistown. The weather was pleasant, the wind wasn't too bad and the conversation was nice. It's always fun riding with a group.

Frosty Toes Ride Report
December 5, 2006 by Bill Smith

Laura Chaffiotte, Sheldon Shealer, Bill Smith and Bill Preston met at MMS this morning at 7 am - temps were 32 degrees and had no place to go but upwards. Laura produced a 20-year-old cue sheet for us to follow. We went out Poole Jones and Walter Martz, eventually getting to Mt Philip Rd and climbed Swimming Pool and Clifton roads. We were now warm.

We alternately climbed and descended our way to Middletown, then headed south again on roads such as Roy Shafer, Sumantown and Old Middletown and reached Jefferson. A frosty descent followed a warm ascent on Mountville Rd, then we violated the cue sheet and made up a new route that took in Winchester Blvd, Cap Stine Rd and Ballenger Creek Pike so that both Bills could get their iced tea (nectar of the gods) and chocolate chip cookie fixes at the WAWA (insert sound of angels singing here).

Then a nice easy trip back into town and we had almost 40 miles of chilly fun. Thanks to all for good company and conversation, and “GPS” Laura for guiding us flawlessly without any wrong turns. No thanks to Sheldon for climbing so well the rest of us appeared to be going backwards.

From Aaron MacNab that same day...

I opted for the extra hour of sleep and tagged along with the Wheel Base ride, led by John O. We headed out to Mr. Natural's, over Route 15, blah, blah, Blacks Mill... We crossed 550 at Creagerstown, and I thought "I can find my way home from here if my running legs can't make it". Well a few hills / miles later I called it quits and started back... But then I started to feel good so being young and dumb I went "exploring" for a way home.

I've only lived in Frederick since August, and this was only my 3rd ride in that time. The roads are still pretty new to me hence the Blah blah Black Mill... At the corner of Mud College and Old Frederick I decide my "new way home" wasn't working (odo. 26 miles for the ride... I ran that far last Sunday, no wonder my legs hurt)... so back down Old Frederick. At the Old Frederick / 550 split I tried both hoping one would look familiar from Bill Smith guiding me home 2 weeks ago... unfortunately 550 looked right. a few miles down I realized I had never been down that road before. My legs were officially dead, I was hungry, and this was now the farthest I have ever ridden a bike... so I called a buddy and had him Mapquest me home.

I was only 8-9 miles away, I could do that. Dublin to 194 to 26... and A Sheetz too! Once I found out there was food I was grinning ear to ear. I polished off a Krispy Kreme in line, then downed a Frappichino and 6" Meatball with everything on it and extra cheese. It was like a little slice of heaven. Had more energy now and rode home with a smile.

Bill, next time I'm sticking with you!

Morgantown Rail Trails
by Ann and Fred Abeles

Morgantown West Virginia is truly blessed with scenic rail trails. They have the Caperton Trail (5.5 miles), Decker's Creek Trail (19 miles), the Mon River Trail North (2.5 and soon to be about 9 miles) and the Mon River Trail South (17.5 miles).

The Caperton Trail and the first 2 miles of the Decker's Creek Trail in Morgantown are paved and the others are crushed limestone. The Caperton and both Mon Trails make one continuous route and follow the old rail bed along the Monongahela. They connect with Decker's Creek Trail in downtown Morgantown. You can easily ride all of them in 2 to 2 1/2 days. We rented a room in the Clarion Hotel Morgan, just three blocks from the conjoining trail heads. The hotel staff noted that many people stay with them just to ride the trails. Using our AARP card, the rate was $102 a night including a big breakfast. This 1925 hotel was quiet and comfortable and the staff said we could bring our bikes up to our room.

We found a number of good, moderately priced restaurants in walking distance from the hotel. By arriving in the afternoon, we were able to ride the Caperton Trail and Mon River Trail North, which head north and downstream from town, right after checking in. An interesting feature of this trail is that it runs under the PRT (Personal Rapid Transport) system the University of West Virginia uses to move students and other riders from town out to various parts of the campus. A round trip ride costs 50 cents. The driverless cars are run by computer and provide a nice way to see the town and adjacent river.



The next day we took off up Decker's Creek Trail which has a steady 2 percent grade for about 13 miles. It then levels off 1000 feet above Morgantown and continues for an additional 7 miles. An unimproved, but quite passable trail, goes on for about 8 miles or so. The crushed limestone trail is in good condition and the scenery by Decker's Creek, over high fills and through deep stone cuts, is dramatic and pleasant. We brought a picnic lunch (made from leftovers from breakfast) with us since there was no obvious place to buy lunch on the trail. Once you turn around and head back down the hill you can easily coast along at 12 miles an hour with only an occasional turn of the pedals. There is a snack shack on the trail run by David Lewis about 9 miles from town if you feel peckish in the afternoon. The leaves were just starting to turn color and fall from the trees which provided a nice autumnal feeling to our ride.

On our second full day, we followed the Caperton and Mon River Trails south for about 20 miles along the Monongahela River to Pricketts Fort. The climb was gentle, only 100 feet above Morgantown. This fort is a reconstruction of a 1774 fort used to protect Europeans from Native Americans who apparently resented the presence of undocumented aliens in their territory. One of the guides in the fort pointed out that the settlers traded with the Indians to obtain beaver pelts. The wearing of the beaver felt hats nearly led to the beavers' extinction. The ride along the river is magnificent and there are only a few houses along the way. Once again, you should bring a lunch with you because the area is quite isolated and we saw no other riders once we left Morgantown.

We stayed overnight again in Morgantown and left the next day for the 3 hour, 165 mile ride back to Frederick.

Wednesday Night Lights & Pizza Rides
by Bill Smith

Various folks have joined us on our quest for the perfect ride and perfect post-ride pizza. The adventurers in November and December include Dr. Chris Borkman, Ray Gable, John Gantnier, John Gorham, Bill Preston, Mike Procario, Corey Rabideau, George Ruszat, Bernie Sellers, and Bill Smith.

On one night in particular, Bill Preston had this to say:

It was quite a turnout last night: Chris Borkman, John Gorham, Mike Procario, Bernie Sellers, Corey Rabideau, John Gantnier and me (Bill Preston). I’m not going to say the good turnout occurred because everyone knew that Bill Smith skipped riding with us last night. It got off to a shaky start because Chris didn’t match the proper cleats to the pedals on his bike. Chris offered up some excuse about having a flat on one bike and changing bikes at the last minute, etc. etc. but isn’t getting old hell? So there was Chris riding in his hiking boots. Thank God it was dark; otherwise we might not have allowed him to ride with classy types like us.

I was going to lead the ride around FSK mall just to see if drivers had gotten into the Christmas sprit yet, but decided against it because it wasn’t even December. So we decided to head towards Buckeystown. After assuring ourselves that Buckeystown was safe and secure, we headed off to Adamstown. Everything was going swimmingly until we reached the outskirts of Doubs. It was there that bicycles started coming off the tracks, so to speak. John Gorham discovered a new metal, one that sounds like metal when you hit it with a front tire, and is hard enough to cause a flat, but is invisible to the naked eye (at least at night).

Luckily for John, there were 6 of us shining our headlights in his direction watching while he changed his flat. Some would say that just standing there criticizing someone else’s work is not helping, but I’m not one of them. I think we were helping a lot. While John did not stand up and swing his bicycle pump around at us like an LA cop wielding a baton, I think he might have been close.

We continued our ride with Corey and Bernie at point. Word came back to the peleton that we were approaching an opossum. Upon hearing that delightful news, braking and scattering ensued throughout the pack. With Bernie and Corey safely out of harm's way, it was discovered that Bernie can't tell the difference between a skunk and an opossum, even after his noxious encounter with a skunk the previous year. Two of the remaining 4 riders were with Bernie during his last skunk stint (Chris and me, Bill Preston), and expressed displeasure with Bernie's mistaken identity.

John recommended that Bernie attend remedial animal identification classes. (it was later discovered that Bernie rides without his glasses – a topic to be broached at another time).

But the rest of the ride was uneventful, save for me locating another piece of John's mysterious invisible metal, with no harm done, then it was off to Luke's!

The sweet Italian pizza took longer than usual to arrive and upon Mike’s investigation, it was discovered that our first pizza was mistakenly placed in a delivery box and sustained irreversible damage when an attempt was made to relocate it to a metal serving platter. Thus another one had to be prepared for the oven. But the second pizza arrived in due time but in their haste to serve our pizza, the proprietors failed to adequately slice completely through the dough so that sharing among fellow riders was made impossible.

With more than a combined 200 years of pizza eating experience located at this particular table, a decision was made to place the pizza directly on the table, bypassing the flimsy contraption provided that is supposed to create additional table space by elevating the pizza to a visibly unstable height. Little did we know that this action was to draw considerable criticism from the semi-waitress for this same maneuver evidently scalded the Formica on another table. But thankfully, no harm was done and the pizza was completely consumed.

November - December Bagel Rides
by Steve Walter

We had beautiful but cool weather for both of the bagel rides. In November we headed north to get educated on Mud College Road. I unfortunately did not gain any enlightenment. We did get to ride through two covered bridges and see a lot of beautiful scenery. We clocked a total of about 45 miles. We broke a record for bagel ride attendance with eight people including myself. The eight riders included Laura Chaffiotte, Harry DeMoll, Jeff Johnson, Sheldon Shealer, Bill Smith, Mary Walter, Chuck Wilson and myself.

In December we headed south to Adamstown in a big loop totaling 40 miles. More hills than in November but some very nice lightly traveled roads. We had five riders including Vicki Crum, Jeff Johnson, George Ruszat, Mary and myself.