Ride Reports April 2007

Checkout Ride
March 10 by Mike Procario

I went out this morning and did a checkout ride with Betsy and Mike Lapadula, Jen & Ray Gable, Chuck Wilson, George Ruszat, and Harry DeMoll. Jen, George, Chuck, Mike and Betsy were waiting for me when I got to Orchard Grove. Ray had forgotten his shoes and was driving home to get them. Just after Ray returned, we saw Harry pull up. He had gotten caught in the I-70 construction.

The cue sheet was very good. During the first part of the ride it agreed with Mike's odometer within a couple hundredths of a mile. I have to remember to round the distances to tenths of a mile before the real ride.

The weather was in the mid 40's when we left at 11:00 AM, but it made it into the 60's by the end of the ride. The winds were mostly calm. It was overall a good day to ride.

The winner of this year's Golden Tube award for most flats on the Lights and Pizza ride, me, got a flat today. It would have been a honor to just be nominated for the award, but living up to winning it is a pain in the a**.

Laura's March March
March 25, 2007 by Laura Chaffiotte

Jeff Johnson, Chuck Wilson, and Ray Gable met ride leader, Laura Chaffiotte at Monocacy Middle School at 8 am. It was about 45 degrees. It reached above 60 degrees at the ride's conclusion. We headed to Detour where we took our first break. From there we rode north towards Gettysburg.

Chuck got a flat on Business Route 15. Shortly after changing it, Laura's bicycle ceased in it's ability to shift (ofcourse it was stuck in the highest gear). Ray and Laura were waiting for Jeff and Chuck at the next turn, however, they missed the turn and went on back by themselves. Laura rode back to try to locate them. When she returned, Ray had also headed back. Ride leader rode back to MMS to find that all cyclists had returned safely. We rode about 65 miles.

Lights & Pizza Mop-Up
by Bill Smith

We wrapped up another Winter season of riding by doing our 27-mile extended ride on March 28. On this night, Corey Rabideau, Dr. Chris Borkman, John Gantnier, Bernie Sellers and Bill Smith battled a strong northwest wind and headed out past Jefferson on MD180. From there we took Broad Run Rd to Sumantown Rd, up and down some steep hills, and came out on Cherry Lane. At this point the sun was down and we were running under our own lights. We then took Cherry Lane to South Clifton to Fulmer to Mount Philip Rd to Mount Zion and then back to Luke’s on MD180 and Crestwood Blvd. We feasted on a large sausage pizza and French fries.

Riders during this last month of Winter included those mentioned above and Henrik Olsen and Bill Preston. As much as we enjoy riding under the stars, we are looking forward to the warm weather and the opportunity to put the stones to you folks who took the Winter off from riding (just kidding).

Final Awards this year are:

Golden Tube Award: Mike Procario
Rookie of the Year: Corey Rabideau
Golden Icicle Award: John Gantnier

Ride leader Bill Smith thanks all those who came out this year and rode with us.