Ride Reports May 2007

Backdoor to Emmitsburg
April 14, 2007 by Brian King

Mother Nature’s devastation was coming – it was just a matter of when. Would the ride go or would it be canceled? Would we make it back before the nor’easter wreaked havoc upon the land? For the answer to these and other fascinating questions, ten intrepid souls joined the ride leader for an adventure like none other in the annals of Frederick Pedalers lore.

OK, so maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration. Along for this first ever Backdoor to Emmitsburg ride were Vicki Crum, Harry DeMoll, Jon Disbennet, Ray Gable, Jeff Johnson, Isaac Miedzinski, Mike Procario, George Ruszat and Team LaPadula.

We rolled out of Lewistown Elementary School shortly after 9:00 AM and traveled along familiar roads to Thurmont, then headed northwest into Pennsylvania. A quiet crossing of Route 15 along Marsh Creek Road brought us to a busy 1.3 mile stretch on Business 15 through Fairplay before things quieted down again along Bullfrog Road.

Then it got interesting as we headed down Gordon Road and found an at-grade stream crossing that wasn’t in the Fodor’s or Michelin travel guides used by the ride leader to map out this otherwise impeccable route. It was a bit cool to swim for it so we turned around to find an alternate route. OK, so we fall back on the ‘Rule of Lefts’ - three left turns and we should be back on track. Just to be safe the ride leader suppressed a millennia of male evolution and stopped to ask directions. Sure enough, after a couple of left turns we were back on track.

As promised, the mountain views were grand as we rode into Emmitsburg for a lunch stop at Subway. Funny thing – it wasn’t busy when we got there, but right after 11 of us walked through the door, there was immediately a line to place our order. Go figure.

Heading south we turned down Kelbaugh Road to see if there were any blossoms on the fruit trees in the Catoctin Mountain Orchard. Unfortunately the wacky weather seems to have conflustered the trees as some blossoms had started to come out, others weren’t ready and some trees already appeared green with leaf coverage.

Back through Thurmont and down Hessong Bridge Road to the ride start, everyone arrived safe and sound at the end of this 52 mile adventure. Mother Nature must have known that Terry Eskuchen was leading a ride the next day as she left us alone for today’s journey.

Spring Century
April 27, 2007 by Bill Smith

The weather forecast did not bode well for us on this cloudy morning. In fact, all week they were talking rain and severe thunderstorms in the mid-afternoon. But five brave souls were not deterred.

Sheldon Shealer and John Munns decided to do the 57-mile ride. Laura Chaffiotte, Jeff Johnson and leader Bill Smith did the full 100 mile ride.

John and Sheldon finished their ride high and dry (of course); Sheldon went back to the Mount (where he teaches) and later went out for 33 more miles to put in 90 for the day.

Laura, Jeff and Bill got to enjoy the entire hilly ride. Jeff entertained us with his flat-fixing skills. First he almost blew up his tire because the tube began to protrude from the tire and rim—but he caught that in time (good save, Jeff); then, just as he finished, his valve stem broke. So Jeff got to change his flat several times. Practice, practice, practice.

We stopped near Hanover to visit Bill's coworker (thankfully we did not get to meet his dog (Jackson), who we are told has a collection of cyclist bones out back). Then, at about mile 37 the hills began. We crossed no mountains, but the hills were steep, and sometimes long. We arrived late to East Berlin for lunch, so we did in a quick one at the Rutter’s. Being Jeff's birthday, Laura bought him some chocolate chip cookies and put a candle on one of them. We then serenaded Jeff with a rousing Happy Birthday. (Note—it was also Sheldon's birthday!)

The toughest climbing came between East Berlin and Abbottstown. It should be noted that these towns are only about five miles apart, yet we took a route that was fifteen miles instead. I think most of the climbing was packed into that section. Jeff, having not trained much on long hills this year, switched very nicely into 'survival mode', and managed to climb smartly enough to reach Abbottstown in fine shape. Jeff did a fine job keeping himself just below the 'red line' on the hills. Laura, having trained through the Winter's cold weather, finished the ride very strongly.

Despite the horrible weather forecast, we managed to survive all 105 miles with only a couple of short sprinkles.

Birthday Retry
April 29, 2007 by Bill Smith

Back in February, on the first running of this bike ride, it was icy. The ride went as planned, but the course was changed and only two riders rode that day, dodging icy road patches. This time, there was no ice.

Joining leader Bill Smith were Mark Anderson, Martha Bush, Ray Gable, Brian King, George Ruszat, Frank Scotto, Joan Wicks and Chuck Wilson. We headed east from Emmitsburg with a superb tailwind to our lunch stop at the McSherrystown Turkey Hill store (motto: our iced tea isn't as good as WAWA's, but it is cold), with only a short stop for Joan Wicks to change her flat tire. It was expected that the fine tailwind would become a very nasty headwind, but it shifted slightly to the north and was not much of a problem. The ride leader was not satisfied with just 49 miles; he rode to and from the start to put in a century.