Weekend Rides, Permanents, and Stan-the-Man

Dear Friends,

 

Just a note to let you all know that Chuck and I are "vacating" between July 3 and July 18.  Accordingly:

 

1.  We won't be scheduling any weekend rides for the next three weekends.

 

2.  If you want to ride one of my permanents between now and June 18 you'll need to advise me RIGHT AWAY and get your registration and waiver into my hot little hands by no later than Thursday, July 1. 

 

3.  If you rode one of my permanents this past weekend, please send me your control card right away.  If I don't receive it by Thursday, I won't be able to submit the results to RUSA until I get back on July 18.

 

4.  The Deep Creek Lake weekend is scheduled for July 24-25 and we're really excited about it.  We spent 4 days there over Memorial Day weekend and it was total bicycle heaven.  And note that daytime temperatures there are usually at least 10 degrees cooler there.  It's 77 degrees in McHenry today!  If you haven't already advised me that you're planning to join us but would like to do so, please let me know as soon as possible and make your own reservations at the Oak-Mar Motel for Friday and Saturday night, July 23 and 24.  If for any reason they've filled up, there are other lodging accommodations available in the area.

Oak-Mar Motel
208 North 3rd Street
Oakland, MD 21550-1326
(301) 334-3965

On Saturday, July 24, we'll be riding the Diabolical Double Metric, and on Sunday we'll do a 42-mile "recovery ride."  Both rides will start at the Deep Creek Lake Discovery Center.  I'll send detailed logistical info to the participants after we get back from vacation.

 

5.  I'd like to make up a special ride in memory of Stan Miller, but won't have time to even start on it until August 1.  In the meantime, if any of you have any suggestions/brainstorms for what to include on such a ride, please drop me a line off list.

 

6.  I have one Stan story that showcases his special sense of humor and I'd like to share it.  A few blue moons ago, Stan happened to be doing one of my permanents the same day that we were doing a ride where our morning rest stop just happened to also be a control on that permanent.  When we got to the store I was dismayed to find the store closed.  (The store is now under new ownership and I promise that won't happen again if you want to ride "Paul's Paradise" .)  We decided to "rest" there in any case and eat the snacks we had with us, hoping that Stan would come by soon.  He did, with 5 minutes to spare before his control closed.  I quickly signed his control card for him, offered him some of our snacks, and suggested that he get moving right away so that he wouldn't miss the window for the next control.  He said he wasn't in a hurry and had plenty of food with him.  He then pulled his camp stove out of his pannier, sat down on the curb, and proceeded to heat up his can of (Dinty Moore Beef Stew???--Help me out here, those of you who were there).  We all commented jokingly about the fact that he carried a stove and rations with him on a permanent, and he laughed and said "Oh, I always do this.  Once I was with my daughter (downtown??) and I got hungry and stopped to cook some food on the street.  She said 'Daddy, please don't do that, people will think we're homeless,' and I looked at her and said, Hey, we're just one paycheck away, babe."

 

There will never be another Stan-the-Man. 

 

Crista

 

Directions to Front Royal K-Mart!!

Hi again, buddies!

I forgot to include the directions to the ride start for the Skyline Century -- here 'tis:

FRONT ROYAL, VIRGINIA – K-MART SHOPPING CENTER

From I-495 / DC Beltway, take I-66 W for 52 miles to Exit 13 / Linden, VA / Rt 79; then VA Rt 55 West / John Marhsall Hwy for 6 mi to K-MART SC on left, just past the junction of VA Rt 55 and U.S. Rt 522. Park to the left of K-MART.

Crista

SATURDAY RIDE, JUNE 26, 2010

Dear Friends,

Once again we can only ride one day this weekend and we're picking the cooler of the two days.  We're also headed for the coolest possible spot around -- Skyline Drive.

SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 2010
"SKYLINE CENTURY," starting from the K-Mart in Front Royal, Virginia.  MEETING TIME 7:30 a.m.  Our plan is to ride to Big Meadows and back -- lunch at Big Meadows, and  morning and afternoon rest stops at the Elk Wallow Wayside.  This is a ride for everyone -- If a century isn't enough for you, you can keep heading south from Big Meadows until you've had enuf, and if you don't feel like riding a full century you can turn around at any point on the Drive.  Elk Wallow is at milepost 24.1 and has a camp store with a snack bar and delicious blackberry milkshakes.  Skyland is at milepost 41.7 and has a restaurant.  Big Meadows, our planned turn-around, is at milepost 51 and has a restaurant. 

Forecast for Saturday on the Drive is partly cloudy with high in the mid 80s.

I doubt if you need a cue sheet for this ride, but I do happen to have one of sorts.  If you're planning to join us, please let me know and I'll send you an electronic copy.  I'm not bringing hard copies to the ride start unless you advise me that you can't print out your own.

Crista

SATURDAY RIDE, JUNE 19, 2010

Dear Friends,

We can only ride one day this weekend, and we're picking Saturday since it looks best weather-wise.  As usual, if you plan to join us, please email me off-list and I'll send you an electronic copy of the cue sheet.  I will only be bringing hard copies for riders who are unable to print out their own.  Here's the scoop:

"FERRY TO FERRY," starting from Poolesville High School, Poolesville, Maryland.  **MEETING TIME: 7:30 a.m.**

 

We'll begin by heading down to Whites Ferry.  After the pleasant ferry ride over the Potomac River into Virginia, we'll wheel out to Purcellville and then climb over Snickers Gap.  Quiet back roads will carry us north into West Virginia, and we'll noodle alongside the Shenandoah River on our way to Harpers Ferry, where we'll have lunch at the Country Cafe.  After lunch we'll take the footbridge back over the Potomac River into Maryland, with a half-mile trek on the C&O Canal towpath.  A VERY HILLY stretch follows (but it's SCENIC!!) as we take a drunken sailor route north to Gapland, climb over South Mountain, and head down into Middletown for our final rest stop.  From there it's back to Poolesville, but not as the crow flies.  101 miles, with 86 and 95-mile short options.

Directions to the ride start:

POOLESVILLE HIGH SCHOOL, 17501 Willard Rd, Poolesville MD

From DC Beltway, take I-270 north to Rockville Exit 6 onto MD28 west.  In 12 miles, bear left onto MD-107 and then in 5 miles turn left on Willard Rd. School is one block on left. Park behind school, not in front and not near public library.

 

OR:  from Beltway, take I-270 north 10 miles to Exit-10, MD-117/ Clopper Rd west, in 0.5 mile turn left at second traffic light onto MD-124 / Quince Orchard Rd. Continue 2.8 miles then turn right at traffic light onto MD-28 / Darnestown Rd. In 5.9 miles, bear left onto MD-107 and then in 5 miles turn left on Willard Rd. HS is one block on left.

Crista

SATURDAY RIDE - JUNE 12, 2010

Dear Friends,

We're scheduling a ride for Saturday only this weekend, but it's a fabulous one and I hope you'll come out and join us.  PLEASE EMAIL ME DIRECTLY FOR AN ELECTRONIC COPY OF THE CUE SHEET.  NOTE THAT I'LL ONLY BE BRINGING HARD COPIES TO THE RIDE START FOR THOSE WHO INDICATE THEY'RE UNABLE TO PRINT OUT THEIR OWN!!!!

Here's the scoop:

SATURDAY, JUNE 12, 2010

"THE WHISKEY SPRINGS ONE HUNDRED," starting from Silo Hill Parkway, Emmitsburg, Maryland.  MEETING TIME 7:30 am.  It's hard to believe we haven't done this one since 2007.  It's a beauty, featuring such highlights as the Mid Atlantic Soaring Center, the scenic orchards of Adams County PA, and some very nice (but not brutal) climbs over South Mountain and Piney Mountain.  In addition, there's an OPTIONAL 4-mile climb up to the Kings Gap Environmental Center (adds 8 miles to the total distance).  This climb is never steep, road surface is great, great views of the Cumberland Valley at the top, perhaps even some blooming mountain laurel and/or rhododendron, and the environmental center itself is worth a visit.  See

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/Parks/kingsgap.aspx.

and some very nice photos at

http://friendsofkingsgap-org.doodlekit.com/album

If you've never been up to Kings Gap, I highly recommend it. 

101 miles, estimated 7000 feet elevation gain (not including the Kings Gap climb), with short options of 67 or 83 miles.

Directions to the ride start:

EMMITSBURG, MARYLAND  (Silo Hill Parkway)

From DC Beltway go North on I-270 about 31 miles to Frederick.  Continue north on US15 for about 25 miles, then exit onto MD140 West (AFTER the Seton Ave/Bus.15 exit).  Turn left at the stop sign onto MD140 West.  In about a quarter mile turn right onto Silo Hill Rd at the traffic light (McDonald's on R).  Make your 1^st right onto Silo Hill Parkway and park beyond the car wash.

 

Big Weekend Ride -- DCR 600K Brevet!

Dear Friends,

Not scheduling the customary weekend rides this weekend, but hope to see you all at the DC Randonneurs 600K brevet, starting at 04:00 from the Hampton Inn in Warrenton, Virginia.  Read all the juicy details on the DC Randonneurs website, www.dcrand.org.

Crista