Weekend Rides, March 10 & 11, 2012

Dear Friends,

Looks like the sun's gonna shine both days this weekend, so we're scheduling a couple of very nice rides.  Hope to see you out there, and please remember to turn your clocks AHEAD one hour before you go to be Saturday night!

Please download and print out your own cue sheets and GPS files for the weekend rides directly from the DCCenturyRides blog, http://dccenturyrides.blogspot.com/.  Just click on "Cue Sheets" (on the left side of the page), and you'll find them there!  If you're unable to print the cue sheet yourself, let me know and I'll bring a hard copy to the ride start for you.  I won't be bringing extra copies of cue sheets to the ride start unless you email me directly and advise me that you're unable to print out your own.  Please don't try to use the so-called "cue sheet" that appears on the left side of the RWGPS map! 


Here's the menu:

SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2012

PBP (Poolesville – Boonsboro – Poolesville), starting from Whalen Commons Park in Poolesville, Maryland.  **MEETING TIME 7:30 a.m.**  We inaugurated this ride last August when many of our riding buddies were away in France.  If you missed it then, here's another chance to ride on some of our most beloved Montgomery/Frederick/Washington County roads.  On the way to Boonsboro, we'll be on two of our favorite roads that include short stretches of unpaved surface, but don't let that discourage you because they're nice hardpack and really beautiful.  Also, in keeping with the PBP theme, if you're an old-timer you'll recognize parts of the route from Dave Berning's original 200K brevet route from 1991!  Lunch at the delightful Icing Bakery & CafĂ© in Boonsboro.  100 miles, estimated elevation gain 6600 feet.  This is kind of a drunken sailor route, so there are plenty of places where you can shortcut, but I haven't had time to cue any of them.  Here's a link to the detailed Ridewithgps map:  http://ridewithgps.com/routes/644527


Here are the directions to the ride start:

WHALEN COMMONS PARK, 19701 Fisher Avenue, Poolesville, Maryland

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 about 4-1/2 miles turn right on Milford Mill Rd into Whalen Commons Park just after the BB&T Bank (across the street from McDonald's). 


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SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 2012

"NOODLING TO NEW OXFORD," starting from Amber Meadows Shopping Center, Frederick, Maryland.  **MEETING TIME 8:30 A.M Eastern Daylight Time.**  Since we're losing an hour of sleep, we'll be meeting at 8:30 instead of our usual 7:30 on Sunday.  This is a "relatively" tame ride on very quiet and pretty Frederick, Carroll, and Adams County roads.  Morning rest stop in Taneytown, lunch at the Pizza Garden in New Oxford PA, and an afternoon rest stop in Detour.  Ride includes a brief section of hard-pack unpaved road on Baumgardner.  Please don't be put off by it – everyone loves it!  100 miles, with a 61-mile short option.  Estimated elevation gain only 4500 feet.  Here's the link to the detailed RWGPS map:  http://ridewithgps.com/routes/986121

 

Here are the directions to the ride start:

AMBER MEADOWS SHOPPING CENTER, Thomas Johnson Drive & Opossumtown Pike, FREDERICK, MARYLAND

From D.C. Beltway (I-495), take I-270 north 31 miles to Frederick.  Continue north on US15 3.7 miles.  Take Exit 16, Motter Ave exit (sign for Frederick Community College).  Turn RIGHT at the traffic light onto Opossumtown Pike.  In a quarter mile cross Thomas Johnson Drive (traffic light), then turn right into the shopping center at the Weis Market entrance.  Park at the north end of the parking lot between the Weis Market and Roy Rogers.


Crista