The Stink Bug Ride

It's that time of year for a ride out to the hills to see the changing colors in the trees. We're still a smidgen early, but there still some color going on – and there's not a lot of wet leaves all over the road that have the potential to ruin your day. Our CMA chapter had our planned “Fall Foliage Ride” today and the weather report was about as good as it could get. KS & I still put on some extra layers since it was only about 50 degrees out when we left at 8:45am. We went down Rt. 29 to Johns Hopkins Road where we met Shawn & Monica at the Chick-fil-A. Us Colum-bums figured it would be better just to meet the CMA gang out here as they rode through, rather than us ride the whole way into Glen Tucky only to reverse course and ride right back out here.

That was the plan.

We met up at Chick and proceeded out Rt. 216 west towards Highland. We crossed over Rt. 108 and moved on to Brighton Dam Rd. where we turned left, moving south and crossing over Brighton Dam before turning right on Rt. 650 (New Hampshire Ave.). We rolled on toward Sunshine and stopped at the service station at the corner of 650 & 97 where we were to meet up with the rest of the chapter.

That's where the plan kinda changed.

Jimmy was leading the ride and he said they'd be going through there at 9:15. Personally, I never thought they'd be there on time; it's a long way across from Glen Burnie with lots of opportunities to be slowed down. Plus, Jimmy's a retired Air Force guy – and the Air Force is never on time for anything – so I wasn't particularly worried when we got to Sunshine at 9:20. Well, the stars (and the traffic) were in alignment and as we found out a couple hours later, they had indeed rolled through Sunshine at 9:15 on the dot. We waited around for half an hour or so before decided to head on out towards White's Ferry, thinking we'd be able to hook up with them there. I'd been down to the ferry a couple times and knew basically how to get there, but I hadn't really looked at a map very well before we left and the one I had in the bike wasn't very good. Thankfully, Monica had her GPS with her so she plugged it in, set a course for Poolesville and we took off with her in the lead.

We didn't go too far on 650 before turning left on Sundown Rd. which ended up being a very nice ride through some farm land and fancy house land. Around Laytonsville, Sundown Rd. becomes Brink Rd., and we continued to the southwest and an easy pace. KS & I were rather surprised at the several Mennonite churches and cemeteries we were seeing throughout that area. It made us wonder if Mennonites were among the early settlers in that area since the way it looks now doesn't exactly make one think of a large Mennonite community.

We arrived in the Germantown area and turned left on Rt. 27, taking it down a few miles before we jumped on I-270 for a brief scoot down one exit to Rt. 118 to continue to the southwest. This was probably the least enjoyable part of the trip since we hit just about every traffic light we came up to. Traffic was fairly busy for a Saturday too, which didn't help matters any. Regardless, we made it through town with no problems, except for the jackwagon taxi driver who cut across a couple lanes and right in front of Monica in order to turn into a shopping center.

Rt. 118 comes to an end at Rt. 28 where we turned right and headed northwest a few miles before turning left on White's Ferry Rd.. This was another nice road which took us through some nice farms on our way through Poolesville and finally out to White's Ferry. There was a line of traffic in queue for the ferry so we got off the bikes and headed for the restrooms, only to find out all of the facilities (except for the ferry) were closed for the season. KS decided to give the porta-pot a try but it was full of stinkbugs so she opted out. We waited for a little while in hopes that we'd find or at least hear from our other CMA folks, but after a while we decided just to push on towards our destination of the Bavarian Inn at Shepherdstown.

The ferry ride was enjoyable but too brief. I'd love to take a longer ride again sometime, kinda like the one KS & I took across a lake at the Arkansas/Missouri border down by Branson. Biking and boating at the same time. Fantastic.

Anyway – we crossed the Potomac and made our way out to Rt. 15 where we turned right and headed north towards Harper's Ferry. Monica and her GPS took us back up into Maryland, crossing the Potomac again at Point of Rocks. We went on up 15 a little ways before turning left on Mountville Rd., heading west. This was probably one of the highlights of the day. We topped the hill and the valley below really opened up to us with a spectacular view. This route took us over to Rt. 340 which we jumped on for a south-bound ride towards Harper's Ferry. We crossed the rivers and as usual, we enjoyed the beautiful scenery that the area provides. As we were riding through Harper's Ferry, I got a call from Billy letting me know that the rest of the gang was already at the Inn. Ah well, it's not like we weren't enjoying the ride!

Turning right on Rt. 9 and then right again on Flowing Spring Rd., we headed north towards Shepherdstown where we turned right on Rt. 480 and arrived at the Bavarian Inn. Now, the ride out there is great but I think I've eaten my last meal at the Bavarian Inn. Don't get me wrong, the ambiance is very nice as is the rest of the property. The site sits on a hillside overlooking the Potomac and it's a very nice view. However... the restaurant is pricey and the food doesn't do much for me. KS got a Caesar Salad and I got a Chicken Caesar Salad, and that set us back most of a 20-spot. Coffee was $2.50. I'm just not into paying $25 (mind, before the tip) for a couple salads and coffee. Give me a diner any day. Shawn and Monica didn't seem overjoyed with their meals either, although I'll admit that Shawn's club sammie was a good size. Monica got a very German dish (I'll butcher the spelling so I'm not going to try) which she wasn't impressed with at all. Meanwhile, the rest of the gang had already got their checks before we placed our order so they went on their separate ways while we ate and enjoyed each other's company.

Once we were done eating, we walked back to our bikes and spent a few minutes flicking all of the stink bugs off of them before mounting up and turning left on Rt. 480 just long enough to cross (another) bridge and re-enter Maryland (again) on Rt. 34. I really enjoy this ride up 34; it takes you through some very nice farmland with great views of the hills and it goes right through the Antietam National Battlefield where my great great grandfather fought with the 100th Pennsylvania in 1862. We rode through the towns of Sharpsburg and Keedysville before coming up to Boonsboro where we turned right on Rt. 40 and headed east. Rt. 40 can really be a fun ride with the small towns, hillsides, and tight curves as you ride up and down the mountain. Apart from the many stink bug hits, this was probably my favorite part of the day.

After a pit stop outside of Middletown, we moved on eastward on 40 before we came up to I-70 which we jumped on going east, just to get around Frederick. We got back off on the other side of town, this time hopping onto Rt. 144 which is a very familiar and enjoyable route for us. We rode through New Market and stopped for a break at a Baskin Robbins just on the other side of Rt. 75. As we were sitting at an outside table enjoying the weather and the ice cream, we saw two bikers pull in and park beside our bikes. Their helmets came off, and right away I recognized them from our days in Upwards Basketball. Bob had been Kenny's coach and his brother-in-law Bruce's son was on one of Kenny's teams at some point, too. I spoke to them as they walked up and after a few moments they remembered us. Bob's family is up visiting from Virginia Beach but Bruce and his family live nearby; Bruce is the pastor at Cornerstone Community Church here in Columbia. After we all finished with our goodies, Bob and Bruce joined up with us as we continued on Rt. 144 east until we came up to Rt. 32 where we turned towards Columbia and they broke off towards Granite.

What a great day for a ride! We put just over 170 miles on the bikes and really got to enjoy what turned out to be just about perfect riding weather. We were disappointed that we weren't able to get any miles in with the rest of the CMA group, but we had a great time with just the four of us (six for a while) riding through some beautiful areas of Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland.