50^th Anniversary Celebration Re-Cap and Thanks!

Our 50^th Anniversary Ride and Celebration held on June 2^nd was a big success and attended by many!

Boy oh boy, were we lucky with the weather?!  Just as WBAL had forecasted, rain didn’t come until later in the afternoon.  It was heart-warming to see so many riders show up on such an iffy-weather day and to see so many sporting old club jerseys.  We counted over 110 riders!

A special thanks to my Co-Chair, Patrick “Pat” Lapensee for all the time and work that went into his delicious smoked salmon, pork and brisket, and planning an amazing feast for all of us.  We got a chuckle when he arrived early in the morning with lots of smoke billowing from his smoker on the back of his pick-up truck.  (It was a sight—you had to be there.)  Pat was very helpful in planning the event and never lost his optimism in the midst of unchartered water, for which I was very grateful.

 A big thanks to all of our volunteers!  An event of this scope and size couldn’t have been done without them.

Nabil Ali, Gary Brandon, Rich Burns, Ed Cahill, Bob Carson, Ross Chason, Gloria Epstein, Steve Feldman, Tom Graham, John Isaacs, Bob McLewee, Barry and Mary Menne, Wendy Moskowitz, Gordon Peltz, Renee Rees, Walt and Carol Russell, Mary Ryan, Becky Smith, Gene Young (MVP of the day), Steve Zeldin and Mary Zemel.

We are grateful to St. John’s Church, Western Run Parish, on Butler Road for allowing us to host our event on its beautiful grounds, and to Reverend Joe Cochran who gave us a beautiful prayer at the start of our first riders.

Special attendees were Hall of Famers:  Bob Carson, Mary Menne, Evie Reinsel and Al Sinsky and Bob Willasch.  We had a nice showing by Baltimore Youth Cycling (a group supported by BBC’s small grant program) and enjoyed seeing many junior racers, their parents and coaches, which included the grandson of one of our club’s founding fathers, Wayne Rodgers.  Wayne’s grandson, Brydon, did him proud by being one of the first to arrive with his dad and doing the hardest and fastest ride of the day, the 50-miler.

Here’s to 50 amazing years of our wonderful BBC and here’s to the next 50 years and a new generation of riders!

Mary Ellen McLewee