Washington County Getaway - 2025

I would like to report on the Washington County Getaway Event held
October 17,18, and 19 in Hagerstown, Maryland where all rides started at Washington County Regional Park. The sky was clear blue for most of the weekend, with the air in the AM being crisp but complemented by the
emerging color changes of the leaves. It was a scenic delight to
experience the Hagerstown Valley to say the least.

There were 6 available routes with a range of mileage, and elevation
commensurate with distance (29 mi., 31 mi., 41 mi., 43 mi., 49 mi. and 63 mi.) We had 18 registered attendees who enjoyed excellent riding weather for Friday and Saturday. The last day, Sunday, while mostly sunny, was reported as windy if you were riding a northern route. The most popular route went through Boonsboro, Sharpsburg and Antietam for a distance of 49 miles and 3,700 ft of elevation per my Garmin device (vs the 2,244 ft listed on ridewithgps.com). Trust me, by all accounts the elevation felt closer to 3,700 ft. Another popular ride, “Where are the Goldfish”, took us to the Misty Meadow Creamery for delicious farm-made ice cream. I must say the ice cream was superb, the goldfish population in the canal not so much. The riders closed out the day with evening group dinners at Dolce - Eastern European Restaurant on Friday, and Schula’s Grill & Crab House on Saturday.

Multi-day events require the efforts of a few dedicated individuals. In this
regard I would like to thank Steve Zeldin for expertly managing the
ridewithgps digital event route listing and Ellen Hochman for creating
customized cue sheets for distribution at the event. Additionally, Ellen, Phil Reed, and Bill Gary took time away to drive the routes in advance to
assure route integrity. We were also lucky to have Rich Burns join us for
both dinners. I must add this note because without Rich’s considerable
efforts in the past we would not have the creative routes to choose from
for our event. One last note, one BBC member had the audacity to appear at dinner wearing a Tricorne Colonial Hat as an homage to George Washington. We are still trying to locate this clown.