Route: The route will center around the roads of Upper Montgomery County and Sugarloaf Mountain. We'll alternate between rural and secondary roads throughout the run. The pace of the run will be a casual cruise. I'll try to keep a just a few miles above the speed limit towards the front of the pack. New members and/or those wanting a casual pace are encouraged to head to the front of the line. As we know, the back of the pack is faster and more spirited at times so those wishing for a quicker pace should hang to the back.
Route Ratings:
(1 to 10 scale, 10 being tops)
Speed: 5/10 - The roads change from 35mph backroads to 45mph secondary roads in residential areas. I don't anticipate going too much above the accepted local speeds.
Curves: 7/10 - We have a good amount of curves...slow, but fun. 
Vertical Change: 7/10 - We hit Sugarloaf Mountain and the surrounding roads.
Road Conditions: 4/10 - We alternate between rural backroads and smoother secondary roads. But some of the rural roads do have potholes, patches and a rough texture. No gravel or dirt road, though.
Flow: 9/10 - Only one hard left and only one traffic light (that we make a right on). There aren't any good pull over catch up points so we tried to design a route that will flow easily.
Scenery: 6/10 - The view on Sugarloaf is spectacular. The rest of the roads go through horse farm country with some deep woods thrown in.
(these rating are just my (mrmellowyellow's) opinion. i tried to determine my ratings based off the other runs i've been on.)
- First Section/Start (10:00am to 11:00am):
The initial roads will be mainly rural backroads. Start will either be at Black Hill
Regional Park or at the Germantown Soccer Complex.
- Break (11:00am to 11:30am):
We'll break on top of Sugarloaf Mountain. Warning, we're in a rural area so we'll
have only the woods and two port-a-potties to choose from!
- Second Section (11:30pm to 12:30pm)
The second half of the route will be a little quicker and consist of mainly
secondary roads with some rural roads mixed in.
- End (arrive between 12:30pm and 1:00pm)
Black Hill Regional Park, Shelter "C".
Directions:
To Black Hill Regional Park:
- Take 270 to the Ridge Road exit in Germantown, Exit 16.
- LEFT at light onto North 355.
- LEFT onto Old West Baltimore Road
- LEFT into the park on Lake Ridge Drive
- Our shelter is Shelter "C"...it's on the left off the main road.
***Note: The start of the route may change and will be updated here.***
Our Goal: We've had lots of great smaller events this year but it's time to have that ONE BIG event that all DCMMers should try to attend. Let's start the tradition of a summer kickoff picnic with this event. With a good turnout, we can continue this picnic and expand it in the future to other locations. Next year it's Virginia's turn to host. Any VA members wishing to take the torch and lead next year's picnic should contact a DCMM event coordinator.
Stay tuned for updates. We're still working hard on putting this together but we wanted to let everyone know about this event so that you all could put it on your calendar.
Hope to see everyone there!
