I kicked off the new month with a 39 mile ride yesterday (Sunday). There is a state park in Charles County, MD which is home to a community art center. We visit the park often during rides and use the area near the art center as a rest stop on our annual club century. They had a reception yesterday for a new show of works highlighting scenes within the county, and a few bike club members had contributed paintings. Two club members planned a short ride to the art center reception where they planned to present a donation (part of the proceeds of our most recent century) as well as a painting of the center done by one of our charter members. So, I planned a longer ride that started earlier but ended up at the art center at the time of the presentation. A couple of club members joined me, including the treasurer who was bringing the donation check. The three of us had a nice, leisurely ride with much pleasant conversation...until we realized we had lost track of time and were still 10 miles from the art center with only a half hour to get there. Fortunately the roads left to travel were flat. We turned up the pace and arrived just in time.

The art on display was mostly paintings and photographs, plus some amazing wood carvings of birds. It depicted places I'd been to as well as some I'd never heard of but looked worthy of a visit. One of the people on my ride bought two paintings.

It was a beautiful day, a bit cool in the shade but very warm in the sun. The sky and the river near the state park were beautiful shades of blue. (I really need to delete some old photos from my account on this site so I can share some of my ride photos.)