Hey all: Check out Ben Sollee group. Today they are headed up Rt40 to HdG for a 2 night gig. Their sound is unique and very enjoyable. The drummer is carrying 160 lbs of gear: equip110lb, trailer 15lb, bike 25lb!!! Good time last night. St. Johns,(w/red emma) AKA2640, is a cool place to hear music.

Roughly how large was the crowd last night?

Anyone up for a 110 mile day (Saturday) starting from Elkton?

http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=176557

Then, there's the Indian Head 100 on Sunday.

about 50 people

family wedding, no can do. should be a nice day for a ride or wedding.

about 50 people

family wedding, no can do. should be a nice day for a ride and wedding

I counter cyclist yesterday @ Guilford and Mt Royal. There were about 60 cyclist during the 2 hour commute.

Fixed.

Cool!

Nice ride! This was your Saturday ride, true?
Sorry, NR. I am guessing I screwed up your Sunday plans a bit with my indecisiveness about going to Indian Head.

There was a lot of rain forcast for Sunday, and I was having terrible problems with the drive train on the COHO. I called Jeff to tell him that Harry had (quite reasonably) planned to not ride on Sunday. Jeff was undeterred and suggested we go in his truck. So... I changed my mind. I put the old chain back on and was pleasantly surprised that the bike was shifting pretty well. I met Jeff at 5:30AM in the rain the next morning. By 6:30 while passing Washington DC on 295 the rain was a deluge. Jeff and I were wondering whether this plan was a smart idea, but we kept driving arriving at the ride start at 7. The rain had tapered quite a bit, but was still coming down. We prepped for the ride slowly still gauging the weather. By 7:45 it was down to a heavy mist and the radar was looking favorable. We started at 8AM along with a very staggered and much reduced group of riders. (I'd guess that there were maybe 100-150 total ridership)

The first half of the day was wet. No actual rain, but mist and wet roads the whole time. That created an equation for witnessing a couple of skidding crashes and numerous flats. I got one flat early on. As I was remounting my tire a woman (who was not too adept at tire changing) rolled up behind us with a hissing tire. I helped her fix her flat, hoping that I might gain some karma points that would keep away more flats. It worked. Jeff got two flats before the day was done and we saw many changing tubes along the way. There are many miles of beautiful very low traffic roads on this route connected together by stretches of MD rte. 6, a road with quick traffic and a large shoulder. This shoulder is where most of the glass was. Unfortunately, riding in the traffic lane (which I attempted several times) was quickly met with honking and gesturing from drivers. harumpf.
The food was great- egg mcmuffins at the first stop, tomato sandwiches and fresh fruit. By the second half of the day the roads began to dry a bit although the views were not as majestic because of the still cloudy skies. The volunteers were helpful and upbeat and the cue and road markings were flawless.

After getting back to the truck, cleaning up and packing up we went over to the post ride picnic. Hotdogs and cookies. The sky was bright blue with just a few fluffy white clouds. :rolleyes:

^^^^
Yes, my ride was from Saturday.

I didn't see your change of plan to do Indian Head in time to react, Bob... sorry. Probably for the best, for me. I needed to make sure no salt water was left in my bearings (wheels and bottom bracket), so while it was raining here in B'more, I checked everything out. The wheels were in great shape. I don't know what type of lube Shimano uses on it's bearings and axles, but there was zero sludge in them.

The bottom bracket uses ceramic balls, but there was some sludge (salt water and bearing grease) around the seals, so I took the bearings out of the cups and did what I could with them without pulling off the seals (repack next time). Satisfied with their functionality after soaking them for a short period in WD40, I reinstalled them. They felt great this morning--better than on Saturday, in fact. (or maybe it was just the lack of wind this morning)

Nate Evans, the bike planner for Baltimore, has set up a forum for those to discuss issues for the bmore cyclists. Thought it might be of interest to some here. Granted it will probably not be as much fun as BF, but at least you voice may be heard by someone who is in our city’s govt. http://www.bikebaltimore.org/forums/

Hey folks: the family wedding is over, licking our wounds. The last visiting family is now on the plane. I finally got back on a bike for this AMs commute, chilly. Seems long sleeves are in order for tomorrow.

@NR: did I read your post right, WD-40 used to soak(clean) sealed bearings? I gotta think that that will break down the grease inside, no???

@ fluff: I was just there but got logged out when I posted. Happens here all of the times as well as BBC. I'm starting to get an inferiority complex.

@ all: There's a "Cycling for Cities" presentation @ U of B 7PM, Sept 30th. I plan to go.

http://www.bikebaltimore.org/cities-...ing-road-show/

balto charlie I haven't posted anything there yet, just joined yesterday. Last time I looked, we are 9 members strong.

Looks like that middle finger is raised just ever so slightly.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcn7/4965800513/

10 :)

They weren't submerged. The hope was to infuse just enough WD40 to force water out. Whether it worked or not is TBD. TBD when I finally decided to pull the seals out and repack them. Right now, they're running pretty good.

LOL! That must've been subconscious.

Wait a minute! I remember that time. I wasn't disturbed about anything that moment, so I wouldn't have flipped her off.

I'M INNOCENT... YA HEAR... INNOCENT, I TELL YOU!

Hey GB, glad you guys did the ride. I have to be honest and say that I'm glad that I didn't. Probably would have but after Saturday's effort I wasn't up for the rain, and particularly the long ride down, sorry again to bail. On Saturday at the CWC my avg speed fell to 15.5 and like the Bay Country I rode like a man possessed to get back to 16. It was fun though and felt great! Other than that I'm getting pretty good at just enjoying the long rides, not looking at the mileage. Totally addicted to my 20 mile morning rides, 6am every morning-pretty much.

No prob. But I am missing my Harry-time for this year. Maybe a monday ride sometime in Oct would be nice.

I'm sure we've got a lot more warm weather left in the year, but these last few mornings have been distinctly fall-like. brrrrr

He heh-yah there has been a nip in the air. Put my arm warmers on yesterday and today. Getting way darker, totally blinded by highbeams on Hillside. I have my front strobe and Dinotte rear but nothing to protect against some BMW's halogen highbeams in your face. Still good ride, went up Bellona today, used to dread, now seems enjoyable.

GB-When's your next ramble? maybe I can get on that. And yes, Monday rides are always an option.

GB, did you see that Janet scheduled your Chesapeake Beach Ramble for the 25th?

I've been wearing the arm warmers all week in the morning, too. Shoe covers as well.

Just commented on a thread throwing my opinion around about studded tires (Marathon Winters). Holy hell! It's too early for this kind of talk!

It's not too cold, I'm loving it. Rather be chilled than sweating like a pig, as I did this entire summer. Did wear the long sleeves this AM. I just bought a couple of thin merino wool tops for cheap. They were perfect for this AMs commute. Can't find 1 of my Fenix lights. Used it this summer camping in ME. Might be time to see what's new this year.

Interesting election results. Ferguson beating Della was wild. I met Ferguson during the Latino festival Patterson this summer. He was impressive and well organized. He might make a difference. Big on schools with a strong young grass roots organization.

I thought GB said he was taking a break on the Rando rides this month. Maybe he's "hooked". He can't stay away from his enduring(which definition do I mean) fans:-)

Those of you interested in MD's Trail "network" and upcoming summit I've got a start of an interesting debate going on: http://www.baltimorespokes.org/artic...00912172914173

Is anyone going?

Yup. Janet asked me first and I'm happy she's doing it. Mike Harris is leading a century in October too. I'll probably plug their rides on the ramble. Looking forward to good weather and good riding this Sunday. -GB

(Hey!, I just beat my 2008 mileage)

Nice! Not too much further to beat 2009.

I started using Garmin Connect to track my mileage as a "goal". I set the goal for 1,250 miles per month for the rest of the year.

http://twitpic.com/show/full/2p8ig5.png

I'm not going. $50.00 is a bit steep, especially for volunteers
Permission to use your route?? Is there a procedure one follows when leading a ride that another cyclist originated? Not complaining, just curious.

high miles boys. NR going for 15K and GB going for 10K???

A quick question to those of you that wear a cap under your helmet. Do you remove the helmet pads? My helmet just fits my head(big head for all of my brains)but can only fit a thin balaclava under it. No way can I fit a cap. I was thinking of trying a cap to absorb the sweat. Do they do a good job absorbing it?

Yup. I'm after 10k. I'm about 200 miles over pace for it which is a tiny buffer. I wish I was closer to 500 over pace. If I can hit 10,000 then I'll quit counting miles.

and Janet riding my ride: it is a little strange. no one has ever asked to "offer" my ride on another date. I suppose I should take it as flattering that Janet would even want to. these routes are personal to me, but most of them are using pieces of other's rides and routing suggestions by NR and other riders. Also I am always tweaking the route after I talk to those who have ridden it. It's very much a public product in the end.

I take most of the pads out of my helmet for that reason. I use a cap all the time. either a cycling cap or a coolmax head sweat knit hat. I like the head sweat for most weather. but these days I like the cycling cap when it's super hot. all hats IMO will become saturated during very heavy sweating. when I wear a cycling cap, I find that the brim gets soaked and then water drips off the front edge instead of running down my face and into my eyes.

I will voice my opinion that I think ALL helmet straps suck. every fall and spring I get annoyed trying to adjust the length of the straps to accommodate a warm hat or not. way too difficult to do with every helmet strap I've ever seen.

@charlie - Yup, 15k. I never count. The computer does that for me. :D

@GB - I think Janet is just trying to get out of driving all of the way to Crofton to do her ride to Chesapeake Beach. She does your ride, gets out of driving all that way, and gets some more miles in. Win/win.