Didn't see this last Friday. Hope you got my email, if not I whacked my knee w/ a 2 lb. maul while busting up cemented fence post. Ended up icing down my knee Saturday night. My wife was bummed that we didn't make the ride. She had costume and all. Did you ride? If so how was it. I was really looking forward to it. Missed cyclovia as well.

Nice rides and pixs. I liked the picture of the brick barn, fancy. No riding for me this wknd, I'm living vicariously through your post Isaias. Thanks for posting.

Charlie, I did get your email. Very sorry about your knee. I would've loved the company of you and your wife. David Hoskins stopped by the frame shop on saturday and I mentioned that I was headed down to the ride after work. He left the shop, went out and assembled a great looking leprechaun outfit and was ready at 6pm at the start. I mounted a silly mask to my helmet using my two Planet Bike lights as the eyes. I'd guess about 25 riders total and everyone was very civil. The route was fine and we did get a lot of cheers from the locals. Getting into Patterson Park was nuts because of the lantern parade. Half the group stayed there with Nate and half rode with me back to city hall.

I woke up the next morning at the break of noon with a full symptom hangover. I'd stayed a few drinks too long at a friends party. I threw on some clothes and made a very queasy ride up to Roland ave for the last 45 minutes of ciclovia. It's always nice to see a street closed to auto traffic, but ciclovia just doesn't have much passion to it. (the hangover didn't help my judgements though) By the time we left I was ranting that the very people who double park on the bike lanes to get their lattes at Starbucks are the people who organize this event. Teresa got me out of there before I got punched by some upmarket Gilman graduate. :twitchy:


+1 :thumb:
Been doing that for years.

BTW, I finally logged all my weekend riding last night. October mileage: 998

@ Charlie, sorry to hear about the knee.

@ Bob, good job. Just 655/month to finish at 10k!

Btw, my company is making it painfully obvious that other than bike parking, they really aren't supporting the needs of bike commuters at the new facility. The big thing on my list is that there is no way to ensure that bike clothes are dry before having to go out into the elements again. They've banned ceramic heaters. In the winter, this could be devastating.

I live vicariously through you too! Going to be fun watching yo get 10K for the year. 650/month seems small for you unless the weather turns.

longer commute and no way to dry stuff!!! What about a fan? I would wear wool if this is the case. Still keeps you warm when it's wet. I started wearing thin wool LS shirts this season(always wore wool sweaters). I get away with wearing the tops for a few days so less wash compared to the old poly tops that stink after 1 ride.

+1 for Chuck & Crista training rides. Very scenic routes, and plenty of nice folks.

<< smacks forehead >> Ummmm, yeah, I knew that! :o Without looking at it too closely yet, seems like the most logical spot for me to joint the route would be near Patapsco Valley State Park.

Charlie, I hope your knee recovers soon!

NR -- :( on the new commuting situation. We have power issues at work, too, and we're not supposed to plug in new electrical devices without approval (which is a big hassle to get.) My office is ice-cold almost all the time, and we do have a very small space heater, but it's not the sort that would help my clothes dry. I usually won't ride on days that I know I'm going to get drenched on the way in; wet clothes are never fun, but as you point out, in the winter they can be downright dangerous. I wish I could wear wool, but I can't (except, oddly, for socks); I get itchy just thinking about it! :twitchy:

Did you do their Sunday ride from Rockville?

Yeah... I'll "play it by ear" and adapt (as usual) to the new regime.

yep. Not much of a turnout, but a great route.
Have fun on Saturday?

Yes. I just took it easy until the end, because I knew that I would need something left in the engine room for the climb back up to Gathland State Park. Of those who did the entire route, I finished back at the monument first.

Btw, my company is making it painfully obvious that other than bike parking, they really aren't supporting the needs of bike commuters at the new facility. The big thing on my list is that there is no way to ensure that bike clothes are dry before having to go out into the elements again. They've banned ceramic heaters. In the winter, this could be devastating.[/QUOTE]

I have mine under my desk....

sounds like fun! I heared it was a pretty trecherous ride... and Crista complained all day about how sore her legs were ^-^

anyone having issues with the baltimore bike club website? I can't log in or access the cue sheet library anymore...

Very frequently, one thing I have noticed is when I log in I always get an error, if I ignore it, things generally work, if I attempt to correct, I am locked out of member privileges for the day.

Greetings everybody: Gotta get use to lots of recent changes. The time change, yuk. Now arriving at sunrise but biking home in pitch black. I swapped out the pedals, back to flats so I can wear warmer shoes. It really feels strange w/out clip-less.
Bikes @ or on MARC: More and more MARC commuters are biking. Rode home yesterday and talked to a young fixie guy that lives in B-more. He uses 2 bikes and the train to College Park. I also see numerous folding bikes on a daily basis on the train. And this morning a woman got off at my stop w/ a helmet. She just started riding to work from the train. She also inquired bout the lockers. This makes at least 5 cyclist at my stop. Lat year there might have been 2 on a busy day. These last few months have been the busiest for bicyclist on MARC in the 10 years I have taken MARC. Finally!!

sorry double post, BF is SLOW this AM

Nice to hear Charlie. I have also been seeing more bike action on the Baltimore half of my commute. As soon as I get past Pikesville though, there is no one on a bike. I could count on one hand the number of bike commuters I've seen in the Owings Mills area in the last year. It's still desolate out here.

I rode a Balt Biking Club ride yesterday. Just me and one other rider. (hell, the leader showed up then decided not to ride even ride :notamused:) Super windy. There were a couple sections that had that dream-like feeling when you are pushing as hard as you can and you are moving so slow you feel like the air is gelatin.

Tonight, I'll be putting together the cue sheet for this Sunday's Pancake Interception ride. :)

Point me to a copy once done. I need to split it up into Garmin 500-sized pieces.

The Baltimore Biking Club's Century Ramble this sunday has two cue sheets to choose from.
The "paved" route is about a mile longer than the unpaved.
cue sheet is here: Paved Cue Sheet

The "unpaved" route is peppered with some scenic unpaved roads that are about as rough as the NCR trail- fine for any durable tires 25mm or wider.
cue for unpaved is here: Un-Paved Cue Sheet

Read the Details about the ride here http://randoramble.posterous.com
PLEASE NOTE EARLIER START TIME OF 7:30AM

A belated thank-you to Isaias for his military service. Wasn't on yesterday so couldn't thank you then. :thumb:

I had posted a few weeks ago about magicshine 900 lumen light system. Apparently they have some issues with their battery pack. Geoman stopped selling them due to this factor. Mine is working fine but time will tell.

GB ride looks very tempting.

Have any Baltimore bike commuters noticed the new paint job "extending" the Jones Falls trail down East Lanvale to Guilford? It's pretty nice because bikers can now ride two ways on that one-way street. HOWEVER, the city hasn't put up No Parking signs between Charles and Maryland. I haven't talked to Nate Evans yet, but I am a little perturbed about that oversight on the city's part. Cars are just parking right over the lane.

I will snap a photo tomorrow of all the Penn Station commuters who just park right over the bike lane... Grr...

It'd be great to spend the day riding with ya Charlie.

I've heard about this little "problem" from a couple sources. Here's a photo from Cyclosity: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lpq/516...n/photostream/

If you don't already have an account, you may want to consider joining:

http://baltimore.mybikelane.com/

...and posting pictures of the offending vehicles including license plate numbers there.

DITTO!

C'mon out, ya big lug!

I gotta remember to bring a bike lock- the Mt. Washington Tavern is right next to the finish. Go figure :innocent:

BTW isn't that Barry's hood? (hint, hint)

GB, @ what time do you think the Ramble group will be pulling in to Union Bridge? I'm thinking of using part of your route, probably from Henryton Road near Patapsco, and meeting up with everyone for pancakes. (Not sure yet where I would start from; from my house would be a century ride, but I've been nursing an injured foot for a while now, and I'm not sure I'll be up for 100 miles through unfamiliar territory this Sunday.)

That's great to hear Max. I would guess we'll arrive somewhere between 10:30 and 11AM

I'm still in MD till the end of the month. Been busy taking care of tons of odds and ends and haven't done a whole lot of riding over 20 miles but if you want I guess I can come out and play. Do you have a map of the route?

You ask, you receive. http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/468931
We will likely keep a fairly steady 15 mph on the way out of town so that we don't miss the pancakes in Union Bridge.
We could give you a call as we're getting back into town and maybe you could meet us at the tavern afterwards. :)