Ditto, Harry!

On the road by 8:30am. Balto Co portion of Route 40 was fantastic. Harford Co not so much, especially north of Edgewood.

Made it with no incidents.

Harry I think I sent you an email. I have a new lab top that has a mind of its own. I was ready to press send and I think "off it went". Let me know if you got it.

@sonnetg: nice pics

ride was decent, lots of slush. going to be really cold tomorrow, low mid teens. Anything wet will be ice.

I had 17.6 degrees F on the Garmin.

I didn't change wheels, so I had studs on the front and knobs on the back--no problems negotiating large patches of ice.

One bike has studs the other doesn't, both did fine. Stud-less bike was a slower ride though as I encountered many patches of ice. The studded tire bike saw no ice. Go figure....as Harry said I'm ready for spring. Been a long(since Thanksgiving) cold winter. Never super cold just always cold.

NR: you run only 1 tire w/ studs! I thought both of yours had studs.

For yesterday, due to the unknown deepness of snow that I would encounter, I ran a knobby cyclocross tire on the rear. Good thing too, because on the way home, I forgot that the trail along Route 43 would not be cleared and it had anywhere from 1-5 inches of snow on top of a crust of ice, some of which was plowed crud flung up on to the trail by the snow plows. I had no problem "plowing" the bike through this stuff using the cross tire in the rear until I found a good place to get on to the road surface.

The studded tire in the front gave me good traction for steering, especially if there was ice at the base of the snow, and the knobs on the back gave me traction for pushing through the deeper stuff. I've had problems in deeper snow with the Schwalbe Marathon Winter tires in the rear, because it would spin due to lack of grabbing traction. Sometimes, if the snow is too deep, a knobby tire in the front is better, too. But, I knew that I had more of a chance running into ice, yesterday, than snow so I ran the studs in the front.

http://twitpic.com/show/full/42xuiy.png I used this configuration, except the front was a Marathon Winter tire.

link
 

Who makes the quicklinks? NR-I think you use something like that. Think they make for 10 speed chain and does Performance carry them?

Does anyone have any recommendations on this?
Also I wanted to give you guys a heads up that Bike Maryland has been looking into removing Contributory Negligence but decided to hold off for now. And Chief Justice Bell wants a study done on Contributory Negligence and Comparative Fault (the latter we support) and if possible change by court rule (since the legislature has failed to act.)

In reaction the legislature has introduce House Bill 1129 (simplified) to reaffirm Contributory Negligence so (majority of) at fault drivers who cause wrongful death have a defense so they do not have to pay any damages at all.

I have heard the possibility of this bill passing is low but there are other factors that have me concerned. Read more: http://www.baltimorespokes.org/artic...10223135459843

Squish, Squish, squish today. Gonna be a hoot w/ 60 mph winds on the return. At least it's warm

@Barry: I don't find that particular cloverleaf any more difficult than others. They all suck but this one is no worse. In fact I find the car volume to be less intimidating than 175 near I-95. Traffic really flies because the road gets much wider when one gets near 95. Rt 175 crossing 295 is the only way through in that area. Rt100 to the north and Rt32 to the south are much more intimidating than Rt175. It's the best you got. Must take the lane and hammer.

I'm hearing rumors that BC exec. K Kamenetz is not so keen on cyclist. Any take on this?

I hope to swap out bikes today and leave the studs behind....hopefully for the rest of the season.

I've used Wipperman 10-speed master links for years, now--easy to disassemble (for cleaning) and re-assemble. Performance usually carries them, but I'd call ahead to see if they actually have some in the store.

If you start using them, get two sets. Keep one set in your saddle pack, just in case.

Also, there is a specific orientation to these links. Read the user instructions.

Are there RTOLs leading into the clover?

I have somewhat of a similar situation that routinely tests my testicular fortitude at Route 40 and White Marsh Blvd. (See attachment)

Basically, it's 55 MPH through this stretch and I can take two courses of action of which neither is optimal:

1) [New bike rider would probably do this] Coming from the east, stay to the right of the RTOL at the intersection of Ebenezer and Pulaski Hwy risking a right-cross at the intersection, but if I don't get right-crossed there, I risk a right-cross for people turning into the Royal Farm store on the opposite corner of the intersection.

If I survive those two pinch points, then ride to the right of the RTOL and stop for traffic just before the incline that takes traffic to White Marsh Mall and cross the RTOL to get back on to the shoulder for Route 40 heading west.


2) [More experienced cyclist's method--well, my method] Move to the left of the RTOL, riding the solid line all of the way through the intersection to reach the shoulder that reappears as the RTOL inclines and bends over to guide traffic to White Marsh Mall. (shown in the attachment)


At one time, I've posted somewhere (can't remember where--maybe that map where we used to annotate Balto bike hazards) that this stretch needs to be dropped in speed to 45 MPH. Right now, it's still posted at 55 mph. A "pocket lane" drawn in with paint would help communicate that cyclists -are- suppose to be to the left of that very long RTOL.

All clover-leaf intersections on Route 40 would be worrisome--like at I-695.

Places with long RTOLs like at Route 43 (heading west), Route 152 Mountain/Magnolia Rd, at Route 24 (heading west @ 45 mph), at Rt 543 Riverside Pkwy (heading east) and Spesutia Rd are all high-speed and worrisome.

no studs! but the wind slowed me down more than the studs. Tough if you were heading NW.

NoRacer, thanks but my impression is the problem area in the middle of the cloverleaf where the road goes from two lanes with shoulders to 4 lanes with no shoulder. To make it wost it's on a bridge so extra width is not an option.

For Route 40 you can write Dustin Kuzan <DKuzan@sha.state.md.us> and request that the speed limit be lowered. You should be able to get it to at least 50mph (legal maximum for bike friendliness) feel free to cc me on the email.

Thanks, Barry. Funny that other areas of Pulaski Hwy have been toned down to 45 MPH (Route 40 through Edgewood /north down to about a mile from Route 152/, Route 24 Interchange, Route 40 through Aberdeen, Route 40 through Havre de Grace), but the same road through southern Edgewood at Route 152, through White Marsh and Joppatowne are still 55 MPH. Inconsistent.

I realized that it's almost daylight savings time. Time for me to get off the couch and start scheduling rides.

Upcoming Rambles:
Sunday, March 20th, 2011: In Search of Liberty. start: The conservatory at Druid Hill
Sunday, April 10th, 2011: On Again. Off Again. Hunt Valley to York, PA using short alternating portions of the NCR and surrounding roads.
Sunday, May 1st, 2011: Monument to Monument. Baltimore's Washington Monument to Washington DC's Monument and back.

Aw man I'm going to be riding home from the dart and the Middletown during in search of liberty and on again off again.

I think i might see you for monument to monument though!

Reminder Wen night: Cyclists' Gathering ...RE: Lets not let this slip by - make some noise! - Nathan Krasnopoler

Nathans ride went very well. We made the news, channel 13 and 45. One image on the news had Harry front and center. Also great aerial view of the ride from the chopper. Nice riding w/ GB, Dave H, Rod and Harry.

I couldn't find the Fox news broadcast, but here's the clip from Ch. 13
http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2011/0...pkins-student/

Coverage from the Baltimore Brew: http://www.baltimorebrew.com/2011/03...injured-biker/

ISO Liberty Rando-Ramble - 3/20/2011:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/74229857

Woke up ready to ride and was greeted with thunder. Nice start to my week off haha

Does anyone know how much of the Millennium Trail (in Rockville) is complete? I work near the corner of Shady Grove Rd and Darnestown Rd so I was thinking about checking this out but from what I read online the entire thing isn't complete yet.

Is there enough continuous trail to make it worth my while to bring a bike to work to ride it? If I'm bringing a bike- is my fixed gear or my hybrid more appropriate?

Well the actual millenium trail has been finished for a few years, all paved. Apparently they are trying to expand it to other areas and that is still under construction. I'm not really familiar with the area as per your original question, but if your talking about the original trail you can roller blade on it if you want.