Greetings: I grew up in Utah. Moved here 40 years ago. I'm still not use to the humidity. Weather out west is the best there is in the US, period! Sorry to inform you of that. I can handle the heat w/ no problem but when the humidity gets near the temps(95F-95RH) I start to wilt. I will say biking is still decent in those temps. Evaporative cooling on a bike ride is good especially if you wear the correct shirts and don't stop:D . Cotton will not cool as much as nylon type shirts. Sweat in the eyes kinda sucks.
The Waldorf area is a great cycling area. Roads are mostly flat to gently rolling. Many of the roads have little traffic. Some roads have bad rush hour traffic but bikers know the sneak routes.
Buses in dc and "some" surrounding areas have racks, all metro stations have bike racks or lockers, folding bikes w/ bags allowed on DC metro at rush hour, bikes (non folding) allowed on at other times, MARC(Balto to DC) allow folding bikes(no bag) only, racks are at most stations some have lockers, buses in balto do not have racks but that doesn't matter as they have a poor reputation for being on time. Waldorf probably doesn't even have a bus. In short: DC great subway system, fair bus system, Balto small subway(1 line), 1 light rail, bad bus system, MARC train is ok. I don't know waldorf but a safe bet is a poor mass transit system because it's in the suburbs. Might find an express bus to DC??
I hope you enjoy this area, it's been good to me. I still go west and often think about retiring out there.
Charlie

PS Don looks like a nice ride. Did you eat crabs? I haven't had any thisyear:( Weather has been superb!!! I was in West Va this wknd. Actually had a camp fire to stay warm....in July!
Barry and James enjoy the zoo....I mean 4th of July in DC. Ireland is a feature in the folklife festival. Should be nice I'll probably go down after the crowds have thinned.

I agree. I do have to say I stay away from the monroe st. and fulton ave section of Baltimore. I'll ride early but not late. I've had a few hassles on Frederick rd in this area. Nothing I couldn't handle but someone not use to the streets would have freaked out. In fact it happened 3x's on one ride. It was early evening when this occurred.

Is that paradise in Catonsville?? That's my hood. Howdy. Charlie

After rereading what I wrote I felt I need to clarify that by “some” I mean a few. And more specifically I have had some really nasty experiences in the White Marsh area.

No crabs yesterday, but I have had them twice this year so far with fair results. The crabs looked good yesterday, but I wasn't sure if they were still LA crabs or MD crabs. Prices are still outrageous though.

Good place for a MD BF get together. Hint Hint :)

Is there any other? :)

Howdy Charlie.



Until a few years ago, I used to commute daily from Paradise to University of Maryland downtown. Only about 7.5 miles each way. Fun, fun.

I had a job in Dundalk-- did that ride, too, but not daily.

Peaceout,
Onan

wow you must live very close to me because paradise is tiny. We are building a rail trail to the beltway near Charlestown community center. Trail is open for walking, needs a harder surface for biking. We pulled out the rails(sold 'em for $$), picked up the trash(people are pigs) and cut out the branches/trees and such. Hope the politicians will allows us a bridge over the beltway. That is our next push. Commuting to Dundalk is tough. I have a hard time figuring out the east side roads. I'll be going over there(Chase, md) on the 4th of July for a family party. I'll probably miss the Catonsville fireworks. They have the best in this area. Better than the Inner Harbor. If anyone is looking for great fireworks this holiday try out the Catonsville. Charlie

I also love Galesville. I used to keep my boat in Deale and Galesville was a favorite destination in both boat and car. The car was for going to dinner there. Pirates Cove is an excellent place to eat. I also often make Galesville part of my ride. That part of the country is some of the best riding anywhere.

Right now I'm down in Solomons. Maybe somebody wants to organize a ride around Galesville, Rose Haven, Shadyside, etc. one weekend. If so, count me in.

I have lots of queue sheets of various rides from Davidsonville Park&Ride to Chesapeake Beach or Galesville that take in a lot of nice scenery and will offer around 3,000 to 4,000 feet of climbing as well over gently rolling hills and a few short steep ones too. These rides could be modified to start from just about anywhere along Rt. 2

Cheers

Possible "impulse" ride tomorrow:

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path...d-via-Delaware

If I do it, I'll get some pics along the way, including fireworks at OC.

NoRacer,
That's some ride. How long do you think it will take you to get to OC?

Totally awesome! It’s funny how the 20 mile detour around Conowingo Dam looks like nothing on this route. I assume you are going to do this in one shot, have fun! It does seem like once you're in Delaware you can just keep on going and going as there are so few hills to wear you down.

Yup, the only blip on the elevation profile is from the climb up Bainbridge Rd on the east side of Port Deposit. Other than that, it's very flat.

I'm hoping the roads that I chose let me continue to cruise for quite a while until having to stop for traffic control devices.

My only worry is where to sleep. I'm on my commuter/racer and I'm trying to travel as light as possible--no camping gear here. I only plan on bringing some shorts, a couple of t-shirts, and water shoes to change into as I bum around OC. I'll rinse the kit out in one of the public restrooms or under one of the showers that rarely appear along the beach.

Any suggestions?

Why the detour? Is there no way across the river around the HavreDeGrace area?

No bikes or peds are allowed on the Hatem Bridge. You can, for a fee, be driven across.

Anyone actually ride on the road in Allegany County? I grew up there and when I go home to visit I would like to be able to ride, but I'm thinking my bike and its skinny tires can't handle the tow path.

The elevation profile is wrong no way you are at 0 most of the way.

Suggestions on where to sleep:
http://www.warmshowers.org/

I see one host 20 miles from Ocean City, it's on your way back home so not that bad.

I bet there are some great TR from yesterdays wild weather. I did a 60 miler to a party in Chase/Essex yesterday. Rather uneventful....glad I had a ride home tho'. Here's the round-about route
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1108688

I also rode to a cookout yesterday. I took a route down towards Annapolis and then back north through Severna Park using the B&A trail to get to my 4th of July cookout. Although not as far as Charlie, I got in another 30miles. It was nice, I ran into a few cyclists from the Naval Academy along Generals Highway and rode with them back to the Academy before I peeled off over the Severn River Bridge to get the trail. I was happy that an old fat guy like me could ride with a group of youngin's.

Link to don's 4th of July ride

Hopefully NoRacer survived his trip, we are all at the edge of our seats waiting for his ride report.

James, a friend of his and myself took off for the DC fireworks. With tornado warnings they were getting everyone off the streets into shelters and we got stuck in the Jefferson Memorial for over and hour but when we came out the sun was shining and it was a great day for fireworks. At the mall we met up with more John Hopkins students The DC display was awesome and leaving by bike was so cool. They closed off a lot of roads and some were only open to pedestrians and cyclists. So we became a part of this parade of blinky lights heading off for the Capital Crescent Trail amongst standing still traffic. Dianne was our host that evening and she even offered some beer which was very welcomed after the day’s long ride (~70 miles.)

The next day we got off to a late start and had breakfast and it decided to rain while we were inside eating. And when we went in for lunch it rained again. So we missed getting wet on this trip but our bikes didn’t.

I will also mention that James is really new to biking, with a bike purchase just this year and his longest ride before this was 28 miles. Totally awesome and everyone had a lot of fun (sans the sore bums.)

Our ride:
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path...o-DC-Fireworks

Awesome adventure Barry,

Sadly I was looking at my stats, and the last time I was on my bike was 6-17. This year started off ok but has truly sucked the last few months.

I did get some riding in yesterday. But not on the road. We took the kids to a park and I brought the mountain bike. A couple wrong turns and I doubled my distance. It was fun but I forgot how jarring Mtn biking is on the joints. Every climb feels like a huge grade too.

-D

Thank you so much Barry and Dianna! We had a great trip both yesterday and today. You're an excellent ride leader, and as such a novice biker, I'm very happy that you lead the trip! This trip is only just a start for me - I'm going to train up and hopefully increase my stamina, so I don't feel DEAD like I do right now, haha. Again, thank you for this amazing trip, and I hope to be riding with you again soon!

Satuday ride, 7/7/07
 

A few guys are getting together for a 50 miler through Howard and Carroll counties tomorrow. Leaving from Folly Quarter Middle School. Probably be a C+/B pace with no drops and relatively frequent regroups. Anyone looking to add some mileage should feel free to come and join us. Departing at 9am (but email me or check back here before you leave as there was some discussion about 10am...still waiting for them to clear that up for me).

Here is the proposed ride: http://www.routeslip.com/routes/49482

Mike

Charlie, I would like to encourage to post your routes on Bikely as we already have some great routes on there from other transportation cyclists and it would be cool if people searching for routes could find your stuff as well.

I found riding on the forth marvelous as few were out driving but I am curious how you found drivers attitudes on the east leg of your trip.

Below I pasted a link to a route I drew in Bikely of a proposed route to commute from my house to Andrews AFB where I work. I have driven the route now a few times and have noted some questionable areas that I have some concern. I was wondering if some of you guys might have some time to take a look at the route and see if anything jumps right out at you. I'm wanting to commute once a week on Fridays, which usually has less traffic to deal with. The problem areas are on Church rd., where it gets very tight and curvy with no berm to ride on. Another area is where I get closer to Andrews, the dump truck and industrial traffic gets a little heavier. There could also be some inherent issue with the native population near Andrews as well in some nearby areas. I don't know if this is a valid assumption or not.
I plan to post this in the Commute forum also, but figured I try here in our MD section since it is relavant to the area.

Commute to work route

I know I should but I'm old and forget. I got use Gmap-ped and am a little stuck. I do have a bikely account and have posted a few rides. I wish folks would make up better names for their rides on Bikely. A ride with the title 'commute' is worthless. My route on the 4th, while decent was not ideal. I discovered that riding on the smaller roads means less traffic but serious hills. I know that area has hills but it was preety bad. I eventually road on larger streets and the hills became a little less intense. I still seeks the "ideal" west-east route in N. balto. I'll probably end up in PA:eek:
Riding on the 4th was great, no cars. As I neared the end of my ride, tired of powerbars etc I could smell folks cooking on the grill. Really gave me a rush and spurred me on. The car traffic was a little rougher on the eastern side of town but still good, folks must have been eating. Ebeneezer, earles, Fork, Sunshine, Baldwin, Red Lion roads were excellent, Philadelphia was a little sketch but was only on it for about a 1/2 mile. I bet No Racer rides these roads as they seem biker friendly.

Don H: If you don't get a response about your commute(it's friggin long!!) try this group.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BikeWashingtonDC/
I'm fairly certain they have folks that ride that region. If that fails drop me an email and I (kinda) know a bike advocate in that area that might be able to help.

James:: congrats on a very long ride for newish riders. 70 miles is a long ride

Derath: When my kids were young I always mnt biked. I found that mnt biking was the best bang for the buck. 2 hours and your spent. Then go home and enjoy the kids. Don't worry about the miles. I feel like they are 2 different sports. Kinda llike jogging vs. sprinting

QueenB: I rode on the c&O w/ 32's I wouldn't go much smaller. They were tough 32s to boot. 23s and you'll be fixing flats, and flats and flats. For other routes try Bikely. Might be some there....you will have hills, guaranteed
All right folks enough of my mouth, Charlie

Frederick county ( Hi Dingster!) I'll be riding the Battle of North Valley's Hills at the end of the month and the CWC ins September why don't you all come out?

It took me 13 hours to get there fighting headwinds all the way. By the time I got there my ***** was sore and I was exhausted.

Coming home I had a tailwind in most cases--took under 12 hours.

Report and pics tomorrow.