The Human Car

The two very pro-female rider shops I know of:
Penny (the owner) does fittings at Light St. Cycles https://lightstcycles.com/ (Baltimore)
Proteus was also known to be good for female fittings but Jill sold the shop so I'm not sure if the tradition still holds (but it should) https://www.proteusbicycles.com/ (College Park)

CycleRail

On Sunday, I rode the Pancake Interception, a Rando Ramble ride up to Union Bridge, MD for an all you can eat pancake breakfast. The weather forecast had originally called for temperatures near 70 degrees and I had visions of me wearing shorts and donning shades. Not quite. I had laid out my clothes the night before, but at the last minute, I opted for pants instead of shorts.

Out the door by 6:30, I headed out to Starbucks in Mt. Washington. I was looking forward to coffee and a little breakfast before the big all you could eat breakfast. As I was locking my bike up, Jim introduced himself to me and I could see others rolling in. Not even 7:00 am and already a good turnout. I walked in and ordered a breakfast sandwich (which came really quickly) and a large coffee. Bob walked in a few minutes later and so did Dave; I could tell this was going to be a fun ride.
Now, I was excited about this trip for a several reasons (a) it was the debut of my Sackville “small” saddle bag, (b) the scenery was going to be beautiful, (c) the weather was going be mild and the fog was going to clear and (d) dirt roads.

My eagerness turned to anxiousness almost immediately. Riding up Cross Country Blvd., I could hear behind me a kind of scrape every few seconds. Isaias heard it too, and told me my new “small” saddle bag was scraping my rear wheel. Great. It must have looked pretty silly. No problem, I thought, I’ll just tighten the leather straps around the saddle loops to raise the bag up a bit. It took a couple of minutes to adjust, after which, I caught up to the rest of the group.
At this point I struck up a conversation with Dave. We had a few laughs.

Soon, we reached the first rest stop where the lead group (meaning everyone but me and Dave) was getting ready to take off. Our break was short. Ken and Matt hung back and decided to ride with us. We were now four. Matt had not been on a ramble before, but was ready to put his new Cross-Check to the test. We were all in good spirits. The terrain had been pretty easy so far. This can lead one to a false sense of security that the rest of the ride will be a piece a cake too. No. Henryton Road reminded me that I was going to have to work and that a challenge lies ahead. Bring it. We soldiered on. Before we knew it, we were on Sams Creek Rd. Curvy, hilly and partially paved, Sams Creek is a lot of fun to ride. Due to the wet and muddy conditions, we had to ride a bit more carefully than we would have liked. Nevertheless, the skies had begun to clear up a bit and we were looking forward to fairer weather.

When reached the firehouse around 11:30 or so, the lead group was finishing up their breakfast. I paid the fee and grabbed a tray. I was struck by how nice the volunteers were. I loaded myself with pancakes (which were especially good), sausage and scrambled eggs. Did I eat too much? I’ll find out.

After breakfast, Ken Matt, Dave and I got back on course. Within a few minutes we were riding on muddy roads. I could feel the bike slipping in the mud. It was wet, foggy and not 50 degrees. I had 60 so miles to go to get home, maybe four hours of daylight. While I had lights and reflective tape on the bike, I did not want to be riding in the dark in this soup. Our group was riding slowly. Decision time. Do I continue with riding with the group and possibly help a new rider, or do I move ahead and save myself?

I picked up the pace. Selfish. For the next 30 miles I rode alone. My goal was to reach the rest stop at Emory Rd. and meet up with the lead group. It seemed to be getting foggier and colder. The hills kept coming, which helped keep me warm. The air was so thick that every time I exhaled a plume of steam blew up in my face making visibility more difficult. There was even some snow on the ground. I felt like one of the horses in U2’s New Year’s Day video. My glasses fogged up, too. I tried to peer over them, but at one point I had to stop and wipe my glasses so I could make out the road sign for Coon Club Road. Glad I didn’t miss that turn. At this point, my saddle bag was dragging on my rear wheel again. Whenever I climbed a hill, the contents in the bag moved to the back and lowered the bag onto the wheel. Ugh. I would just have to deal with it when I got home. I was covered in mud and so was the bike and saddle bag. The mud was caked in my pedals which made it difficult to click in. But, the wool jersey did a great job of keeping the water off me.

I was relieved when I hit the rest stop at mile 79 and the lead group was still there. I felt good; no physical problems. I had time to chug a coke and a power bar before we took off for the final leg. I wanted more time to rest, but I was tired of riding alone. So, I left. It felt good to be part of a group again. I didn’t have to check the cue sheet much because I was familiar with the route out of Glyndon. I rode the final stretch back with Jim and Mike. It was still daylight when we reached Lake Ave. I was tired and ready to get inside. I ended up having a few beers with Bob at Alonzo’s and learned a few things. When I finally got home, my kids ran to the door to greet me, and my wife was in the kitchen frying homemade meatballs. Read the girls a bedtime story and hung out with my 8 mo. old. Perfect end to a great day in the saddle. Thanks all.

NoRacer

Great story, PJ. I'm going to link it in on my Facebook post of the ride from my Garmin Connect page.

greaterbrown

PJ, Definitely need to get you in for guest posting on the Ramble blog. Wonderful write up.
BTW: I think you may have omitted some important information about our ride leader.

Kfurman

PJ so glad to hear you caught up with the main group. We were a bit concerned. I understand your visibility issues/concerns. I got home at 6 and for the last 1/2 hr I had problems seeing with the drizzle back reflection. Big pain in the butt. Ken

NoRacer

Hey, Ken... Great to see you on Bikeforums.net!

CycleRail

Thanks, Ken. Glad you made it home safely.

CycleRail

Thanks Isaias. Great riding with ya!

CycleRail

Thanks GB! I'd be happy to do a guest post. Hope to see you on the next one.

balto charlie

The Rando ride sounds a tad sketchy to those with fair lights. When I woke Sunday I was surprised to see pea soup, thought about you guys then crawled back into bed to snuggle w/ the misses. It was a boxer shorts day for me. Eventually I rebuilt a lot of my sons damaged bike then took over to BBW for the finishing touches. Hope to catch y'all for the next one. I will be out of town in the middle of the month though. Nice write-up Peter.
Welcome to BF Ken.
So what happened to GB??

balto charlie

Damn chilly today. What happened to the 20s? We went from high 30s to teens. Wore most my winter wear today. Still have a few pieces for lower temps later in the week.

@Peter I might have seen you last night. Did you ride on Falls up to Hampden around 7PM Monday night? I was driving in the opposite direction. I saw about 6 cyclist driving around that area.

Stay warm friends.

CycleRail

That was me. I was riding home from the station. Were you driving your truck? I think you were making a left onto Falls from Roland. I didn't put 2 and 2 together at the time. I wore leather gloves over wool ones and that did a pretty good job of blocking out the cold this morning. Wish I brough my balaclava, though.

balto charlie

I was the truck. I used my mountaineering gloves with thick wool(Dacshtein wool) liners. Clumsy as he!! but kept my fingers in good shape. I also used a balaclava AND wool hat. Actually sweated on the way home. Whoa! Yesterday seemed balmy compared to today. 10F!! Will we hit single digits this week?? Doubt I will sweat tonight.

maxine

The wind was howling yesterday morning, though -- didn't seem as bad this morning, though I think the forecast is still for fairly stiff/gusty winds today.

This week I started working back at my old (and much more bike-commuting-friendly) location, and I was mentally psyched up to be riding to work again . . . until I got an eyeful of the weather forecasts. My commute takes about 45-50 minutes, and I really don't have adequate cycling gear/clothing for 20 degrees with 20-25 mph with gusts to 35. I am totally wimping out this week!! Next week is looking milder (fingers crossed.)

Hats off to all you hard-core commuters!! Just walking from my car to the building yesterday, it felt like someone was slamming a hammer into my forehead.

balto charlie

The wind was tough yesterday. Glad you have a better commute. It is hard re-starting commuting in this weather. Must gradually get into it.

Dachstein, pricey but makes riding in this weather doable. With a windbreaker over it you're snug as a bug. You can score the Austrian military surplus version (new)for much cheaper($50.00). My stuff is ancient, will take me to the grave. I've been pushing this stuff for ages. If you have spare coins the new premo stuff is linked below.
https://www.bradleyalpinist.com/dachstein.html

maxine

I'll have to check that out. I usually have issues with wool, though -- I can tolerate (most) wool socks, but otherwise I've found it to be pretty uncomfortable when it's next to my skin. A lot of people say that the "modern" wool products aren't so itch-inducing; sometimes I'm tempted to try some, but they tend to be pretty expensive for experimentation . . .

beaglepgh

Glad to see the Rando Ramble riders are on bikeforums. It was nice meeting all of you and riding with you for the January ride. It was my first and I had such a good time it won't be my last.

Daniel

balto charlie

Sketchy commute this AM. After teasing Bob about his ice crash last week(didn't use studded tires), I found myself at my bike locker, sleet and ice everywhere but a bike w/ no studded tires. Had to ride, but very slowly. Sidewalks, parking lots were avoided and stuck to the main roads. Surprisingly no problems. PM commute should be ok.

@Bob: hows the wrist? My son also crashed last week in the ice. He's looking to buy studded tires.

NoRacer

I had studs...on the front, only. No issues.

NoRacer

Nice meeting you too, Daniel.

CycleRail

The wind almost knocked me right off my bike this morning. I actually had to walk it up Linkwood to the light at University Pkwy. Hopefully, the wind will calm down this evening.

NoRacer

I spent the night at work, because there was no way that I would beat the storm home. So, I'm really hoping that the wind calms down a little once I head home this afternoon. It looks like it's coming out of the northwest, so I should get a push once I get onto Route 40 west.

balto charlie

Crazy weather. Got hammered last night, today felt like a tornado, early in the week shorts were in order and before that snow/ice and 10F. WTF
Slept at work, bummer

balto charlie

Studs on...studs off...studs on....studs off.....back on again, gettin' some of the fluffy stuff tonight.

CycleRail

Snow showers now in the forecast for Sunday. Yikes!