Two Rides Today

Today was a busy day, first Kathleen ran the Maryland Half Marathon (which we provided the sound for) so I took my bike to work, and chased her around the course. It was really wet, but thankfully the rain stopped just as the race started. I caught up with her about mile five, right near the first water stop.
And then again just past mile six, which was also the relay point for people doing the race as a relay.
Then it was up the Mays Chapel Road climb, this was a bear even on the bike with gear reduction working in my favor, much less as a run.
And here she is just exiting the water station at the top of the climb.
But soon after that, the road went back downhill towards Timonium Fairgrounds, here is Kathleen approaching the turn onto Jenifer Road to go back down the hill.
All through the neighborhoods that the race ran through, there were people out cheering the runners on, but here at the turn onto Jenifer Road there was an especially large group of people making some noise.
After that I took off to the finish, and caught Kathleen as she sprinted home.
And here she is enjoying her post race space blanket, banana and water.
And here she is after receiving her medal.
You would think that this would make enough for one day, but you would be wrong. Today was also the Bike Jam in Patterson Park, which is an all day bike race on the same circuit that I ride sometimes in the morning. Truth is that is where I got the idea to start riding there in the mornings. I rode over there a little before noon, and caught some racing action. This is the men's Cat 3 race, these guys do the circuit much faster than I do.
And here are a couple of guys off the front of the group.
Here is the pack approaching the start/finish line.
Here is the last turn of the last lap, the big guy in white really took off here, I am not sure if he won or not, but he definitely was making the effort.
The local duck population, however, were very non-plussed by the whole affair.
In between races I moved to a different area of the course, and as I was going down the street I caught this.
The little girls had been following dad along (I think he was getting ready for his race) but then the lead little girl moved alongside and gave dad the look but didn't drop him.
Linwood Ave was closed for the race, so the racers could use it as their pit area.
Then it was time for the womens pro race, and here comes the pack by where I was standing.
Stills really don't capture how fast they go, so I shot a little video.

After watching some racing for a while, I went for a little spin around the Inner Harbor, busy day there despite the somewhat bummer weather. These kids were having fun on the bike rack in the shape of a bike.
Then it was back to the homestead to knock out some housework before the weekend is over.