It has been a big weekend since my last post. I started it off with
commuting to work on Friday Morning, taking the Gwynns Falls Trail up to the shop. A totally uneventful morning, no drama, and certainly not two flats. A normal day at work, then I
cut out a little early to head for home. Back down the Gwynns Falls, but a detour to
Race Pace in Federal Hill to pick up some stuff. Heading back up the Key Highway, I spotted this family out for a ride.
After that it was around the Inner Harbor, where there was a sand castle building thing going on. Here is the only thing built so far, it is a celebration of the upcoming
Baltimore Grand Prix that is coming to downtown on Labor Day weekend.
Then on to the homestead, and then a run back to the bike shop in the car to pick up my purchases that were too big for the backpack. I bought Kathleen a new set of wheels and high zoot tires for her bike(
Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheels, and
Vittoria Diamante Pro tires for those who care about such things), and in the process shaved about 818 grams (1 3/4 lbs) of rotating mass off the bike. Here is the
bikeforums.net approved picture of the bike with the new shoes.
Then it was off to bed, early morning the next day, because it was the
Baltimore 10 Miler, and Kathleen was running in it. As with all of these things, it started at 7:30AM (on a Saturday!) so it was up and out bright and early.
I rode up to Stieff Silver to wait for Kathleen to come through. I knew she would find me, I had her Garmin watch and
Road ID with me as she had forgotten them. A little before 8 AM she turned up and I made the handoff.
I cut around and eventually caught up with her again at Lake Montebello which is the turnaround point for the race.
On my way out of the lake area I heard my name being called and it turns out it was Bonnie (
who we had gone riding with a few weeks back).
She and her husband Steve were also running the race here. I waited and caught Kathleen at the same spot.
Then I motored up 33rd street to the other end to catch her here as she rounded the bend off 33rd into the neighborhoods.
I took off again for Stieff Silver to see if I would see her again, and shortly after I arrived she came up from the park.
This was the last I would see her, I attempted to go the long way around Druid Lake park to the finish, but the finishing area is difficult to get to on race day. I did see Bonnie again, but somehow missed Kathleen.
Since the race was over I headed for home. Passing through the Resevoir Hill neighborhood next to the lake I found this little park/art project. I am not sure what the backstory is here, but it certainly caught my attention.
Then it was back home for a shower, and breakfast at
Koopers Tavern in Fells Point with Kathleen. Afterwords we walked around the Inner Harbor back to Race Pace to get new cleats for Kathleen's shoes, hers were shot. Some noodling around the house that afternoon, washing the bikes, and doing drivetrain maintenance on them. You might think that was enough, but today was more excitement.
Twenty 20 Cycling in Hampden (where Kathleen got her errand bike) was hosting a social ride this morning so we got our butts out of bed and
pedaled up to Hampden to participate. The story was to meet at
Common Ground on the
Avenue at 9:30 then a social ride around the neighborhood before the shop opened at 11:00AM. We got there and met up with Chris, who was also there for the ride, and shortly after Johnny from the shop turned up, and off we went, a hearty foursome on a Sunday morning. We went up Roland Avenue, here is Johnny leading the way (in the shop kit of course).
Kathleen and Chris right behind me.
Then we bombed down University Parkway, which has a great bike lane, Johnny & Chris leading the way here.
At the bottom of the hill we hit the red light, which had this somewhat ironic sign on it.
Signal for what? The Apocalypse? At any rate we cruised through the neighborhoods then past Stieff Silver and into the Druid Lake Park. Here we are climbing "Baltimore's mini
Alpe d'Huez" (courtesy of Johnny for the name, the path up the hill has a ton of switchbacks) in the closed to cars part of the park.
Here we are coming up out of the really hilly section, we continued on around the park and did a couple of the same hills again :)
Also spotted in the park is this new art installation. I don't know the story, but I do know that at night the top parts light up (this part of the park is on my way home from work).
We rolled through Clipper Mill, and then back up through Hampden to the shop where we parted ways. The ride was big fun, and we are going to try and make it a regular thing. After that we headed for the homestead, and then out to get some breakfast at
Meli's Patisserie in Fells Point. Good food, but the service left something to be desired. The rest of the day was spent doing some mundane tasks and watching a couple of stages of the
Tour de Suisse on the Tivo.
After that it was around the Inner Harbor, where there was a sand castle building thing going on. Here is the only thing built so far, it is a celebration of the upcoming Baltimore Grand Prix that is coming to downtown on Labor Day weekend.
Then on to the homestead, and then a run back to the bike shop in the car to pick up my purchases that were too big for the backpack. I bought Kathleen a new set of wheels and high zoot tires for her bike(Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheels, and Vittoria Diamante Pro tires for those who care about such things), and in the process shaved about 818 grams (1 3/4 lbs) of rotating mass off the bike. Here is the bikeforums.net approved picture of the bike with the new shoes.
Then it was off to bed, early morning the next day, because it was the Baltimore 10 Miler, and Kathleen was running in it. As with all of these things, it started at 7:30AM (on a Saturday!) so it was up and out bright and early. I rode up to Stieff Silver to wait for Kathleen to come through. I knew she would find me, I had her Garmin watch and Road ID with me as she had forgotten them. A little before 8 AM she turned up and I made the handoff.
I cut around and eventually caught up with her again at Lake Montebello which is the turnaround point for the race.
On my way out of the lake area I heard my name being called and it turns out it was Bonnie (who we had gone riding with a few weeks back).
She and her husband Steve were also running the race here. I waited and caught Kathleen at the same spot.
Then I motored up 33rd street to the other end to catch her here as she rounded the bend off 33rd into the neighborhoods.
I took off again for Stieff Silver to see if I would see her again, and shortly after I arrived she came up from the park.
This was the last I would see her, I attempted to go the long way around Druid Lake park to the finish, but the finishing area is difficult to get to on race day. I did see Bonnie again, but somehow missed Kathleen.
Since the race was over I headed for home. Passing through the Resevoir Hill neighborhood next to the lake I found this little park/art project. I am not sure what the backstory is here, but it certainly caught my attention.
Then it was back home for a shower, and breakfast at Koopers Tavern in Fells Point with Kathleen. Afterwords we walked around the Inner Harbor back to Race Pace to get new cleats for Kathleen's shoes, hers were shot. Some noodling around the house that afternoon, washing the bikes, and doing drivetrain maintenance on them. You might think that was enough, but today was more excitement. Twenty 20 Cycling in Hampden (where Kathleen got her errand bike) was hosting a social ride this morning so we got our butts out of bed and pedaled up to Hampden to participate. The story was to meet at Common Ground on the Avenue at 9:30 then a social ride around the neighborhood before the shop opened at 11:00AM. We got there and met up with Chris, who was also there for the ride, and shortly after Johnny from the shop turned up, and off we went, a hearty foursome on a Sunday morning. We went up Roland Avenue, here is Johnny leading the way (in the shop kit of course).
Kathleen and Chris right behind me.
Then we bombed down University Parkway, which has a great bike lane, Johnny & Chris leading the way here.
At the bottom of the hill we hit the red light, which had this somewhat ironic sign on it.
Signal for what? The Apocalypse? At any rate we cruised through the neighborhoods then past Stieff Silver and into the Druid Lake Park. Here we are climbing "Baltimore's mini Alpe d'Huez" (courtesy of Johnny for the name, the path up the hill has a ton of switchbacks) in the closed to cars part of the park.
Here we are coming up out of the really hilly section, we continued on around the park and did a couple of the same hills again :)
Also spotted in the park is this new art installation. I don't know the story, but I do know that at night the top parts light up (this part of the park is on my way home from work).
We rolled through Clipper Mill, and then back up through Hampden to the shop where we parted ways. The ride was big fun, and we are going to try and make it a regular thing. After that we headed for the homestead, and then out to get some breakfast at Meli's Patisserie in Fells Point. Good food, but the service left something to be desired. The rest of the day was spent doing some mundane tasks and watching a couple of stages of the Tour de Suisse on the Tivo.
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