A nice afternoon

Kathleen and I went out for a brief ride this afternoon, a quick spin up to Druid Lake and back.  It was a gorgeous day, not particularly humid, and fluffy clouds all over the sky.

We came back around the Clipper Mill on the other side of Druid Lake Park, and I spotted this windmill.

Just around the corner in the complex was this as well, it's suspended by the old mill crane arrangement.

Then it was back to the house to get cleaned up.   It was dinner and a movie night for us, we have both been super busy, so it was good to get out and enjoy ourselves for the evening, I shot this with the phone at dinner at Tapas Teatro.

Awesome dinner, and very appropo as the Vuelta A Espana starts today (I think).  It's right next door to the Charles Theater so we went to see In A World which was hysterical.

Monday Morning Murals

In an effort to get back into some sort of regular riding pattern, I got up reasonably early and went out for a ride this morning.   Just a quick buzz around Highlandtown (the other side of the park) and back.   At the Creative Alliance at the Patterson I spotted this mural.

And right across the street from there, this one.

A little further into Highlandtown this mural was quite the sight.

Then it was back to the house to get ready for work.

Catching Up

It's been a crazy month, lots of work stuff going on.   I spent two weekends in Newport, Rhode Island for the Folk then Jazz Festivals there.   Gorgeous location, we were at Fort Adams State Park.   Our stage was the Fort (Main) Stage, and we had a ton of great acts across the stage each weekend.   So this was the view from the stage.

And this was the audience's view of our stage, we are right in the crook of the fort there.

But last weekend Kathleen and I got out for a ride out to North Point State Park, nothing too exciting but I did get a good shot of Kathleen as we rode out of the park.

Today Kathleen was off at Luray doing the bike leg of the Triathlon there as part of a relay team.  I went out for a spin this afternoon.   It must have been a special occasion, there was a block party around the corner on Chester.

I went around the Inner Harbor to Federal Hill and out to Fort McHenry.  Coming back I cut through Locust Point, and spotted a couple of fire trucks, but none of the activity you would expect if there was a fire.

But it wasn't a fire, it was another block party.  It really was a great day for it, today was very late September like, mild temps and low humidity.

Coming back I passed back through the Inner Harbor, and they are getting ready for the Grand Prix that is coming up Labor Day weekend.

Then it was back to the house to get cleaned up, Kathleen got home and we had some lounging around time and mexican food.

Giro Di Coppi

Today was the Giro Di Coppi down in Montgomery County.  Kathleen was racing in it as a Cat 4 so learning from last time's lessons, I brought my bike down to spectate.   We got there early so Kathleen could pick up her numbers and pay her 1 day license fee, then went out to warm up (she was warming up, I was just going for a ride).   This a pretty rural area of Montgomery County, so lots of farm kind of action for the day.

You can just see Kathleen in the distance, dropping me like a bad habit, but I did catch up a little while later.

Then came race time, here is the Cat 4 field rolling out of th start/parking/registration area.

Kathleen's in the black jersey with the yellow flashes and white band in the middle.  So I took off for the other side of the course to catch them as they came through.  Unfortunately I was interrupted by a work phone call, and missed them, so back to the start area I went.   The Cat 5 Men rolled through first.

Then the Cat 1/2/3 Women

Then the stragglers from that group.

Then the Cat 4 Women rolled through, hugely reduced field already, unfortunately that included Kathleen.

But she and another gal came through a short time later.

After about 40 minutes the front of the Cat 4 Women came through again, even less of them this time.

Kathleens partner from the first lap went by, and a little while later Kathleen rolled through at the back of this group of stragglers from all 4 races that were running at the same time.

A bit of a wan smile as she rolled by.

So then that is where the bullshit part of the day came.   I started seeing other women from Kathleen's field coming back to the start area (the finish was up the road about a mile or so), and so I rode over to ask what was going on, I thought they were racing 3 laps of about 13 miles and this was just the end of lap 2.   The gals said that they got pulled because they were behind.   No mention of this being the plan or rule prior to the the scorers at the finish line saying they were doing it.  As a postrcript here, it turns out they were pulling the men as well, Kathleen led the 20Twenty womens ride this morning, and one of the race officials was there, so Kathleen got to talk to her about what went on, and she said that they were pulling men as well.   Apparently it's due to police overtime, etc.   Again, it would have been better if they had hipped everybody in to that when they started.

I met up with Kathleen making her way back and I got the basic report, the course was very hilly (here is her strava map and data from the race), at the start, the organizers started the 1/2/3 women but held the Cat 4 women for about 45 seconds before starting them (they were supposed to start all together).   So right out of the gate the Cat 4 women at the front tried to close the gap to the Cat 1/2/3 women in front of them, and the whole race starts with a brutal climb up to what will be the finish line eventually.   Last time Kathleen raced there were seperate referees for each field, one at each end of the peloton,  and the rollout was neutralized (no racing) for a little bit to get the group going.  Today there was no referee at the back of the 1/2/3s or at the front of the 4s so no neutral rollout until some referee showed up (probably the back guy from the women) and got in front of the Cat 4 women to slow them down.

Having survived that scene she said that the hills were super steep and the more experienced gals hit the first hill after the finish line hard so she was shelled almost immediately.   She spent the next lap trying to work her way back to the group with the other gal in the picture above, but eventually on the second lap couldn't continue at that pace and they split up.   Her assessment was that she burned too many matches early trying to stay with the group as they charged after the 1/2/3 women, and given the hilly nature of the course she was at a big disadvantage compared to the smaller gals (less mass to haul up the hills).

So in the end it has been interesting, she seemed to enjoy the first race more, they seemed to be more interested in having new folks there, and welcoming towards them.   They also didn't shortchange the women on refereeing, they got treated the same way as all of the men's fields.   One good experience 2 weeks ago, and one not so good today.  Kind of telling that I was chatting with the course marshall in the photos above, and he was saying that the MABRA has trouble attracting women racers, after today's incident, I am not entirely suprised at that observation, maybe they should re-think how they treat the women, people respond better when they aren't treated as second-class citizens.

Whew!

Holy crap it's hot out.  It was in the mid 90's when I rolled out of the garage this afternoon for a ride.  I went out to Brooklyn (not NY) and around before circling back to home.   On my way through the Inner Harbor I spotted these two, no idea what this is about.

At any rate, I suffered for my art then went home and took a cold shower.

Road Warrior 50

Today was the Road Warrior 50 Road Race.   I didn't race (it's not my thing) but Kathleen did, so I went out to spectate and cheer her on, no bike for me today, but lots of walking.   We got there in plenty of time, and Kathleen paid for her 1 day license to race.   We got her number pinned up, and she spent a little time riding around to warm up.   It was smoking hot out today, so while waiting for her group to form up (Cat 4 Women), she found shade under a tree.

Then it was down to the start area, here they are receiving instructions from the race officials.

Then they were off, she's number 700.

The course was 2 laps of a 13.1 mile loop, here they are coming up the road just after the first lap was completed, Kathleen is about 10 yards behind the field here, apparently the more experienced gals slowed the group up just before the climb to the finish line, then hit the climb really hard, Kathleen chased but was never able to get back on.

And here is the view after they passed by.

Then I wandered over to the finish line, here is the Mens Cat 5 finish, quite the sprint from the guy in the red jersey to take the win.

Then the Mens Cat 5 40+ (which would be my group if I were actually interested in racing) finish, this guy totally won from a break, the rest of the group was easily 15 seconds behind him.

This the Womens Cat 1/2/3 race rolling through the finish on their way out for their last lap (they did 3 laps).

Then was the big moment, here is the Womens Cat 4 winner.

A few minutes later Kathleen rolled in, she wasn't able to quite chase back on to the group after the first lap, so she rode the second lap off the back.   Not a bad result, all of the gals that finished in front of her were much more experienced and serious about it.

I was very proud of her result, it was a hot day and a fast race, the timing people said that they Cat 4 Women were doing faster laps than the Cat 1/2/3 Women.   Here is her Strava map of the race, it used the same course that she had done the Duathlon on, and she was much faster this time, amazing what a couple of years of running, riding and racing will do.

Two in one day

This morning Kathleen ran in the Baltimore Womens Classic, so I rode over to spectate (as I do).   She left before me, but then I caught her warming up on the bike path by the start on Key Highway.  We meandered over to the start, and that was the last time I saw her until after the finish, definitely didn't have my spectating mojo going today.

I cut through Federal Hill to get to the other side of the start as it was a madhouse on Key Highway.   On my way over there I passed behind the American Visionary Art Museum, and spotted this whirlygig that I had never noticed before, probably because I usually go by the other side of the building.

Then they were off, while trying to find her in the sea of women I passed by one of the troubadours out on the course.

Eventually I realized that I had completely managed to miss her on course, and she found me after the finish.   Here Kathleen is telling me all about the tree there, she is taking a plants class for her degree right now, so she has been spending a lot of time memorizing 150 local plant types.   All I remember is that this one is resistant to road salt.

Then it was off to the homestead.   Kathleen got cleaned up and started studying, I went back to bed and slept until 1:30 in the afternoon.

Once I got it together I went back out for a spin on the bike, this time at more road bike kind of speeds. I went out to Fort McHenry, then came back via Tide Point.   Passing by a row of rail cars at the Domino Sugar plant I noticed that they all had this notification on them.   All I could think was why would you want to beat on a rail car with a hammer?

It was hot as hell out, and very humid so I cut it short and headed back to the house again.