Today was a hot Memorial Day, so Kathleen thought that the NCR Trail would be a good ride, as it is tree covered for much of it. We loaded up the bikes on the car, and off for Parkton MD we went. The trail actually starts down in Timonium, but with the nice day and the holiday, Kathleen was pretty sure it would be packed down there. It did turn out to be gorgeous, here is what much of the trail is like. Just after we crossed the Maryland-Pennsylvania border we arrived at New Freedom PA. The trail here was more open, and there is a little cafe, and this groovy rail equipment there. A little further along I spotted this girl who had decided the biking wasn't nearly as interesting as whatever she is poking at on the other side of the tracks. When we got up to Glen Rock, the trail runs right into the center of the town, these people were just getting started on some sort of mural. We decided to abandon the trail, and rode around town a little bit. This church was amazing, unfortunately my picture, not so much. And this house was all decked out for the holiday. But then it was time to head back to the car. On the way back down, Kathleen took a header while waiting for a indecisive motorcyclist to make up his mind about going or stopping. "just a flesh wound" luckily. After a little roadside first aid (I washed it out with a water bottle) we pressed on back to the car. Right as we got back down to Parkton, somebody had planted American flags all along the trail. Then it was back to the car and home for a little grilling on the deck for dinner.
Kathleen ran in the McVet 10K today, which benefits a local homeless shelter/rehabilitation program for Veterans. I got new tires for the bike, and shoes for me, so I took both out for a test run. Here is Kathleen just after the start. Here a little further down Key Highway. This is the turnaround at Ft McHenry (Still closed to bicycles, and today the uptight looking ranger in this picture giving me the evil eye as I rolled up). This is coming back the other way from Ft McHenry, they had closed down the street so I had it pretty much to myself. Off in the distance is the Carnival Pride, the Baltimore cruise ship dock is over there, it is always a little startling to come out of the tunnel and where most times is empty space, a large white hotel has been inserted. This is back on Key Highway, about a mile before the finish. Here is the finish, apparently the guy she is passing had been marking her, he would run by, then start walking, then when she caught up to him again, he would run again and pass her. She decided that she wasn't going to let him beat her to the line. The funniest part of the day however was this, this guy seemed to be running the whole race while juggling.
Today was a short day at work, the office was closed, but I ended up going in for few hours to take care of some things for next week. But I got back in time to get out and about on the bike. I rode around the Inner Harbor (seems to be my go to kind of spot lately) and out to Fort McHenry (still closed to bicycles), then off through the west side for a bit. Just past the stadium complex I came across this. This is the Gwynns Falls Trail, and the railroad crossing there has a great wheel destroying lump in it. Luckily I successfully navigate around this and continued on to Carroll Park, which amongst other things, is home of the Mount Clare House. Then I rode back through downtown towards the homestead. On the way there, passing through Harbor East I spotted this pair straight out of the 80's. This weekend is the Maryland Death Fest, a 3 day extravaganza of heavy metal in Baltimore. I can only assume that these two have arrived early to see the sights. Also spotted on my way home was this.
He was riding the opposite way from me passing Pier 6 so I actually turned around to shoot this video. He had 4 speakers mounted on the bike and was rockin the inner harbor, awesome!
Got out again this morning, and as a bonus, Kathleen joined me. It was a gorgeous day, I think spring is here for real now, it was already pretty warm at 7 or so when we went out. We had a little run around the Inner Harbor, then through Federal Hill and around the Stadium complex. While we were passing between Camden Yards and the Ravens Stadium I spotted the first recumbant I have seen on the roads other than our trip out to Annapolis from a few weeks back. And then a little further along, this monstrosity at the MARC station at Camden Yards. It is some sort of transit police command post, and there were a bunch of transit police cars there as well, who knows what was going on. But then it was back through the Inner Harbor and a quick lap around the Patterson Park loop before heading for home then work.
Today I got out for the morning ride, and since I had a meeting near my house, I had a little more time than usual, so I took off towards the Inner Harbor, with no real plan. Right as I got to the Science Center, disaster struck, a flat. So instead of a longer bike ride, I got to sit on the curb and fix a flat. Here is my trusty steed laying around waiting for me to fix it. And here is where I was stuck, not a bad place earlyish in the morning. And here is the aftermath, I managed to break one of my tire irons (made of plastic don't you know), so I need to put a different one in the kit. The tube will get another patch and become my spare.
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.
Today was in fact another gorgeous day, so after a early morning meeting in DC, Kathleen and I went for a ride to Timonium. We took Loch Raven Boulevard out towards Towson (I had forgotten what a bunch of butt-kicking hills that road has), and enjoyed a little sunshine. Then we cut through the Goucher College campus, where Kathleen has been doing track workouts as prep for her half marathon next weekend. After that we continued out towards Timonium, here is Kathleen after dropping her chain. I believe the words here are unprintable. We rode around some of the streets that Kathleen has been running (the coaching is through Charm City Run, so a lot of the time they start from the shop and run around the neighborhoods behind it). Then we rode through Lutherville, which was full of cool houses and such. This one is octagon shaped, hard to capture on film. Then it was time to turn towards home, we came back down Falls Road (very popular with the cyclists) and through Hampden, here we are on the Avenue, lots of people out and about. A little further along we spotted this rowhouse getting the big paint job, I really like the avacado color on it. and a little further down the block, this incredible older building. This is right by the Miracle on 34th Street, this building has been under renovation for ever, but it seems it is all finished now. A little further down Falls Road I spotted this. This was truly exciting, as I had seen another like it a couple of weeks ago, and couldn't figure out what it was, it seemed a little large for a wagon wheel. But due to this one's location, now I know, it is a cable pulley for a cable car system. This one was outside the Baltimore Streetcar Museum on Falls Road. After that exciting discovery, it was off to the house for a shower and BBQ dinner on the deck.
Just after we crossed the Maryland-Pennsylvania border we arrived at New Freedom PA. The trail here was more open, and there is a little cafe, and this groovy rail equipment there.
A little further along I spotted this girl who had decided the biking wasn't nearly as interesting as whatever she is poking at on the other side of the tracks.
When we got up to Glen Rock, the trail runs right into the center of the town, these people were just getting started on some sort of mural.
We decided to abandon the trail, and rode around town a little bit. This church was amazing, unfortunately my picture, not so much.
And this house was all decked out for the holiday.
But then it was time to head back to the car. On the way back down, Kathleen took a header while waiting for a indecisive motorcyclist to make up his mind about going or stopping. "just a flesh wound" luckily.
After a little roadside first aid (I washed it out with a water bottle) we pressed on back to the car. Right as we got back down to Parkton, somebody had planted American flags all along the trail.
Then it was back to the car and home for a little grilling on the deck for dinner.
