Lunch in Annapolis

Rode the B&A trail into Annapolis with Bart and Kelly today. We met up at Marley Station - Steve showed up to see us off and then joined us for lunch in Annapolis - he's been dogging a bad cold so he didn't join us for the ride... It was a fairly nice day - cold, but little wind. Got to try out my new wheels and tires - so far I'm very happy with them -- can't wait to get them out on the open road - they feel like they'll be quite fast... (thanks for the tip steve) The B&A is a nice ride for the winter - relatively flat and little stopping and starting - which I find is nice to keep from overheating/getting damp and from getting cold waiting at lights... We kept a pretty relaxed pace on the way into town, but as usual Kelly and I picked it up a bit on the way home - sorry Bart. All in all it was good ride - really nice to be back out with the gang for some miles.

Playing Hooky

TUESDAY 8 JANUARY 2008 Started off the day with my usual morning commute - mostly uneventful save for the fog that made me wish I had windshield wipers and made Sherwood Gardens look particualry striking with the sun casting great shadows through the trees.... Then it was off for what I thought was a replay of another especially long way home that I took last summer - Falls Paper Manor - but I got a little lost, tired, cold, and wet.... First I decided to mix it up by following Roland to Lake before rejoining Falls Road - which was worked out well, but from here on the climbing proved to be a bit more than I remembered... I hung in there pretty well and only stopped once on a fairly long section - what really got me into trouble was that it was a little warmer than I thought and with all the climbing I was drenched in sweat by the time I got to Oregon Ridge. Then I made a wrong turn onto Beaver Dam Road - I eventually got back on track in Jacksonville where I took at pit at the 7-11. Got some much needed calories... Once back on the road I never really warmed back up - the combo of being drenched, a fair bit of wind, and the sun going down proved to be too much. I called Joanne from the road and had her rescue me at Sanders' Corners - as I new I didn't have another big climb in me... still a pretty decent day of riding for January. 46 Miles - 2900 feet of climbing

New Year's Day Meander

Haven't quite figured out how or even why I'm doing this, but here goes. Above is a map and profile of my first ride of the new year. I decided to stay close to home and ride a 22 mile loop around the city. First I headed down to Lake Montebello for a quick lap - where I saw my friends Gayle and Danielle enjoying the pretty day with their son. I waved and rang my bell, but a mile later I realized I had on a helmet, sunglasses, and a balaclava - so they probably had no idea who I was... Then I headed across 33rd and around Hopkins up to Druid Hill via Wyman Park Drive. I also did a lap around Druid Hill Reservoir for one of my favorite views of the city;

[I'll try to post a more recent view at some point]

Then a quick ramble through the park - past all those great gazebos - including Parkie's Lakeside where Joanne and I were married. Once I got past the zoo I discovered that the next section of the Jones Falls Trail is well under way and followed it down the back side of the park into Clipper Mill - this includes a crazy series of switchbacks that should make for a fun climb once it is complete. After this surprise detour the wind and cold started to catch up with me so I decided to head for home - across the 41st bridge to 40th then 39th Street where I picked up my usual commute home through Guilford and across Woodbourne. 22 miles and 1500 feet of climbing - a good start to having that 3000 mile year that I didn't quite reach last year. Learned a few things about my new fenders - first of all when leaves get stuck in them it sounds just like a flat tire - second is that my first attempt to jerry rig them with some wire ties wasn't entirely successful.