Later, when the first few warmer days arrived in spring I was happy, but I still struggled to recover from the injury and the overall exhaustion from my winter rides. Quite pitiful considering I didn’t ride any long routes for two, three or more hours but only my daily commute to work. In June, I finally began to feel up and ready for a few longer rides again and started to work on it again.

Last week I started to record my rides and workouts again, inspired by the MapMyRide.com Tour de France challenge, and I will continue this until later in fall or winter. Next winter I plan to walk more, especially on bad-weather days, and perhaps keep the rides for the less ugly days. I’m not sure if I can keep myself off the bike yet, but I will try. Hopefully I can get through the cold months without doing that damage to myself again.

Today I went out for a 50-something minute ride to Druid Hill Lake, passing the Baltimore Zoo, continuing on the Jones Falls Trail through Woodberry and back to the Hopkins campus on Clipper Mill Road, Falls Road, Wyman Park Drive. I totally forgot how pleasant and relaxing a ride can very early on a Sunday morning and not having to deal with rush-hour traffic, maniacal motorists, bus-drivers, trash trucks and filthy alleys. I had a hard time motivating myself, but as usual, I didn’t regret getting out of the house around 6am and riding on calm and quiet streets and through a beautifully smelling green of the park. What a contrast to the weekdays! It was just what I needed after a long week. Perfection.

My condition was surprisingly good, too. Usually I struggle my way up/down to work, but I didn’t have this problem today. Even on the uphill segments I managed to keep my calm and climb it without much pain. The mindset, unforced and stress-free mental state and the quiet, calming roads without any doubt have a huge impact on my own condition. Something to keep in mind whenever I don’t feel very motivated! Some stats:

Date/Time:

07/12/2009 06:16 AM

Route:

Homestead, Charles St, Hopkins Campus, Druid Hill Lake, passing the Baltimore Zoo, continuing on the Jones Falls Trail through Woodberry and back to Hopkins Campus on Clipper Mill Road, Falls Road, Wyman Park Drive, and back to Homestead.

Length:

Approx. 9.7 miles

Traffic:

Easy going most of the way.

Weather:

Warm and a bit humid, but still pleasant enough.

Bike:

Jamis Durango Hardtail Mod. with 26×2.2 Maxxis Holy Roller

Heartrate/Elevation:

(Heartrate recording didn’t work properly during the second half of the route.)

Part 1…

Part 2…

Part 3…

A brand-new transportation system is coming to the downtown area late this summer 2009. To better connect Baltimore residents, workers, businesses, and visitors, twenty-one hybrid EcoSaver IV buses will circulate on three downtown routes, seven days a week—with no fare or boarding fee. The circulator routes will run south to north from the Inner Harbor Visitor Center to Penn Station, and east to west from Harbor East to the B&O Railroad Museum. With buses arriving approximately every ten minutes, the circulator system is planned to connect with Amtrak, MARC, Light Rail, Metro Subway, MTA bus lines, two water connectors (Maritime Park to Tide Point and Canton Waterfront Park to Tide Point), and parking garages located on the fringes of downtown.
For more information, visit www.yournameyourride.com

Not really cycling-related, but wow, I’m impressed. I hope it will help balance the load and resolve some of the MTA bus problems. Too bad the Charles Street route to Penn Station doesn’t extend a bit further to Hopkins Campus/Charles Village.

Adult size big wheels! How great is that?! After I saw a YouTube video of a silly big wheel race in San Francisco I was wondering if there are any “grown-up” big wheels out there. I found some at  bigwheelrally.com… they are all sold out, and I suppose I don’t need another bike… but this one would be special! Who knows, may be something to look into after/if I ever learn to ride my unicycle :]

1. The average person loses 13 pounds their first year of commuting by bike.
2. 40% of all car trips in the U.S. are made within 2 miles of home.
3. 60% of the pollution created by autos happens in the first few minutes of operation, before pollution control devices can work effectively.
4. Just 3 hours of biking per week can reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke by 50%.
5. The U.S. could save 462 million gallons of gas a year by boosting bicycle trips just half a percentage point: from 1% to 1.5% of all trips.

I have to thank Ramsey for pointing me to this event last Friday, and Alice for joining me on this ride today. We entered the JFX at Penn Station and rode up to Cold Spring Lane where you could find some stands of the MTA, Joe’s Bike Shop, some environmental groups, some food/drink stands as well as a stage for the live music that started later around 11am.

There even was a chess stand! I always knew that cyclists are good chess players and vice versa, but I didn’t expect this to be confirmed today.

We had a drink and snack, watched people and the band setting up their equipment, watched cars zooming by in the opposite direction… who I’m sure had not nearly as much fun as the our side of the road. Eventually we continued our trip on the highway, took the Falls Road exit, continued on Falls Road and took the route back through the Hopkins campus.

So great… I wish the highway was closed every Sunday! In Germany during the oil crisis in 1973 there were four car-free Sundays that left the Autobahn free and open for cyclists and pedestrians. Too bad I wasn’t old enough to remember that. These few car-free hours on the JFX were definitely a highlight of the year for me!
Here are a few pictures courtesy of Alice:

There will also be games, displays, food, beer, and music. Check out the JonesFalls.org site for more details and photos from last year’s Rally on Flickr. That looks really fun–I wonder why I didn’t know about it before. I’m already looking forward to this!

When I browsed Jones Falls Watershed Association to register for the Rally I also spotted the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival which is actually a nationwide festival that started off in Nevada City, CA and celebrated its 7th anniversary last January. During the year a selection of films makes a round on tour through the US. More details and dates can be found here. The festival will reach Baltimore in October and will be hosted by the Jones Falls and Herring Run Watershed Association. Find more details on the Herring Run site. It will take place on October 16 from 7pm-9:30pm at the MICA Brown Center (map). I’m curious about the selection of films and definitely look forward to this event as well.

Mistake #1: I should have had enough water last night and this morning before I started my ride.

Mistake #2: I underestimated the weather and even wore a longsleeve tee. (Stupid I know.)

Mistake #3: I might have underestimated the switch to the mountain bike after having ridden the (lightweight) 3-speed for the past few weeks.

Despite the difficulties on my way back, it was again a remarkable trip through so many different, very different places each with their individual smells. A feast for the senses. From city alleys with a mix of garbage and dead animals, to the harbor with a surprisingly strong fish odor, to an industrial area smelling like electronics, metal, steel and tar, to a road that somewhat smelled like old socks (lol), to a field with a familiar farm smells, through a park with a familiar pleasant wood-smell, to the beach with a nice view across the water… all these impressions makes it all worth the troubles on my return. I’m curious about riding this route this winter. I hope we will get some snow, too.

Date/Time:

09/14/2008 07:11 AM

Route:

Route to North Point State Park via Boston St, Ponca St, Holabird Ave, Wise Ave, North Point Blvd, North Point St, Old Bay Shore Rd. Paused at beach. Return via an unmapped road, Sparrows Point Rd,  North Point St, North Point Blvd, Wise Ave, Holabird Ave, Ponca St, Boston St, Charles St. [Google Map]

Length:

Approx. 35.1 miles

Traffic:

Easy going most of the way.

Weather:

Started out warm and humid, but bearable; ended very sunny, hot and humid, heavy air.

Bike:

Jamis Durango Hardtail Mod. with 26×2.2 Maxxis Holy Roller

Heartrate/Elevation:

Date/Time:

08/29/2008 02:45 PM

Route:

A few beers later it was time to take the route back into the city via Bay Shore Road, North Point Road, North Point Blvd, Wise Ave, Holabird Ave, Ponca Street and Boston Street. I tried to avoid the lower part of Charles Street and turned right onto Howard Street instead, which was probably more insane than Charles. The street was jammed with cars, the sidewalks were jammed with people. I made a right onto Read Street and followed my standard route on Lovegrove St, N Charles St and back on Lovegrove St. [Google Map]

Length:

approx. 17.4 miles

Traffic:

Heavy rush-hour and  holiday traffic.

Weather:

Wet and rainy.

Bike:

Jamis Durango Hardtail Mod. with 26×2.2 Maxxis Holy Roller

Heartrate/Elevation:

Date/Time:

08/29/2008 10:09 AM

Route:

Same as previous route to North Point State Park. Start at Cathedral Street in Mt. Vernon, to the Inner Harbor, Aliceanna Street, right onto Boston Street. Turned right into Ponca Street before 895 and 95, a short about 1 mile long segment leading through a business park/industrial area, then left into Holabird Avenue. Continued on Holabird Avenue all the way straight for several miles, crossing Dundalk Avenue and Merritt Blvd. Later Holabird Ave becomes Wise Ave which I followed straight for several miles. I crossed a bridge and turned right into North Point Blvd at the end of Wise Ave. Further straight on North Point Blvd to the exit/entrance to 695 I turned left into North Point Road. I followed North Point Road a bit further, made a u-turn and turned right into Bay Shore Road, which led to the parking lot and the final destination the Trolley Pavilion [Google Map]

Length:

approx. 15.5 miles

Traffic:

Heavy (holiday) traffic.

Weather:

Wet and rainy.

Bike:

Jamis Durango Hardtail Mod. with 26×2.2 Maxxis Holy Roller

Heartrate/Elevation: