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.)

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.

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.