Gerrit's work in progress » north point state park

BikeLog 080914: North Point State Park

gerrit — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 11:11:06 +0000

The first half of the route was quite pleasant. The beginning of my return trip was okay and interesting as I took an unmapped road that wasn’t open for general traffic. I don’t know why this road was closed–it was in a very good shape. It was a very nice and without any traffic a safer route than North Point Street. Riding back toward home quickly became more difficult with every additional mile. The uphill ride on Charles Street pushed me to my limits. I brought two bottles of water, but they were not enough to keep me hydrated and cool enough. The bike began to feel heavier, my neck started to hurt, my legs started to hurt, and feet as well as my hands tended to fall asleep. I made it back home and was ready to get out again soon, but overall it pretty much tired me out for the rest of the day.

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:

BikeLog 080829: Rainy Summer Outing (Part 2)

gerrit — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:45:54 +0000

It was tough to get started after food and beers, but after a mile on the saddle I was fine and comfortable with the ride again. The traffic was even heavier than that morning, the rain was a bit stronger and longer lasting than before–it definitely was more uncomfortable to ride, but it never felt out of control or undoable. With a good focus I continued to ride and pass all obstacles and didn’t really mind the cars all around me. During most of this route I again didn’t find myself in threatening or dangerous traffic situations. Maybe I just got used to riding through rush-hour traffic, or it didn’t intimidate me as much because the density slowed the speed of traffic down enough to feel safe. I felt strong enough to ride without a break and could have continued further. It was just later that day when I got some rest that I suddenly turned very tired, but in a good, refreshed and not painfully exhausted kind of way.

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:

BikeLog 080829: Rainy Summer Outing (Part 1)

gerrit — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:09:43 +0000

This was the first real rain-ride for the season. The weather had been wet since I got up that morning. High humidty, light, soft rain throughout with occasional stronger showers. Luckily this wet had not been cold, so it turned out to be unpleasant but bearable. More annoying than the weather was the traffic which turned out to be much more busy than two weeks ago when I rode this route on a Sunday morning. Holiday traffic in addition to the regular business traffic probably made it even worse than on regular weekdays. However, during most of this route I didn’t find myself in threatening or dangerous traffic situations. Most of the route offers enough space for cars and cyclists. It’s only the narrow segments that felt a bit too cozy to me. The route was very flat and easy to ride. I found myself in a good, focused shape.

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:

BikeLog 080817: North Point State Park

gerrit — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 11:03:17 +0000

I decided to take the mountain-bike out again because I didn’t know what terrain and pavement condition I would run into. But this route turned out to be a winner. It was smooth, flat, beautiful and quite interesting. From city to industrial, from industrial to places that reminded me of NC, Key West or even my old hometown in Germany. This route very much felt like it could have been one of my old routes in and around Mönchengladbach. I even saw a man on a beach-bike. It was a very pleasant ride and I was in a good shape for it. I will definitely take this route more often in the future. I hope traffic will be as pleasant on the day of the summer-outing as it has been today.

Overall I’m very pleasantly surprised what a variety Baltimore has to offer. When I first moved to Baltimore I felt stuck and unable to ride the bike at all because traffic felt threatening and dangerous and there didn’t seem to be any streets safe and bike-friendly enough for a longer trip. The more I have learned about Baltimore during my rides in the past few months the more it has felt like a home to me. I have come to the conclusion that my first impression was quite wrong. There really are some great routes and places out there, and streets that are quite easy and safe to ride. It just takes some time, some great resources like bikely.com and a few miles on the road.

Date/Time:

08/17/2008 07:03 AM

Route:

New route in preparation for the upcoming summer-outing at the North Point State Park. Route started to the Inner Harbor, Fleet Sreet, 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. Passed a club named ‘Nightshift’ and turned left into Holabird Avenue at the end of Ponca. Continued Holabird Avenue all the way straight for several miles, crossing Dundalk Avenue and Merritt Blvd. Later Holabird Ave becomes Wise Ave which I continued straight for several miles. I crossed a bridge, continued a few miles, and turned right into North Point Blvd at the end of Wise Ave. Continued straight on North Point Blvd to the exit/entrance to 695 and turned left into North Point Road. Made a left into what I believed was Bay Shore Road, but the map shows it might have been a bit too early. [Google Map]

Length:

approx. 34.3 miles

Traffic:

Easy going most of the way.

Weather:

very pleasant, nice air quality.

Bike:

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