From Moonlight Bik…

Dave and I went - It was fun lots of people I would say 50+ maybe. The bottom picture of me is on top of Federal Hill. I should have removed the reflective vest. The ride was hot and humid with little or no breeze. I met Dave T. and parked on the street downtown. We rode up and found the crowd of blinking lights, etc. There was a mix of all types of riders, ages etc. There were a good number of folks in street clothes and regular pedals. We signed in and rode North on Charles and went through Artscape (I think) and the whole group got a lot of attention, I suppose because of the numbers and all the lights. Lots of cheers and clapping and a few weirdos. The Groups got separated into smaller groups of about 15 or so. Dave and I rode with Sara(h?) a BBC rider and sometimes stoker with her husband. We also had 2 other fixie riders with us. I think this was a BBC ride. We rode North of Cold Spring Lane, then headed West and then South through Hamden, by JHU and downtown again. We rode to Fells Point right past (under) my work building and stopped in Fells Point. I got a buttery pretzel and a lemonade for Dave and I. Some foul mouthed lady tried to get my change and I just ignored her. Halfway though my buttery pretzel, everyone left, so I quickly dumped the drink in my bottle and the pretzel in my pocket and tried to ride the cobbles on Thames to catch up. Eventually I was back with Dave and finished my pretzel. I made a phone call with my (now buttery) Blackberry to my friend Kevin in Canton as we rolled onto Canton Square. Turns out Kevin was in Philadelphia. Dave and I considered, but we had to work in the AM… We headed back via Eastern Ave and went South of the Inner Harbor to Federal Hill where we had a nice view of the harbor, hard to capture with my camera. We returned to the start as my light was dimming and arrived @ 11:20 or so.

Not a bad ride, I actually had fun. I did not fall and was mostly dry, but I did get some water seeping into my left shoe. I encountered a few cars in the beginning and I met the neighbor “Dan” of Jeff Shultz. I could tell he thought I was a little off my rocker but was polite about it. I felt safe and took it easy on the turns. The brakes pretty much were useless. I never felt like I was going to fall except when I tried riding with no hands, the bike just wanted to wander all over. The riding was a little tough because of the drag from the ice buildup. Near the end of the ride, the chain was skipping because of all the ice on the teeth. I had a guy in a truck roll down his window and call me a “dumb ass” I just ignored him and kept on riding. I had to pour warm water on the bike to de-ice it when I got back and I used the hose to blast off what was left especially under the fenders.

I started out Thursday morning 10/26 at 6:20 and rode over to Pasadena to Meet Greg Cantori (www.cantori.com) at Ft Smallwood and Edwin Raynor to head into downtown Baltimore. Greg regularly commutes 22 miles each way to work and has had 10000 mile years as a result. We had a cold but nice ride downtown. The temps were @ 38. We met Dave T. at Pratt street. He related some road rage story to us about getting cut off and having to lock up his rear wheel and his “animated conversation” with the driver afterwards.
We headed north on Calvert street through traffic and things got quiet after we crossed Franklin. We got on Falls road into Hamden and stopped off at Greg’s work and he volunteered to take some of our gear which was very helpful. I got rid of my tights, jacket, light, battery and clear glasses. Dave and I rode over to Starbucks and got some coffee and breakfast. Starting out again took a little while to adjust with less clothes but we made our way up Falls Road which had a decent shoulder most of the way.
We made our way through some quieter roads North of the city and ended up near the Timonium fairgrounds. We stopped for food and drink somewhere just South of the NCR trail in Hunt Valley. In MD there are few if any places to restock food and drink supplies along the trail this time of year.
Another few miles and we joined up with the NCR trail and at first the packed gravel took some getting used to. Dave and I traded off pulls since we were feeling the headwind against us. When motivated we could go 19 but 17 was more comfortable. There were two sections on either side of the trail that were smooth but there were also rocky sections or areas covered by leaves and sticks. I got stung in the face a few times with stones and twigs. Dave was riding 700×23’s so I imagine he was getting more vibration than my 700×28’s. Maybe that was the cause of his water bottle bracket cracking. With a few quick stops we made our way 20 miles to the PA line and at that point the trail is parallel to the train tracks as opposed to on the old rail bed in MD and the surface is finer stone chips and it seemed smoother overall but the very top layer was loose. It almost made a sound like a leaky tire and a few times I paused to check mine. Thankfully no flats on this trip due to Bontrager hard case tires and spin skin liners from Bike Doctor. In PA we stopped in New Freedom to get Dave a new bottle cage and eat lunch and resupply. We got a pizza with everything on it and it was really good..
After lunch we headed north into PA and several times I had to tell Dave to slow down a bit. He rode until we had been on the trail for 30 miles which when he rode those 30 back to catch the light rail would give him 100. We parted and I headed to York alone. One thing about the PA side of the trail is that it goes through more towns and populated areas. In PA also the trail crosses over the tracks a bunch of times at a 90 degree angle. One of the times crossing I tried to coast (unsuccessfully) through the second part of the turn this caused the rear wheel to momentarily lock and slide on the gravel. No crash but needless to say I didn’t try that again.
I made it to York, but not before trying the most awful tasting cliff shot - “Cola” flavored. You know how most energy gels are sickening sweet? This was sickening bitter with a hint of cola flavoring. I tasted that awful thing for miles. The ride through York and to Lancaster was OK but in many places the shoulder was lousy. It was a nice break from the gravel surface to ride on the road.  I don’t think I heard a single horn or “get off the road” comment the entire trip.
From Lancaster I got on more rural roads with no shoulder which I liked better since cars were forced to go into the other lane (or hit me) I was getting tired at this point but only the hills hurt. At the same time, the hills were the time that my butt got a break and I was thankful for that. There was a nice smell of manure hanging in the air after I arrived in Lancaster. All the way from York I was following the well marked PA bike route S that made navigation easy as for every turn they have a sign before, at and after the intersection.
I reached the bed and breakfast “Harvest Moon” in New Holland @ 5:15 and ate a few peanuts and tried to call Becky. She didn’t answer and I didn’t have clothes to change into so I went back out and did another 10 miles on PA bike route S. When I got back everyone was there and we went to dinner but I was falling asleep at the table. Friday I did feel pretty good. My left knee was giving me a little trouble and I was tired but not so bad that I didn’t enjoy the rest of the trip.