Scenic Route Home plus Today's Jerk Cab Driver

I had a good ride home today. I am very scared by the "Mother of All 300k Brevets" coming up next weekend. I did this ride last year and it was so hilly that half the riders finished with less than half an hour to go, and the Gordon the Regional Brevet Administrator set out in his car with boxes of bananas to see where everyone went. It's the same route this year, but with 1000 more feet of climbing.

Anyway, I decided to alter my route home to go up Gun Road. Most people are unaware of Gun Road. What you do is you take River Road out of the old part of Elkridge, go under the Thomas Viaduct, past Lawyers' Hill Road, and into Patapsco Valley State Park. After a half mile or so, there is a bridge across the river to the road that goes out to the main entrance on Route 1. Instead of turning down that road, you go straight to where the gate permananently closes the road at the railroad tracks. You carry your bike over the gate and across the tracks and over the gate on the other side. Now you are on Gun Road. Now you ride up 300 feet on a 20% grade.

This changes my 21 mile commute with 900 feet of climb to a 23 mile commute with 1250 feet of climb. But I can do my normal route in the big chainring because it's all rollers. You get to visit with Grandma on Gun Road.

The Trolley Lane was all clear this evening except for one jerk cab driver in front of the ESPNZone.