Randonneur or Cyclotouriste

Jim and I had a big plan to prepare for the fleche next weekend by riding from Baltimore to Ocean City this Saturday. Friday night I predeployed my car at the west end of the bridge to ferry us across. There is a park and ride on the east end of the bridge, so leave the car there and ride on to the beach. Sunday we ride back to the car.

That's the plan. If we were good randonneurs we would finish the ride at all costs no matter what. However, it was pouring down rain all day. Right before we got to the bridge, the cold front responsible for the rain came through, the rain fell harder, the wind picked up, and the temperature dropped from the mid 50s to the mid 40s.

We decided to be something other than randonneurs on that day. We decided for us bike riding would be a pleasant, enjoyable experience, and if bike riding meant riding 8 or 9 hours soaked to the skin in wind rain and temps in the 40s, well then we'll just drive the last 90 miles to Ocean City. We were cyclotouristes.

I met Jim for breakfast to start at Sam's Bagels in Federal Hill. It was raining out.



Jim has his own special ways of dealing with the rain. Those are plastic grocery bags on his feet. This is a guy who claims to be embarassed to be seen riding with a guy on a recumbent (the "goofy bike"). He said he's not afraid of the Eastern Shore Fashion Police.



Here's a picture of the B&A trail in scenic Harundale.



Here is where we gave up. This is the parking lot of the gas staion at the east end of the Bay Bridge.



The gas station has Cheddarwurst! That did the job lifting our spirits. Also, changing into dry clothes helps. The bag has about 10 lbs of soaking wet fleece.



Cyclotouristes get to drink whiskey with pretty girls at the end of the day. Debra my wife took the picture, so don't worry.

Bike Route or Cab Stand II?

It's Friday night, 8:00 pm, and there are three cabs blocking the Trolley Lane.

Here's cab #1.



This is cab #2



The stupid looking kid is the driver of cab #2. He describes the stupid looking fat guy as his supervisor.



The stupid looking fat guy is driving cab #3, shown here:



The kid was nervous when I started taking pictures. The fat guy was unmoved. There are no police to be found.

Cobrabike back on the road!

My poor old SRAM X.0 derailleur that gave out on the Richmond Roundabout last weekend is now replaced with a brand new 2006 SRAM X.0 derailleur!



It's so nice.

List price: $265.00
Speedgoat price: $235.00 (speedgoat.com, my fave Internet discount bike part source)
eBay "Buy it now" from some random guy: $170.00

I love eBay. And it was in my hands in 3 days. Still hard to justify when the Buy it now for an X.9 was only around $55. Ooooh carbon.

This weekend is the last chance to get ready for the Fleche. Jim and I are riding to Laura's beach condo in Ocean City tomorrow. From here. This means I have to predeploy my car to the west end of the Bay Bridge.



Tomorrow we drive over the bridge, and leave the car at the park-and-ride on the other side. Then Sunday we ride back and repeat the process.



It's 32 miles from the parking lot by Jamals Rt 50 Bay Bridge Discount Liquor Mart to home via the B&A trail, if you go out to the entrance to Sandy Point State Park so you can take a picture of the bridge.

Debra and Laura drove out to the beach tonight, so they will be well prepared to fix us margaritas when we arrive tomorrow.

Bike Route or Cab Stand?

This was in front of the Pratt St. Pavillion at 6:45 this evening.



Another cab driver who thinks the bike lane is his cab stand.



He wanted to know why I was taking his picture. I told him how he was illegally parked, and blocking my way, and I'm putting his picture on the Internet to document his lawbreaking behavior. He cursed me out, but did not move out of the way.



There were four police cruisers a block or so up by the World Trade Center. Three of them were transit police. They said they write tickets all the time, but they were on a call at that particular moment and so they could not give the cab driver a ticket.

Bike Ride Report - Richmond Roundabout

Saturday I rode the "Richmond Roundabout". It was 175 miles.



This is a DC Randonneurs' training ride. It's a big loop around Richmond VA. The Fleche is in two weeks. This is good practice.

Here is the scene from my room at the Motel 6 at 4:15 am. The ride starts at 5:00.



The TV is tuned to the Weather Channel, which showed nothing on the RADAR. The forecast was for showers, but it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day, albeit with a stiff headwind all afternoon.

Here are my intrepid fellow riders just before 5:00 am, wearing all required reflective gear. This is behind the coffee shop in downtown Ashland, VA. It's just a short ride from the 6.



The morning highlight is crossing the James River over the big bridge with the scary metal deck that makes your tires weave back and forth. No shoulders here for a couple miles, either.



Here is the scene from first lunch, which for me was a Wendy's at a truck stop around mile 70. The good part is that every table has a phone with a data port and an outlet so truck drivers can look for work. this is good because I could charge up my GPS heart rate monitor.



But I should have gone a half mile farther to the Subway like everyone else. I just wasn't keen on the idea of All Subway All Day. However, Wendy's was staffed by complete imbeciles. Every single order taken by the 16 year old at the cash register was messed up. The lady ahead of me got cold gravy and biscuits. I ordered a large chili and a bacon cheddar baked potato. "I'd like both of them hot," I helpfully suggested.

Well, it turns out Wendy's has banned gooey yellow cheese. I said OK, I'll have it plain. But no. Plain costs less. This caused about a 20 minute delay while the entire staff of Wendy's tried to figure out how to make the cash register change the potato to plain instead of with historical gooey yellow cheese. They wound up giving me my money back along with a potato.

I blame it all on trans fat.

Here is what the scenery looked like most of the day.



I took that picture because a half mile back down that hill was where I was supposed to turn. I'm sharing this with the rest of the riders, because none of them probably saw this particular stretch of road.

Second lunch was at Subway at mile 114 (116 for me). I decided to stop being a nonconformist. It was yummy. I charged the heart rate monitor some more.



But right before I got to the Subway, disaster had struck. I felt the cable give way when shifting gears, and I couldn't shift into higher gear. Uh Oh.

Closer inspection revealed that the cable was just fine. The problem was the return spring on my derailleur had broken.



Well, this sucks. If you click on the picture to get a bigger view, you can see the broken spring inside the quadrilateral.

Because I want to be a good randonneur, I finished the ride. In first gear. For 60 miles.

This essentially gave me a three speed. In the big chainring, I would spin out around 13 mph. On the middle, it's about 9 mph. I didn't bother with the little ring, which is about 16 gear inches, and of no use for grades less than 15%.

(Yes, I know I could have adjusted the stop points for the derailleur to get a higher gear or two. What fun is that?)

So I set off. Mary G. and Paul D. left just after me, and soon passed me. I met up with them here at the nasty nasty country store in Vontay.



It seems that if you stand around outside, giant swarms of flies come. Paul and Mary fled just after I got there. They couldn't take it. Then they charged me $2.19 for a regular 20 oz Gatorade. I can't really recommend this place. I'm notifying Zagat.

This is where it started getting dark. I passed Paul and Mary where they were pulled over putting on their reflective clothes and setting up their lights. I pressed on, and put on my own reflectors and lights about 5 miles later at the store where you turn on to Old Ridge Road. I went into the store to throw away my empty $2.00 Gatorade bottle, and as I was coming out, Paul and Mary passed.

For the remaining 25 miles, I could see their tail lights in the distance, getting farther and farther away. I wanted to catch them, because it was dark, and because I was worried about missing the turn to Blunts Bridge Rd, which is 7 miles from the last landmark on the map. It is nice to have company in the dark. But I couldn't catch them with only first gear, there was no hope. Sometimes I gained a little ground on long climbs, but as soon as it flattened out, I would spin away at 13 mph, and they would pull away.

I got into Ashland a few minutes after they did, enough for them to witness me wreck on the gravel in the parking lot.

My fancy GPS heart rate monitor lasted the whole ride with the couple refreshes when I stopped to eat. I set it to start a new lap when the derailleur broke so I could see how much speed I lost as a result.

It wasn't as bad as I thought. I averaged 13.6 mph before, and 12.2 after. And since I spent the last five hours of the ride coasting most of the time, I was in pretty good shape at the end, and not too tired at all today. However, despite wanting to go find some dinner and compare stories with everyone else, I fell asleep as soon as I got out of the shower.

The total was 178 miles in 13:40 pedal time, and about 15:30 clock time. I also recorded a pretty ridiculous 8569 feet of climb.

Here is the map recorded by the eTrex.

The Trolley Lane is all clear - for cab drivers

So now that the tour buses have been run off from in front of the ESPN Zone, the cabs are back using it as an illegal cab stand. When they saw me whip out the camera, they hustled off.





The same security guard who told me a pile of lies last week about how buses were allowed to park here came over to talk to me, but he didn't have much to say beyone "enjoy your ride."

Monday's ride down the trolley lane - my bike vs. Wait, where'd they go?

What a happy day. I rode through the Inner Harbor about 7:00, down a completely clear, open, unobtructed trolley lane.

This was great.

I drove through Sunday and noticed a complete lack of illegally parked tour buses and taxicabs then too. Both days there was a visible police presence with an officer in the little baby SUV they use to drive around the Inner Harbor.

No pictures, it was dark out then.

I'm starting to think nice things about the bikehon list and the mayor's office.

Bike Ride Report - DC Randonneurs MD 200k Brevet

Big 200k brevet yesterday! It wasn't flat!



It took me 11:02. My GPS said 9700 feet of climb, but that's probably high. It was more like 7900 feet according to everyone else.

The start was at a church parking lot in Hyattstown, MD. There is nobody else in the picture due to the fact that I am 10 minutes late getting on the road as usual.



The first control was at the volunteer fire department in Rocky Ridge, MD. See the motley bunch of randonneurs loitering out front.



Next comes the quaint town of Thurmont. Which fills all cyclists with dread, because the long, long climb over the Catoctin ridge is imminent.



After you blast down the other side, you get to Smithsburg. This picture is right outside. It's rolling hills like this for about 20 miles to State Line, PA. There was a stiff, cold headwind for this leg, which is all farms and no trees to block it. I gained a bit on all the folks riding upright bikes.



Here is the view from the Secret Control, in Antietam National Battlefield. It's not every day you see a bitchin' M3 with a bike on top.



This was about mile 70. I'd eaten two bananas and two Gatorades at this point, and the fuel reserves were getting low. There were two big climbs coming up, one to Gapland, and one to Mountville.

Just five miles farther the fuel problem was solved. It's the secret weapon. The lifesaver which allows brevets to be completed with strength in comfort. Sheetz Macaroni and Cheese. Yum. Hot and delicious in Williamsport.

Here is the big monument to Civil War newspaper reports in Gapland. This is at the top of the big steep climb. I've never climbed it from the west, so the whole time I thought I was lost and I couldn't figure out where I was. When you go the other way, it goes by so fast you don't see anything.



I got in at 6:00, with plenty of light left, feeling good.

Here's the map, with the track recorded by the GPS. Click to enlarge

Tour Buses vs. my bike in the Inner Harbor II - Quick's Transportation, Fredericksburg, VA

I was riding home tonight, March 22. I passed through the Inner Harbor around 7:00 pm. There were *SIX* count'em *SIX* tour buses illegally parked in front of the ESPN Zone.



They were all together. They were loading up a couple hundred little kids. But the signs say NO STOPPING, they don't say "Bus Loading Zone". And they prevent me from using the public right of way.

The guy in the gray coat with the eyes of the Devil appeared to be in charge. He confronted my when I started taking pictures. He wanted to know why "I was such an asshole." Well, I'm not the one illegally parking six tour buses in a no stopping zone. I'm the guy prevented from using the only safe and legal way to ride a bike across downtown Baltimore.



Here are a couple drivers. The one who wouldn't let me take her picture said if I didn't put the camera away, she would take it and a bunch of them would beat the crap out of me. I don't hold it against her for not letting me take her picture. I found her quite unattractive.



The guilty organization appears to be Quick's Transportation, Fredericksburg, VA, phone 1-888-373-1357.



Here are what pictures I could get of the registration information on the buses. I only got four of six. When they saw me photographing this info, the hurried up and left.

ESPN Zone Response - It Wasn't Us

Here is the response I got to my e-mail complaining about the security guards in front of their building:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr. [Drew]:

First of all, let me apologize for your unpleasant experience on March 17th.

I would like you to know that ESPN Zone does not employ security guards from Inner Harbor Security. The security personnel you encountered are employed by the Cordish Company, developers of the Power Plant, Power Plant Live and other concepts in Baltimore and around the country. The headquarters for the Power Plant is at 601 E Pratt Street, in the Power Plant Building. Their security guards patrol the Power Plant, the front promenade, as well as the side and back of the building.

Furthermore, when ESPN Zone utilizes the trolley lane for television broadcast trucks, etc., we have to work with the Baltimore City office of Permits in order to secure a permit to block this area. We did not have a special event on March 17th to warrant anyone parking in that lane, so the bus you mentioned in your email was not part of special parking arranged by ESPN Zone.

Scott Hutchison
General Manager
ESPNZone - Baltimore
[phone number removed]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fair enough.

I will have to get after Cordish. I haven't seen any security guards there since I sent my original e-mail, however.

Tour Buses vs. my bike in the Inner Harbor I - Paradise Vacations

I've decided to always carry my camera with me while bike riding to document the ridiculous situation with the Trolley Lane along Pratt Street.

I rode in to work on Saturday afternoon, March 18. I passed through the Inner Harbor about 3:00 PM. Sure enough, there was an illegally parked tour bus blocking the way.



Here is the NO STOPPING sign in front of the bus, along with a sign making it clear I'm not supposed to be riding on the sidewalk in front of the ESPN Zone.



Here is the tour bus driver. He looks nice now, but he later came out of the bus and tried to pick a fight.



Here is a sign in the bus window.



Here is the sign on the side of the bus saying who is the operator.



And here is the NO STOPPING sign right behind the bus.



No security guards were involved in this episode.

ESPN Zone vs. Bicyclists - my letter

Baltimore EspnZone Security Guards Help Obstruct the Way for Bicyclists

I was bicycling home from work yesterday evening, Friday March 17th 2006. At approximately 6:15, I was travelling eastbound on the bike/trolley lane on Pratt Street in front of the ESPN Zone.

There was a commercial tour bus parked in the bike lane completely blocking it. The tour bus was parked directly in front of a sign saying "NO STOPPING CARS TOWED AWAY".

I identified the driver of the tour bus. While I was having a discussion with the tour bus driver in a futile attempt to get him to move the bus, we were approached by two security guards from ESPNZone. The guards were dressed exactly like Baltimore City police. They were wearing dark blue uniforms and bronze badges. Except the uniforms said "Inner Harbor Security" and the badges said "Security Guard".

The guards treated me as the person causing a problem, rather than the illegally parked tour bus. They told me the following:

1. If I call the police about this, the police will arrest me for "creating a disturbance", and not do anything about the bus.
2. The bus has a permit to park here. (I immediately asked the bus driver to produce such a permit. He changed the subject.)
3. While there is an obvious sign saying "NO STOPPING CARS TOWED AWAY", there is a different sign farther down the block that says bus unloading zone, and that's the sign that applies. (There is a pull-off area where the guard said this sign was, so that buses could unload without blocking the bike lane. I did not confirm whether there is a sign there or not.)
4. "His employer" owns the bike lane and the sidewalk, and buses are allowed to park there.

Each of these statements are lies.

My assumption is that the security guards is poorly trained as to his duties and the limits of his authority. His actions give the appearance that the ESPN Zone is making an attempt to reserve the public roadway for their private use, by what amounts to using security guards as hired goons to spread misinformation about the public's right to use the public right-of-way, and to intimidate people who raise an objection.

I find it hard to believe that a responsible business would engage in such practices. One would think that in such a situation as I experienced the security guards would attempt to have the vehicle obstructing traffic moved, and to contact the proper authorities if the driver refused.

I would like the operators of the ESPN Zone Baltimore to provide me a copy of the policies for the security guards detailing their duties and responsibiliites.

I furthermore would like the operators of the ESPN Zone Baltimore to describe to me the actions they have taken to educate their security guards so that incidents like this do not happen in the future.

Thank you,

Drew (last name, address, and e-mail removed for blog)