It was a fine turnout at 9 am this morning at the park and ride on the southwest side of Baltimore for my long ride into Annapolis and back. Paul Raley was there bright and early with his Jack Taylor Super Tourist, nicely set up with half step and granny, full fenders, matching racks and front Bertoud bag. I was riding my Jack Taylor curved tube bike w/ ASC. It was sunny and seemed warmer than expected, though just a bit chilly for the early start when the sun went behind a cloud. As it was a small crowd, the pair 'o Jacks were on their way, down the long hill into Patapsco State Park, a bit of rest stop and back on the road. 10 miles of quiet roads leading to the Baltimore Washington International (BWI)'s airport loop. We were to meet Marty Walsh and Tom Roberson, who were riding north as we rode south, somewhere on the airport loop.
Mid morning traffic was light on the roads and trail, a nicely paved 8' wide path, and we made good time. Scenery was surprisingly nice for riding around an urban airport with the trail going through some unexpected farm land and rolling lightly, perfect fixed gear terrain. Such good time in fact that we were a mile or two into the B&A (Baltimore and Annapolis) trail before running into Tom and Marty. Marty had a Dave Stoler orange Masi and Tom had brought his Velo Orange gentlemen's bike in honor of our trip to VO.
Marty immediately suggested that we do some bike trading to see how the other's bikes ride. I found myself on his Masi, Paul and Tom swapping theirs. We rode a bit, decided to horse trade again and I was riding the Velo Orange, perfect since one of the reasons for this Friday trip was to catch Chris Kulczycki when the shop was open to check out his randonneurs. Nice ride. Then it was onto Paul's Taylor for me, and everyone got a shot. All bikes were set up fairly closely and all with toe clips. Life is good!
We soon found ourselves rolling into Annapolis, which was hopping with the powerboat show at the harbor's ego alley. Alas, all views were blocked with tents, privacy barriers and a high admission price. Marty suggested lunch at Carroll Creek, a lovely restaurant overlooking another harbor in Eastport, just over a bridge and a few blocks away. The crab cakes were delicious as we looked out over four fine bikes, and quite a few boats too.
Off to Velo Orange where we were met by CR list member Tom Martin, also Chris's young, very enthusiastic son, and of course Chris and his wife. What a cool boutique store! You have to check his website to see all the cool inventory, but the showroom was very slick. I got to try out the Johnny Coast randonneur (sold out for two years and not taking new orders), and the Ahren Rogers pass hunter, both a bit of stretch for me since Chris, at least two inches taller than me sets these bikes (in my size) up with a TALL seatpost. Still very nice handling bikes. I gotta think about that pass hunter, very nice! Ahren Rogers is a former frame builder for Seven bikes.
I was checking out bar end shifter compatible upright bars for Barb's ladies frame Taylor, and of course everything else, and the time seemed to go quickly. It was about 2:30 when I realized we had a good 35 miles to go to get back to the cars and needed to be off. Like long goodbyes with family, or CR members in a classic bike boutique, it was a good half hour before we got going with Paul zip tying a set of the upward curved randonneur bars to his rear rack and getting a few purchased items.
The gridlock around Annapolis at the start of Fridays rush hour reminded us of recent crit bike posts as we noodled between slow and parked cars with those narrow bars, making much better speed through town than anyone else. Past the Naval Academy, sadly no longer open to bikers since 9-11, onto the open road and soon back to the B&A trail where we said our goodbyes to Marty and Tom.
Paul and I ate some bike food, Paul with some kind of English sweet 'pancake' wrapped in foil and me the standard nasty power bar, fired it up for the ride back to Baltimore against a bit of headwind. The airport loop came up quickly enough where we closed the western side of the loop and down again to Patapsco State Park, then up the long grade to the parking lot. As much as these events usually finish with much time discussing the ride, etc. at the end, we'd had almost nine hours of riding and time spent covering every kind of subject. What a fine day for riding. When can we do it again? There just isn't much better in life than spending a day riding with friends.
Happy trails,
Dan Artley in Parkton, Maryland USA
"No Hour of Life Is Lost That Is Spent In The Saddle" - Winston Churchill