Despite the forecast for blazing hot weather, many local cyclists took the opportunity to ride this past weekend – and Kate and I did the same, riding through some wonderful parts of Baltimore in their 10th Annual “Tour dem Parks, Hon!” event. Sponsored by the Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee , the Department of Recreation & Parks, and the Department of Planning / Office of Sustainability – this event has reportedly grown in attendance rapidly, and it is not surprising why.
There are four distance options, the shortest being 12 and the longest being a metric century – but given the forecast and our recent lack of biking, we settled on the 36 mile route, dubbed “Le Grande Tour”, which took us through all five major parks (Carroll, Druid, Herring Run, Clifton, and Patterson) and a handful of other small parks (and by the Ace of Cakes shop).
Starting from Carroll park we headed up the mostly quiet and shaded Gwynns Falls Trail (mostly quiet because we actually heard the loud crashing of a tree randomly falling in the woods), the incredibly cute historic village of Dickeyville. From there we traveled on road to Hanlon Park, then the refreshingly cool wooded paths of the Jones Falls Trail through Druid Hill Park (Droodle Park if you’re a Bal’mer native). After winding through the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus we found Lake Montebello and Herring Run Park, as well as Clifton Park. The final rest stop, in perhaps the most popular or Baltimore Parks – Patterson Park was a welcome chance to refill water bottles and have a snack before the final run through the Inner Harbor and Federal Hill, then back to Carroll Park for some relaxation, food, jazz and a couple of ice cold kegs of beer from the Brewers Art.
The crowd was a great mix of people of all sorts of cycling backgrounds, which made it fun as we all explored together. I’ve proclaimed love for Baltimore previously, and once again this ride proved my convictions. Though the city has a reputation for crime and poverty, it also has more civic infrastructure (and an accompanying sense of community) than many major cities. There are parks, amphitheaters, botanical gardens, zoos, playing fields, colleges and universities, informal meeting places – and more. I think it is a wonderful city, and was glad that we got to ride through it again. Much thanks to the organizers, they did a spectacular job.
Afterwards we tried to visit the new bar/store in Brewers Hill that was opened by the Stillwater Artisinal Ales folks “Of Love and Regret“, but alas it wasn’t open for the day. Instead we headed to Heavy Seas Alehouse for some snacks, brews and the final innings of the O’s game. What a great day!
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- Wish I could blame the blur on speed!
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- Rest Stop #1 at Leakin Park
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- Lake Ashburton at Hanlon Park
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- Rawlings Conservatory Botanical Gardens
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- Panda Practice
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- Bike Lanes/Paths around Lake Montebello
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- Cool Idea.
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- Patterson Park Pagoda
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- Baltimore Defenses
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- The End.
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- Post ride refreshment from Brewers Art!
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- Stillwater Artisinal Ales – “Of Love and Regret”
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- Heavy Seas May 2012 “Letter of Marque” offering, a Tripel Wit, loaded with flavor, and very refreshing.
This looks like a great ride! The 36 mile route would be perfect for me – more than about 40 I have to make somewhat of an effort to train for. Plus, the parks look really neat. I’ve been to Baltimore a couple of times, but I didn’t realize they had so much green space and unique architecture. I’ll have to put it on the calendar for next year.
Love the concept of highlighting the local parks. Such a great idea — the ride that keeps on giving. And it sounds like it went well. How was it organized — roads closed or open? Was it well marked? Might be one to put on the calendar for next year.
I’ve heard of the mobile farmers market trucks to help in some of DC’s food deserts, but haven’t seen one. Another great idea.
the event was pretty well run overall. a portion of the event was on trails and one road was closed. the rest was open roads, though may of them had bike infrastructure of some sort. having the event on a sunday helped with traffic as well. there were a few busy roads, but nothing that a confident cyclist couldn’t handle. the route was marked with spray paint on the road, but at times it was easy to miss turns. the cue sheet that was provided helped in that regard, and often we were in a group so somebody was paying attention and the group would react as a whole.
i’d ride it again, maybe the metric century to see where the longer distance brought me.
Sounds like an excellent ride. We did the RecRide last month and I loved the chance to see some B’more neighborhoods I haven’t been to before.
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