BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
I had been looking forward to this day, both to meet my Pedal Pal1, Anthony Venida, and to see the 2012 alumni who came to help and the alumni of the Florida ride I did in April.
I left home at 5:00 and drove to my friend Alan’s house in Alexandria. He rode with me to Baltimore and took my car back for me to pick it up after a 60-mile ride.
I arrived at 6:30 a.m. just as the groups were rolling out to the Inner Harbor for the Sendoff Ceremony. I took my time getting ready and then gave chase. I caught some riders.
I saw many of the 2012 Team San Francisco who came to make the first day remarkable. And they did.
Before the teams rolled out, I met some of Team Portland because I knew I’d be riding with them on Tuesday. Then Team San Fran rolled out to the American Visionary Art Museum, where they would form groups.
I rolled out in the first group with alumna, Erin Mack, along with Anthony. I wanted to be in the first group because the Baltimore to D.C. route was a fustercluck2 last year. This year I volunteered to make the cue sheets and even rode the route ahead of time, although I had to dispel the rumor that I had ridden it this morning. Since we rolled out at 8:00 a.m., that would have had to have been about 4:00 in the morning. Nope, not happening.
I brought my own chalk to chalk the cues, but that would prove hard to do because the alumni beat me to almost every turn. Two were in a van up ahead on the road. Still, the chalk that Livestrong handed out in 2009 when Lance Armstrong returned to cycling would prove useful.
We were comfortably in the lead until Anthony dropped a chain. While we waited for the minor adjustment, Jeff Graves’ group came flying by. And Jeff’s group would lead the way the rest of the day.
We stopped in Berwyn Heights, Md., for a lunch of pizza donated by Papa John’s. When we were ready to roll out, I formally joined Jeff’s group to chalk some turns on the Anacostia River Trail. Things went perfectly.
When we reached the Washington Monument, Jeff asked if we could do some bonus miles around Hains Point. So we did — which is what I did last year to Jeff’s group — without them knowing. But this group was much more refreshed and ready for it.
We reached the host church in Alexandria and waited for the other groups to arrive. Erin’s group, which I had been riding in but left, missed a cue and went across the Memorial Bridge instead of the 14th Street Bridge, but no big deal. I would not call that “lost.” I would call it bonus miles.
Rain threatened, and we had a few sprinkles, but that was all. This is a great group of young people, and they will do well. Ride safe, my friends!
DISTANCE: 65.3 miles (105 km)
AVERAGE SPEED: 12.0 mph (19.3 kph)
- A Pedal Pal was a short-lived program that paired cancer survivors with riders for the duration of the ride. ↩︎
- Not a real word, of course ↩︎
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