I posted this down in the Mid-Atlantic forum, then figured I should put it here too:

Well, I don't know about Janice (divingbiker), but I had a ball today on the Tour du Port in Baltimore, Md. This was my first organized "group" ride. Faced with a very early morning start time and a really big crowd of people, I was a bit spastic when Janice and I met, but once we got on the road it was great. We had both signed up for the 21 mile route, but circumstances caused us to add a few miles.

We started out along the cobblestones of Fell's Point (Great! Nothing like cobblestones to wake ya up!), though I think the people we were following cheated by taking us through a brick sidewalked area along the waterfront Down through Canton, to a train crossing at which we got stuck for a loooong time until we finally joined one of the groups that decided to take a detour. The detour meant we missed 4.5 or so miles through Dundalk, but it got us up to Patterson Park while the sun was still low on the horizon. From there, we zoomed through upper Fell's Point and over around the Inner Harbor, turning off before the Science Center to take a roundabout route through the Federal Hill area. We ended taking a short break at the park on top of the hill to begin peeling off layers of warm weather gear.

From there, the route headed south to Riverside Park and the first rest stop. Nice spread of apples, very green bananas, cookies, bagels, energy bars and Gatorade. After a break and some slight directional confusion, we were on our way to Fort McHenry. By then the sun was up and the water of the Patapsco River was a gorgeous shade of blue. Riding along with the fort on one side and the river on the other was definitely one of the highlights of the day.

Heading back, the route threaded a bit through the Locust Point area before swinging back to Key Highway and passing the American Visionary Arts Museum, which is a fantastic site. A quick spin back around Inner Harbor returned us to Fell's Point and a, well, kind of mediocre lunch (not terrible, but not great, either).

While at lunch, Janice and I decided we wanted to follow the route back over through Fell's Point and pick up the loop we had missed through Dundalk. There was no train blocking the way this time, but there were a surprising number of tractor trailers lumbering through the area for a Sunday afternoon. The section began as heavily industrial before morphing into the almost suburban area of Dundalk. Not the coolest or prettiest section of Baltimore, but it definitely gave me some good practice at riding in traffic. After passing two very cool little cemeteries on O'Donnell Street, we ended up on a wide, fast stretch that felt like being on a highway. I got yelled at to get on the sidewalk and Janice almost got sideswiped, but we made it up to the Natty Boh (National Bohemian beer) factory in one piece and turned off the ride route to zigzag our way back to Fell's Point and our cars.

We ended up with 27.3 miles, which was a nice length in between the organized 21 and 40 mile routes. We saw some great (or at least interesting ) sections of B'more, and I really wish I had brought my camera. Next year, I definitely will