This was the 10th annual ride through the parks of Baltimore. 2 years ago 2 of us did the 25 mile option -- it was the hottest ride I had ever done; yesterday was also a balmy 92 degrees, but seemed cooler. My 4 friends and I chose the 33 mile option, which took us through 5 parks. We had all forgotten how hilly and green parts of Baltimore could be! There were beautiful tree canopied roads, amazing neighborhoods of mansions, true city parks, row houses, water vistas, Little Italy, Inner Harbor, the top of Federal Hill, the Raven's stadium, etc. The cue sheet was fine, but with some sections requiring constant turns, we just followed the pretty-well-marked pavement. There were a couple confusing moments as the people marking the roads sometimes assumed you knew to get on the sidewalk rather than stay on the street, but all in all I think it was pretty well done. There were a couple hills we saw some walk, but if you've tackled the hills of Molly Berry and near Merkle with OHBC, you would be fine! Nice rest stops and hoses to cool off! At the end of the ride was music, hamburgers, hotdogs, veggie burgers and beer. We cooled down and headed to Little Italy for the festival. This is a fun ride that all 5 of us agreed should be done at least once to appreciate Baltimore, if not again and again.
