DC & Baltimore Century (~106 Miles) Saturday, March 19, 2016

[ginacico]

Aw, now I’m a bit wistful. I moved to Arlington from Pasadena, MD and used to ride the BWI loop all the time. The Baltimore & Annapolis trail is the gem of Anne Arundel County, and the loop is like the candy part of a lollipop.

The B&A trail doesn’t actually quite reach either city, but both are fairly accessible. The East Coast Greenway route through Maryland, when it goes where you want to go, is good to consult for recommended roads and trails. I could ride from my house to Baltimore Inner Harbor, on separated bike paths and decent bike lanes, and it avoided the sketchiest neighborhoods. I didn’t look through to compare what you did, just putting it here for future reference.

This was taken from spot you mentioned, where you can watch airplanes and light rail trains from the hill. (Mole pies are from Feed Zone Portables.)
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This was a rest stop on the first annual Lifeline 100 century, organized by the local advocacy group BikeAAA. Great ride, well organized, highly recommended. Buncha folks did it last year.
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[ginacico]

@AFHokie 137274 wrote:

I’d like to try and turn the ride into a loop and follow the Baltimore & Annapolis Trail to Annapolis, then returning to DC from there.

Totally possible. Here’s the ECG recommended route for getting from Baltimore to Annapolis, and back to DC.

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It uses the BWI loop and B&A trail, plus others (green=trail, blue=road). I’ve ridden a good chunk of it, and most of it is great. Unpleasantness ensues in some of the road sections heading west out of Annapolis and into Davidsonville, with limited shoulders in some areas. Be intrepid, and don’t try it on a busy weekend, otherwise it will be fine.

Interactive ECG planning map here.

[bobco85]

This is great! Combining this route with the fact that MARC trains will have a weekend bike car to use to get to Baltimore means that a ride between Baltimore, Annapolis, and DC is much more accessible for those who cannot ride more than a metric century. One could hop on the train in DC, take it to Baltimore, then:

• bike from Baltimore to Annapolis then DC (~70 miles) or
• bike from Baltimore back to DC (~50 miles).

On another note, I’m happy to announce that in the past 2 weeks I have accomplished 2 of my goals for 2016: bike to Annapolis and back (did that on 3/12) and bike to Baltimore and back (did that on 3/19)! I am grateful for the inspiration, challenge (I wasn’t sure if I could do either ride but decided to try Rod’s Annapolis century then awlcfa’s Baltimore century), and fellowship (much more fun riding with others who can help motivate you), so thank you again.

[ginacico]

Geez, and it’s only March – congrats on two big goals!

MARC’s bike cars are totally swank. All of the weekend Penn line trains have them now, which makes planning easy. I really hope more people take advantage of them.

Seats right across from the bike racks.
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Drink holders, even. And cheeky instructions.
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Luggage racks for your bags, too.
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Also of note, if you ride all the way to Penn Station in Baltimore, it’s a short walk to the Light Rail, which also takes bikes. You can take Light Rail all the way to Hunt Valley and get on the Torrey C Brown Rail Trail (aka NCR Trail), which is beautiful and crowd-free.

I’ve got a weekend tour planned to ride that to York PA and continue on to Harrisburg, then come back to DC on Amtrak. (Amtrak still doesn’t have roll-on service, but we have bikes with couplers and baggage-regulation cases, which requires more logistical planning but opens up possibilities.) Combining trains and bikes leads to all kinds of fun.

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