Racing

The more I think about the season ahead, the more I think I might be more
interested in starting a vegetable garden and learning to play the fiddle. What is it that makes people continue to show up at the starting line year after year? I think I'm getting soft and have lost interest in spending time in the hurt locker. I'll probably feel differently once the season gets going, but I'd still like to learn to play the fiddle.

A Frederick Renaissance

Although the trails remain unrideable, there is evidence that spring is on the way. Yesterday, Jeff, Amanda, Joos and I went for a road ride with over 5,000 feet of climbing in roughly 50 miles. Early on in the ride we stopped at the Jefferson Pastry Shoppe, located next to Hemp's Meets on Jefferson Pike. Between climbs, we stopped to take photos of a few familiar landmarks and wolf down various forms of gummy sustenance. While nothing will ever compare to State College, the road riding in Frederick and Washington County provides some of the best climbing in the state, on narrow rural roads with very little traffic. Park Hall Rd, Zittlestown Rd, and Gapland Rd are among some of my favorite roads in the area.

In other news, I have been reading more and more about the long term transportation planning going on both in the city and the county of Frederick. Planners at both the city and county level envision a future of multi-modal transportation and sustainable land-use that creates a livable community for its citizens rather than a concrete web of roads that force people off their bikes and into their cars.

"For tomorrow's Frederick County, the transportation technology with the greatest potential to improve the quality of life for citizens may not be the wheel, train, or turbine - it may indeed be the shoe."
(Providing Transportation Choices December 2009)

Further reading:
City of Frederick Shared Use Path Plan
Providing Transportation Choices
Fort Dietrick Bicycle, Pedestrian, and Transit Access Study