If you’re planning on racing in Patterson Park on May 23rd, pre-registration for Bike Jame opens today at 6pm. Get bikereg’d up here. PROTIPS : Don’t leave bikes on your cars here like at Charm City Cross. I don’t think you need gatorskins or shit like that, but be aware of broken glass on the course.

Allow me to complain for a sentence about running red lights, intersection plugging, etc. I saw two people almost get nailed during the ride simply because we went through lights. If you want to hear me complain at length (because it really is stupid), tune into cyclosty FM on wjhu on tuesday 8-9pm.

Despite the sudden drop in temperature this week (fuck you, cold fronts) I think a little more than thirty people rode in this month’s critical mass. The route was pretty unusual as far as these go.

Up Charles from the get-go, left on University Parkway, into Hampden, down Roland, through Druid Hill Park where everyone stopped for a photo. A few people started to leave around this point but the ride over the 28th Street bridge was a lot of fun (not something I thought I’d ever say). That bridge, and it’s sister span (29th street bridge) are both very unfriendly for riding, so it was nice to conquer it with lots of other riders.

Brief apology to the dozens of drivers held up at that point, but hey, we were going at a decent clip. Wait, I’m not sorry, fuck you! Little tension for most of the ride, probably going up Charles was the ‘worst’ but really not so bad compared to other CM’s last year.

I left the ride when they got to Maryland Avenue, but the ride report I got from Arne was that everyone headed downtown and things pretty much broke apart at Fells Point. I remember a very small, very short Critical Mass that ended there last year.

Also one of the quietest masses I’ve ever ridden in, almost eerily so going up Charles. Nobody was talking..

That wraps up this way too drawn out ride report for the March 2010 Baltimore Critical Mass. Tune in soon for an announcement of a Critical Manners ride for April.

[Photos on my flickr from the ride, plus a really quick video as shown above - link]
[Jon Baler (sorry I had the wrong person before) has put up some cool photos - link]
[No other recaps or photos that I can find. If you have some, please post them in the comments so I can link them here]

I just got off the phone with the PR rep for Towson Town Center (the mall in Towson). They will be installing bike parking this spring.

Previously – Towson Mall, 3 levels for cars, no racks for bikes.

Ben was the first person I rode with in Baltimore. Then he was riding a Felt, now his commuter is this Benetto. Formerly owned by a track racer who eventually broke the frame. It’s been welded by a friend and is now back in regular use (though obviously not at the track). It rides really smoothly considering it’s track-specific personality. Glad to see Ben out riding again.

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Partial list from MICA CYCLING . net

1 The Students for a Sustainable Campus Group (blog) launched the MICA BIKE SHARE last Wednesday. If you are a full time grad or undergrad student you can check out a bike for 48 hours from the fitness center. For details go to their website or pick up the pamphlet. One of the benefits of joining the bike share is a 15 percent discount at Baltimore Bike Works. Photos of the Bike Share Launch here.

2 Critical Manners Ride. End of March. More details soon.

3 If you have ride suggestions, etc, anything you want to say, just reply here. Please forward this to other people you think might be interested in joining the club or who want to get on the email list.

Today marked the official launch of the student bike share program at the Maryland Institute College of Art. The Students for a Sustainable Campus group with the cooperation of Baltimore Bicycle Works have 4 bikes available for students to check out for 48 hours with a U-Lock. Students are required to receive a brief training and information session before they can use the Bike Share. Students who have completed the session receive a note on their student ID which allows them to check out bikes.

Students who participate in the Bike Share can also get 15 percent off anything at Baltimore Bike Works. I think Loyola has  a bike share also, but this is a first for MICA and is a great resource for students who don’t have bikes.

More photos here.