Written By Donna Engle
Carroll bicyclist Georgia Glashauser, a 53-year-old engineer who has ridden across the U.S. three times and written a book, Bicycle from Sea to Shining Sea, about her experiences, enters the natural world by just leaving the driveway of her Bloom Road home.
She has laughed as she watched a young calf stumble downhill into a flock of geese, prompting the birds to fly up and dive bomb the unlucky calf. She has seen cows lick their newborn calves after a birth in a field and a hawk take flight with a captured squirrel.
When bicycling gets hot and difficult, and she questions why she is doing it, “I just take a look around at where I am and how great it is. I feel so blessed.”
Some cyclists drive for an hour or more to ride in Carroll County, but they say it is worth the trip. They find the traffic relatively light and the vistas scenic. Glashauser finds Maryland roads well maintained when compared to those in other states, likes Carroll County’s topography–hills rather than mountains–and appreciates the long riding season, which is longer than that in her native Pennsylvania.
Not that hills would faze cyclists like Nancy Finnegan, a member of the Hanover (Pa) Cyclers. The Millers resident decided that if she had to turn 50, she wanted to do it in the best shape she had ever been in, so she began running, bicycling, and weight training last year. Now she rides at an average 15 to 17 m.p.h. and completed the 64-mile loop from Union Mills to Taneytown to Bonneauville, Pa. and back through Frizzellburg to Union Mills for the annual Homestead Corn Roast in 94-degree heat last summer.
Finnegan is part of a trend. According to a recent Time Magazine report, baby boomers are dropping their golf clubs and hopping on bikes. Americans between the ages of 45 and 64 accounted for 20 percent of those over age 7 who rode a bicycle at least six times last year, up from 13 percent a decade ago, Time reported.
Some cyclists pedal narrow-tired machines over rural roads and city streets. Mountain bikers on fat-tired bikes conquer unpaved multi-use trails. And, of course, youngsters are more likely to frequent neighborhood streets or paved trails through parks.
Carroll does not have a cycling club, but many local cyclists belong to the Baltimore Bicycling Club (BBC) or the Hanover, Pa., Cyclers. Both groups offer guided rides for bikers whose abilities range from casual (average speed, 6 to 10 mph, distances 10 to 25 miles), to experienced riders who easily knock off 70 miles at 18 mph.
Among BBC favorite rides in Carroll are from Runnymede Elementary School to Littlestown, Pa., Taneytown Memorial Park to Emmitsburg, Reisterstown to Westminster, and, when the New Windsor or Union Bridge Volunteer Fire Co. is serving a pancake breakfast, South Carroll High School to the fire hall.
“We love cycling in Carroll County. We love the rural environment,” said Gloria Epstein, BBC winter rides coordinator and leader of the annual ride held in conjunction with the Union Mills Homestead corn roast. Terrain is also favorable, she says. Carroll County’s hills tend to be long, but not as steep as the hills of upper Baltimore County.
Russell Rill, the president of Hanover Cyclers, has a different perspective: “We don’t do too many rides in Carroll County because it’s hilly down there,” he said. The club crosses the Mason-Dixon Line on some of its longer rides, such as a route from McSherrystown, Pa. to Silver Run and Taneytown.
To get started, think about where you want to ride and whether you will be cruising with the family or going out for speed and distance. There is a bike designed for every riding interest, whether mountain, road, hybrid, comfort, cruiser, touring, commuter, tandem, BMX or recumbent.
New riders should look for a comfortable seat, or saddle, to avoid possible genital numbness. Experts say saddles are so individual that the only way to find a comfortable one is to ride with it. You will also want to look at the range of speeds of various bicycles, and at features such as handlebars, which can be curved downward for a more forward position or straight for a more upright ride.
Prepare to spend time with a bicycle store salesperson to identify the right bike for you. Local sales personnel start by asking what kind of riding you intend to do, where you plan to ride and whether you have physical limitations such as arthritis or carpal tunnel syndrome. With that information, the salesperson can steer you to bikes that may fit your needs.
Individual experts may add items, but the consensus on equipment is that you must have a helmet, hydration (which can be as simple as a water bottle and holder), and equipment to fix flat tires.
Nice to have: Padded biking shorts, gloves, shoes, lock, car bike rack, odometer, long pants, windbreaker, pack to stow gear or backpack for water. Bells, lights, computers with speed and cadence sensors, child seats, kickstands and other accessories are available.
A customer who enters the Mt. Airy Bicycle Co. shop on Old National Pike will find bicycles of every description filling every inch. There are seats and frames and chains, biking shorts and gloves. Founder Larry Black, who opened his first bicycle shop in College Park in 1979, starts deductively with a new rider, narrowing the choices to the right bicycle.
“I probe a little bit deeper than most people, even with customers who’ve done research and come in saying, ÔI want a blue Trek 7300,’” he says. If a customer wants to ride trails, for example, Larry asks whether he or she plans to ride on packed gravel or dirt.
Larry encourages customers to buy a bicycle that fits their usual needs and to rent one for special purposes. If rider enters just one triathlon a year, Larry recommends renting a racing bike for the event.
Approximately $350 will put a beginner on a bicycle, Larry says. His inventory includes new and preowned bicycles. “A used bicycle is a great buy because there’s nothing to hide,” he said.
Larry’s bottom line: “If you don’t know bikes, know your dealer. Go to the closest dealer you can trust.”
At Race Pace in Westminster, salesperson Mark Letsch recommends performance road bikes for riders who want a workout, mountain bikes for all-terrain riders, and comfort bikes for leisure, scenery or family outings. Race Pace is a Trek dealer, but carries some specialty bikes made by small manufacturers.
At White’s Bicycles, Westminster, new customers are often families getting back into cycling with their kids or senior citizens, said manager Brad White. He enjoys helping them find the right bike.
“[Senior citizens] haven’t been on a bike in years,” White said. “Getting them out riding again is just as satisfying as seeing a kid get his first bike.”
In addition to mapped routes, bike clubs and individual riders design their own routes. Georgia Glashauser, for example, has worked out a 9-mile “around the block” route that loops from her Bloom Road home across Sams Creek, Oak Tree and Bear Branch Roads. A longer ride might take her to Union Bridge and Taneytown.
Responding to renewed interest, local governments have begun incorporating off-road trails for biking and hiking into their planning.
“We’re getting more and more requests each year from the public for different types of trails,” said Jeff Degitz, county director of recreation and parks.
Most walking trails in local parks are loops, but Jeff says the government is starting to get requests “for trails that take you from Point A to Point B.”
The Baltimore Metropolitan Council regional transportation plan contemplates paved trails linking Union Bridge, New Windsor and Westminster, Piney Run Park and Sykesville. Mount Airy and Sykesville, and a Monocacy River Greenway trail. None will be open before 2015.
Carroll towns have taken some biker-friendly steps. Sykesville built an underpass at Cooper Drive to allow bicyclists to enter the Warfield Complex at Springfield Hospital Center–to be developed under town oversight–without having to cross heavily traveled Route 32.
Westminster is extending a multi-use trail between Long Valley Road and Tahoma Farm Road to connect with Windsor Drive. In Taneytown, the planned Antrim Road bypass will be a 3-mile tree-lined corridor with a designated bike path, according to James L. Schumacher, city manager.
Mount Airy is seeking grant money to create a Rails-to-Trails path for cyclists and walkers that Councilman Peter Helt envisions linking neighborhood trails to create a unified town trail system. In the more distant future, the trail may connect to other towns, he said.
