Cyclists

I applaud Michael Dresser's and Laura Vozzella's articles, "At what point does safety trump the right to drive" and "A ride for remembering" (Nov. 9) about the respective tragic pedestrian and bicycle deaths of Johns Hopkins student Miriam Frankl and Greater Homewood Community Corp. member Jack Yates. Thomas Meighan, who had numerous drunk driving violations but still kept his license and vehicle, faces charges in connection with Ms. Frankl's death, and Mr. Yates, whose August death is still being investigated by Baltimore City Police, was struck by a truck turning right from Maryland Avenue onto Lafayette Avenue.

Harford County and the Baltimore Metropolitan Council are celebrating May as Clean Commute Month and May 18 as Bike to Work Day. County Executive David Craig urges everyone to bike to work or try biking for fun, fitness or transportation. The growing event has launched a new website and has now opened online registration. Participating cyclists should register at http://www.Bike2WorkCentralMD.com. The Bike to Work Day Rally will be held, rain or shine, from 7 to 9 a.m. at the Harford County Government Administration Building at 220 S. Main St. in Bel Air. The rally, hosted by Harford County Government, promotes riding a bicycle as a fun, viable, low-cost commuting option.

The problem: Bike Baltimore signs confuse other cyclists, this time in the Inner Harbor. The backstory: Let's refresh our memories about last week's Watchdog, which dealt with Bike Baltimore signs that said "Park Avenue" but directed cyclists onto Whitelock Street. Reader Jay Rubin said he enjoyed a chuckle about that feature. He regularly commutes by bike between Mount Vernon and his East Baltimore home and has been wondering about the Bike Baltimore sign near the eastern corner of the intersection of East Pratt Street and the service road behind Pier 4. That sign, facing eastbound traffic, reads "Brewers Hill & Greektown".

Meet Marty Cohen and his group of early-morning cyclists, who get their dose of cardio by riding through northwestern Baltimore county. Type of workout: They're riding bikes, so they get a cardio workout and use the muscles in their lower body (quadriceps, hamstrings and calf) and core (abdominals and back). Who's in the group: Two to three men, ages 60 and over. How often they ride: Monday, Wednesday and Fridays at 5:30 a.m. year round, and Sundays in the summer months.

Access to the Columbia pedestrian bridge over Route 29 has been sharply compromised for pedestrians, wheelchair-bound handicapped and especially cyclists for over a year now due to lake dredging and sewer replacement. A mulch path constructed for continued access has not been maintained and is frequently obstructed by fallen branches and poison ivy. Now comes a plan to widen Route 29, but with no news on how this will impact the future of this bridge. The bridge is essential for commuting and active lifestyles, activities Columbia and Howard County claim to value.

Meet Marty Cohen and his group of early-morning cyclists, who get their dose of cardio by riding through northwestern Baltimore county. Type of workout: They're riding bikes, so they get a cardio workout and use the muscles in their lower body (quadriceps, hamstrings and calf) and core (abdominals and back). Who's in the group: Two to three men, ages 60 and over. How often they ride: Monday, Wednesday and Fridays at 5:30 a.m. year round, and Sundays in the summer months.

For the past 15 years, Catonsville Rails To Trails (CRTT) has been working to convert old rail lines into bike/hike trails in an effort to promote healthy living and walkable neighborhoods through trail enhancements and pedestrian-friendly initiatives. On Sunday, May 22, CRTT will coordinate a bike ride of the Catonsville Trail System, including the Number 8 Streetcar Path, Number 9 Trolley Trail and the partially completed Short Line Trail. We will start and end at the Catonsville Farmer's Market, in the 700 block of Frederick Road, at 10 a.m. and the two-hour ride will cover 14 miles.

Paul Lebelle and Adam Burkowske have logged hundreds of miles westward on their bicycles, with the wind at their backs and their goal on the horizon. The two local restaurant servers are on a four-month cross-county trek to San Diego, raising money for Bike Free. The nonprofit organization, which they founded, provides bikes to children whose parents are serving in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The goal: to donate 500 bicycles and helmets by Christmas. "This is something that kind of represented the feeling you have when you got your first bike.

Boson Au commutes from his Charles Village home to his downtown office by bicycle. He rides his bike to the grocery store and, with a group of cycling friends, to bars on weekends. Traveling by bike allows Au a more immediate and intimate experience of Baltimore than driving a car. "It makes the city seem smaller and closer," said the 32-year-old Web developer. "I'm seeing the streets. I'm feeling the bumps. It's made me more involved in the city." But Baltimore's congested and pothole-ridden streets pose many hazards to cyclists.

ABOARD THE SENTINEL -- The ride across the Chesapeake Bay yesterday morning on this sightseeing ferry was a welcome break for cyclists who have been pedaling up to 100 miles a day in the grueling summer heat.As a warm breeze blew off the water and across the upper deck, many of the 125 cyclists opted for the air-conditioned deck below to chat and trade jokes for the 2 1/2 -hour cruise between Rock Hall and Baltimore's Inner Harbor."This beats riding in the Midwest," said Phil Harding of Milwaukee, Wis., 45, who left his native Baltimore 20 years ago. "All you see [there]

The horde passes in a blinding blur of bright, logo-laden polyester jerseys and $10,000 full-carbon-frame bicycles measured in grams not pounds, zooming over impossibly gorgeous —- and remarkably steep — Alpine vistas. It's enough to make you want to leave your bike in the garage. Those sleek, graceful racers and their expensive racing bikes, not to mention the 8 percent grades of the mountains, can intimidate the amateur rider whose only exposure to organized bicycle riding is the occasional glance at the Tour de France on TV. Not to let the air out of your tires, but if you think all bike rides are grueling ordeals with champagne sprays at the finish line, you haven't tried one of the Baltimore region's bike rides.

Jonathan Browning built his career on four wheels, but his passion rides on two. Browning, Volkswagen Group of America's top executive, doesn't see why cars and bikes can't — to steal a slogan from the automaker — coexist on the road of life. "Almost every family in the country has a car and a bike in some condition in the garage," said Browning Tuesday morning as he sat in the lobby of a downtown Baltimore hotel, cycling helmet in his hands and a blue Volkswagen jersey stretched across his lean torso.

From time to time, the subject of having safe lanes or other thoroughfares where people can walk and ride their bikes in Harford County arises, and there's every reason to believe such community amenities would be well used. It isn't a new idea. The original pedestrian-friendly walkways are sidewalks, which have been around since the days when streets weren't paved and a lot of people walked. Sidewalks, be they brick, board or concrete, were elevated above the streets initially so the many folks who got around on their feet could avoid stepping in pollution left by the transportation engines of the day: horses and beasts of burden.

Cycling has long been promoted as an activity with the potential to improve community wellness through its health benefits and its ability to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution. Monday through Friday, rain or shine, I ride my bike from my apartment in the Tuscany-Canterbury neighborhood in North Baltimore to school at the Johns Hopkins medical campus in the Middle East neighborhood, where I am working on a master's degree in public health. Riding a bicycle is a liberating experience that you can do it at any age and almost anywhere.

Annapolis Police arrested a 30-year-old Pasadena man Jan. 10 for a hit-run-accident that seriously injured a bicyclist in August. Jason Ryan Bowen of Colchester Court was charged with failure to immediately stop his vehicle at the scene of accident involving bodily injury, failure to provide an ID and license, reckless driving, negligent driving and failure to control speed to avoid collision, police said Friday. Bowen also failed to exercise due care to avoid a pedestrian collision.

Every time Chris Seymour entered the garden shed at his home, he would stare at the sleek bike, a bequest from his older brother Robert, who died in May. After two grueling back surgeries and lengthy recoveries, Seymour, 41, never imagined he would get on a bike again. But that riderless bicycle, leaning against the shed wall with its kickstand down, seemed to dare him, he said. "As crazy as it sounds it was almost as though the bike was telling me to ride," he said. "Now that is exactly what I am doing.

If you're a 30-year-old athlete with rippling muscles and less fat than your typical flounder, a hybrid electric bicycle is not for you. By all means, be proud you can take the steepest hills with nary a huff nor a puff. You should be a purist. Feel free to stick your nose in the air when you pass some weenie pedaling by while getting an assist from an electric motor. But if you're a few years over that age (or in my case decades), a few lamb chops over the ideal weight and nobody's mistaken you for Lance Armstrong or a female counterpart lately, it may not be such an abomination.

Nearing the end of a 1,000-mile trek that began in Boston on July 4, nine cyclists, promoting an effort to get people out of polluting automobiles and onto bicycles, rested in Baltimore last night.They arrived here about 1 p.m. and spent the rest of the afternoon touring the Inner Harbor. The cyclists were to leave the Baltimore Youth Hostel on Mulberry Street today and head for Annapolis. Their trek is to end Thursday in Washington.The cyclists represent the New York-based East Coast Greenway Alliance.

Access to the Columbia pedestrian bridge over Route 29 has been sharply compromised for pedestrians, wheelchair-bound handicapped and especially cyclists for over a year now due to lake dredging and sewer replacement. A mulch path constructed for continued access has not been maintained and is frequently obstructed by fallen branches and poison ivy. Now comes a plan to widen Route 29, but with no news on how this will impact the future of this bridge. The bridge is essential for commuting and active lifestyles, activities Columbia and Howard County claim to value.

A story in a motorcycle trade paper started Bob Henig on his 20-year crusade to help children overcome a deadly disease that attacks 11 of them in the U.S. daily. The children's stories of coping, surviving and sometimes succumbing have kept him riding to raise money to battle pediatric brain cancer. He will be on the road Sunday, leading a charity drive of about 400 motorcyclists that will likely surpass the $3 million milestone in local funds raised for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.