Weather and family committments kept me inside the whole week. With winter here, this will be the norm. I have started using Cyclo-Core warm-up routines and will slowly add more core work outs. Monday was a rest day with some late night work on my website - Mark's Ride Across America. On Tuesday I spun for 20 miles to The Biggest Looser. Pretty amazing stuff. The winner lost more than I weigh ... 239 pounds. The transformations are something to see. The show has helped so many people. I also officialy launched my website and opened my secure donation page. Over the coming months, I will execute an agressive fund raising plan to help the American Lung Association improve the quality of life for families living with lung disease. Pledges raised will help search for cures, keep kids off tobacco, and fight for laws that protect the air we all breathe. The work of the American Lung Association helps to save lives every day. I hope you will join me in my effort to raise $25,000 to help make a difference in the lives of millions of adults and children who are living with chronic lung disease and asthma every day. CLICK HERE to go to my secure on-line web page for donations. 
December arrived and brought chili and wet weather. On top of that, family committments took top priority and kept me inside for all but one day. On Monday I rode about an hour (20 Miles) while watching the Patriots and Saints game. The Saints are definitely for real, and the Patriots do not have the personnel they once did. Tuesday saw another 15 Miles spin with Meatloaf on the stereo and the Victoria's Secret "fashion" show on the TV. Most of those girls need to eat a cookie! Of course there were a few that, well ... umm, never mind. Heidi Klum was classy and looked good for just having had another baby. No risque pics on my blog ...
Planned 40-50 on Sunday ... didn't quite make it, thanks to some mechanical issues. My cassette was slipping and broke away from my wheel on a climb up Mission Rd. Luckily it happened toward the end of the ride and close enough to the SAG girls. The route was Fort Meade, Sevren, BWI Trail, to Elkridge Furnance Inn. 35 miles brought my weekly total a little under goal at 135. I used Cyclo Club online video for a pre-ride strecth. Need to make this part of the routine and use the core and bootcamps more.
The week started with very nice weather for November (high 60's). On Monday, I got off to a good start with a nice 37 mile ride to the Univeristy of Maryland to say hello to Mike. This route takes me past the Beltsville Agricultural Center, the Greenbelt Metro, and into College Park via Lake Artemesia and the Paint Branch Trail. The lake includes a fishing pier, aquatic gardens, and a nice loop of hiker-biker trails that connect to the College Park Airport and Aviation Museum, as well as the UMD campus. The trail goes right by Mike's house and provides great access to campus without having to cross busy Route 1. Mike and Erin were pleasantly surprised to see me. I returned home via the Paint Branch Trail, Silver Spring, and a short stint on Route 29 (good practice for the busier roads out west). Construction for the new Inter County Connector (Route 200) continues to be in full swing. When finished, it will connect Route 95 (Prince Georges County) and Route 270 (Montgomery County).
The remains of Hurrican Ida made their way to the southeast and mid-atlantic, and brought lots of wind and rain. Wedndesay through Saturday were inside days. I sat out Wednesday hacking away on the computer. My motivation returned big time on Thursday with a strong 35 mile spin to Warren Zevon and Meatlof's Bat Out of Hell. Great classic tunes from my youth. Zevon was an acquired and poltical taste, but a great writer and musician. He died of cancer in 2003. Riding to music really helps the time fly by and gets the addrenaline flowing. Friday was a more typical inside set ... 15 miles to more oldies ... this time Three Dog Night. Saturday, the weather slowly started to clear, but was still misty most of the day. I hung out with Leah, as Karen had the Holiday Boutique to benefit the Glenelg Country School Parent's & Friends Association. We laid low most of the day and had a fun lunch at Costco along with some samples. A little clothes and book shopping rounded out the afternoon. Leah has been challenged to read the sequel to Inkheart by Cornelia Funke ... Inkspell. A mere 660 pages. I gave her until her birthday on New Years Day. Leah and I celebrated the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street with a 15 mile spin to the best of Ernie ... rubber duckie you are the one!
Sunday saw the thermometer top 70 degrees, and with no activities, work, or school stuff, it was a perfect chance to ride. Ten minutes out I had a front flat ... quick change (less than 15 minutes) and I was back on my way to Elkridge Furnace Inn. From there I headed toward Linthicum and meandored all the way into downtown Baltimore to the M&T Bank Stadium, the home of the Baltimore Ravens. There was even a new (for me) bike path around the stadium that avoided most of the city streets and lights. From there I headed west to leave the city and after several city blocks and row houses I found myself by the old Montgomery Wards building (now called Montgomery Park). It was Baltimore's largest mercantile building and the city's first suburban department store when it opened in 1925. Today it is a revitalization project that houses office space, a city park, and overlooks the Carol Park golf course. The art deco design is still prevalent. From there I followed signs for the Gwynns Falls Trail. This trail starts out by my office near the crossroads of Route 70 and 695, near the Social Security Administration headquarters and runs 15 miles into Baltimore and the inner harbor. The trail crosses some neat bridges (see pic) and for the most part is off city streets. Somehow, I took a wrong turn and headed off the trail and back toward the city. By the time I convinced myself I was heading in the wrong direction, I was near the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum. A neat round about design with great exhibits for the kids.
Wednesday's schedule kept me inside for a third consecutive day. With the Yankees is control of game 6, I watched a new epsiode of Criminal Minds and sweated out another 18 miles. Did I mention, I hate the Yankees. On Thursday I scheduled some time to ride near work. I started from the South Germantown Recreational Park. This is a great starting point and provides access to Sugarloaf Mountain and a wide variety of great roads near Poolesville, White's Ferry, Dickinson, and several other quiet towns. In operation since 1786, White’s Ferry is the last working ferry on the Potomac River. The C&O Canal pases the Ferry entrance. Today's ride took me to Secneca via Sugarland, Partnership, and River Road. Surgarland is barely a one lane road with almost no cars. I passed the Seneca Schoolhouse Museum, a typical one room school house from the 1880's. The route was just shy of 30 miles. Friday was windy and cold (low 40's) ... Given the nice weekend forecast, I opted to stay inside and spun hard for 22 miles to some old Garth Brooks tunes.
Wonderful fall weather was back in form for the weekend. On Saturday I spent the morning brainstroming on fundraising and website ideas. I finalize things with the Lung Assocition on Monday and will present my pitch to Northrop Grumman later in the week. The girls went off to sell Girl Scout cookies, so I headed out for a nice 50k (31 miles) to Marriottsville via Centennial Lane and Route 99. Return was past Glenelg Circle and Homewood. I went right past the sight of a Halloween night murder (a rare occurence in Howard County). Stopped to see the cookie sale and ate some when I got home!
Sunday was another gorgeous day, but we headed to Frederick to look at a house we had seen last summer in Braddock Heights. Braddock Heights is located at the top of Braddock Mountain (almost 1,00 feet up). It was founded in 1896 as a summer resort community and eventually included several hotels, a community pool, a wooden floor skating rink, an amusement park, scenic overlooks, nature trails, and until 1980, a small ski resort. It is now known for its eclectic houses (no two are alike) and scenic views of Frederick and the Monocacy and Middletown valleys. The house we looked at was a 1930 Victorian that we had seen last summer. It had dropped significantly in price and was well worth the look. We decided it was just too small. Some day ... I spun inside with Leah singing some more Garth Brooks tunes for 18 miles. Heavy inside work with a couple nice outdoor rides gave me 150 miles for the week.
Monday and Tuesday were rest days as my legs were pretty tight from a good week back on the saddle. Turns out these were days I should have gotten outside. It rained and was very chili the entire week and did not break until late Sunday. That meant days inside with the trainer. I did manage to motivate myself to go downstairs 4 of 5 nights (one was spent pushing on a new proposal for the Social Security Administration), but even with Criminal Minds reruns on A&E, I lacked any real drive or enthusiasim. The weatherman promises a nice stretch next week, so I plan to get back out there. This week really tells me I need to develop a winter routine of better eating, spinning, and some core exercising. My virtual coach (Graeme Street) and membership to Cyclo Club should help with that. 
On the personal front, I spent Sunday afteroon representing my alma matter, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, at a local college fair.
Even with a busy proposal for the Shriner's Hospital in progress, I logged almost 150 training miles this week. The weekend included 100 miles in western Howard and southern Caroll County. One of my favorite destinations and turn around points is Sykesville, a small historic town in southern Caroll County. The town sits along the Patapsco River and was a big stop on the old B&O railroad route. To reach Main Street you descend in and must climb out (a few great options for that include River Road, which follows the river and some nice horse fames or Forsythe Road, which is less scenic, but a tougher grade). The old train station was converted to a great restaraunt called Baldwin's Station. It is one of our favorites and the place we head for anniversaries and special nights out.
