The eight riders who took off from Druid Hill last Sunday, knew the weather forecast was for cooler temps and precipitation. The question was, how cold and how wet.

This was the third year I've scheduled the Four Reservoirs ride. It's a good ride, a scenic ride, but also a tough ride. Last year we rode the route in the middle of summer. I remember sweating my way up the long slog on Corbett rd near the last quarter of the ride, my legs twingeing with cramps. I thought to myself then that the ride would be much better later in the season. Well, the sweat was not pouring off of me this last Sunday like August 2010. It was replaced with shivering. During the descent to Pretty Boy dam, I was shivering so badly in the cold wet wind that the bike was shaking.

The first third of the ride was the worst of it. The air was cool and dry at 8AM as we headed west through the city and down onto the tree-lined Franklintown rd. The head wind wasn't bad, but rain sprinkles began wetting my arms as we made our way down Dogwood rd. All of us made it up the 20% climb on Dogwood with difficulty. The road was both wet and recently roughed up (perhaps for future re-paving?) which made the climb a delicate balance of bike skills. Brian and John rolled up the hill efficiently. Peter claimed he was out of shape, but all I ever saw of him was his rear tire. Close behind, I could hear Tiffany, Dave and Dave.

The light rain became steady as we crossed Lake Liberty. I was getting soggy and cold. After the bridge I just put my head down and cranked my way to the 1st rest stop at Arby's. It was nice to warm up with some french fries and fresh coffee. I sensed in our faces some reluctance to continue riding in this weather, however, we decided to keep up the fight and continue on to Pretty Boy and the lunch stop only 23 miles away.

The rollers kept coming and we kept climbing. None of them are too brutal, but they are unrelenting on this ride. The roads are pretty and mostly car free. Beautiful Baltimore county farms showed the beginnings of autumn brown. I was leading out the front group with Brian close behind. Nearing lunch, Brian pulled out in front of me and I uncharacteristically grabbed his wheel all the way to lunch. I was getting tired. Brian, Peter and I enjoyed a quick lunch. Dave and Dave showed not long after. John had short-cutted the ride earlier and I assumed Tiffany was ahead of us all.

Riding after lunch included the aforementioned shivering downhills. Although the temps were in the 40's, the streets were drying and the rain had stopped thank goodness. At the back of our group, Dave and Dave were (apparently) tossing the gags back and forth. Brian moved further off the front as I moved ahead of Peter. When Brian, Peter and I regrouped in Jarrettsville, I decided to ride back to town with Dave and Dave. Brian took off alone on the last few miles toward our last reservoir- Loch Raven. The rest of us dragged ourselves up the few remaining hills and into Baltimore. Peter, Dave, Dave and I made good on our plan to refuel on beer and nachos at Alonzos.

Great riding with everyone of you. This was a tough day of randonneuring. I hope you all enjoyed the route. Next up: Point to Point on October 23rd

(check out Dave's write up of the day with much better pics here: http://bikesncoffee.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/4_reservoirs_tour/ )

First, let me back up and thank all who rode with me up to Havre de Grace last month: the Ramble old-guard of Dave, Tom, Isaias and myself as well as the Ramble's new regulars: John, Alex, Peter and Brian. Most of these riders were talking during the ride about the upcoming BBC Civil War Century. Charm and Grace has a lot of mileage and climbing in the second half and we had very high humidity leading to thundershowers at the end. I suspect any ramble regular who finished last month will have no issues finishing CWC. See Daves' Charm and Grace pics and play-by-play on his blog bikesncoffee 

September is packed with long distance cycling events. It always is. So, I decided to skip it altogether and roll out two Rambles for October. A tough one: the Four Reservoirs Tour for Oct. 2nd and an easy one: Point to Point for Oct. 23rd.

The Four Reservoirs:
1. Druid Hill. Our start is at the Conservatory at the MD Zoo 
2. Liberty. Up the 20% grade of Dogwood rd and over the newly rebuilt Nicodemus rd. bridge. 
3. Prettyboy. The biggest rollers of the day will get us to our lunch stop in Rayville. 
4. Loch Raven. We catch a bit of a downhill here, but then have another big climb up Old Bosley.

There is almost 8,000ft. of climbing on this ride. Don't be a couch potato after finishing CWC- keep riding those hills!

Start location: http://tinyurl.com/5trp6ox
Time: Meet up at 7:50AM, push off at 8:10AM 
Cue sheet: Four_res_tour 
Post from last year's version: http://randoramble.posterous.com/tag/the4reservoirstour 

Last Sunday, I met a friendly and eager group of eight riders at Druid Hill Park ready for the Four Reservoirs Tour. We picked up three more a couple of miles down the road. Half of this group were new faces for me: Carol, Steve, John, Chuck and Mike. The remainder were Ramble regulars Isaias, Tim, Tiffany, Carl and Rod.

Four Reservoirs is a tough ride. Tim described it thus: "It's a beast, but a benevolent beast."

There is really only one memorable climb and it's early on in the ride. Dogwood rd hill with its first 30 feet at a grade of 20% is an abrupt wake up to your system. Then come the little hills, and the medium hills, and more medium hills... and so on, and so on. By the time you've made it to the first rest stop, Dogwood is a distant memory. By the time you've made it to lunch near Prettyboy Reservoir you've forgotten it completely. There are so many climbs on this ride that bikely.com can't put enough points into the route map to accurately calculate the total. Carol's Garmin guessed at 7900' for the whole ride. (bikely said 5000'). 

Most importantly to me is that if you've got nice weather, good legs and a friendly group of people to ride with, then the miles pass (almost) as if you were riding flats. I am lucky to have had all three on Sunday. Oh, and did I mention that this ride offers beautiful views of Carroll and Baltimore county's historic waterways? It does.

This was a great challenge and a great late summer ride. Thanks all. 

And more pics on the flickr page: Four Reservoirs Tour

The Four Reservoirs Tour. An unsupported Baltimore century ride.
Sunday, August 8th, meet up at 7:45AM. push off at 8:10 sharp
Leaving from the Druid Hill Park Botanical Conservatory (map here)
Cue here: 4 reservoirs tour

Hello summer-tuned and tanned Ramblers. I hope the wheels have been rolling well for you throughout all this heat and humidity. I can't tell you that the next Ramble will keep you cool because there is a lot of typical Baltimore County climbing in it, but I can tell you that it is as nicely shaded a route as you can get in these parts.

The self-named Four Reservoirs Tour exits Baltimore City from the Druid Hill Park Botanical Conservatory. There is safe and easy parking along the park road across from the Conservatory and there are bathrooms and water at a nearby location in the park. The metro has a stop 1/2 mile away if you do that kind of thing.

We will head due west on the freshly paved Gwynns Falls Pkwy then drop down to Franklintown rd. I love this wooded stream-side stretch of road because it always seems to surprise those unfamiliar with it that we are still in the city. Franklintown becomes Dogwood rd, a bicyclist's thoroughfare to the west. BEWARE the Dogwood hill beginning immediately after you pass Hollofield rd. You'll make a sharp right and you better be in your small chainring when you do or you'll be standing still in a moment. This is the hardest climb of the day. Sorry that it's so early in the morning for it, but hey, it'll wake you up. Stay steady on the climb and do your best to keep a straight line- you may have a car or two wanting to pass you on the way up. I promise to regroup at Old Court rd.

We continue to head NW, crossing Lake Liberty on Liberty rd and coming up along it's western side. Then the route begins to curve off to the east rolling through Boring and Upperco, MD eventually crossing our second reservoir, Prettyboy, on Beckleysville rd. Lunch is at Wally's at Rayville and Middletown pike. After lunch, we get a nice stretch downhill to the dam and then a long and meandering climb back out. There is a lot of tree cover and pretty views of the water along here.

Continuing east we eventually cross York rd and ride the full length of Corbett rd. getting us to Jacksonville for a water break. Blenheim and Dance Hall curve us back to the south and to Loch Raven reservoir which we cross along the Dulaney Valley bridge. Up another grind on Old Bosley and into the Cockeysville area. We cut through historic Lutherville and take Seminary, Thornton and Ruxton rds to Falls rd. south. One more climb up Lake ave and a roll back to our start passing the oldest of the day's reservoirs, Druid Hill.

This is a fun route. I guess I'd rate it above average difficulty. Other than Dogwood, there are no climbs here that are particularly steep, but there are certainly a lot of them.

Email me if you have any questions or concerns about the ride. I hope to see you sunday.