Baltimore Velo was created to present all of that information in one website.

Velo started out with three of us—myself, Arne and Liam.  Our beginnings were a little rocky and all over the place, but that gave the site a certain unpolished charm.  There were a lot of columns back then that haven’t been updated in years – the Baltimore-Specific (BS) Reviews and the Best Rides in Baltimore series come to mind.  It certainly didn’t have the cohesive formula that it eventually achieved.

We aimed to update on the daily, and back then, it was tough!  You have to remember that the scene back then was a small portion of what it’s become since.  But with Liam and Arne riding around all-day, every day, we made it work.  They were great at snapping photos of new bike lanes and reporting from the street.

Meanwhile—and I don’t know how many readers know this—over the course of Baltimore Velo, I’ve had 3 arm surgeries.  I supported the site by always doing my best to make sure we posted daily, like clockwork.

As you can probably imagine, updating this site when I was out of the saddle for 6 months at a time sometimes made me want to throw my computer out of the window.  I never did, and I am proud of the work the three of us have accomplished in two and a half years.

I’ve forged new friendships through this blog, gotten a press pass to Interbike that I never used, threw a Halloween race, checked out the Bishop Bikes workshop, road tripped to Trexteltown and the Philly Bike Expo, and more than anything, have been humbled at having a voice in this small community.

Or should I say, large community.  I have been truly blessed to witness firsthand the absolute explosion of cyclists here in Baltimore.  We now have a bike advocacy group, and no one—I mean no one—would have thought that we were anywhere near having the community to support one in November, 2010.

And during Baltimore Velo’s prime, we succeeded at our goal of consolidating all Baltimore cycling culture into one finely-packaged, definitive source.

Unfortunately for me, two and a half years is sort of a long time.  Arne has since stopped contributing to the blog, while Liam skipped town to pursue a photography career in New York.

(What assholes.)

That left only me for a long time.  Almost a year now, in fact.  And although at one point it was never too difficult to keep Velo up to speed on the bike culture here, we now have the unique problem of too much bike culture for one person to cover.

For the past few months, this site’s quality has been steadily degrading.  That fact has been eating away at me.  I’ve wrestled with the idea of ending Velo over that period, and I’ve decided that I can no longer support the site to the extent that I’d like to.

I would rather put an end to it rather than tarnish the site itself.

So this is it.  Thanks to everyone who has read Baltimore Velo over the past two and a half years.  This site meant a lot to me, Liam and Arne, and to the thousands of you who have bothered to read what we wrote, your readership made it worth it to update the site, even when it was a pain in the ass to do it.

This isn’t the end for me.  I’m sure I’ll blog over at the Bikemore blog, and you might even catch me contributing on B’more Bikes, which has officially dethroned us lately.

Thanks again.

- Seth

Originally posted at Baltimore Velo. All content is © Baltimore Velo unless otherwise noted.

Photo Credit: Larsisus

You should ride Monument to Monument this year. It’s the flagship Rando Ramble ride.

It’s Bob’s personal Super Bowl.

There is a list of Dos and Don’ts on the Ramble blog that you should get up to speed with before the ride. Here are some samples:

WHAT IS TOTALLY NOT IMPORTANT:
• The type of bike you ride
• Your bike’s gearing
• How you look

So… ride your track bike I guess?

Anyway, check ou the full list HERE.

Originally posted at Baltimore Velo. All content is © Baltimore Velo unless otherwise noted.

Photo Credit: Bob Wagner

After 4 arm surgeries in less than that many years, I can sympathize with Bob’s 5 months out of the saddle. So, I’m fired up that the dude is finally back in the saddle. His first Ramble back was the Point to Point ride.

There is a new post on Rando Ramble documenting the ride, which you should check out now.

Originally posted at Baltimore Velo. All content is © Baltimore Velo unless otherwise noted.

The dude Ron of Bike Shorts recently completed his maiden voyage of the B&A Trail to Annapolis (and back). His recap definitely made me want to ride it, too, so check out the full post at Bike Shorts.

Originally posted at Baltimore Velo. All content is © Baltimore Velo unless otherwise noted.

Check out the details on the flyer above, and read more at B’more Bikes.

Originally posted at Baltimore Velo. All content is © Baltimore Velo unless otherwise noted.

Check this out!  The Bike Blaze Guy strikes again.  This time, it’s the Inner Harbor mixed use trail.  Let’s hope that this deters pedestrians from taking up the entire trail.

Let’s take a moment to also recognize the fact that the Bike Blaze Guy has a Facebook page.  Dude’s like a superhero.

Originally spotted HERE.

Originally posted at Baltimore Velo. All content is © Baltimore Velo unless otherwise noted.

Remember the gold ‘ol days when the entire Fallsway bike path looked like this? And then a huge number of the pawns were toppled, making the whole thing look like kind of a piece of shit?

You’ll be happy to know that as of this morning, all pawns along the trail are back in business.

Originally posted at Baltimore Velo. All content is © Baltimore Velo unless otherwise noted.

Bike Safe B’more is a new Google Group. Here’s the word:

Cycling can be dangerous! This email list serves as an alert system for dangerous situations as they occur. If you are threatened, assaulted, or attacked, after you have gotten yourself safe, please send an email to the group so that the area can be immediately avoided. Thanks!

So simple, so useful.  Make sure you check out the group and sign up here.

Thanks to Evan for the tip.

Originally posted at Baltimore Velo. All content is © Baltimore Velo unless otherwise noted.

The latest word from our friends at Velocipede is that moving forward, Wednesday will be class nights, while Thursday will be open shop.

Class nights will alternate between:

• Build-a-Bike program: 6 sessions starting April 24th, cost is $60 or 6hour work trade, the bike is incorporated into the cost. Class is on rebuilding a bike.

• Bicycle Mechanics class: 6 sessions starting April 17th, cost is $60 or 6hour work trade. Class is on servicing an existing bike. At the end of the session shop credit is acquired.

Interested? The full post is HERE.

Originally posted at Baltimore Velo. All content is © Baltimore Velo unless otherwise noted.

This Twenty20 Facebook post inspired this post. The shop has a number of used rides in stock, starting at $100.

That doesn’t mean that others don’t have some used offerings, too. I’ve seen a stable of used bikes outside of BBW and Race Pace.

If you need a new whip, take note!

Originally posted at Baltimore Velo. All content is © Baltimore Velo unless otherwise noted.