Baltimore City Buzz Examiner Holly Woerner
Over 1,000 cyclists braved Sunday’s 95 degree temperatures for the 8th annual Tour Dem Parks Hon! Despite a last minute printing error that left volunteers to hand register participants, event organizers deemed the bicycle tour of Baltimore a success. Anne Colgan, one of the events organizers says they had a good turnout of riders from DC and Northern Virginia. What they experienced riding through Baltimore city’s public parks has many out of towners determined to come back.
Tess Redmon came up from Annapolis to tour on the 25 mile ride. "I never knew you had such beautiful parks here. They have lakes, scenery, I mean we hear about it on the news, but we’ve never seen it." Redmon said
Henry Sobel who joined Ms. Redmon for a morning trek through Druid Hill Park said "Druid Hill Park was an absolute gem. I didn’t even know it was here."
The pair normally enjoys riding along the Baltimore Annapolis Trail in Anne Arundel County, but say they’ll be back to bicycle through Charm City again to see what else Baltimore has to offer. That’s just what Tour Dem Parks Hon! organizers want to hear.
Arlington Virginia resident Erick Schultz traveled north for the annual tour and says his first tour of Baltimore City was "Definitely educational and it shows you alot of the city." Schultz had to get used to sharing the road with city traffic, but says he plans to return "to check it out again."
Upon completing one of four tours all participants regrouped at Carroll Park in South Baltimore for a free BBQ. The usual summer grill fare was served along with wraps donated by Chipotle, one of this years sponsors.
Riders cooled off in the shade while volunteers auctioned off several pieces of original artwork donated by local artists. There were also raffles for new bikes with proceeds donated to Friends of the Parks groups.
If you missed it check out a slide show of this year’s Tour Dem Parks Hon ! event.
View Slideshow » https://www.examiner.com/examinerslideshow.html?entryid=1354687
https://www.examiner.com/x-46219-Baltimore-City-Buzz-Examiner~y2010m6d14-They-came-they-toured-and-they-say-theyll-be-backoldId.20100616100711196